The rest of the day passed surprisingly quickly. Bri felt like she was running a marathon, rushing between routines. Each time she took the floor, she found Cole’s eyes in the crowd. It made her heart skip to see how intently he followed her every move.
Finally, all the routines were done, and it was awards time. Most of the crowd had remained to see how their teams fared. Bri and the Dance Team took first place in five of the six categories, and then took first place overall. The girls were ecstatic. She saw Cole beaming from the crowd and wished she could run to him. All in all, it had been a great day.
As the team boarded the bus to head home, Bri noticed Cole watching her from the parking lot. She paused and mouthed a “thank you” at him before giving him a final wave goodbye. As she took her seat on the bus, she felt her phone vibrate and pulled it out.
Congratulations, Beautiful! I think you’ve earned yourself a victory kiss this time! See you tonight.
I think technically I’ve earned six victory kisses, and I’m definitely going to collect! She texted back.
Bri couldn’t help her grin as she settled into her seat for the long ride home.
The next week of school was full of finals and midterms, as the end of the semester approached. By Friday, Bri felt like the walking dead due to so many late nights studying. But she had survived the week. Now, she just had to survive the dance. That was going to be a bit more difficult seeing as how Saturday was also Bri’s birthday, and this was not exactly how she had wanted to celebrate it.
Layla did her best to make sure it was a special day for Bri. She started by taking Bri to breakfast, and insisted that Bri, Jess, and Maddie come get ready for the dance at her house. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun. The girls chatted and laughed and helped each other with their hair and makeup.
After Layla did her makeup, Bri pulled her hair to the side in a loose fishtail braid, leaving a few curls framing her face. She then slipped into her white, shimmery, iridescent dress. It fell from one shoulder, and hugged her curves all the way down, before flaring slightly at her knees. The light color set off Bri’s hair and eyes, and the red heels she slipped on completed the outfit perfectly. She had bought the dress for Cole, and couldn’t wait for him to see it.
She still felt a little guilty about going with Nick. Not that she’d done anything to make him think she was interested in being anything more than friends. But she still felt she was leading him on somehow by going with him. And to make matters worse, for the past two weeks Layla had been giving Bri subtle, and not so subtle hints, on how to snag Nick, which of course Bri ignored. She was going to be glad when tonight was over, and Layla could move on.
The rest of the girls finished, and they all gathered in front of the full length mirror to inspect their work. Bri had to admit, they made a gorgeous group. Layla was stunning in a long, sleeveless emerald green gown, her dark hair swept up in a beautiful up do. Jess was rocking a short, red strappy number that ended mid-thigh, and made her look more like a rock star than a high school student with her short, spiky hair. And Maddie looked amazing in a knee length, gold halter, her light hair loose around her shoulders. The tradition for the Winter Formal was to wear Christmas/winter colors, and the girls had all agreed not to wear the same color. The result of their diligent shopping was stunning.
The doorbell rang, and the girls walked, en masse, down the stairs to a group of awe struck boys. Bri found Nick’s eyes drinking her in, and she couldn’t help blushing. He looked pretty darn good, himself. His normally shaggy, light brown hair was swept back and expertly styled. He was wearing a white tux with a red tie. The look was so contrary to his typical surfer look that Bri was taken aback. She’d be lying if she said he wasn’t attractive. Nick had that cute, boy next door quality that made plenty of girls at SMH swoon. Unfortunately for him though, he didn’t compare to Cole. Bri felt another pang of guilt, but quickly squashed it. It wasn’t like Cole wasn’t going with someone else. No, Bri was determined to have a good time tonight, and she was going to make sure Nick did too.
“Wow! You look amazing!” he gushed.
“Thank you,” Bri smiled. “You look pretty good yourself.”
“Thanks! I do know how to rock a tux!” he smiled, making Bri laugh.
Layla’s mom came in and took about a million pictures, and then they were ready to go.
“Shall we?” Nick offered Bri his arm and led her outside, where the couples separated into two groups. Jess, Ethan, Maddie, and Corbin went to Ethan’s dad’s Mercedes. Bri, Nick, Layla, and Devon walked over to the black BMW M5 parked in the driveway.