Holding On (33 page)

“That’s
fine.
Send
me
a
text
of
where
everyone
wants
to
go,
and
I’ll catch up with you guys there.” I replied quickly, wanting to get off
the phone with her so that I could get
inside.

“Sounds good. Did you want to invite Ethan to come along?” Her voice was sincere as she said his name. There was no hint of
anger.

What?
Did
she
really
just
ask
me
that?
“Um,
sure.
I’ll
see
if
he’s
interested and get back to
you.”

“All right. See you tonight. Later,
girly.”

She
was
so
bubbly
and
overly
eager
to
see
me
and
Ethan.
It
felt like something was going on, and that made me a little
uneasy.
No
time to
think
about
it
right
now.
Ethan
was
waiting
for
me.
I
walked
in
the coffee shop to see him at a table in the corner with our
drinks.

“Who was that?
You
look a little confused.” Ethan asked
sounding concerned.

“That
was
Natalie.
She
invited
us
out
to
dinner
tonight
with
a
bunch of
friends.”
I
said,
the
confusion
in
my
voice
blatantly
obvious.
I
waited
to see his reaction, but he gave none so I continued. “I told her I
would
ask if you wanted to come but that I would meet up with them. Do
you want
to
go
with
us?”
I
knew
my
question
was
asked
with
hesitance.
I wasn’t
sure
what
he
would
say
or
how
he
would
feel
about
going
out with a girl he used to
date.

“Sure. So we need to talk about prom.” He changed the subject so
quickly
I
almost
tried
to
stop
him
until
I
heard
prom
,
and
then
I
was
all ears. “I bought our tickets Friday at lunch. I plan on getting a
limo and was wondering if you wanted to go with a group of my friends or
a group of yours?”

I was staring at him in shock, but my excitement was building
and about to spill
over.
“You
know,”
I start teasingly, “you are supposed
to ask a girl to the prom and not assume you have a
date.”

“Well,
since
you
are
my
girlfriend,
then
I
would
have
to
take
out any other guys who ask you so you are available to go with
me?”

“I
didn’t
say
that
I
would
go
with
anyone
else.
I
said
you
needed to ask me to go with you.” At this point, we both started leaning
across the table toward each
other.
Our words were getting
softer,
and I
know where
this
was
headed.
When
our
foreheads
finally
met
and
I
closed
my eyes, he started to
speak.

“Becca, will you go to the prom with
me?”

I
leaned
over
and
gave
him
a
kiss
right
before
I
nodded
my
head yes and kissed him again, this time with a bit more passion. As I
pulled
away,
I saw that his eyes were filled with lust again, and it amazed
me that
it
only
took
one
kiss
for
him
to
want
me
completely.
The
feeling was
mutual.

Dinner with my friends was amazing. Ethan decided to not join
us, and once I got there, I was glad that he hadn’t. Ben and Morgan
were
there along with Jill,
Lainey,
and Natalie. It would have made things
a little
awkward
to
have
him
by
my
side,
especially
since
Ben
kept
staring
at
me
like
he
was
going
to
eat
me
alive.
That
would
have
caused
a
huge problem if Ethan had seen him.

All
things
aside,
I
stayed
away
from
Ben
completely
and
immersed myself in an intense conversation with Jill about next year’s
yearbook staff
and
who
was
going
to
be
responsible
for
what.
Jill
had
been
chosen as
the
editor-in-chief
for
next
year.
I
was
happy
for
her,
but
a
little jealous
if
I
was
being
honest.
I
was
chosen
as
an
assistant
editor,
as
well
as
Natalie,
so
the
three
of
us
were
going
to
be
running
the
show
next
year.

After dinner, I went home and looked for a prom dress online.
I found a few I wanted to try on and decided that I was going to do
that Tuesday after practice. I had a big match tomorrow, one of the last
for the year, and I needed to get some sleep so that I was at my best.
With
the
season
ending
in
a
few
weeks,
I
wanted
to
make
sure
that
I
gave my best performance, ensuring a spot on the team for next
year.
Every match
counts.

Right before I turned my lights off, I got a text from Brad
saying, “Good luck.” I knew he was talking about my match. I quickly
replied with “Thanks,” and then I was dreaming peacefully for the next
seven hours.

I had
my
last
tennis
match
yesterday,
winning
90
percent
this
year.
I was
still
celebrating
when
I
woke
up
this
morning
until
I
realized what
day
it
was.
Prom
is
tonight.
What
most
people
think
of
as
the biggest
event
of
the
year
was
finally
here
for
me.
I
think
I
was
more nervous than excited. There are so many stereotypical expectations
for tonight that I just feel a little confused as to how
I
wanted things to
go. I
went
with
my
mom
this
morning
to
get
my
hair
and
nails
done.

