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Excuse the mistakes

The adorable kid on the side is Thomas

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I glanced at the clock and sighed.

Parker was going to be here in a little under an hour, and the only thing I’d done to get ready for the gala was to take a shower. My mom, however, had spent the past four hours primping. I had no idea how people could take that long to get ready.

After another minute of sitting on my bed and surfing the internet, I bit my lip and groaned. As much as I disliked getting ready for a formal event, it was time. I closed my laptop and climbed off of my bed, and I walked into the bathroom.

With little precision, I dried my hair with a blow-dryer. Then, I plugged in my curling iron, which I hadn’t used since I accidently gave myself a giant burn across the top of my cheek. Carefully, I wrapped sections of my hair around the barrel of the curling iron. After fifteen minutes, my hair hung neatly in loose copper coils.

As I pinned some of the hair back, I heard the door to my bedroom bang open, and suddenly, my mom appeared in my bathroom. “Reed!” she cried, her eyes wide, “We have to leave in twenty-five minutes!”

“I just have to do my makeup and get dressed, Mom,” I said, unzipping my makeup bag, “Don’t worry.”

“I swear, Reed, you’re going to give me a heart attack!” My mom growled, crossing her arms over her chest. With her hair and makeup already done perfectly, all my mom had to do now was change into her dress. That meant she had time to micromanage me, and I really wasn’t in the mood.

“Hey, Mom, I think I heard your phone ringing,” I said as I dabbed on some foundation.

“What?” my mom asked in confusion, “I don’t hear anything.”

“Oh, no, I definitely hear it,” I insisted, willing her to leave me alone so I could focus on getting ready.

“Crap,” my mom muttered, and she started to hurry from my room to get the phone that wasn’t ringing. “Hurry up, Reed!” she called, and then I heard my bedroom door close. I shook my head and chuckled to myself.

I finished applying my makeup, and I padded back into my bedroom. I pulled my black tank top carefully over my head, and then I shimmied out of my leggings. I changed from a sports bra to a strapless black one, and then I pulled my dress out of my closet.

If my mom had had her way, I would be going to the gala in a bright pink, chiffon dress that reached the floor and made me look like a cupcake. We’d literally almost gotten into a screaming match at the store she’d taken me to.

However, I’d won out and my mom had bought the dress I wanted. It was a simple, shimmery gold shift dress that came down to the middle of my thigh. It was simple, my mom hated it, and I would probably be upstaged by all the other girls at the gala.

In simpler words, it was perfect.

I stepped into the dress and slipped my arms through the long sleeves. However, when I reached back to zip the dress up, I could only get it up about an inch. I swore under my breath, but before I could go find someone to finish it for me, the door to my bedroom creaked open.

Assuming it was my mom coming to tell me to hurry up, without looking behind me, I asked, “Hey, can you zip me up really quick?”

Without a response, I sensed my mom walked up behind me, and then I felt her start to zip up my dress. Her fingers brushed my skin, and that’s when I felt the roughness of her skin. That’s when I realized the person zipping up my dress was not, as I’d originally thought, my mother.

I pulled away from the mystery person, my zipper half done, and I whipped around to find a grinning Parker. “You fucking pervert!” I yelled, smacking him across the chest, “Why didn’t you say it was you?”

“I was just helping you like you asked me to,” Parker replied with a chuckle, and he shrugged like he was innocent, which in no way he was.

“That’s because I thought you were my mother!” I screeched. I put one hand across my chest to hold my dress up, and then I pointed to the door, “Get the hell out of my room, Parker!”

“Reed, you can’t go out with your dress half-zipped up,” Parker said without budging, and I could tell from the look in his eye that he was amused by my reaction to what was going on. “Let me finish, okay? I promise I won’t rip your dress off, take pictures, and send them to the entire school.”

I was tempted to say no and tell him to get out once again, but he was right there. Zipping up my dress would only take a few seconds, and if we were actually dating, I wouldn’t care. So, I sighed and said, “Fine, Parker, but no funny business.”

“Cross my heart,” Parker stated firmly, and he actually traced his fingers in an X over his chest. Hesitantly, I turned around, and I resisted the urge to shiver as Parker finished zipping up my dress as painfully slow as possible.

