“Ah, but are they as sexy as me?”
She snorted out a laugh. “Are you really this arrogant?”
“Only around you.” I smiled and could see her shaking her head out of the corner of my eye. “What? I have to be this arrogant when I’m with you. I need to overcompensate because you like nothing more than deflating this big old head of mine. This level of arrogance balances it all out nicely.”
“So, you’re saying you’re less arrogant around other girls?”
“Marginally so, yes.”
She chuckled under her breath. “Lucky them.”
“And here I was thinking they were missing out.” I looked over at her, and she struggled to withhold a smile. At least my irritating ways were amusing to her today.
“So, the makeup. You don’t usually seem to wear much. Is there something special about today?” I wasn’t really sure if that was a question you should ask girls, but I was curious. Clary didn’t really wear makeup at school, and the whole effect was leaving me unsettled. Perhaps she had a boyfriend I didn’t know about, and she’d been video calling him or something? I immediately felt the urge to hunt down and punch the hypothetical guy.
She shrugged. “I told Zoey I’d do one of her makeup tutorials,” she explained. “And this is the result.”
“Ah.” A rush of relief washed through me at her words. “So, it’s not for some secret boyfriend then?”
“What?” She frowned. “No, of course not.”
“Good,” I muttered.
My response only made her frown more prominent. I was suddenly feeling a lot less aggressive though. The hypothetical boyfriend wouldn’t be getting punched after all.
“It all started because they canceled the prom,” Clary added. She was still looking at me strangely, and I knew I needed to stop acting so possessive.
“Oh yeah, I heard it was canceled.” I’d woken up to a string of messages from my friends telling me the news. They all seemed devastated, but I wasn’t all that upset. “Are you sad it’s not happening?”
Clary pursed her lips as she considered it. “I mean, it would have been nice to go, but I understand why they had to cancel it. How about you?”
“Yeah, I feel the same. It would have been fun, but I get it.”
She scoffed lightly. “I would have thought you’d be completely distraught that you wouldn’t be getting your prom king crown.”
My eyes lifted to the ceiling. “I don’t care about a crown.”
“Sure, you don’t.” Disbelief colored her tone.
“I don’t.”
“Okay, sure”
“Uh, I think you meant to say ‘okay, sure, your highness.’”
She laughed at the seriousness in my tone, and I winked. I really liked it when Clary looked so happy. I didn’t know if I would have won prom king, but everyone had been telling me for weeks the crown was mine. It wasn’t something I cared about though, no matter what Clary might think.
“So, did you have a date to the prom?” she asked.
“Nope. I was waiting for you to ask me.”
She smiled. “Uh-huh, right.”
“I was,” I insisted. “I was heartbroken when it looked like you were never going to ask.”
“Stop messing around. You didn’t want to go to the prom with me.”
I would have loved to go with Clary, but there was no way she’d believe that. She’d started to warm to me since we’d been living together, but if anything, I felt further from dating her than ever before. I was worried she’d put me in some weird kind of friend zone—and I hated it. That zone should be illegal.
“Did you have a date?” I asked.
She shook her head. “There isn’t anyone I’m interested in at the moment.”
“You don’t have to be interested in someone to go to the prom with them.”
“But it helps,” she replied.
“I guess it does.”
I slowed the truck as we pulled up outside her house. She turned to me before getting out. “I get longer than two minutes this time,” she said. Her face was stern. She was seriously cute when she was trying to be serious.
I grinned. “Okay.”
“Okay?” She sounded surprised I’d caved so easily.
“Sure. I don’t mind if you take all afternoon—as long as I get to come watch.”
Clary’s nose scrunched up with irritation. “Wouldn’t you rather just go home and come back to pick me up when I’m done?”
“Nope.” I opened my door, jumped from the truck, and started toward her house before she could object.
“I really don’t need your help!” Clary called as she rushed to catch up with me.
“I know,” I agreed. “And who said anything about help? I’m just looking for some entertainment, and you’re the most exciting thing in my life these days. What could possibly beat watching you gather more clothing?”
“Just about anything,” Clary grumbled. She fished her keys out of her pocket rather than continuing to argue the point.
I followed her inside and up to her room. Clary’s house was small compared to mine, but it was filled with so much life. The walls were painted bright colors and covered in collages of family photos. The furniture was all mismatched, but I liked how everything was unique and interesting. It actually felt like this place was lived in.
Our place looked so generic in comparison. Our living room was an exact replica of a picture Mom had seen in a Pottery Barn magazine. She didn’t have time to search for interesting pieces of furniture or put together artistic arrangements of family photos. There might have been a lot of love in our house, but it was sorely missing the homey vibes I was getting at Clary’s.
Clary’s room was a striking contrast to the rest of her house though. Her walls were white, and a pastel blue bedspread was the only pop of color in the room. It was a bit of a mess, but I knew that was completely my fault. I imagined her room was spotlessly tidy before I insisted she pack her bags in two minutes flat. It had been a joke at the time, but Clary, being Clary, took it seriously. And me, being me, I’d enjoyed her reaction far too much to end the joke.
