Chapter 17

I sat at the makeup table currently being terrorized by Christy who was pounding make up on my face skillfully.

“You’re going to look beautiful if you stop moving!” She exclaimed, nearly ripping my hair out with the flat iron. She was straightening my hair and then curling the freshly dyed tips. I sat there wincing as she yanked and pulled on my hair.

When the pulling stopped, I relaxed slightly only to be frightened by the hissing of the curling iron being whizzed to life.

“Relax. It won’t hurt at all.” She says as she rips through my hair like Hurricane Katrina. She was already ready and primped for the dance with her peach dress with the black leather belt and heels that she walked quickly yet smoothly in, better than I ever will walk.

“Done!” She called, turning me to face the mirror as my renewed face came into view. I honestly wasn’t wearing much makeup, just a bit of concealer, eye shadow that formed a smoky eye and some mascara. Oh and a bit of lip-gloss that was forced onto me by Christy. My mother was probably the happiest woman on Earth as she watched her daughter stumble and trip down the stairs to her doom, I mean, the dance.

“You girls look beautiful!” My mother said whipping out the digital camera. I heard a few clicks before my mother ran up to me for a hug.

“Honey, I’m so proud of you. You’ve come so far!” My mom spoke. I nodded, pulling away slightly. Her words reminded me of a song. And in the end, it doesn’t even matter.

“Thank you, Mom.” I said right before a honking brought us back to the reality that faced us. I sent Christy a horror stricken face as I clacked to the front porch, swinging open the door.

“Pictures!” My mother said, gathering the four of us together for a picture.

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Cyrus’s Point of View 

I’m ready and nothing will stop me now. Who are you? Iron Man? What if she comes in here and all the guys are drawn to her? I wouldn’t be surprised. What if she comes in here angry already and all I do is make her even angrier. The possibilities are endless. I wiped my hands against my pants once more before getting into my car and heading for the dance.

Maverly’s Point of View

“Hey. I’m Christy.” Christy said and I couldn’t help but notice the pained look that crossed her face.

“I’m Sebastian.” Sebastian spoke, grinning at her as he shook her hand. Warner cut in, his jealously taking over. Sebastian noticed and winked at her before swaggering over to me.

“Hey, you look beautiful.” He said, winking at me as I rolled my eyes. Why I agreed to this? I don’t know, I guess I didn’t want to show up alone with Warner and Christy and then Leila and Riley.

“Let’s go!” Riley’s head popped out from the car window. He was sitting in the back and I rushed ahead to get the seat beside him.

“No pictures?” My mother shouted from behind me.

“No, Sorry mom!” I said, smiling sheepishly as we got into the car.

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Miranda’s Point of View

“Everything’s set up right?” I asked Damien as he grinned down at me. He was hot, for sure, and definitely my type, but I’d rather be with Cyrus and if it all works out; tonight we’ll finish what we started.

“Yeah, she’s with Sebastian and her friends. They should be getting here any moment. But I just wanted to ask you… what about us?” He drawled. Now was the time.

“I love you.” I blurted as his eyes widened and then slowly went back to normal size. I blushed slightly as his gaze deepened.

“I-I love you, too.” He said, sounding completely truthful when he said it. I wanted to laugh loudly. Did this guy actually believe me? He’s going to get dumped tonight once Cyrus is crawling into my arms. I hugged him tightly, pressing my lips to his. He wasn’t even that good of a kisser.

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Christy’s Point of View

I wrung my hands together, my mind racing. What was she doing with Sebastian!? She told me she had some last minute changes to the plans but not a guy! Cyrus was going to kill me and what about him?!

What was he going to do once he sees Sebastian? He trusted me and here I am letting her frolic around with some guy who isn’t even that hot! I gave her a kind smile as I turned back in my seat, sinking lower and lower the more I thought about the situation at hand.

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Maverly’s Point of View

I sighed loudly as we reached the school, where the dance was being held. No, it wasn’t in the cafeteria- it was in the activity hall which was made for things like dances and fundraisers. I smiled lightly at Sebastian who draped his arm over my shoulder.

