Everlasting (24 page)

T
he pages peeled
off of the calendar faster than a sunny day in summertime, faster than I ever thought possible. It was now April—prom and graduation weren’t far off, and after that, it would be my big day.

When Claudia and I weren’t busy preparing for graduation, we spent every free day getting ready for the wedding. We used a whole day picking out the wedding dress, the cake, the church and all of the decorations. The invitations were written, sealed, and mailed off. It was now just a short time before we could put the final touches into place.

Aaron bounced back and forth between Cascade and Denver, juggling his business, wanting to spend as much time as he could with me.

Something struck me one afternoon, bringing a dizzying effect swirling to my head, making the room spin. I sat down on my bed to steady myself. At that moment I realized I hadn’t thought of Tate in months. It seemed as if ever since that Saturday morning when I threw the broken vase of frozen roses into the trash, and the pain shot through my head, that Tate had ended our relationship right then and there.

The broken vase was a symbol of our frozen love. I didn’t know if he had the power to do it, but something seemed different. He’d made sure he would be out of my mind for good so he would no longer interfere with my future, and Aaron and I could get on with our life together. It was either that, or the glistening boulder on my finger that had pushed him away from me.

Aaron came to pick me up about an hour later. “Are you ready to go?” He had a wry smirk dirtying his face and led me out the door to his car. “I’ve made some plans that I think you’re going to like.”

I slid over next to him in the front seat, grabbing his hand and planting a kiss on his unshaven face. “Well, are ya gonna make me suffer, or tell me where we’re going?” My eyes played with his when he turned to look at me.

“I guess I can tell you.” He glanced at himself in the mirror, rubbing on a tooth, before turning to watch the road. “If I’m going with you to this prom thing of yours, I don’t want you looking like an indigent teeny bopper. You need to play the part and look like a lady if you’re going to be on my arm and soon taking the Stuart name. So…I’m taking you to buy the finest gown possible. I know there’s no way your family can afford the kind of gown that I must have you in, so I will buy it for you.”

I bit my lip before I said something I’d regret. My mouth salivated, itching to blurt out that I had thirteen million dollars sitting in an account. But I planned for this to be my wedding gift to him. It would be for both of us and our future together.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m saying no to that, Aaron Stuart. Lead the way.” I pumped up my voice, making it bright and enthusiastic. But the petulance grazed my throat and wormed its way in, and it was hard to fight down.

We drove to Great Falls and Aaron took me to Crystaline’s, one of the most expensive, influential stores in the city.

My mouth gaped long, like I was using it for a flycatcher, when we stepped into the large doors of the store. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. A black baby-grand piano sat off to the right of the front door—a gentleman in long coattails playing Mozart upon it.

A brusque saleslady, looking like she had had about one-too-many plastic surgeries, advanced, greeting us as we made our way past the guards at the store entrance. Bright red lips, stuck in a permanent position from her last bout with Botox, protruded out farther than her nose. Stiff, purplish-black hair twisting at an angle, rested on the side of her head, accentuating long diamond earrings that hung low with their weight, looking like they could pull out of her earlobes if she moved too fast.
Her low-cut dress glittered and sparkled when the lights hit it just right.

“Aaron, my darling, you made it.” She stepped up close to him and grasped his shoulders, giving him a kiss on each cheek. Her voice, deep and raspy with a slight French accent, purred like a kitty after downing a bowl of milk. “My, aren’t you a sight for these old eyes. I’ve missed you.”

“Annabella, how wonderful it is to see you.” Aaron mirrored her, giving a kiss on each of her cheeks, entwining his fingers through each of hers. “You’re ravishing, and you look younger now than you did a year ago. Did you get it ready for me?” He drew her back away from him, taking her in fully with his eyes. His eyes stopped and frolicked briefly on her large, fake bosom. As though they were about to dance, he still clutched her fingers.

Her black eyes absorbed him, almost as if there had been a long passionate love affair that once flamed between them. “I did. You didn’t think I’d forget about my Aaron, now, did you?” She playfully pinched his cheek, enhancing her voice with a deep, dire laugh. “Wait right here.”

