Dear Dahlia // B1

[31]

Tyler parks in Carrie's driveway after getting through the gate. The house is packed. Almost everyone from the dance has made their way here. I get out of the vehicle and walk toward the house.

"Dahlia," Tyler grabs my hand, stopping me. He reaches up and pulls the clip out that was holding my hair back. I can feel my face turn pink.

Is this a movie? Is what I want to say, but I can't force it out.

"That's better," he smiles, brushing my hair over my shoulder.

"Can we go inside now dork?" I laugh.

Tyler smiles before opening the door for me. I step inside and the thud of bass pounds under my feet.

"Tyler!" One of the kids holds his arms out wide. Tyler tips his head to him and they do some sort of handshake. "Oh," he looks at me. "Julie, what are you doing here?"

"No, Brandon," Tyler laughs. "This is Dahlia," he wraps his arm around me before continuing. "Julie's sister."

"Ah," Brandon says. "Sorry."

I nod before Brandon turns back to Tyler.

"Dude, Carrie's dad just got i need soundproof studio put in," he says. "You gotta see this."

Tyler looks down at me and I tilt my head to Brad, "Go, I'll find something to do."

He smiles and leans down to me. He places a kiss on the top of my head before bounding toward Brandon. I feel my face heat up and my body grow stiff.

It was just a kiss on the head. Chill.

I take a deep breath and walk around the house. After making a few laps, I find my way upstairs. I ask a few people if they've seen Carrie, but all of them just shake their heads.

Eventually I find my way to a dark room. I push the door open and poke my head in. "Knock, knock?"

No one answers. I look back out into the hallway before stepping into the room and closing the door behind me. I lean against it and take a deep breath.

"Hi there," someone says in the dark.

"Who's there?" I ask, feeling my heart skip. I quickly feel along the wall for a light switch.

"Relax, Dahl," the voice laughs.

"Luke?" I ask, slowing down my search for the light switch.

They laugh again. My fingers find a small knob sticking out of the wall and push it. Light fills the room and I blink a few times, waiting for my eyes to focus.

"Luke," I sigh, putting my hand over my chest. "You scared me. You shouldn't be here."

"Wow," Luke puts his hands over his chest. "You're not even gonna say hello?"

"Hello," I force a smile. "But what are you doing here?"

"It's a party, right?" He asks rhetorically.

"You're a ghost," I clap my hands together. "It's not like you can necessarily 'party.'"

"Well, you can't seem to have a good time without me," Luke smiles.

"Actually, I was having a great time at the dance until Julie was devastated because you didn't show up," I cross my arms over my chest before looking at the ground. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

"You're right," he looks down at his feet and shoves his hands in his back pockets. "There's -uh- actually something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it, Luke?" I ask, uncrossing my arms.