No matter how hard I tried, it didn’t feel right. I discreetly moved over to Christy, pretending to ask her something but whispering to make it look like I’m conversing with her. Warner and Sebastian began talking and awkwardly waving hands as they talked.

“Why are you with him?” Christy frowned. I sighed, shrugging.

“I honestly don’t know. I guess because I was desperate? I just want someone to talk to while you and Warner are dancing and Riley and Leila are dancing. It doesn’t mean we’re dating, we’re just friends. Not even!” I spoke, biting my lip. Christy smiled reassuringly as she slithered through the crowd, out of my sight.

“Where’d Christy go?” Warner questioned. I looked out to see Riley and Leila dancing wildly on the dance floor together. They were doing several old time moves: the sprinkler, the robot, the cabbage patch. I pointed to the area Christy slipped through and he was after her in no time.

 “Hey!” Sebastian called, walking over to me whilst grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Hi.” I replied slowly. Honestly, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him.

“You enjoy playing hard to get?” He nudged me lightly. It just infuriated me more.

“I wasn’t playing hard to get, I just don’t like you.” I stated rudely. Why was I so on edge? Is it because I know Cyrus is probably at some party with a girl while I was here with… Sebastian?

“Why you got to be so mean?” He said, grammatically incorrect. If I’m correct, he’s quoting a Taylor Swift song.

“We made a deal, I’m only here with you for two reasons. One, so I won’t have to be alone when my friends are making out and two, so I can finally have you leave me alone.” I stated, holding up my fingers as I went.

“You’re nice.” He said sarcastically as I smiled sickly sweet at him. I felt eyes on me as I talked to Sebastian. He wasn’t very popular; he was average and hung out with the skaters- who weren’t here because they are rebels, if you’d like to put it like that.

I wasn’t too popular either, I knew a few people but I usually kept to myself and friends. I’ve always hated Fridays. It left me Saturday and Sunday to be alone unless I made plans, and after a while I’d get bored and start thinking- and thinking’s brought me bad things; for example, being diagnosed with clinical depression at the young age of 14. I need to focus. I sighed as I stared at him dully.

“You okay?” He asked, attempting to calm me down.

“Peachy.” I lied, turning towards the crowd of people gathering. The stage was occupied by the DJ and his equipment, but other than that, it was empty.

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Christy’s Point of View

“Cyrus!” I called out at the guy who was standing in the corner awkwardly.

“She’s here?” He asked, getting off of the wall.

“Yeah, but wait,” I called out, rushing over to him. He looked at me questioningly as I hunched over, breathing heavily from outrunning Warner. “She’s here with someone.” I breathed out. His eyes blackened in anger.

“With who?” He spat. I was scared now, should I have told him in a simpler way? More like ‘But yeah, I wish you good luck and she’s here with someone, but don’t forget to breath!’

“Sebastian Ronan.” I said, my breathing getting back to normal. I quickly stood up, placing a hand on my back.

“Are they dating?” He fumed, running a hand through his hair.

“Not that I know of, she told me she only wanted him here because she wanted someone to talk to.” I replied, rocking back and forth on my heels.

“Are you positive?” He asked slowly, as if I was stupid.

“Yes.” I said, annoyed. I was almost sure he wouldn’t hit me in a place as crowded as this. He gave me a side glance before walking towards the stage.

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Maverly’s Point of View

“I can’t find her!” Warner said, traveling back through the crowd to where I was.

“Hey guys!” Christy piped, cheerily. I knew she was hiding something by the way she avoided my gaze.

“Where were you?” Warner frowned.

“I went to the ladies room,” She lied. I could see right through her lies. “Let’s go.” She said, grabbing my arm.

“What about me?” Warner asked, raising his arms as she dragged me away.

“I’ll see you in 20 minutes, I promise!” She said, blowing him a kiss as she yanked me through the crowd.

“What is this all about?” I shouted, annoyed at her yanking and tugging on my fragile arm.

“You’ll see,” She replied, pulling me to about 10 feet in front of the stage. “Stand right here.” She demanded before she walked away, more like ran away. What was going on?

