The next few weeks were a blur. I woke up at Jenny's on Saturday morning to her mom busting in the door.

"Rise and shine girls, we have a busy day ahead of us," she said with way too much enthusiasm for 8:00 am.

Groggily, I picked my head up and stared at Jenny, telepathically asking her if her mom had lost her mind. Jenny stared right back at me, wondering the same thing herself. It was Saturday morning, what the heck was she talking about?

We had plans to sleep in and have a generally lazy day, whatever she was referring to, was not on the agenda. She opened the drapes and the blinds, letting the sunshine in and we immediately covered our faces as if the glare literally scorched us.

"Get yourselves up and dressed, we are leaving in an hour and we have lots of shopping to do," she finally revealed. Shopping?

"What are you rambling about mom?" Jenny finally inquired.

"Time to get prom ready my babies." 

In my half asleep state, it dawned on me what she had just said and I began my protest, "Mrs. Christy, thank you but I am fine, really."

She just glared at me with a look that screamed, "Why are you even trying to argue this Sky, just give up now!"

What she actually said was, "Sky, have you been prom shopping already?"

I shook my head no and she replied, "Then, it's settled then, we are going and that is final!"

Knowing there was no use in continuing the debate any further, I answered the only way I could, "Yes Mam."

Jenny and I pulled ourselves out of the bed and after about forty-five minutes of primping and scarfing down some yummy pancakes, we were actually ready to go. We drove about an hour and twenty minutes away to the Jacksonville Beach area.

That seemed odd to me at first but Mrs. Christy explained, "We don't want anyone else showing up in the same dresses as you girls, we have got to put a little distance to make sure we get the best selection."

We finally pulled up in front of an adorable boutique. Walking in, my eyes surveyed the thousands of dresses. Every style and every color was present. If you couldn't find it in that store, you couldn't find it anywhere.

In the middle of the store was a long runway surrounded by mirrors, it looked like a Hollywood Red Carpet. I was amazed, I had never shopped in a place like that, Walmart was more my style.

We looked through so many dresses and finally, Jenny and I had about ten choices each to try on. That may not seem like a lot but it wasn't easy getting in and out of those dresses. They even assigned an attendant to go in the dressing rooms with us.

Jenny went first and Mrs. Christy and I waited in comfy chairs for her to make her grand entrance. While we were waiting, my phone buzzed.

"Hey baby, what are you up to today?"

It was Jake, his texts and the uncomfortable encounters had continued over the past few weeks. Even though each and every contact with him tore at my heart, I willed myself to be strong. I would not let him hurt me again.

"I am not your baby Jake, and I am dress shopping," I quickly replied.

"You have my complete attention, what exactly are you dress shopping for?" he inquired. I had never officially given him an answer about prom. 

I guess there was no time like the present, "I am shopping for Prom."

Even though I couldn't see him, I knew in my heart he was doing a happy dance on the other end of the phone.

After a few seconds, he finally responded, "That's my girl."

"I am not your girl either Jake," I reminded him.

"Not yet," he replied, making me blush.

"I cannot wait to see you in your dress, although I am not sure my heart can take it." Did he really just feed me a line like that?

"You are such a cheeseball!"

"But I am your cheeseball."

"Nah, you opted out, remember?" I responded, not being able to help myself.

I wasn't surprised when his response was only two words, "Kill Shot!"

It was then that I heard Jenny emerge from the dressing room, looking absolutely stunning. I LOVED it but her mom was not feeling it, so she headed back for round two. When she disappeared into the dressing room, I took the opportunity to talk to Mrs. Christy. 

"I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate this, it means the world to me," I told her honestly.

"Sky, you're like a daughter to me, did you really think I would ever let you go to prom without looking absolutely fabulous?" 

"My mom never did things like this with me, you are honestly more of a mom to me than she has ever been," I admitted.

I could have sworn I saw a tear form in the corner of Mrs. Christy's eye as she got up and walked towards me. Placing each of her hands on my shoulders she looked me right in my eyes.

 "Watching you grow into the young lady you are today has been an honor Sky, and if I have helped in that process, in any small way, then it has been my honor."

"Thank you, Mrs. Christy, you have helped in so many ways, and you have shown me what a mom should be, without you, I never would have known." 

She pulled me into the sweetest mom hug, only pulling away when Jenny reappeared with yet another fabulous dress. Before she did though she gave me the sweetest kiss on my forehead, and it made feel altogether loved, something I had rarely if ever felt.

Turning to Jenny, her mouth dropped open and she exclaimed, "That's it darling, you are stunning!"

