Page 80 of Genesis

Samuel smirks. “You worried I’m going to take her from you? If you were such a great boyfriend, she wouldn’t need to talk to me.”

Before I have time to process what Samuel just said, Danny punches him in the jaw, but his jaw turns to mush, and Danny’s hand gets stuck. Everyone’s eyes widen and I try to help pull his fist out, but it won’t budge. I pull harder until I fall back, hitting nothing, my arms flailing and my legs kicking as I plummet into a black abyss.

I jolt awake, blinking my eyes open from my bed. “Just a dream.”

I sit up, running a hand through my hair before I reach over and grab my phone, checking the time. It’s after ten on a Saturday. Prom day.

My phone rings in my hand, and I smile when I see it’s Danny.

“Hello,” I say.

“Hey, love.”

“Hey,” I reply with a smile. Danny sounds wide-awake, unlike me.

“You ready for tonight?”

“Yes.” I pick at a string on my comforter, twisting it around my finger.

“I can’t wait to see you in that dress. Better yet, take it off.”

I feel a blush creep up my neck. “I can’t wait to see you in a suit. You did get one, right?”

He chuckles. “Yeah, baby. I got one.”

I hear someone talk in the back. “Look, I gotta go. Busy day ahead. I’ll see you at five-thirty. We’ll go eat somewhere before.”

A knock sounds on the door. “You up?” Hale says. “I got breakfast.”

“Yeah, be out in a minute,” I tell Hale. “Okay, sounds good. See you then,” I say to Danny.

“Love you,” Danny says.

“Love you.”

Exhaling after I hang the phone up and shaking the dream from my mind, I toss the covers off, hanging my feet off the bed and looking down at my freshly painted toes.

I head to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and wash my face before throwing my hair up and heading out into the living room.

“Good morning,” Hale says before he takes a sip of his coffee.

“Morning,” I reply, going for the orange juice.

“You excited for tonight?” he asks.

I nod, filling my glass, thinking about Danny saying he can’t wait to take my dress off, and then I scrunch my face because I’m thinking that in front of my uncle. Eww.

“Trinity said she’d help with your hair if you wanted her to?” he says. Trinity is a hairdresser and works at a little shop on Third Street.

“That would be nice. Tell her thank you.”

Hale nods. “Cool.”

I walk over to the bag of breakfast takeout. “McDonald’s biscuits,” I say, my stomach growling in approval.

“Fresh,” he says, grabbing the coffee pot and refilling his cup. I remove my biscuit from the bag and grab some mustard from the fridge.

“Jelly?” I ask him.

---