Another POV of the main character in this chapter. Each chapter is another character, another POV
My mother held the camera in shaky, wrinkled hands, snapping wildly as I emerged from my bedroom. Rosemary lead the way down the curving staircase, her black dress shimmering with the millions of diamantes splashed across it like stars in a night sky, her carelessly flowing movement unhinged by her ridiculously tall stilettos. Jealousy burned through me like a flash-fire, singing me from my eyes to my toes; my hand flew to the rail when I missed a step and my balance shifted awkwardly. She was already in the clutches of her dreamy date – football legend biceps evident even beneath his expensive Imperial suit. I made my way shakily to the bottom of the stairs; mum nearly dropped the camera in her mad dash to crush me in a hug. Dad managed to drag her away long enough for me to glance down and inspect the damage. Only a slight crease, nothing major, nothing overly obvious. Bryce remained by the couch, patiently waiting his turn to hold me, knowing from experience it was best to just let mum get it all out of her system now rather than fight her off halfway to the limo. Tyres screeched from outside, reminding me of how much I despised Rosemary’s stealth – first down the stairs, first hugged, first snapped, first gone, first there. Dad reluctantly stood beside me for mums hasty clutter of photos, then took his own few, clutching her back long enough for me to register Bryce’s attendance. He moved fluidly to my side, winding his muscular arms gently around my waist and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. I leant against him a little, closing my eyes, sighing.
“Babe! We’re waiting for you!” Bridget whined from the door, her eyes peeking quickly toward my mother, who dashed to slam us together for another bout of photos. I despised her 4GB capacity SD card she’d purchased just for this. With that much space on my flimsy camera I may as well not even go, there’d be enough from my before to fill an entire album.
“Mum!” I shoved her back a little harder than I’d planned, but refused to feel sorry for her, stealing the brief opportunity handed to me to snatch the camera from her grasp and yank Bryce toward the door. Dad, god bless his soul, held mum in a death grip long enough for me to slide into the waiting limousine and for it to reach the end of the driveway. She waved and chased the car halfway down the street – I screamed at the driver to not slow down even one notch – and rested my head on Bryce’s chest. Celeste, Daniel, Yvette and Bridget were all here with their dazzlingly-dressed dates. Celeste’s caramel coloured skin glowed beneath her pure-white gown that hugged her curvaceous body, Bridget took on a mermaid-appearance in her ocean-blue body-hugging dress, and Yvette’s fiery orange strapless dress matched her mass of curly orange hair perfectly. My eyes rested on Daniel’s for a brief moment. I let him gape.
The venue chosen for the event was the Fremantle Sailing Club. With its circular driveway, sweeping staircase, spacious dining area, uncluttered dance floor and balcony overlooking dozens of luxury yachts anchored for the night, it provided just the right level of sea breeze to ruffle but not disturb, and offered a beautiful backdrop once the moon rose high enough to reflect off the shimmering surface of calm sea.
I gaped at Celeste’s dress: strapless and backless with only three spaghetti straps crisscrossing her back to hold it in place, it contrasted against her dark skin so much that she looked like an ice princess when she strutted into the foyer. Not only was she draped in hundreds of dollars of sparkling, glittering, one-of-a-kind jewellery, but her hair was dyed a light brown and it cascaded down her naked back in luscious, fake waves. I envied her for the smallest of seconds only because Bryce squeezed my hand and trailed kisses down my neck, his hands squeezing my hips, his sexy voice low in my ear so only I heard.
“You have never looked so gorgeous in your entire life.” He wound a protective arm around my waist and pulled me behind Yvette, her honey-suckle perfume masking her date’s thick cologne that made even Bryce crumple from its strength. Once our names were ticked off Bryce held my hand, one arm wrapped around my waist, his body behind me in case I lost my balance. He knew me in heels, and I found difficulty in even the simplest of tasks – like walking from A to B 10m apart – so the navigation of a steep staircase along with two hundred other people was far from an easy task. But we made it to the top, greeted graciously by the college captains and principal, who shook our hands, nodded at us, and told us ‘you look beautiful’ or ‘you’re very handsome tonight’.
Bryce busied himself finding me a drink while I located my friends, most of whom lingered by the magenta-topped bar, sipping from cocktail glasses, reapplying gloss to saturated lips, squirming in their too-tight blazers or scratching irritated feet. I sighed when I spotted Nathanial and Rupert, both of whom stood leant against the bar, a glass filled with whiskey in one hand. Their eyes pretended to scour the crowd for any girl not attached at the hip to a date, but the electricity sizzling between them felt almost painful. I went to Nathanial first.
“Nate!”
