Half a Heart

1. Taylen Elouise

Like every other person, I was always told not to play with fire. Fire is hot, and you will get burned. I have never been one that you could tell what to do or what not to do. Fire is fun. It is interesting, and if you're careful, you can avoid the burn.

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I left the school to go home and get ready. I was ready to get an official license so I could drive legally, but it's not hurting anybody for me to be out on the road. Daddy and Carter weren't home when I got there. Carter had gone over to his girlfriend's, and then they were going out to dinner. Dad was who knows where. I went upstairs and took a quick shower, without washing my hair. I stepped out and put on my bra and panties. Sitting down in front of my vanity, I studied the pictures of Peter and me that I has put on the mirror. There was one of us at the pumpkin patch, one from Halloween, and a candid one Eliza took from their porch when we danced in the rain. Smiling, I switched my curling iron on and grabbed my special occasion eye shadow pallet out of the set of drawers beside the vanity. I started my makeup, doing the eyeshadow and eyeliner first. I did a silver eyeshadow with black eyeliner. Once that was finished, I did the normal order of my makeup: foundation, concealer, setting powder, blush, highlighter, bronzer, lipstick, and finally mascara.

I curled my hair and put it in a half-up-half-down hairstyle. Using the clip Peter got me, I clipped it in place. Peter was supposed to arrive at 7 and it was 6:50. It was time to put my dress on. It was indigo, and it almost went down to my knee. It had a silver belt that added to the classy look. I was too clumsy to wear super high heels, but I had some sparkly silver shoes with a two-inch heel that I paired with the outfit. I had diamond earrings I put in the second hole of my ear and some dangly diamonds in the first hole. I wore the necklace Leena got me for Christmas and a bracelet Carter bought me for my birthday.

Peter, ever punctual, showed up at 7 on the dot. His eyes widened as I walked down my stairs, and he couldn't stop staring. It made me feel good. He looked really great too. I love him in jeans and blue was a good color on him. I walked over to Peter, and he put his arms around my waist. He lifted me and spun us in a circle.

"You look absolutely gorgeous," he whispered as he put me down on the ground. He kissed my cheek, making my smile grow even bigger.

"You're looking pretty handsome yourself," I told him. I meant it too.

Dad, who had come home some time while I was getting ready, made us pose for pictures before we left. I was ever grateful that he approved of my choice of boyfriend. I wish I could say the same about Carter, but maybe he'll come around soon. Once we got back to the gym, I put Peter attending the door, and I busied myself with finishing touches and getting the music and lights turned on. Once the party was in full swing, I met up with Peter again. We danced some and enjoyed each other's company. I enjoyed talking to him. At first, it was hard to keep up with him because he talked faster than I did, and it was not easy to stay the pace. As he has been here longer, he's slowed down, and I could listen to him talk about nonsense for hours and never get annoyed. Peter and I gravitated toward Mallory and Gage. Mallory and I were becoming good friends, and she shared my interest in reading. We liked to talk about books, and we were currently reading the book called "When". It was a good book, and we were discussing what we had liked so far. Peter and Gage left us to go get more drinks, and we didn't see them for a while. I assumed they had started talking to one of their other friends and got caught up. Mallory and I had started talking about some of the worst books we've read when Auston came up to me.

"Have you seen Peter?" he asked me.

"Not in a while, why?" I responded. I was awkward around him because I knew he was crushing on me hard. It was a little uncomfortable and technically illegal. He's almost 19 and I'm 15. No thanks.