The Story of Me & You

Chapter Three

March 2018

Row upon row of tulle assaults my eyes and it takes a great amount of restraint to not visibly shiver in horror, especially when the sales assistant is standing over my shoulder with a beaming smile on her face. I'm sure I'm not the first desperate high school senior that's visited her today looking for a last minute dress for prom but could she at least have saved some of the decent options for me? I get it, tulle is trendy and all but I refuse to look like a nine-year-old pageant queen from Texas.

"This one looks nice don't you think Maddie?" My best friend nervously pulls out a bubble gum pink taffeta monstrosity and holds it up against her. I feel sorry for her, I really do. While she picked out her dress when the stores still had a somewhat acceptable selection, I'm the one that waited until the week before and now the only ones left are clearly ones that don't accommodate puberty. My boobs clearly won't fit into any of these pint sized princess gowns and I'd rather not flash that graduating class of Ashville High as much as some of the guys on the football team would appreciate that.

"Yeah maybe when I was six. Come on, let's try another place."

She groans and I don't blame her. We've taken Sam's car and driven up to Gainstown, a more populated town near Ashville that has a few upscale department stores and boutiques. Sam to my surprise was the one who suggested I take her car in the first place and even recommended a few places where I could find something I'd like but clearly my sister and I have very different taste. I'd rather not look like a sequenced fruit cocktail thank you very much. Besides up until last week I wasn't even sure I was even going, despite being asked by a few guys. Something has definitely shifted since Christmas time and as much as I try to push it away, the nagging feeling doesn't go away. I haven't really been interested in dating or seeing anyone, even casually. Ethan's texted a few times but after the incident last fall I think that ship's definitely sailed. I could say that I'm bored of the guys in this town, that I'm waiting for college to meet new ones but I know I'm lying to myself.

Someone's lodged himself inside my head and that sarcastic, blue eyed gorgeous devil of a boy refuses to go away.

"I'm starving, can't you at least feed me first?" Nat whines and sure enough, I've been dragging the poor girl around all of Saturday morning without stopping for a breath. Of course what she doesn't know is that I'm also fulfilling my promise to her brother. Ever since he left that fateful December night, I've taken it upon myself to look after Natalie and make sure she's not left alone with George too much. Today for example, I know Mindy would be at some book club all day with my mom so it's the perfect opportunity to drag her out for a dress that I most certainly don't need.

"Why didn't you say something sooner than Nat? You know when that last sales assistant was insisting I had to try on the canary yellow ballgown her niece wore to her Quinceañera? Why couldn't your stomach grumble then?"

"Oh please, you think I'd miss seeing you try that on. Don't worry, I took plenty of pictures for us to laugh about later."

"You know I'm really beginning to regret the idea of living with you for the next four years."

"Too bad, you're stuck with the Shaws forever Mads. Don't you know once we lure you in we never let you go? Now where's this burger joint Ryder keeps going on about?" She's too busy looking up something on her phone to notice how I nearly trip on my own two feet at the mention of her brother. She doesn't talk about him much now, not since he transferred to another school to be closer to their dad. From what I can tell they still talk occasionally and text all the time but of course she's had no reason to bring him up in front of me, not until now. What she doesn't know is that I'm ravenous or even the tiniest bit of news about him.