Then and Now: Always yours

Chapter Fourteen

Alice - Then

I stood in front of the mirror surveying my reflection as I brushed my hands down the soft blush pink silk of my dress. I still can't believe my mum bought it for me. I'd gone on about it so much over the past month but she always seemed so disinterested and suggested that I wear something I already had. She didn't see why I needed a new dress to wear to a school dance or why a fifteen year old girl needed to spend that much money on a dress in the first place. I smiled to myself at the realisation that she was saying all of those things to throw me off guard and that she in fact planned to buy it and lay it out on my bed as a surprise on the night of the dance.
My phone buzzed and I snatched it up from my nightstand. It was Jackson.

Can't wait to see you, hope you don't spend all night getting ready!

I smiled at his message, I checked my watch and I still had another ten minutes until Joe arrived to pick me up. Joe was my date for the dance. I only knew him from school but he seemed nice enough and when he'd asked me to be his date tonight I felt a slight rush of butterflies in my stomach that a boy had actually seen me as dateable. I guess hanging out with Jackson all the time might have been intimidating for some guys. I sat on my bed and wrote out a reply to Jackson, smiling as I typed.

All ready and waiting for my knight in shining armour to show up. We'll see you at the dance x

I throw my phone in my bag and made my way downstairs to wait for Joe. Mum had picked up a late shift at work this evening so she wasn't around, although I'd promised to get a picture of me in my dress. The sound of a car outside drew my attention and I raced over to the window but it was just the neighbours opposite. I glanced at my watch again, it was still a few minutes before he was due to pick me up, I decided to sit on the sofa and wait for him. Twenty minutes later and I was still sat waiting. Where was he? Had something happened to him? I grabbed my phone from my bag. No messages or missed calls. Maybe he was stuck in traffic? He said his dad was driving us so surely he would of had chance to drop me a text to say he'd be late? I quickly wrote out a text

Hey Joe, just checking what time you're picking me up?

I didn't want to sound too desperate but I was beginning to feel anxious. I sat looking at the screen waiting for those three little dots to appear but they never did. As reality started to set in I felt the tears begin to flow. How could someone be so cruel. A moment of hope filled me when my phone suddenly buzzed with an incoming text, it was Jackson.

Hey where are you, I've just seen Joe?

I read the words on the screen over and over before turning my phone off and making my way back up to my room. I guess it had all been one big joke to him, he probably never wanted to go with me in the first place. I sobbed to myself as I led on the bed. I was utterly humiliated.