I took a seat on Clary’s bed, making myself comfortable as I sank against her pillows. Clary watched me closely, and there was something in her gaze that I couldn’t quite decipher. She seemed to be fighting some internal battle, and her eyes kept flickering with different emotions. It was like she enjoyed seeing me on her bed but she hated it at the same time.
Her cheeks flushed, and she quickly glanced away before I could figure her out. I wished I could get inside her head and find out what she’d been thinking.
“So, this is your room,” I said as she started going through her wardrobe.
“You’ve been in here before.” She remained focused on her clothes as she replied.
“Yes, but only briefly.”
“You were also uninvited,” she added. “Perhaps you would have had more time in here if I’d had more than two minutes to gather my things…”
“I can’t help that you took my joke seriously,” I admitted. She finally looked over her shoulder at me but only so she could scowl in my direction. I quickly moved on before the crease in her brow became a permanent fixture. “Now, what are you packing this time that you forgot when we did this before?”
Clary blew out a breath and shrugged as she glanced around her room. “I don’t know. Things.”
“Things?” I repeated.
“Yes, things. Like more than one T-shirt and a pair of socks that actually match.”
“Ah, things.” I smiled as she rolled her eyes at me and returned to sorting through her clothes. It was far too easy to get under her skin. If it were an Olympic sport, I felt quite certain I’d win a gold medal in it. That’s if the Olympics still happened this year. Stupid virus seemed to be ruining everything.
I hugged one of Clary’s pillows close to my chest. It smelled like strawberries and the light vanilla fragrance of Clary’s perfume. I had to stop m
yself from dipping my nose closer to immerse myself in the smell.
“So, did you have a prom dress picked out?”
She glanced at me and nodded. “Yeah, I bought it a few weeks ago. Not that it’ll do me much good now.”
“Can I see it?”
She seemed to freeze on the spot, but her eyes flickered back to her closet as she hesitated. “I don’t really see why you’d want to.”
“Come on, please?” I begged.
Her expression was torn, but as she looked at me once more, her shoulders relaxed and the smallest smile appeared. I was giving her my best pleading puppy-dog eyes after all. I hadn’t needed to use them in a while, but they’d always worked on my mom, and it looked like they worked quite well on Clary too.
“Fine, I guess I can show you,” she muttered. She went to pull it out but I put a hand across my eyes before I could see the dress.
“I thought you wanted to see it?” Clary exclaimed.
“I do.”
“Then why are you covering your eyes?”
“Because when I see it for the first time, I want to see you wearing it. Not on a hanger.”
Clary grunted. “I’m not putting my prom dress on.”
“But you already agreed to show it to me.”
“Not on me!”
“Come on, if you don’t put it on now, you might never get a chance to wear it.” She didn’t respond straightaway, so I assumed she was thinking about it. “Besides, I can’t picture what a dress looks like when it’s hanging up, and you already have your makeup all done, so why not get all dressed up too?”
“Because it’s stupid,” she grumbled.
“It’s not stupid.” I kept my eyes shut as I waited for her to give in, and she finally let out a sigh.
“Fine, I’ll put it on, but you can’t make fun of me.”
“Why would I make fun of you?”
“Because that’s what you do.”
She wasn’t wrong. “Okay, I promise not to make fun of you.”
There was a rustle of movement as Clary went to leave the room. It was probably too much to hope that she’d change into her dress in here. I wasn’t sure I would have been able to resist the temptation to sneak a peek.
I lowered my hand, but my eyes stayed shut as I lay on the bed and waited for her. My house was always so quiet, but here I could hear soft noises wafting through the air around me. There was a small child giggling as they played next door, and I could hear a lawnmower buzzing in the distance. They were comforting sounds that made me feel quite at home in Clary’s room.
Clary cleared her throat, and the distant noises from outside seemed to disappear. “Okay, here it is…” she said.
I slowly opened my eyes to look at her, and my jaw dropped open. Clary’s prom dress was gorgeous. It was made from a deep red, silky material that rippled as she moved. A long slit ran up one leg, and it was nearly impossible to drag my eyes away. I knew Clary had amazing long legs, but this dress highlighted them in a way that was hard to ignore.
I swallowed as I stared at her, my chest feeling suddenly tight. I was almost too scared to look directly at Clary because I knew the look in my eyes would probably reveal my true feelings for her.
I was grateful when she gave a little spin—anything to disrupt the way I was staring at her legs. But the spin only made things worse. The back of her dress dipped irresistibly low, showing off her smooth tanned skin and making the desire I felt for her even stronger.
I was suddenly glad prom was canceled, because I wasn’t sure I could have handled seeing Clary in that dress and in the arms of another guy.
When she finished her small twirl and turned to face me once more, I made certain to focus on her face rather than the dress. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, and it was really hard not to stare at her when she looked so incredible.
As she looked at me, I could see how much she was enjoying wearing the dress by the sparkle in her eye. It was the sight of her nervous smile as she waited for me to respond that truly destroyed me though. She was so impossibly beautiful, and the thought that my opinion might matter to her was enough to send my feelings over the edge. I was speechless.
