Part 21 (1/2)
This lie was going to kill me.
I stormed out of the kitchen without even answering Thomas. When I got back to my room I threw open my closet door and pulled out the ugly tux. I put the blousy white dress s.h.i.+rt that Thomas had bought me on over my T-s.h.i.+rt. It was tailored at the waist and had humongous shoulder pads. It felt like a superhero Halloween costume. I almost gagged as I was sliding on the pants. The inside was satin, and the outside was paisley-printed velvet.
”Seriously,” I said. ”Who even makes these?”
The pants had no belt, just a wooden toggle that fed through a loop of material like a latch. There was a zipper, but it was gold and actually made a clicking noise as I closed it. I put on the shoes, tied them, and then slipped on the jacket. I looked in the mirror. For a brief moment I felt like jumping out the window.
”I am so glad I'm not really going,” I said to my reflection.
I reluctantly walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Everyone oohhed and aahed as if I were a brand new puppy that could wink. Wane sprayed my hair with some water and combed it into some sort of style.
All three of them then stepped back to take me in.
”My goodness,” Millie almost wept. ”Don't you look fetching? Just like royalty.”
”You are a very handsome young man,” Thomas added. ”Very handsome indeed.”
Wane fussed a bit and then told everyone to step back and give me some air. Millie handed me a flower in a plastic container.
”Thanks,” I said, confused.
”It's for Kate,” she explained. ”She'll have one for you.”
”I can't wait.”
”Does she know how to pin it on?” Millie asked.
I nodded. I had no idea, but I also had no date, so n.o.body would have to pin anything on anyone.
”One picture,” Thomas said, pulling out a huge camera and wooden tripod from behind one of the kitchen counters. The camera was ma.s.sive and had an accordion-style lens and a large metal flash.
”No pictures,” I insisted, not wanting the moment or outfit to be doc.u.mented in any way.
”Now, now,” Millie insisted. ”Just one.”
Thomas told me to smile. I didn't. A large flash sparked from the top of the camera, and I could see nothing but a burning white light for a few moments.
”Perfect,” Thomas said. ”I'll have it developed immediately.”
”Can I go now?” I asked, just wanting the entire ruse to be over with.
”Yes,” Millie said. ”Thomas will take you.”
”That's okay,” I insisted. ”I'll just walk. The roads are dry.”
”Absolutely not,” Millie said.
I couldn't have Thomas take me; I didn't even have a real date. I was planning just to march down the drive, hike back behind the manor, and then slip through the east door and up to the fifth floor for the elevator.
”I need to walk,” I said lamely.
”Why?” Wane asked.
”I'm just so nervous,” I said, sounding like an idiot.
They all cooed as if I had just said something really adorable.
”There's no need for nerves,” Millie said almost proudly. ”Thomas is happy to take you.”
”The walk will help me focus,” I tried.
”Nonsense,” Thomas insisted.
I followed Thomas out to the car with Millie and Wane waving and cheering me on from behind. I got into the car and shut the door as fast as possible.
Thomas wanted to drop me off right in front of Kate's house, but I talked him into letting me out a quarter of a mile before.
”I just think it will be more romantic if I arrive on foot,” I reasoned. ”Like a knight.”
”Knights rode horses,” Thomas said dryly.
”Still,” I argued. ”Kate's really into people using cars as little as possible. Arriving on foot might score me some points.”
”Enough said,” Thomas replied with a wink.
I made a personal wish begging the universe to please help me live my life in such a way that I would never again have to witness Thomas winking again. It was the most awkward and creaky wink I had ever seen.
Thomas dropped me off just before the turn in front of Kate's house. I thanked him for the ride; he wished me well and then drove off.
I pretended to march toward Kate's house until I knew that Thomas's car was no longer in sight. I then turned around and headed for home. I could see a car in the distance coming my way. I decided it would be best if I stayed off the road and hiked through the forest. It would take me longer, but n.o.body would be a witness to my deception or my wardrobe.
I climbed down the side of the road and into the pine trees. I was careful to keep my eyes on all the trees just in case they were in the mood to pick on me again. I heard a twig snap and spun around thinking I'd have to fight a bush or something. Luckily it was just a deer running through the woods.
I hid behind a big tree as the car coming up the road approached. I watched it get closer and then pa.s.s by.
”Wyatt,” I cursed.
It was Wyatt, driving his dad's expensive car. I wanted to pretend that he was just out for a drive in the mountains, but when I saw the normal tux he was wearing and the direction he was heading, I knew full well that he was going to pick up Kate.
I considered running up the road and confronting the two of them at Kate's house, but when I remembered what I was wearing, I knew the joke would be on me.
I stayed planted at the side of the forest like one of my fellow trees, waiting to witness them coming back this way. Each second I stood there I grew more and more angry. Kate hated Wyatt. She only talked to him because of me. Now she hated me and didn't talk to me because she was too busy going to proms with him.
”I bet she's pinning a flower on him right this second,” I seethed.
Finally I heard his car coming back this way. I was standing completely still, but that didn't stop my heart from moving downward into the pit of my stomach. Kate and Wyatt pa.s.sed by me as if I were nothing more than one of the million other trees in the world. I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like Kate was smiling.