See, now that’s something the romance movies get wrong. Usually, when a guy zips up a girl’s dress slowly, they start sucking each other’s faces off in unrealistic kissing scenes. In real life, it’s awkward and I just wanted him to hurry up and be done with it.  This was not a sexy activity; it was an uncomfortable one.

“See?” Parker said, taking a step back, “Was that really so bad?”

“Yes,” I replied, turning around grumpily. That’s when I noticed the way Parker was dressed.

He was wearing a traditional tuxedo with a bowtie, which was fitted perfectly. Let me tell you, Parker looked very dapper. He’d even made the effort to style his hair in something other than his usual, unruly bed head. 

“You look snazzy,” I commented, gesturing towards his outfit.

“Why, thank you,” Parker replied, smirking. He looked me up and down and said, “You don’t look too shabby, either. Maybe some shoes, though, Reed.”

I looked down at my feet and wiggled my toes, which had their nails painted black to match my fingernails this morning since my mom had insisted on mani-pedis. It had actually been fun; one of the few, special moments I had with my mom. I know, she usually sounds crazy, but my mom really just wanted me to be happy.

“I have shoes, Parker,” I said, rolling my eyes, and I pushed past him to get to my closet. I shoved my feet unceremoniously into a pair of plain black pumps, which added a couple of inches to my height, and I grabbed a black clutch from underneath a sweater.

I heard my mom call for us, saying it was time to go, and I quickly dropped my phone and lip gloss into my clutch. “Ready to go?” I asked, and Parker nodded.

“You know I’m going to make you dance right?” Parker asked.

I snorted and said, “Yeah, right. That’s so not happening.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Is not.”

“Is.”

“Nope.”

“We’ll see, Reed, we’ll see.”

*

The one thing I absolutely loved about this event was the food. Since it was a matchmaker company throwing the gala, they insisted every dish incorporate chocolate. Because I consider chocolate to be the most important food group, you can see why I would find this dinner to be my absolute favorite.

As I finished eating some really good chicken with this weird chocolate sauce that I need to just drink by the gallon, Parker returned from the bathroom and sat down in his chair across from me. “Those are some fancy bathrooms,” he said, “There’s an attendant and everything.”

“See, I don’t like that,” I replied, taking a sip of sparkling grape juice, “I mean, they could watch you pee or video tape you or something. I don’t want to end up one of those nasty websites with videos of girls taking a whizz.”

“Wow, Reed,” Parker said with a laugh, “Way to be graphic with that.” I shrugged and glanced over at the kids’ tables, where Thomas was talking to a girl his age. They looked to be in deep conversation, and it was actually pretty cute.

“Her name’s Emilie.”

“What?” I asked, my head snapping back to look at Parker.

“The little blonde girl who’s talking to Thomas,” Parker clarified, “Her name’s Emilie. I ran into Thomas going into the bathroom and he asked me for girl advice.”

“He’s ten and he needs girl advice?” I asked with a mixture of surprise and amusement.

“Hey, it’s never too early to start with the ladies,” Parker replied with his ever present smirk, “I started when I was seven.”

“I’m sure you did,” I said with a short chuckle, and I flicked my hair over my shoulder. I opened my mouth to ask Parker a question, but suddenly the song playing changed to “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz.

“Oh, I love this song,” I said with a smile, “I wish I could live in a Jason Mraz music video.”

Parker looked thoughtful for a moment, and then he stood up and extended his hand to me. “Miss Hadley,” he said, addressing me in a formal voice, “May I have this dance?”

“Parker, I told you I don’t dance,” I hissed, and I felt my cheeks turning red instinctively.

“This coming from the girl who teaches a dance class and enters competitions,” Parker replied, raising an eyebrow. He had a point, but I still wasn’t going to budge. Parker realized this, and he sighed. “What can I do to get you to dance?”

I tapped my fingers on my chin for a moment in thought, and then I came up with something I knew Parker wouldn’t be able to do. “If you can get Thomas to ask that Emilie girl to dance, I’ll dance with you.”

