Picking Up The Pieces

ch.7

The night of homecoming Chelsea and Phoebe were getting glam at Chelsea's house. Chelsea's mom, Patricia was helping the girls out with the hair as Janet, Phoebe's mom set up a makeup station for the two of them to get ready for tonight.

Chelsea was excited and so was Phoebe. Chelsea got asked for homecoming, Asher asked her and of course, she said yes. Phoebe is going with a classmate she knows in her Chemistry class.

"I met this guy at the g—" Phoebe stopped herself and looked around in case her mom was here. She looked back at Chelsea, no sign of her mom. "At the gym. God, he was so cute and funny."

Chelsea nodded as she listened, her eyes on Phoebe.

"And you know, I've been so hung up on you-know-who and so ashamed of my body that I didn't date or anything. Well..." I let my words trail off as I watched Chelsea's eyes widen.

"You went on a date?!" Chelsea sounded so thrilled for her. She hated to have to burst her happy bubble, but this wasn't what the meeting was about.

Phoebe nodded slowly and sucked in her lower lip. "Yes... kind of," Chelsea groaned and shook my head in shame.

"Kind of? How can you kind of go on a date?" Phoebe's shoulders drooped. "Oh, God! Did he take you to a fancy restaurant or something?"

"I think a date at McDonald's would've been better."

Chelsea's eyes widened more, and Phoebe was worried that they might pop out of her head. 

The two burst out of laughter. They got themselves ready within two hours after putting on makeup and hair. Phoebe wore a greenish-blue gown made of soft, satiny fabric, long and loose. Her hair was up in a high ponytail and she also had matching sets of rings on her left hand.

Chelsea wore a sleeveless light pink dress, knee-length that hugged her curves. Her hair was down and she wore her mother's diamond earrings.

''Come take pictures,'' Janet said. ''Wow my girls are so beautiful,'' she squealed and so did the girls. They took several pictures of themselves, feeling confident on the day of their homecoming. 

In the back of Chelsea's mind, she couldn't help herself but think about what was Theo doing. She kept thinking if he was going to show up, or not. Or if he asked Diana to go with him out of spite against her.

She doesn't know. 

Within another hour, Phoebe and Chelsea made it to the homecoming.

Inside the gym, it was like dancing on the Northern Lights; beneath the dry-ice smoke swirled an array of blues, acid greens, hot pinks, and gold. 

Phoebe went to her date and Chelsea went over to hers. 

''You look so beautiful,'' Asher said. 

''Thank you,'' Chelsea said, smiling hard as Asher kissed her hand slowly. 

"God, your smile is beautiful." He looked at her. "I need to stop staring or I'm going to crash or some shit."

''Oh god, you're so cheesy.''

''Only for you. You're so beautiful that you made me forget my pickup line..." He cleared his throat. "Say, you'll have dinner with me after the dance?''

"Oooh, it's just too much pressure." I shook my head no.

"Come on, say you will. Don't make me run at super-fast speed just to impress you." 

I raised my eyebrows, intrigued. "Well, now I think you definitely have to." 

The two snickered and Asher leads Chelsea to the dance floor. All of us a safe distance apart and did a "dance-off," a trophy going to the winner... And the winner wasn't the best dancer, it was the one who made everyone laugh the most.

The music slowed down to Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran. 

Chelsea bit her lip, eyes everywhere but on Asher. Then he moves closer with those eyes that look so deeply into her own, "Hey, it's me." Her breathing becomes softer, the pensive look melting into a smile as soft as the morning light. Her body squirms just a little as her muscles relax.

She places her chin on his broad shoulder and looked over the room to see if Theo ever made it. Her eyes were like a maze, looking through different people and not one was him. She did a second round and finally spotted him. Theo.

He was wearing all black, his hair was neatly groomed, and flashed his diamond ring. He was with Diana who also wore black. It was an off-the-shoulder dress, and knee-length, her heels were strapped and gold, and her hair were up into a tight bun.

Silence crippled inside of Theo as he slowly danced and gazed over at Chelsea. He couldn't believe how beautiful she looked tonight. But, he didn't want to make it obvious that he was feeling a bit sad, seeing her dancing with Asher. 

His heartbeat echoed in his ears as the firing squad approached. It beat so loudly that it seemed to want to escape his chest, to flee the oncoming bullet. 

So instead of looking at her, he broke off his contact away in which Chelsea forcefully had to do to the same.

They both hated it. Not looking at each other. But somehow, when they do, their hearts connect like a drummer, keeping rhythm, keeping beat.