Page 21 of Rough Start

“I’ve gone to the only three shops we have in town, still nothing,” Eliana said, disheartened. She and Natalie were finishing lunch, tossing the scraps from their trays into the garbage before exiting the cafeteria.

“Do you want to go into Portland this weekend? They have amazing boutiques. I can drive!” Natalie offered with the usual optimism in her voice.

“I wouldn’t be able to afford anything from a boutique,” Eliana replied as they stopped at Natalie’s locker first, seeing that it was closer to the food court. “I nearly emptied my account to get my books for college. My scholarship pays for tuition the first year, but it doesn’t cover books.”

“Can your dad help? I thought you said he was working more lately,” Natalie asked as she finished grabbing her books, and they moved toward the adjoining hall toward Eliana’s locker.

“My dad says he’s bringing in more money, but I don’t know where it goes. I had to bring him dinner three times at the lumberyard last week, so I know he’s been there. I don’t know. I’d hate to ask even. He gets so angry when I ask about money.”

“Yeah…” Natalie said, unable to conjure any more suggestions. “What’s going on over there?” she asked in a sudden change of subject. The hallway with Eliana’s locker was crowded with students, but half of the hallway was dark, and students were gathered around something.

“Did someone start a fire?” Eliana asked incredulously as she saw the flickering lights of flames. “That’s my locker!” she practically yelled. Knowing she’d left her college books inside, if her locker was on fire she’d never be able to afford more. “Oh my God…” she trailed off as she’d pushed her way through the crowd.

Surrounding her locker that was decorated with yellow Christmas lights were at least three dozen green, yellow, and purple-dyed roses with sparkling petals. A row of candles was placed directly in front of her locker, more rose petals littering the ground, and a large card with her name on it was taped to the front. Eliana felt her face grow hot as she noticed everyone was looking at her now.

“Well?” Natalie asked with ten times more excitement in her voice than Eliana would have imagined. “Open it!” The crowd of at least thirty students waited with bated breath as Eliana took the card in her trembling hands. Ripping open the white envelope, she saw a single page card inside that read ‘OPEN ME’.

“I’ve forgotten my combination,” Eliana said with a nervous laugh as she fumbled with the lock. She'd recognize that handwriting anywhere. After a few moments and several excited words of encouragement from the eager onlookers, Eliana was able to open her locker door. Another dozen white roses fell out, and dangling in the center of the locker was a tape recorder with a post-it note that said ‘PLAY ME’.

Natalie, unable to contain herself, grabbed the tape recorder and hit play. Eliana couldn’t even wrap her mind around the action enough to be angry. The excitement was palpable. Kye had done all of this? “Look,” Natalie said, handing her the gift card taped to the back. Delilah’s Boutique read the name on the front, and Eliana nearly passed out when she saw the amount it was credited with on the back.

“Eliana…” His voice sounded from the device that also had a loud rendition of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ by Louis Armstrong playing in the background. “I don’t have to tell you what an ass I’ve been not being around lately. If you could possibly forgive me, I would like you to do me the honor of attending prom with me.” The music was still playing, and Eliana didn’t quite know what to do when Natalie firmly tugged on her arm.

“What?” she asked, turning from her locker. With a small gasp escaping, she saw Kye standing behind her with a single red rose in hand. He looked better than ever, his crooked smile making her weak in the knees. “Kye,” she whispered, and the first tear leaked out of the corner of her eye. As though they weren’t the center of attention, he stepped toward her and wiped the tear off her face. “Kye, this is too much,” she whispered, feeling entirely overwhelmed with elation.

“Well,” he said gently, his hand still holding her face. “If you go in a potato sack, I’ll wear a matching one.” Bursting into laughter, she could only manage to shake her head no.

“Say yes already!” Natalie yelled, and the watching students chimed in.

“Yes, I’ll go to prom with you!” Eliana yelled over the noise, and cheers were deafening. Kye picked her up in a firm hug, his face burying in her neck. His strong embrace putting all her broken pieces back together.

Loud whistles from the staff broke up the din as teachers hurried to find the cause of the noise and smell of smoke. The crowd of students quickly dissipated as everyone ran, fearing the threat of punishment.

“I have to go,” Kye whispered with a mischievous smile as the assistant principal took hold of him by the elbow. Giving him a brief kiss on the cheek before he was pulled away, Eliana leaned back against her locker feeling that nothing in the world was going to stifle the butterflies in her stomach or tear the smile from her face. He’d come back for her and damn, he’d done it in style!

* * *

“I can’t decide,” Eliana admitted as she flopped onto the love seat in the dressing room of the boutique. Natalie, who’d followed through with her offer to drive them into the city, was phishing on a nearby rack for a dress for her new friend.

“I still can’t believe he got you a gift card here,” Natalie said, sitting on the couch next to her. “The cheapest dress is like five hundred dollars.”

“Don’t remind me. I get anxiety just looking at the price tags. I don’t think I spend in one year what I’ll likely end up spending today,” Eliana said as she fiddled with the black and gold card from Kye. Unable to wait a minute longer, the two girls had left straight after school to the dress shop that was a nearly two-hour drive.

The place was incredible. It was the sort of private boutique only the ritziest of girls could shop. They’d been greeted at the door with flutes of sparkling cider and offered chocolate-covered strawberries. Having already bought her dress, Natalie was offering moral support as Eliana was subjected to the whims of her personal stylist.

“What about this one?” the stylist offered. Having scoured the mannequins for the finest dress, she was now presenting a dress made entirely of silver sequins.

“Wow,” Natalie breathed as the gown was presented.

“I don’t know,” Eliana said hesitantly as she saw the thin straps and backless cut.

“Just try it on. How often are you going to get to do this?” Natalie had a point. Taking the dress from the stylist, she stepped behind the curtain and once again disrobed. She cursed under her breath as she heard her phone ring when she was halfway through removing her bra.

“Hello?” she asked without looking at the caller ID first.

“Hey, beautiful, what are you doing?” Kye asked from the other end of the phone.

“Currently I’m trying to unhook my bra,” she said with a laugh as she switched the phone to her other ear.