Dear Diary

Chapter 74

The day of the dance was a frenzied blur of school and rushing to appointments. School, thankfully, let out earlier than usual and while my mom drove me to the hairdresser, I quickly changed in the backseat.

My hairdresser is a friendly and extremely talented woman named Nicole, and we had decided to go with my hair half-up in a type of braided bun, and half-down in curls. Yesterday I had gone to different shops and we found a few very pretty flower-shaped diamond pins (fake obviously) and she placed them in different spots on my head once she was finished.

However, my hair had taken a little longer than I anticipated, resulting in me being late for my make-up appointment. That, at least, only took fifteen minutes. Ruth had done my make-up for my sister's wedding, so I knew how it would look when she was finished, but it still didn't stop me from almost not recognising myself when I looked in the mirror. 

Even though the make-up looked very natural, with a bit of a smoky technique to enhance my eyes, it was still a shock to see because I was so used to hardly wearing make-up.

Then it was a rush to get home and dressed without messing up the work done by my two previous appointments. I was busy shimmying down the tight fabric over my hips when I heard the doorbell chime then clonk and I knew Richard had arrived with his family. 

My sister knocked on the door and peeked inside. "Richard's here."

I nodded my thanks and twisted to look at my back in the mirror. I frowned. "This dress makes my bum look bigger than I hoped," I muttered and Sarah shook her head.

"You barely have a bum, Lizzy, but I'm sure Richard won't mind," she winked and I looked at her shocked, but she continued talking. "Now come on, we still need to go over to Tyler's for photos."

Sarah was the designated photographer for the day. I sighed and nodded my head as she closed the door softly behind her before walking off. I sat down on my bed as I grabbed my silver heels and couldn't help but think back to the holidays where Cole taught me to dance. I bit the inside of my cheek. 

Maybe we might get to dance tonight?

I shook the thought aside and slid my feet into them before tightening the straps around my ankles. I stood and straightened my dress before making my way to the living room, my heels clicking against the hardwood flooring.

Everyone stopped talking when I entered and I couldn't help but blush at the sudden attention. Richard's whole family as well as mine were crowded in the small living-room, but I looked at Richard specifically for a reaction. 

His eyes were wide and mouth slightly agape. "Wow, Lizzy, you look gorgeous ..." he uttered and stared for a moment before shaking his head to allow a cheeky smile to come to his face. "Who would've thought you'd clean up so nicely."

I glared and punched his arm, my nervousness ebbing away instantly. He whined and rubbed his arm as I gave him a sweet smile. "I could say the same."

Richard wore a black suit with a white shirt and black tie. It was a classic look, but he still looked really nice with his light brown hair styled to be in my favourite spikey-style. The only thing which showed we were partners was the lilac pocket square that I proceeded to straighten in his breast pocket.

"Okay, we need at least half an hour for pictures and you have to leave an hour before the dance starts, so let's get a move on!" Sarah commanded and I nodded my head in agreement as we all moved towards the front door. "But Lizzy and Richard, I want a picture of you two here quickly and with Dobey."

Richard and I quickly walked towards the backyard, where Dobey sat looking very sorry for himself until he saw us, and leapt to his paws. Sarah opened the door and we all stepped outside. "Okay, can you just stand next to each other and Dobey sit in front of you?"