She went to the back of the store and slipped around a corner. A couple of seconds later she came out carrying a garment bag draped on a crystal clothes hanger.

Aaron squeezed my hand as we watched Annabella flaunt her way back to us. “Wait until you see this, Sophia. You’re going to faint.”

Annabella lifted off the garment bag, unveiling a silver sequined ball gown, its blinding bright prisms dancing and glittering in the store lights.

I inhaled sharply, my jaw slamming to the floor. “Oh, my…it’s beautiful.” My hands flew to cover my gaping mouth.

Aaron pointed to the top of the dress. “Look at this. The entire neckline, extending down to the waist, is made with real diamonds. This dress cost me over fifty thousand dollars. Sophia, please tell me, is there any reason you would not love something as exquisite as this?”

I shook my head, unable to believe a dress like this even existed, let alone that I would wear it. “Oh, Aaron, I love it. You bought this just for my senior prom? It’s stunning.”

He kissed Annabella on the cheek again. “Thank you, Annabella. I think she loves it.”

“Here are the shoes that go with it.” Annabella opened a box that held silver stilettos, glittering as much as the dress they matched. “These are encrusted with diamond shavings throughout the surface of the shoe.” She glanced up to see my reaction, balancing the shoe on the palm of her hand.

I was Cinderella going to the ball—Aaron was my fairy godmother, taking me from rags to riches. “I can’t believe you did all this for me, Aaron. When did you pick them out?”

“I just picked up my phone and rattled off my credit card number. My good friend Annabella, here, did all the rest.” He puffed his chest and smiled at Annabella while she zipped up the garment bag, my dress stashed inside.

I
glowed
, feeling like a fairy-tale princess at the king’s ball when prom night arrived. The entire school did a double take, watching me lift my dress and walk down the four steps to the gym, their necks stretching and craning. Resentful and envious glares searched and followed me all night. Whispers leaked out from behind cupped hands, bouncing around the room while Aaron and I danced.

But as the night wore on, my feet hurt, and the dress became too heavy.
Money has its
price, I guess.
I sighed when the night drew to a close, eager to go home and put on my old T-shirt and dirty sneakers. Plus, with each passing milestone, it put me that much closer to my wedding day.

T
he day
of graduation dawned bright and clear with seventy-degree temps. My stomach quivered, knotting itself into a ball of nerves when I walked up to the school doors for the last time. Spring robins greeted me on the way in, their songs welcoming me to this new chapter of my life.

Our entire class, all thirty-seven of us, gathered in the study hall room, going over last-minute details and helping each other put on our caps and gowns. The boys wore black, and the girls wore gold. All of us had black caps with gold tassels.

I huddled in a corner with Claudia, Laura, and Jenny. Claudia clutched a handful of bobby pins in the palm of her hand, holding one in her mouth, positioning my cap over my long hair, that today, I had curled into loose ringlets.

She finally got it pinned securely on my head, but her forehead had worry lines creasing it. “Can I talk to you in private?”

“Who, me?” My eyes questioning, I laid a hand to my chest, not sure why Claudia needed to talk to me without Laura and Jenny hearing. After some hesitation, I shrugged. “Sure, what is it?” I didn’t know if she was scared about our big day or if something else was bothering her.

She took me by the arm and pulled me over to the big wooden doors that were still shut until graduation time drew nearer. “I didn’t want Laura and Jenny to hear because I didn’t think it was any of their business.” Her voice rasped low, and I stared at her, my eyes fixated on the unruly fire-red curls lapping up over her cap, still unwilling to cooperate for her even on this special day.

Nervous because of the way her eyes flashed around the room, making sure no one heard, and also because nothing usually bothered Claudia, my muscles tensed. “Is everything okay, Claudia?” My breathing picked up pace. I knew her dad had heart problems. “There’s nothing wrong with your dad, is there?”

“Calm down, Sophia, it’s nothing like that.” She sighed. “Everyone’s fine. It’s just that I saw Stacy Sheffield riding around with Aaron on my way up to the school earlier, and they looked rather…cozy.”

“With Stacy Sheffield…? Cozy? How cozy?” I blinked, disappointed, the fury stirring within me, roiling my innards. Then, I calmed myself back down, not wanting to upset myself right before I had to walk out in front of a few hundred people.