“Brielle!”
“What are you doing here?”
“Drinking.” He pulled me into his arms and spun me three times in a wide circle. I clung to his black pinstripe vest, trying not to break one of my perfectly manicured nails. He held me tightly against his chest while his fingers caressed circles on my exposed shoulder blades. I settled into the familiarity of the kind embrace; he realised how much I missed this peacefulness between us and squeezed me gently.
“Have you spoken to Rupert yet?”
He stiffened in my arms, so I poked his side for a response.
“We came together, does that count?”
“Did you speak to him?”
His hazel eyes grew sad and he sagged backwards against the bar. I watched him glance sideways to where Rupert was standing, chatting lightly with a blonde girl neither of us recognised.
“No,” Nathanial sighed. “He kissed me when he picked me up, and we were alone in the limo – we held hands – but I froze up when I got here.”
“He loves you so much Nathanial and you’re just going to lose him if you act so childishly.”
“But the guys –”
“What’s more important? Rupert is the only guy you’re going to find for a very long time who’s so honest and forgiving of your wild ways, Nate, please realise that. Lose him now and you’re looking at a long time in solitary.”
Nathanial’s nose scrunched up, but he didn’t look at me, instead he gazed longingly across to where Rupert stood, now upright and fully absorbed into the conversation he was having. His pale face was twisted into a delighted smile and his eyes were alight, but we could both see how unhappy he was; we could see it in the slight sag of his broad shoulders, the slight lag on words beginning with N, the dullness in his usually luminescent eyes.
“Go speak to him, sit with him, do something to salvage the night.”
“It’s only begun,” Nathanial reminded me with a trivial grin.
“All the more reason to do it now,” I punched his shoulder and hugged him once more. The barman slid me a margarita when I tapped the bench top. Nathanial hesitantly sauntered toward Rupert, glancing over his shoulder more than once to eye me for support. I smiled and nodded firmly. At Rupert’s side he tapped him on the shoulder, his arms flinching when Rupert looked up and glared at him with a hard-set frown. He swiftly excused himself and the girl moved off with a shrug, leaving them alone. I couldn’t read their lips but I could tell they were in a deep, involved conversation, telling by the deepening frown lines on Rupert’s forehead. But after ten, approximately, notoriously boring minutes watch them squabble; Nathanial grabbed Rupert around the waist to thrust him against the pillar to their left, kissing him passionately. I smiled and turned to find Bryce moving quickly toward me. We embraced and kissed just as passionately as Nathanial was kissing Rupert, except that I leant into Bryce’s strong body and wrapped my arms tightly around him. He smiled and our fingers laced together perfectly.
Down on the dance floor couples were already beginning to cram together. I glanced quickly over my shoulder to see Nathanial leading Rupert by the hand toward me.
“Hey Bryce, hey Brielle!” Rupert grinned, his hand reaching around Nathanial’s waist. Bryce nodded and pulled me a little closer against his chest, so I turned and let his hands fold on my stomach.
“Having fun yet Rupert?”
“Nathanial told me you talked sense into him – thankyou so much! When it comes to matchmaking you sure know how to do it with Nathanial!”
“He’s just shy is all,” I laughed when Nathanial pulled Rupert closer. I turned around to face Bryce again, leaning up to kiss him so when Nathanial began to kiss Rupert he wouldn’t groan or complain. I knew he wasn’t exactly a huge fan of homosexuals; not that he had anything against them, far from it actually, but he preferred a traditional court relationship. I knew it was only because he was afraid of homosexuals, afraid they’d jump him one day if he became too accepting of it, scared he could become one if he accepted it graciously.
“Now the band hired for your entertainment tonight is called Kiss and Tell,” a chubby-faced teacher announced, sliding the microphone back into its cradle and quickly shuffling offstage. Students screamed when a petite girl in a hot-pink lace trimmed dress strutted on stage, followed by a girl in a tight midnight blue hip-hugging dress. The rest of the band filed on stage – a boy no older than myself in a My Chemical Romance shirt and skinnies, a slick-haired boy with huge biceps and skinny legs gripping a fluoro orange guitar, a short boy with shaggy blonde hair holding a red guitar and a tall, lanky older boy in a tweed jacket – to the cries of the student body around me. Bryce held me closer when they began their first song, a cover of Paramore’s Hallelujah. Holding me so close I forgot about anything and everything, letting my mind circle time and time again until it settled on his hands holding my waist, his hazel eyes locked on mine, his lips pressed gently to mine. The lyrics swirled around us and I ignored the bumps, jerks, knocks, kissing him back twice as hard as I’d ever kissed a boy before.