I
was
waiting
to
put
on
my
dress
until
I’d
hear
Ethan
ring
the
bell.
It was
emerald
green
satin,
floor
-
length,
and
form
fitting.
It
dipped
low enough
in
the
back
that
I
couldn’t
wear
a
bra,
which
was
not
a
huge
deal, considering
my
size,
but
it
also
dipped
low
in
the
front.
I’ve
got
my
ring on, as usual, and I bought a pair of stud earrings to match. They
were
small
and
fake,
of
course,
but
they
matched
my
ring
and
the
dress.
It
all matched Ethan’s eyes. I was twisting my ring around my finger when
I heard the doorbell and jumped out of my
skin.

I
slipped
into
my
dress
and
shoes.
I
double-check
my
hair
and makeup before I slipped my phone in my clutch and walked down
the stairs,
pausing
before
I
went
into
the
living
room.
As
I
turned
the
corner, I
could
see
my
mom,
camera
ready,
waiting
for
me.
The
huge
smile
on her face told me that Ethan looked fabulous even before I saw
him. When
I
did,
the
only
thing
I
could
think
was
that
fabulous
couldn’t
even begin to describe
him.

He’s
wearing
a
black
tux
with
a
vest
that
perfectly
matched
my dress. I never told him what I bought, so I could only assume my
mom did.
He
was
holding
my
corsage
box
in
his
hand
and
was
staring
at
it nervously.
I
realized
that
I
was
smiling
like
a
fool,
and
that
all
my
nerves have dissipated. Just seeing him had calmed
me.

“Hey,”
I
said.
When
he
looked
up,
I
could
see
that
he
was
stumbling for something to
say,
so I continued,
“You
look
great!”

“Wow!
You
look…” Ethan stuttered as he looked me up and
down. I did a little twirl and that threw him off
completely.
“Wow!”

After all the times I had been limited to one-word answers
around him,
I
had
finally
been
able
to
turn
the
tables.
Just
to
push
the
point home,
I
twirled
around
one
more
time
before
I
made
my
way
over
to him.

“Thanks,” I said trying to hide my mischievous
smile.

He just nodded his head and opened the box of my corsage. As
he slipped it on my wrist, I realize that it too matched my dress
perfectly. Did they have to dye the leaves to make it match or
something?

We
posed for about a hundred pictures, inside and outside, for
my mom
before
we
headed
out
front.
In
true
Ethan
form,
he
had
actually rented a limo.
We
had decided to ride with his friends to the prom
and hang
out
with
mine
afterward.
I
was
still
a
little
leery
about
being
in
the same
room
with
Ethan
and
Natalie,
but
I
figured
she
would
be
a
bit
nicer with alcohol in
her.

The first thing I noticed when we stepped inside was exactly
how beautiful the ballroom was. It really made me feel like we were
“Under the
Stars,”
which
was
this
year’s
theme
apparently.
It
was
decorated
like an
outside
park,
and
the
entire
ceiling
was
glowing
with
stars
laid
out
in the
form
of
constellations.
It
reminded
me
a
little
of
how
the
sky
looked the first time I went out with Ethan. It felt
romantic.

We
danced for hours, not an inch of space between us. I could
feel every
muscle
in
his
back
as
we
moved,
and
for
a
minute,
as
I
slid
my hand
up
to
the
back
of
his
neck
and
pulled
him
in
for
a
kiss,
I
forgot
we
weren’t the only two people in the
room.

He pulled away and grabbed my hand.
We
had been dancing for
a while,
and
I
was
hoping
that
we
were
going
get
a
drink,
but
we
were
not. He
pulled
me
past
our
table,
only
pausing
a
brief
step
to
grab
my
clutch.
We
kept
right
on
going
until
we
were
outside
and
stepping
into
our
limo. I
slid
over
the
seat
to
make
room
for
him,
but
as
soon
as
the
door
closed, he was pulling me back to him. As his hands moved up my bare back,
I closed
my
eyes,
and
he
rested
his
forehead
on
mine.
He
asked
the
driver to
take
us
to
his
house,
and
we
were
off.
When
I
opened
my
eyes
again, he leaned in and kissed
me.

Ethan’s house was only ten minutes
away,
but by the time we
were there, I was straddling him, and we were in a full on make out
session
with the driver in clear
view.
Ethan had forgotten to close the
privacy
window.
This was our stop. When we got out, Ethan tipped the
driver since
we
wouldn’t
be
needing
him
for
the
rest
of
the
night
and
asked
him to head back to pick up his
friends.

He slipped his fingers in between mine and pulled me to him.
He only
kissed
me
once
before
he
helped
me
into
his
car,
and
we
were
driving
to
my
house.
The
drive
felt
like
it
took
forever.
I
wasn’t
sure
why
I was nervous or what I thought was about to happen, but my
stomach
had butterflies attacking
it.

My
mom
was
gone
for
work,
and
my
sister
was
staying
at
a
friend’s tonight,
so
it
was
dark
when
we
arrived.
I
turned
on
every
light
as
I made my way to my bedroom to change. Ethan got us a couple
bottles of water and was only a few steps behind me. I could feel his eyes
on me
from
the
doorway
as
I
stepped
out
of
my
dress.
I
didn’t
turn
around, but I knew he was there. Before I knew what was happening Ethan
was wrapping his arms around my
waist.