“Cozy as in she was sitting right next to him in the front seat.”

“Well…they were old friends…maybe they’re just catching up on…things.” I blew out a blighted breath.

She stirred, shifting her weight from one foot to the next. “That could be. I hope I didn’t upset you. It just seemed kind of strange to see another girl riding around with him when your wedding is only a month away. I thought you should know.” Claudia dropped her arms at her sides and stared at me solemnly.

“No, that’s fine, I’m glad you did. But I trust Aaron wholeheartedly, and I know he wouldn’t do anything like that.”

We went back and rejoined Laura and Jenny. Laura narrowed her eyes. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine.” I waved it away, keeping my voice cheery. “I’ll tell you later.”

The principal’s voice echoed way off in the background of my thoughts, gathering us up to form a line by the wooden doors so we could go out and become adults, and each make our own impact on this strange and funny world. But right now, I tumbled, lost in other things—things too far away from today’s festivities, and I knew when I was this far gone, there’d be no pulling me back.

Our long line proceeded to walk out into the hall, stepping down the steps into the auditorium. I was still lost, my mind aloof, and I tripped over Dane Jackson’s foot in front of me, stumbling and almost crashing to the wooden floor. My graduation partner, Jimmy Yale, grabbed my elbow, pulling me upright and steadying me again.

I kept my eyes focused on the blue line on the basketball court, paying special attention now to where I was going, mouthing a quick thank you to him for saving me. My face burned and my heart pounded wildly as I walked, still keeping pace with those darn painted lines that kept tripping me up and embarrassing me.

We made it to the stage, and the principal ambled his way over to the podium to make his welcome speech. Hundreds of eyes burned into me, watching us seniors and the program, while at the same time, my eyes searched everyone out in the crowd to see if I could spot Aaron.

The empty folding chair glared back at me—the spot reserved just for him—when I found the row where my family sat. I caught my mom’s eyes and she shrugged, her eyes darting to the empty chair, trying to tell me she didn’t know where he was. I nodded and gave her a halfhearted smile.

The valedictorian made his way to the podium while I searched on, my eyes scanning everywhere, even out in the hallway beyond the stairs where we entered. When I still couldn’t find him, the disappointment trickled down to my toes. But he had to be here somewhere. Maybe he didn’t realize he had a place reserved for him with my parents. He could be sitting anywhere, and with this many people, I would never be able to see him.

The principal told us all to rise, and I stayed sitting, once again embarrassing myself when someone had to nudge me to get up out of my chair. I swallowed three times, my chest tightening, getting pretty good at making a fool of myself by this point. He announced us as the graduating class of two-thousand-fifteen and, on cue, we were all to turn our tassels to the other side of our caps. This time, I managed to get the job done.

My eyes scanned and searched as families and friends cheered and clapped, watching us make our way back down the same aisle we marched in on. Mom rushed out of her chair when I reached her row, throwing her arms around me with a thousand tears in her eyes. I handed her a white lily and kissed her on the cheek, giving her a hug.

Dad stood by us, the tears pooling in his eyes, too, even for as hard as he tried to hide them. He awkwardly gave me a pat on the back. “Good job, Sophia.” Josh and Kristy each grabbed me up in a hug.

Mom’s hand fluttered to her neck to twist the strand of pearls. “I don’t know where Aaron is. He should be here. I can’t imagine him missing his future wife’s graduation.”

“Oh, he’s here somewhere. Has to be.” I scanned the crowd again, standing on my tippy-toes, getting flanked by well-wishers and people nudging their way through the line.

We walked up the auditorium steps and drifted out into the hall. Aaron stood off to the side by the water fountain.

His eyes darted away, then back again, when he saw me. “Sophia, congratulations!”

I walked up to him, my chest caving when he picked me up in the air and twirled me around. My cheeks burned hot, feet flying through the air, barely missing a lady with a thick mound of hair piled high on her head, hair so black it looked blue.

He slobbered my cheeks with kisses and deposited me back down on the floor. I fought off the tears but couldn’t keep the vile disdain out of my voice. “Where were you? This was my big day. You were supposed to be here for me.”