“Challenge accepted,” Parker stated firmly, and then he walked past me towards Thomas’s table. I turned and watched as Parker gestured subtly for Thomas to come over to where he was standing, and then Parker whispered something in Thomas’s ear. Thomas looked at him with wide eyes for a moment and then nodded.

I watched in horror as Thomas went up to Emilie, extended his hand just like Parker had done to me, and then said something. Emilie’s cheeks turned pink, but she nodded and took Thomas’s hand. Together, they walked to the dance floor, and I realized I was doomed.

“So,” Parker drawled, grinning victoriously, “about that dance, Reed.”

“Shut up,” I muttered, pulling my napkin from my lap and dropping it on the table top. I stood up, straightened my dress, and I let Parker take my hand. By the time we reached the dance floor, the song had changed to “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “This is ridiculously cliché,” I stated, and Parker rolled his eyes.

“Stop being so negative and enjoy yourself,” Parker said, and he rested his hand just above my hip. I placed one hand on his shoulder and our remaining hands joined together. As we started to move, I could feel myself begin to relax.

“You seem to know exactly what you’re doing,” I said, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

“I took ballroom dancing lessons when I was younger,” Parker stated with complete confidence, and I grinned and laughed a little. “What’s so funny about that?” he demanded, and I shook my head as I smiled like an idiot.

“I’m trying to imagine pre-teen Parker in a ballroom dancing lesson,” I replied, and Parker laughed at that as well.

“It wasn’t that bad,” he said as we spun around the dance floor with ease. “I got to dance with the hot dance instructor because all the other girls were taken.”

“You are such a pig,” I replied jokingly, and Parker shrugged with a smirk.

Despite my earlier reluctance, I was actually starting to have a lot of fun. When the songs became faster paced, I’d ditched my shoes at my table and danced barefoot. Thomas and Emilie were also still dancing, and it was actually pretty cute when he tried to slow dance with her.

After the last song ended, the dance floor had to be cleared for the start of the auction. Parker and I walked back to our table, with me apologizing for accidently kicking him in the shin during a particularly fast song.

“Alright,” I said breathlessly, and I plopped down in my chair, “That was a lot of fun.”

“I told you so,” Parker replied, and I rolled my eyes and laughed. I rubbed my feet as the auctioneer came to the podium on the platform at the end of the dance floor, next to the DJ booth, and he tapped on the microphone to get everyone’s attention.

As the auction started, the room quieted down. I looked around and saw Emilie and Thomas whispering to each other, and I also managed to catch sight of my mom sitting with my dad at a table with her associates. My table was unfortunately mostly college age people getting drunk off their asses.

After five minutes of listening to the auction, I was officially bored. I turned to reach for my clutch, since I had an Uno app and I could challenge Parker to a game. That’s when I caught him looking at me funny.

“What?” I hissed, leaning towards me.

Parker actually looked like he was blushing, and he replied with a quick, “Nothing!”

I raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment further. Instead, I just let my curiosity about what that might mean was stew inside of me. Ludicrous, outlandish ideas like Parker secretly loving me or trying to control me with his mind floated through my brain, but I just shook them off.

I probably just had food on my face or something.

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Guys, guys, guys. Last I checked, Stupid Cupid is #8 in teen fiction and #11 in humor... THAT IS SO FUCKING AMAZING!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED AND OH MY GOD THIS IS JUST SO AWESOME! Thank you guys so so much for supporting this story and making as popular as it has become  <3

I'm sorry, but I just had to put Total Eclipse of the Heart in a chapter, and this seemed like the one. I don't know what it is about that song, but I think it's kinda hilarious in a good, fun way :D

PARKER'S POV: I have decided to do it, yes! However, I am going to wait until the whole story is done in Reed's POV because if I do Parker's it might spoil things ;) but yes, it will happen!

Also, these frequent updates aren't going to be as frequent, as for the past week, I was on break from school. Now, I'm going back in two and a half days, and I have a lot going on. So, maybe one-two chapters a week now. Sorry, but I can't help what I have to do for school.

Also, if you haven't checked out All Apologies, go do it!

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