Love, Anonymous

Chapter Thirty Seven

Chapter Thirty Seven

Ever since I got the news that Hayden is going to prom with someone else, my desire to actually go to prom completely diminished. Cole and Chloe will be all over one another, Logan and Vicky won't be able to stay apart from one another for more than maybe two seconds, and Hayden will have his date.

Which will leave me alone.

So I decided not to go. Chloe begged me multiple times, but it didn't work. No part of me wants to sit and watch Hayden dance with another girl.

Instead, I'm sitting on my bed curled up with covers around me watching movies on my laptop. Angel and Bruce are snuggled on either side of me, snoozing their day away.

Outside, thunder and lightening shake the sky and the rain is so loud I have to turn my laptop sound to the highest setting.

"That must have sucked for prom pictures," I mutter to myself.

The fact that it's raining makes me feel a little better about not going to my senior prom. I would rather be sitting here with no makeup in my dad's baggy shirt than to be caked with makeup and stuck in a tight dress with rain pouring around me as I force smiles for pictures.

I glance at the clock and see that it's 9:30, which means prom has been going on for two hours now. I can practically picture how much fun Logan and Chloe must be having, and it makes me smile but it also makes my chest ache a little bit.

I kind of regret missing my senior prom.

Suddenly, over the sound of the thunder, rain, and my laptop, I hear knocking on my front door downstairs. I groan and throw the covers off of my body, covering up Bruce in the process. He grunts and lifts his head only for it to be stuck under the comforter and flails about until he's out from under them and able to peek at me.

"Sorry Bruce," I laugh, kissing his head.

More knocking at my door makes me rush down the steps faster, yelling out an 'I'm coming' so that I don't get a headache from the pounding.

I reach the front door and dart my arm out to quickly open it up, and see the reason I stayed home standing on my front porch.

Hayden is standing in front of me; soaking wet in his tuxedo with the tie halfway undone. His pants are disheveled and wrinkled, and his suit jacket is completely ruined.

"Hayden?" I ask, mouth wide open from pure shock. "What are you doing here?"

He stares at me as rain drips down from his hair and slides down his face. "You weren't at prom," he says over the rain.

I shake my head and look in the driveway for his car, but I can't find it anywhere and I look back at him. "Did you run all the way here?"

He ignores my question, "Why didn't you go?"

I blink at him and search for an answer. Do I lie? Do I tell the truth? Do I shut the door and act like this is all a dream?

"I couldn't go and see you with someone else."

Hayden searches my eyes for a few seconds, the rain coming down harder as it creates a waterfall of sorts down the cover on my front porch. A boom of thunder shakes the house and I jump slightly, but I don't break eye contact with Hayden who wasn't affected by it at all.

He reaches into his pockets and pulls out a soaking wet letter. "I found this in your locker." It practically falls apart in his hands and he looks down at the mush of paper, "It got a little wet."

Even with the rain damage I can still see the white envelope with the perfect heart drawn onto the seal. Suddenly my heart starts pounding harder in my chest, so prominent I can feel it in my throat. How long has it been since I've gotten a letter?