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Miranda’s Point of View

I saw Christy leave Maverly and I knew this was my chance.

“Hey Maverly.” I hissed, making sure that she heard me.

“Miranda.” She spat, giving me a sideways glance. This was one of the first times this rat said the right name.

“So you actually fell into his trap?” I lied, making sure to look around cautiously before stepping closer.

“What?” She said, raising an eyebrow.

“You don’t know?” I asked, feigning surprise. She gave me another curious glance.

“I heard Cyrus is going to come out here and declare how much he hates you. He’s been avoiding you, right? I’ve seen him. So if I were you, I’d move away from that spot right now beca-.” I spoke before I was interrupted by a voice entering the microphone.

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Maverly’s Point of View

My eyes darted from Miranda to the stage, where the microphone was located. I saw Cyrus standing there, eyes directed towards me, an unreadable expression painted on his face. What if Miranda was right? What if all he wanted to do was embarrass me?

“I don’t know how to start this, but I’ll just start from the beginning,” Cyrus said, never losing eye contact with me. I felt eyes burning into my back and whispers throughout the crowd. “I remember the first time I talked to you, Maverly. When you were ‘pushed’ into me, my theory is by the wind, but you say your friends did it.” He continued, putting air quotes around the word ‘pushed.’ I couldn’t help the little smile that shown on my face.

“You weren’t scared of me when you realized who I was, you actually talked back to me, something no one ever did,” He said, eyes grazing my dress. I felt embarrassed as my face turned red. He laughed at my response. “Then I remember when I watched you chasing your curly haired friend, Riley, throughout the hallways that day and when he finally got into class; I showed up.” He told me and I bit my lip.

“You actually thought I wasn’t going to ‘see you around.’ But I was, I made sure of that, because I was interested in who you were, Maverly,” He continued, breathing after that rush of words. “And then, you tried to be a basketball, and you pelted me with basketballs and then sprayed me in the mouth with mace. And I still remember your taunting remark. ‘You should see your face.’ And you ran out of the gym.” He laughed, along with a few other people.

“And then, skip some stuff that still is important but I could go on forever, turns out my parents hired your mom to redecorate my house. They made a good choice by the way. She had you talk to me about my room, because she couldn’t make it and I was too tired to care the day I was supposed to be interviewed by your mom. We talked and joked, and just had fun- something I didn’t have in a while. And then when I beat you at Call of Duty-.” He spoke, but I cut him off.

“I beat you at call of duty, Angelo.” I snorted, emphasizing his last name, too.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. When you beat me at Call of Duty, by cheating, I realized that I liked you. But I also realized I was developing feelings for you when I rescued you from the bathroom. And when I noticed that I’d hurt you at both parties, I hurt a part of myself, too. Because when you hurt, I hurt,” He continued with something in his eyes that only I understood; about my father beating me. “You’re the only person In this school that’s made an effort to talk to me, despite the rumors, and you didn’t cower away like a little punk- you responded back to me when I gave you sarcastic comments, and you may not have been just as good with them, but you’re pretty witty, Maverly.” He said, winking at me.

“And I just wanted to say, Maverly, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything I’ve put you through. I’m sorry for hurting you at the parties, I’m sorry for making mistakes that I didn’t realize would hurt you in the long run. And I know that it’s a lot to ask, but will you forgive me?” He asked, his eyes hopeful. He puckered out his bottom lip as he jumped off the stage, standing in front of me. I playfully rubbed my chin while staring off at the ceiling, although I already knew my answer.

“I forgive you.” I decided, smiling up at him.

“I have another question.” He said, holding up a finger.

“Ask away.” I encouraged. His eyes cast downward towards the floor and then back up at me.

“Maverly, would you like to be my girlfriend?” He asked, smiling. I bit my lip, pretending to think about it.

“No,” I snapped. His eyes widened and he frowned deeply. “I’m kidding, Cyrus.” I said, laughing. He wrinkled his nose.

“Don’t joke like that, Maverly.” He said, smiling too. His eyes cast towards my lips as we sat there smiling at each other. He did what I’d wanted him to do for a while now, he kissed me.