Bombshells ~ Complete

Chapter Twenty-One: Dresses and Dates

Xavier was staring at Kas, who stopped sobbing purely out of shock. My arms were still around her shoulders, holding her close. He was just staring at the both of us, not even moving. Kas's grip on my arms tightened. 

"What the hell?" Gabriel asked, standing behind his triplet. 

Kas and I stayed silent, not knowing what to say or do to make the problem go away. Gabriel raised his eyebrows, obviously waiting for one of us to answer. There was no way to make Xavier and Gabriel keep our dirty little secret. 

Kade and Xavier were the most protective out of all the boys, but that didn't mean all the other boys weren't protective. Especially when it came to little girls they cared about. Which, all in all, included Kas, Peggy, and me. 

"Ariel, what exactly is going on?" Xavier growled. I almost flinched at the quiet fury in his voice. It reminded me of all those times father nearly killed me. 

Kas looked at me with fear pooling in her eyes. Her father might have been a drunk, but he was only a drunk at his house. When he was working, he was a highly valued Detective. So, if anyone tried to press charges against him, they would be laughed off and Kas's father would immediately be told. 

"Um, I don't think right now is the best time to talk about all of this. It's time to get dressed and ready. We'll talk after." I whispered, trying to do anything but talk more about child abuse. It was not one of my favorite subjects, for obvious reasons. 

"If we don't, the first person I'll start talking to is mom, and then the Police Chief." Xavier snapped, then stormed from the room. Kas and I slumped back onto the bed, sighing in relief that we had avoided the topic for the time being. 

Now all we had to do was come up with a convincing lie. 

"What now?" Kas asked. I pushed myself off of the floor and gave a heavy sigh. We had to do something to take our minds off of what just happened, and since there was a wedding we needed to prepare for, I figured that we needed to do the obvious. 

"Take a shower, get dressed, put on some makeup, get our hair done, and walk around like everything's normal. Like we always do." I told her sternly. She nodded once. Her face was suddenly transformed into the Kas that everyone else knew. The always happy, always bright Kas who had nothing to worry about except what boy was going to ask her out that week. 

She always ended up turning them down, of course. 

"We are running behind." Kas said with a slight sniffle. I then threw a towel in her direction, pointed her towards a bathroom that was empty, and got started on my shower. One shower, lots of shaving, and one dry head later, I was slipping into my dress. 

Kas put a towel around my shoulders, then made me sit down in front of a mirror. While she worked her magic, we talked about a convincing story that would explain why we were talking about what we were talking about. We kept everything very vague, so that if Xavier or Gabriel tried to eavesdrop they wouldn't understand what was going on. 

Kas was wearing the dress Lila bought her. It was a baby blue dress, made of silk. It hugged her body until the waist, when it poofed out a little. It went all the way down to her ankles. It was strapless, but stunning. Kas had curled her hair, but put it back in a bun. She only left a few curled strands out to frame her face. She had put on silver makeup to emphasis her blue eyes. Her silver, strappy heels were about four inches, and made her much taller than I was. 

"Okay, you can look." Kas said, turning me around so I could look in the mirror. I gasped. 

Kas threw out her whole 'natural looks are the best' motto out the window. 

Dark makeup made my hazel eyes pop, bright red lipstick made my lips look huge. Kas somehow made me look elegant, but dangerous at the same time. She made my cheekbones pronounced and my eyes and lips the center of attention. My hair was simply straightened, and then the tips of my hair were curled. I had a very beach wave hairstyle going on, which magically matched with the makeup and dress amazingly. 

Kas passed me my black, six inch heels. I put them on and wobbled, but Kas caught my arm and stood me up straight. 

"I think I'll call one of the boys to help you down the stairs." Kas smiled, then walked towards my cracked door. I caught her wrist. She looked at me expectantly. 

"I know this is super cheesy, but I want to do one of those classic entrances. You know, the cliche ones where the girl walks down the stairs magically transformed?" I asked. 

Lucas had forced me to watch some movies that he deemed mandatory, and so I learned all about cliche plot lines and repeated actions. This was one of the cliche, repeated actions. Kas laughed at me. 

"Go for it, girl. Don't fall and break your neck, though. I'm going down first." Kas said, and then made her way down the stairs. I heard Lila gasp from all the way up in my room. I had to let a soft chuckle escaped my lips. 

I grabbed the banister with a sweaty grip, praying I wouldn't fall. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to forget the monsters that were already causing my feet to throb with pain. I slowly made my way down the stairs. 

Carter, Peggy, Liam, Jake, Lila, and all my brothers were downstairs. Not including a bunch of people I had never met before. 

God, please don't let me fall. 

I reached the bottom step and all eyes were on me. Lila looked absolutely beautiful. But her hands were covering her mouth and she had tears welling up in her eyes. I looked over her with concern. 

"Are you alright?" I asked softly. Lila shook her head, then nodded, then laughed.

Um, okay?

"Ariel, you look... Devastatingly gorgeous. You may even outshine me today." Lila laughed, tears still in the corner of her eyes. I looked down at my dress. 

"I can change, if you want?" I offered softly. Lila simply shook her head, a gentle smile on her face. I smoothed out the front of my dress again, even though there were no creases. I just didn't want people to notice my sweaty, shaking hands.

I looked around, noticing the silence. Everyone was looking at me with wide eyes, even people who I had never met before. They were all just kind of staring at me with a foreign emotion in their eyes. 

"Just so you know, there were some last minute changes. Carter will be your escort down the aisle. And your date for the evening." Lila whispered, discreetly pointing at the wide eyed, slack jawed boy. 

I smiled a little bit. 

But then her words sank in. 

The incredibly hot boy who was looking at me like I was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen, was going to be my date for the evening. 

I couldn't help but smile and hold my arm out for him. He rushed over to me. I looked at him, and he looked at me. This wouldn't be too bad, would it?

All I knew was that it would certainly be interesting.