A hint of worry entered her eyes as I continued to stare at her in silence. “You think I look silly.”
“No.” My voice came out deep and rough, and I cleared my throat to try to make it go back to normal. “No, I think you’re beautiful.”
“I told you not to make fun of me.”
“I couldn’t make fun of you right now if I tried. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
“Now I know you’re lying.”
I stood from the bed and walked across the room so I was standing before her. I wanted to close the small distance that remained between us, but I couldn’t be the one to do it. Clary needed to come to me when she was ready—if she was ever ready. “I’m not lying. You would stop any guy in their tracks with that dress”
Her cheeks flushed, and she struggled to meet my gaze.
“It’s definitely too gorgeous to be wasted on just me. You deserve to go to the prom.”
“Well, that can’t happen now,” she murmured. She glanced down at her dress and ran her hands across the smooth material before she lightly exhaled and dropped her hands to her sides. “Anyway, I should really get changed.”
There was disappointment in her eyes as she looked down at her dress, and she seemed reluctant to take it off so soon. I wanted to say something to make her feel better, but there was nothing I could do that would fix this. I couldn’t exactly save the prom.
Or could I?
Clary gave me a sad smile before she went to the bathroom to change. When she returned, she was wearing the sweatpants and hoodie she’d had on before. Her stilettos dangled from one hand, and her prom dress was carefully draped over her arm.
“You should pack them,” I said.
“What?”
“Your prom dress and shoes. You should bring them to my house.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Why would I do that?”
I didn’t have an answer for that. Not yet. “Would you just do it? For me?”
She eyed me warily in response. “But why?”
“Look, consider it a part of the favor you owe me…”
“You want to waste your favor on that?”
“I said a part of my favor.” I swear she was being difficult on purpose. “Besides, it’s my favor to waste, and this is what I want.”
“Um, okay.” She was looking at me like I was crazy, but thankfully, she’d finally agreed. She turned to hang her dress from the door before placing her shoes in her duffel bag. As she moved about the room, she kept glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. She was confused, but it would all make sense soon enough.
I spent the rest of the time at Clary’s house texting every number in my phone, getting people to spread the word. I had a plan to put a smile back on Clary’s face. I just hoped I could pull it off.
15
Clary
It was strange saying goodbye to my house. This was my home, yet I had no idea when I’d be living in it again. It felt so empty without my parents around, so I was mostly glad I hadn’t insisted on staying here on my own. Living with Aiden wasn’t nearly as bad as I imagined it would be, and I was surprised to find I was happy to leave with him.
I followed Aiden from the house, making sure to lock the front door as I left. This time, as we drove away, I didn’t get the same twinge of sadness I’d felt before. I might have lived there for years, but it really didn’t feel like my home without my family there.
I was quiet as we drove back to Aiden’s house. My whole life had been halted when we went into lockdown, yet I felt like so much had happened in that short time. The last few days especially had been like riding on an emotional rollercoaster, and I was feeling more than ready to get off. I was sick of being scared for my parents and uncertain about the world. I just wanted this virus to be go
ne.
I hadn’t been all that excited about the prom, but after putting my dress on earlier, I felt a deep sense of loss that it wouldn’t be going ahead. I wanted a fun and frivolous night where my biggest problem would be whether I looked like an idiot on the dance floor. I wanted to look pretty and to have my parents smile when they saw me all dressed up. To have a night where I laughed and hugged my friends. It was stupid, but it felt like something had been stolen from me.
I let out a sigh as Aiden pulled into the driveway of his house. I doubted he could hear it over the music playing on the radio, but as he turned the ignition off, he faced me. “What’s wrong?”
Sometimes, he was unnervingly perceptive. I shrugged and glanced out the window at his house. “I’m just feeling a little down.”
He didn’t answer, and his silence made me feel like I should continue. “Is it selfish that I wish we could have had a prom?”
“Why would you think it’s selfish?”
“I don’t know.” I turned to him. “I guess because my parents are stranded and this virus is affecting people in terrible ways. I shouldn’t be sad I don’t get to wear a silly dress to a school dance.”
“Being sad about missing prom doesn’t mean you don’t care about your parents or people who are sick,” he replied. “The first thing you did when we were placed in lockdown was offer to help our neighbors with their groceries. You’ve done everything you can to obey social distancing rules and help stop spreading the virus. And I don’t think a minute has passed since you arrived here when you haven’t been worrying about your parents.”
“I still feel selfish.”
Aiden shook his head. “You’re one of the least selfish people I know,” he replied. “You’re allowed to be sad about missing things. It doesn’t take away from how much you care about everything else.”
I held his gaze for several seconds. There was a depth of emotion in the way Aiden was looking at me that was hard to ignore. He was staring at me like he truly believed what he was saying; like he cared about the way I felt and wanted to fix it. The guy staring at me now was the same one who had comforted me yesterday, and I was suddenly aware of just how close we were sitting together in the truck. The irritating tingles I felt whenever we were close had intensified and were rushing across my skin. I found the feel of them unnervingly pleasant though, and I quickly glanced away.
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