Page 2 of Finding My Charming

I followed her into the closet, which was about the size of my bedroom and housed all of her clothes separated by season, color, and style. The majority of the articles still had tags.

Ari was a woman on a mission. She didn’t bother browsing her personal collection but stalked directly to her summer dresses. She selected a navy one with a large floral print. It was sleeveless and looked shorter than anything I’d normally wear.

I began shaking my head, but she cut me off.

“Elle, it’ll go almost to your knees, and it has a high neckline. It’s practically a muumuu.”

I snorted but accepted the hanger.

“It’s either that dress or this one.” She held up a flowy, turquoise dress that looked like it would cover about the same as the floral option.

I reached for it when she swung it around. The back was missing. Gone. Nothing was there. I picked at the straps of the halter top and shook my head. “No way!”

“That’s what I thought. Now change so we can get downstairs. The party started two hours ago, and I should probably make sure nothing’s been destroyed.”

I slipped into the dress and walked to the mirror. She’d done it again. The waves she made in my hair go perfectly with the dress. I looked cute, maybe even pretty.

When I turned to check Ari’s progress, my little boost of confidence dwindled. She looked like a supermodel. Her tanned legs went on for days in that dress, and when she turned, it revealed her back and highlighted her gorgeous long hair.

“Oh, Elle! You look amazing! I knew that dress would look great on you.”

“Thanks. You too.”

I sighed and slipped into a pair of my own strappy sandals. As jealous as I was of her sometimes, I knew I had no reason to be. She had the biggest heart and made it a point to shower me and our friends with compliments.

“Ready?” Ari met my gaze as she tugged on my hand and hurried us down the stairs toward the pounding music and throngs of people.

Chapter 2

ari and i made our rounds, waving and pretending to remember people who greeted us. She’d thrown so many parties here that people knew her by name and usually recognized me, but even combined we could only remember a few of the regulars — besides, of course, the kids from our school.

We were pulled onto the makeshift dance floor in her dining room, but she lasted less than one full song before a guy reached through and pulled her away. He was cute, and she gave me a wink, so I waved and continued dancing with some people I knew from student council.

All things considered, it wasn’t a terrible way to spend my eighteenth birthday.

I’d refused to let Ari throw me a party and forbade her to tell anyone, so she’d gotten sneaky and planned a graduation party. She promised no cake or balloons, just our friends and a few hundred others getting together to celebrate being done with high school.

Shouting from the next room got my attention, so I dipped and weaved a path out of the crowd and headed for the kitchen. People usually gathered there, and we’d never had a problem with fights, but I wanted to make sure that streak wasn’t broken tonight.

It was a tight squeeze through the hallway. It normally took less than ten steps to get from the dining room to the kitchen, but I was being jostled so much that for every one step forward I took, I was instantly pushed back two more. I was getting ready to start using my elbows to shove when a force threw me forward. Luckily, the back of the guy in front of me prevented me from face-planting. I leaned back and cringed. He might have saved me, but he was sickeningly sweaty.

I shook it off and felt a hand grasp my shoulder and tug me in an effort to turn me around. When I gave in, I was facing a tall, gawky boy wearing a dark green hat.

“I’m so sorry! I got shoved, then I knocked into you. Are you okay?”

I nodded as he smiled and turned back to his friends. One locked eyes with me for a moment before blinking and turning around. I clenched my jaw. I was going to make it through this crowd if it was the last thing I did.

Suddenly, the dam seemed to burst, and people flowed past the kitchen and out to the backyard. I stood frozen for a second, confused at the sudden purge. It was like the whole party realized at the same moment that more room existed, and it spread and flushed out.

Someone began laughing, and I turned to see a tall brown-haired guy leaning against the wall. The guy next to him was talking, but he seemed to be only focusing on me.

“That was weird, right?” He tilted his head in the direction of where the crowds had left.

“Right.” I shook my head and laughed as I walked past him and finally entered the kitchen. I didn’t see anyone fighting, and it didn’t seem like anyone was even being that loud. I scanned their faces looking for anyone familiar, but as usual, I didn’t recognize a single person.

When I turned to leave, someone grabbed my elbow. I stared down at the hand then slowly let my eyes wander up a well-defined arm to an insanely handsome face. When my eyes met his, I was stunned. They were gray. I’d always read about striking men with dashing eyes the color of a dark storm, but I’d never seen that in person. I could feel myself swooning.

“Hey, were you looking for someone?”