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Staring at the floor length mirror in my bedroom, I smoothed down the fabric of my dress—well if you could call it that at the moment.
Right then, all I was wearing was a beautifully embellished black corset type top with deep, dark crimson rose decorated lace over the top. There were no straps, but the damn thing was so tight there was no way in hell anything was falling or popping out. On the bottom where one would usually find a stunning silk or chiffon skirt, I was wearing a pair of leather short shorts, with the same rose lace in a small strip down the side to match the top half.
There was a good reason.
My mom had finally said yes to Uncle Leo’s offer to have a couple of the boys drive Emma and me to the prom on the back of their bikes—it was kind of a big deal around here, and most of the town came to watch everyone show up and walk inside. There were prizes for the most creative transport, and some kids went up and over the top.
Our rides wouldn’t be all that creative, but I knew they would draw attention given he also promised to have the entire club with the boys in their colors and leathers escort us.
Hence, the outfit.
Uncle Leo wasn’t letting me get on the back of anyone’s motorcycle with a dress that had the chance of getting caught in the moving parts, so we’d made a compromise when I’d found Selina Gomez in an outfit like this online with a sheer black lace floor length skirt over the top.
Mom and I made a mad dash to every local shop until we found one, so when I arrived at the prom, it would simply slip on over the top, and bam, evening gown—well, kind of.
It wasn’t anything too extravagant, but I truly didn’t care to be honest. I wasn’t going to try and impress anyone. To be honest, I hadn’t wanted to go at all. I just didn’t care much for these sort of things, but this was my senior year after thing, and after this, I’d be done with high school forever. High school hadn’t been my idea of fun. Actually, the last year or so had been basically hell. Nobody wanted to go through school with few friends, being the butt of the joke, knowing it wasn’t so much people didn’t like me, but that I just wasn’t worth standing up and fighting for.
This was my last stand in a way.
This was where I got to walk back in there and say, ‘Fuck you, you didn’t break me.’
And I got to do it with Ham beside me.
At least, I hoped. I still hadn’t heard from him. All I knew was that Uncle Leo said he had to go away for a couple of days. He wasn’t answering any of my texts, and when I tried to call, his phone was simply turned off. I was trying to let the thought not ruin my mind, especially given that Uncle Leo wouldn’t give me any other details.
A deep, earth shaking rumble made me stand a little taller and finally brought a smile to my face. It grew stronger and louder as I grabbed red pumps and my lace skirt, and raced out of my bedroom door, taking two steps at a time to the bottom where Mom was already standing waiting for me. She smiled whimsically as her eyes moved over my revealing outfit showing off my long, toned legs which were part great genes and part results of a mid-teenage years freak out.
I’d started doing yoga and Pilates in my bedroom when I’d realized I loved food far too much, and exercised never, and like every typical teenager, I started to compare my body to other girls in my class. Luckily, I really loved to do both and could hide away where no one could see me while I did them. So I tried to do at least one a day, and so far, they’d worked well to make my body look pretty damn good, even if I did say so myself.
“You look beautiful,” Mom gushed as I sat on the staircase and slipped my feet into my shoes hearing the symphony of motorcycles grow closer and closer. My stomach twisted nervously. Ham promised he’d make it back in time, but I hadn’t heard from him for days, not since he’d just up and caught a plane to Las Vegas to see his brother. I couldn’t be angry about it, even though after everything my mom and I talked about, it would have been nice to sit down and have someone as a sounding board to help me process it all.
The house shook as all the bikes pulled up outside at the curb. It was kind of intense but also filled me with pride. These were my family. They were the people who had my back through everything and loved me unconditionally. I would never be ashamed of them, even though I knew people were going to look at me sideways when I showed up to prom with what they look at as a gang of criminals.
Mom took my hands and pulled me to my feet handing me an embellished purse with a thick silver chain. She took my skirt and gently tucked it inside with my cell phone, before raising it over my head, so the chain ran over my shoulder and across my body. “Bags like this are good for when you’re riding,” she commented, her fingers running down the chain, her eyes somewhat lost.
“So now you’re giving me tips about being on the back of a bike?” I asked with a sharp laugh.
Her eyes came to mine and narrowed. “I’m not stupid, Meyah, I get the attraction. I know the kind of rush it gives you.”
I couldn’t help but smile even though I knew she was trying to hold a hard gaze and pretend like that wasn’t who she was anymore. “You know, I’m sure if you asked, Uncle Leo would—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence,” she warned, pursing her lips and placing her hand on the small of my back directing me out the front door and onto the porch.
My eyes lit up, and I grinned out at the street where at least fifteen bikes were lined up at the curb—the chrome sparkling in the street lights. The sun was still casting a hazy hue across the horizon, an orange glow encasing the town in the distance.
I took a deep breath taking one step at a time down off the porch, my hand gripping the rail, my eyes searching the group of riders for that one person who I was craving to feel wrapped around me, with his voice in my ear reminding me I could do this.
Emma climbed off the back of Eagle’s bike wearing an outfit that matched mine almost exactly, except for hers was blue. She came up the path toward me, and when no one else followed, my gut sank, and all I wanted to do was turn around and walk back inside.
Emma raced forward in her heels reaching out to grab my arm before I could back away. “Don’t!” she scolded under her breath. “We are going to do this, and we’re going to have an amazing time.”
Emma wasn’t exactly the most confident girl around after the hell she’d been put through. There were still times where I would catch her mind going back there to the painful memories taking over the beautiful, fun, and compassionate young woman I’d come to call my best friend. She knew what it was like to be scared. To prefer to sit in a quiet corner on her own as opposed to walking a corridor filled with people.
Who knew that it would have taken two introverts to finally come together and transform into two gorgeous, confident women?
Uncle Leo came up behind Emma with a quirk in the corner of his mouth. “I’m beginning to regret agreeing to this,” he drawled, shaking his head. “You do look so damn grown up.”
“You mean she looks like an amazing young woman ready to take on the world,” Skylar added, stepping around my uncle and pulling Emma and me into her body.
