FIRST KISS (High School Romance - FYI - In need of redrafting/rewrites)

Chapter Twenty-One

That weekend Ali took me to the mall. She drove (mom's car) and I sat up front with her, whilst Olivia and Anna sat in the back.

I had given Ali strict instructions not to let Olivia or Anna know what was going on; for all they knew Luke was my date, and we were going as friends.

I had tried desperately hard not to even mention Bryce to Anna, because she was so receptive to that kind of gossip that she would have latched on immediately had I so much as mentioned his name.

But of course I could do nothing but think of him. I reflected on times we spent together, and when I thought back on certain moments they seemed imbued with new meaning, as though the whole time Bryce had been into me and I hadn't even noticed.

A few months ago, back in the summer, we had been over at Luke's for a pool party and he had lifted me from a lounger, in my bikini, and jumped in the water with me. I guess that in itself wasn't that weird, because he'd done it a lot of times before, but when we had come up for air I had splashed him and instead of splashing back he had put his hands on my bare waist beneath the surface of the water so no one could see.

I hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but now it seemed to mean more than it did then. And the way his eyes had bored into mine as his hands had touched my skin...it only lasted a moment before I wriggled free and splashed him again, his eyes shining with mischief as he dived under and swam between my legs...

There was no point thinking of it now. It was months ago, and a lot had changed. He was with Taylor, and he seemed pretty keen on her.

Not that keen though.

Not so keen that he hadn't followed me back stage; that he hadn't reached out and touched me and looked at me as though there was nothing more he wanted in the entire world...

Or was I imagining it? If he really did like me, why didn't he break up with Taylor, come clean, and ask me out?

Because it was never that easy, or that simple.

The first store we tried was an independent that had really expensive, hand-made dresses.

"I can't afford one of these, Ali," I pleaded, as she insisted I tried several on.

"I'll pay for it. Dresses are really important."

"She's right; what do you think of this?" Anna was twirling in a cream satin dress with pearls and diamanté sewn all over it.

"You look like you're getting married," I quipped.

"Oh" - she stopped twirling and looked down at the dress - "well that's no good."

She scuttled back into the changing room and Olivia followed her to help her unzip the dress. Meanwhile I wore a black dress with a halterneck, that clung to my breasts and hips.

"It's a lot like the red one you leant me," I said.

"Mmm. Yeh, maybe. We can keep it in mind if we don't find something else," Ali mused, as she herself tried on a yellow dress that complemented her hair and tanned skin. She wasn't even going to the dance; she was just trying on the dresses for fun.

Finally, after several hours of this behaviour, I found one: it was turquoise and sequinned all over, hanging to just above my knees. It was gorgeous, and I knew Bryce would love it.

Not that I was buying the dress for him.

Of course not.

The others had gone on to reserve us a table in the food hall for lunch whilst I paid for the dress; it was on sale so it was a bargain (ish. Well , it still exceeded my budget, but Ali had leant me some money to make up the difference. But I loved it, and once I'd tried it on I knew there was no other option).