Chapter 1

Danielle's POV 

"is it not time for your prom yet?" A voice asked.

I shot a glance at the door of my room, where my grandfather was perched against the door frame, hands folded. There was an amused twinkle in his eyes as he looked at me, and I could already read the thoughts going through his withered head.

She's such a nerd!

Does she ever stop reading?

I sighed and turned over on my bed, staring at the roof. "Gramps, the prom is in an hour. I still have enough time."

He glanced at the watch on his wrist, then grimaced. "An hour happened thirty minutes ago, D. Get your butts off that bed." He ordered, then turned and left the room.

"Grandpa, I need to study! You know how much this scholarship means to me. And the assessment starts tomorrow!" I yelled after him, but he didn't spare me a reply.

I groaned and swung my feet down, then slipped them into my pajama slippers. My eyes darted to the textbooks that littered the top of my bed, aching to go back to them. Anything, absolutely anything was better than having to gyrate to earsplitting music in a room full of sweaty seniors.

I was so not ready for this!

My eyes moved from the littered bed to the clock on my dresser, and my eyes widened. Shit, my grandpa was right. I had but thirty minutes to the prom, and I certainly didn't want to be fashionably late—or whatever Clara called it.

Clara would murder me if she came and found me still in my pajamas.

I stumbled over the duvet that had formed a heap on the floor, and padded over to the bathroom. I peeled off the sweaty pajamas that I'd been wearing for almost twenty-four hours and walked into the shower. In a matter of minutes, I'd freshened up.

I walked into the room, a towel wrapped around my chest, and stopped short at the sight. Clara was on my bed, feet propped up on my pillows. She looked up as I walked in and her face twisted in a scowl.

"Girl, you're far from ready." She chided and stood from the bed, hurrying towards me. She grabbed my towel and pulled it forcefully, then flung it across the room.

"Clara!" I whined, shielding my chest with one arm. 

"I'm sorry, D. That's what best friends do." She cocked an eyebrow at me, then glanced around the room. "I don't see any prom dress anywhere."

"Oh, shut up. I have it here." I grumbled and walked towards my closet. I emerged with a dress on a metal hanger and draped it over my bed.

Clara sighed and sat on the bed. "I cannot believe you." She murmured.

I groaned as I rummaged in my dresser for underwear. "You do know I have other things to worry about besides stupid high-school proms, don't you?"

She scoffed. "Babe, this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. People don't get to celebrate prom twice."

"Yeah, whatev—" The sound of a horn cut through my next words. Clara and I gasped in unison and dashed to the window of my room, then peered out. Davis, my boyfriend, was getting out of his car and walking towards the front door.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Clara turned, grabbed the prom dress and threw it at me. "There's no time for underwear! Just wear the dress!"

I gaped at her incredulously. "You can't be—"

"D, what does Davis care if you wear underwear or not?" She asked impatiently. "Who knows? You guys might end up popping the cherry tonight."

I rolled my eyes at her words and slipped the dress on. It was a deep sage green, barely reaching my knees, and heavily sequinned too; layers upon layers of glittering beads that pressed against every crevice in my body. I stumbled towards my closet again and emerged with a green pair of platform heels, slipping into it as Clara hastily did my hair in a chignon. 

I could hear murmuring coming from downstairs; David had probably met my grandpa already. Clara pulled a compact makeup kit from her bag and applied it on my face, throwing on everything she could find.

Afterwards, I walked awkwardly towards my dresser and picked up my earrings, wristwatch and bag, glancing at myself as I did so. Clara had tried her best with the makeup, but it couldn't hide the nights and nights of sleeplessness I'd endured. The dark eye bags were still there; the flyaway reddish-brown hair and tired-looking green eyes. 

I would never be perfect like Clara.

"That's enough staring at yourself." She whispered to me and gently led me away from the dresser. When we got to the door, she turned me to her and grabbed my shoulders, staring into my eyes. "You're beautiful, Danielle. You do know that, right?"

I sighed and stared longingly at the books on my bed. "Beauty won't matter if I don't get that scholarship."

"Yes, but tonight, we have fun, no reading. You and I. Do you understand?"

"Right." I replied, trying to put on a brave face. Then I turned, opened the door and walked down to meet Davis.

*********

I descended the staircase slowly, Clara's arm in mine. Davis was waiting at the foot of the staircase with my grandfather. Their murmuring stopped and he turned to me, then smiled. Even from this distance, I could see the tiredness in his eyes. 

No, it wasn't tiredness, I thought.

He looked as though he'd rather be anyplace but here.

Something sank in my chest even as I reached the foot of the stairs. Davis wasn't meeting my eyes, and his fingers were fiddling awkwardly with the buttons of his suit jacket.

"I thought you'd never come out of that room." My grandfather said to me with a smile, and I returned the smile nervously. "You look beautiful, D."

"Do I? I feel like I survived several hundred avalanches." I replied, and the old man chuckled. Then I turned to Davis. "Hey."

"Hey." He replied. His shaky fingers left his buttons and stretched out towards me. I slipped my hand into his and he helped me down the rest of the stairs. Immediately I got down, he awkwardly let go of my hand.

I looked up at him, perturbed. Davis never appeared this disturbed or on edge. In fact, he was one of the calmest people I knew, and that was who I'd fallen in love with. A premonition settled in my gut and I wondered what was up with him. This night is going to be disastrous, a voice in my head said, but I shrugged it off and walked towards our front door, Clara in tow.

We walked outside, where the sun was setting fast, and towards his car. He opened the passenger door for me, and I slipped in while Clara got in the back. Then Davis circled the car to the driver's side and got in too.

As he found the ignition and started the car, he glanced up at me, and something in my heart shriveled slightly. He wasn't looking at me with the love and admiration I'd expected. Heck, he was staring at me as though I was his worst nightmare come to life. I wanted so badly to open the door and flee into the house, but I stayed put.

Nothing is going to happen tonight, I tried to reassure myself. But deep down, I knew that this night would be far from perfect.