Jenny's eyes lit up as they met her mom's, they were having a special moment, and I felt a tinge of jealousy. I wished that I could have had only one moment like that with my mom.

With Jenny's dress finalized, it was my turn and so I headed into the dressing room myself. At first, it felt weird to have someone in the dressing room with me but we soon settled into a comfortable rhythm.

When I tried on dress number five and looked at my reflection in the mirror, I knew in my heart it was the one. I was practically beaming as I walked out to show Jenny and her mother. As soon as they saw me, their mouths dropped and Mrs. Christy's eyes locked on mine.

"Sky honey, you look absolutely BREATHTAKING! Every guy in that school will be falling over themselves to get to you." 

It was then that I realized, I did have my moment, it may not have been with my birth mother, but it was better because it was with someone who chose to love me.

After dress shopping, we found shoes and jewelry to match and finished the day off with a "Girls Dinner." Mrs. Christy made that day so special and I would always be thankful to her for it.

That night, back at home my phone buzzed again.

"Did you find the perfect dress for me?"

"I found the perfect dress for someone," I quipped back.

"Ouch, you trying to kill me woman?" 

I didn't have to think about my answer, "No, just being honest."

"Can we talk seriously for a moment?" he questioned.

I wasn't sure what to think about that so I just said the first thing that came to mind, "Sure."

"Sky, you have been so cold lately, do you really hate me as much act like you do?"

That made my heart sad, I had been trying to be strong to protect myself but I never intended on breaking his heart.

"No, Jake, I could never hate you," I replied honestly.

"Not being with you is literally killing me and I know I deserve it but when you act that way towards me, it literally crushes me," he answered making me feel even worse.

I responded as candidly as possible, "I don't mean to hurt you, I'm just trying to save me."

"I get that, but I am not giving up on you, I will never give up on you." 

"Jake, you already gave up on me when you chose your friends and family over me." 

The day of prom came quicker than we anticipated. Mrs. Christy spent all morning doing our hair and we did each other's make-up. Once we were ready, we headed out for pictures, that seemed to take forever.

When we were done, we climbed into the limo, knowing we would be late. We didn't really mind though, prom wasn't going anywhere.

Jenny was right, Tag's ego expanded exponentially that night, but it was kind of cute to watch. He was so proud to have a girl on each arm. He walked into that prom like he was the King of the Universe and to his credit everyone in the room stopped to stare.

I took a moment to give myself a once over, making sure everything was in place. My dress was silver with spaghetti straps and a plunging neckline that had to be taped to keep it in place.

There was a time when I would have been so uncomfortable at a moment like that, I would have been squirming in my own skin. But somehow, even with hundreds of eyes on me, that dress made me feel beautiful.

Taking in a deep breath, I looked up, ready to face the night and whatever it would bring me. It only took a moment before Jake's eyes found mine and I could see his approval written all over his face. He started at my feet and worked his way up to my eyes, drinking in every little bit of me along the way.

Standing by the stage, he was waiting in line with all of the other Prom King nominees. The only thing he should have been focused on at that moment was himself but he could not take his eyes off of me. 

He kept his gaze locked on me as they called the names, one by one the boys headed up to the stage. Even after he had taken his place on the stage, his eyes never left mine. It felt like he was staring directly into my soul.

We were all just standing still at this point, watching this tradition unfold before us. Someone was about to be named the Prom King and eventually Prom Queen. They would have their first dance and forever hold that title, probably telling their grandchildren about it someday.

We listened as they called each runner up until only two remained, Jake and Sid. You could cut the tension with a knife, everyone had voted, everyone had their favorite and in a matter of moments we would all know who the lucky guy would be.

The announcer blared out, "And your prom king is...." A drum roll started and then we heard it, "Jake Stephenson."

Jenny, Tag and I were celebrating in excitement, jumping up and down like idiots. I stole a quick glance at Jake and to my confusion, there was no excitement present. He had a curious look on his face and whatever it was, I had never seen it before and it took me off guard.

Everyone started shouting, "Speech, speech, speech," and the announcer handed the microphone to Jake. He seemed nervous which struck me as odd because Jake was never nervous.

"I know you guys are expecting a standard acceptance speech but I actually have something a little different in mind," he started.

I looked at him, desperate to understand what was going on. Staring intently at him, I had no idea what he was about to say but I was frozen in place waiting to find out.

******

A/N

So, what do you think Jake is about to say? Thank you for following along and please remember to vote if you enjoyed this chapter.