"Oh shit."
It's a rare occurrence that Vylad swears. Often not, he's the one who is scolding me for having the mouth of a middle aged man. My father scolds me alongside it, and Laurance and Cadenza simply dot eyelashes.
"Why shit?" Kandi asks.
Vylad looks over towards her as if to scold for repeating the word he just uttered, but he instead gives me a small stack of three books.
"Would you mind taking these to the library? They're due today, and I forgot one in my locker. This is my only free period."
I nod my head and turn on my heels. Vylad starts in the direction of his locker, and I look down at the books in my hands. Kandi is rambling about Irene knows what, but it all sounds like it's underwater.
When I have to return a book, I normally flip through the pages to make sure I have taken out any mysterious bookmark that I put in. I'm used to slipping in a paper corner or a random sticky note I ripped from a stack. While Vylad is one to use an actual bookmark, and to check his own book, it doesn't stop me from doing the same for him.
"–so I ended up buying the jeans–are you even listening?"
I look over at Kandi. Clearly, I wasn't, but I still act like I was. "Something about Gene. What about him?"
"He went into prostitution," she says, rolling her eyes. "See? You weren't listening to me."
"Sorry, it's just–" Something slips from one of Vylad's book and onto the floor. Kandi and I share a look, and she motions to retrieve the fallen object. Her lips twitch when I oblige. "A bookmark."
I can tell it's homemade. I've made homemade bookmarks myself. Though, I'm partial to forgetting where I've placed them inside my room and resorting back to dog-earring a page or finding a random stray paper. I used my student ID once in junior year, and I only recently found it when I opened that book two months ago.
I flip the bookmark over to see Homecoming? written in a fine, cursive, hand. I turn to Kandi's smirking face.
"I won't go with you," I tell her. "But I'll go with him."
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
I kept it simple this year. I've let my hair down in curls, and my little tiara sits on top. My makeup is simple with a little bit of glitter on my eyelids, jewelry silver and diamond.
Like the dress I wore to dinner, I've gone with the idea of a tight dress. It's a navy blue tight dress with a corset-like top that's strapped in the back. My neckline is square and falls into sheer loose sleeves cuffed at the wrist. My skirt is tight and wrapped. I've finished it off with silver, sparkly, open toed heels.
"It's screaming Midnights."
"I'm screaming don't compare me to a Taylor Swift album," I say. I glance over Kandi before smirking to myself. "You're the one wearing maroon."
"Touché."
It's like her to be the opposite from me. Tanned skin, gold versus silver, warm colors versus cold. Leave it up to Kandi to be a polar opposite.
I nod my head, feeling the back of my heel sink down into the grass. I lift it up, rolling my eyes at the dirt scattered across the bottom.
Laurance, Cadenza, and Garroth came home for homecoming. Cadenza always loved the idea of dressing up, and Laurance and Garroth wanted to see their little siblings off on their last homecoming.
Garroth brought a girl with him, introducing her his family as someone he has "taken a fancy to." I won't lie that it feels strange to be going to a dance that isn't with him. He's been my date for the past two years to every event. He matched me every time. Now he's in a pair of jeans and a Phoenix Drop University sweatshirt with some blonde in arm while I'm dressed up.
The two of us lock eyes when I look up from my shoe. I'm unsure if I should smile or not, but it doesn't matter when Vylad walks over to me and has me wrap my arm around his. Garroth gives me a strange look before looking back at the girl next to him.
"Ignore him. He's been weird since he got back," Vylad says, walking us in the opposite direction from Garroth. I hear a few camera snaps here and there behind us. "I'm thankful you're nosey and looked through my books."
"Don't call me nosey. I could've left it in the book and let you return them as is," I joke.
"Yeah, and then I'd be taking the librarian to homecoming because of that bookmark," Vylad responds, glancing over at me. "Highlight of my senior year right there. Zane wouldn't let me live it down."
"Yet the two years of chasing after Gene and his stupid friends weren't depressing on its own," I say. "Thanks for asking, by the way. I was going to go solo, but I'm glad I'm not."
The corner of his lips twist up into a smile. "We should get back to the others. Mom will begin to worry about time soon."
