Sophie
“This doesn’t feel real,”I mumbled, staring at my reflection in the full-length mirror of my bedroom.
I pressed my shaking hands against my abdomen, where butterflies were partying. I focused on feeling the velvet of my wrap dress against my fingers and took a deep breath in and out.
Do it scared,I pictured Pace whispering in my ear.
“You look incredible,” Claire said as she patted my shoulder tenderly but quickly.
She’d offered to come over today so we could get ready together, and it still boggled my mind that I had a new friend who wanted to hang out with me.
“That gown suits your coloring perfectly,” Grandma El added. “You’re like an old Hollywood starlet. Just beautiful.” She wasn’t one for emotion, but she held my gaze in the mirror, and if Claire wasn’t here, I suspected she’d say she was proud of me.
But I felt it in her gaze. I felt proud of me too.
I couldn’t believe this was finally happening; we were already to the night of the Winter Ball. Every once in a while, a massivewave of anxiety threatened to knock me down and keep me home as I got ready with Claire. But every time it felt like I would pass out from nerves, I just checked in with my anxiety, the emotionally needy friend, and told her to get her shoes on. And I kept moving.
As Pace and Levi waited downstairs, Grandma El buzzed between us like a pollinating bee, bringing drinks and words of encouragement. Claire chatted happily about the complex engineering involved in the world’s only computer chip manufacturing machine, or something like that. It was among a hundred other facts, and I listened contentedly, happy not to feel any hint of awkwardness with her, as we did our hair and makeup. I even managed to talk a little because being around her felt almost as easy as being around Pace. She was earnest and authentic, and even though I had a hard time following her rapid-fire subject changes and incomplete sentences, I loved every second of it. I never felt judged by her.
Unfortunately, neither Claire nor I was an expert in all things beauty, but we were efficient enough at internet searches and found the perfect tutorial so that in just a few short hours, we were ready to go. Now we both stood in front of the mirror, examining our handiwork.
She wore a beautiful floor-length satin gown in a rich eggplant, and I was in a black velvet wrap dress with a plunging neckline that hugged and displayed every curve. I wondered what Pace would think of how my breasts looked and flushed.
“Ready?” Claire asked.
I shook my head no, but said, “Yes.”
Claire laughed, and we headed for the door.
Grandma El went down before us and made a loud, cheesy announcement, so the guys were waiting at the base of the stairs as we descended.
I was distantly aware of Levi grumbling something about Claire, but one hundred percent of my focus was on Pace and clocking every single reaction as his gaze locked on me. His throat moved on a swallow. His eyes were wide and flicked from my face to my hair to my body, lingered on my breasts—called that—and moved back to my face. He opened and closed his mouth, but nothing came out. I glanced down to make sure I didn’t fall in these heels I wasn’t used to, and when I looked up again, he had composed himself. Unfortunately. I had liked seeing him dumbstruck.
Levi gently elbowed him, and he finally moved into action, stepping forward to meet me at the base of the stairs. He looped my arm through his, bending to softly brush a kiss along my cheek. “You look incredible.”
I lifted my chin and held his eyes. “I feel incredible. Transformed.”
“Nah. Now you see what I do every time I look at you,” he said, and the earnestness in his gaze made my heart turn over in my chest.
Pace looked gorgeous too, and I told him as much. He always did, but tonight he wore a black suit that complemented his supreme figure and matched my gown. With every new outfit, I was amazed at what he could make my new favorite look.
The four of us headed out with great fanfare from Grandma El.
Just before we were out of earshot, she shouted something like, “Make fun choices.”
“Just keep walking and ignore her,” I mumbled, pulling Pace along faster.
“Youth is wasted on the young,” she grumbled.
It was a short but tense ride to the community center, with my nerves suddenly firing up.I couldn’t do this. Who did I think I was?
I breathed slowly in and out, fists clenched in my lap. Pace and I were in the back seat. I felt him studying my face, and when I looked at him and caught his stare, he flustered his way through an apology.
“You’re so beautiful, I can’t stop staring,” he confessed.
Tension melted from my shoulders as I reminded myself that I wasn’t alone.
“I don’t mind,” I said, and our hands found each other on the seat between us.
