Page 9 of Autumn Skies & Pumpkin Pies

I laugh. “Teaganne, I don’t own much makeup, you know this.”

“I do, which is why I brought back up,” she informs me, as she dangles her keys from her hands. “We just have to go get the boxes.”

I start to follow her until the word boxes sinks in. “Boxes? Why would you need boxes of makeup?”

“Oh, it’s not just makeup. It’s also hair supplies, jewelry, and shoes. I just wanted to make sure everything was covered.” Teaganne leads us back outside where we do, in fact, gather boxes from her trunk. Once we get back to my room, she starts to unload everything. It’s overwhelming, but I know Teaganne knows what she’s doing.

A few hours later, after lots of laughs, I’m standing in front of the mirror, speechless. I never thought I could look like this. I trusted Teaganne to make me look amazing, but this is something else altogether. My mom appears in the doorway and judging by the tears forming in her eyes, she didn’t expect this either. “Oh goodness, would you look at y’all?”

Teaganne smiles and does a big turn allowing her silver ball gown to flow out. “Teaganne can work some magic,” I tease.

“That wasn’t me, that’s you. It’s all you. I just made certain things stand out more,” Teaganne adds.

My mom places her hands on my shoulders. “She’s right. It’s all you. You look beautiful. You both do.”

“Thanks, mom.” The doorbell rings and I jump. My nerves are ridiculously high now.

I start to gather stuff into my clutch when my mom stops me. “Your dad is getting the door for the guys. He wants to have a one on one talk with them.” I feel my eyes go large. It’s just like in the movies. I swear if I go downstairs and he has a shotgun I’m going to die of embarrassment. My mom laughs. “It’s not that bad, I promise. However, while they’re talking man to man,” she says, in a teasing tone. “Let me grab some pictures of you two beautiful girls. I’m sure Teaganne’s parents would like a few pictures.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’d love that,” Teaganne says, as she poses. After a few pictures, we head downstairs.

I take the stairs incredibly slow since I’m not used to wearing heels. When I reach the bottom, my eyes instantly find Rocker. He looks like some teen heartthrob from the movies that Teaganne and I like so much. I know my dad and even Keefer are around, but my eyes can’t find them. Rocker’s simple black tux makes him look older than he is. His hair has been cut since this morning. It’s shorter and styled perfectly into that messy, spikey way he wears so well. His stubble is gone, too, so now I can see his perfectly square jaw. His blue eyes are locked on mine as his lips break to show his white teeth in a smile. He steps forward with the corsage from this morning in his hands. “Wow Warbee, you look...gorgeous.”

I feel the blush as it takes over my whole body, not just my cheeks. “Thank you. You don’t look too bad yourself.”

He chuckles. “I’ll take that because coming from you it’s the highest compliment.” Rocker takes my hand in his and places the corsage on my wrist, before leaning in and pressing a kiss to my cheek. As we get ready to leave, my mom requests another round of pictures, this time the guys are included. Once my mom has enough pictures to fill an entire album, I hug her and my dad bye and take Rocker’s hand as we head outside.

“We figured we could all ride together. I hope you ladies don’t mind,” Keefer says, as he leads us to his truck.

Rocker opens the door for me and helps me into the truck. The perfect southern gentleman. When he climbs in beside me, I can smell his cologne as it moves in the air. There’s a good chill in the air tonight. I shiver slightly, but Rocker, always so observant, quickly removes his tux jacket and drapes it over my shoulders. “Thank you.” I steal a glance in his direction and his smile is large.

“Are you ready for this dance?” he asks.

I shrug. “As ready as I can be. I do have a confession though.”

Rocker’s eyebrows go up in question. “What’s that?”

“This is my first dance.”

He looks stunned at first. “How is that possible. You’re a junior.”

“I just never went to any of them before,” I admit quietly.

“You never even went to one in junior high or one of the local barn dances?” he asks.

“I’ve gone to a couple barn dances but I never stayed long. It’s not my scene and I was just trying to appease my mom at the time.” I glance at him again.

Rocker smiles. “Well, I’m honored to take you to your first dance. I hope it’s everything you could imagine.”

I just smile, but in my head, I already know that this night will be so much more than anything I could dream of.

ELEVEN

Rocker

I’m more nervous tonight than I’ve ever been. With football I know what to expect, I know what I’m capable of, but this is different. Warbee isn’t a football game that I’m trying to win. I made a promise to myself to never get distracted by a girl when I first got serious about trying to make it as a football player, but I never predicted her. I’ve grown up around her my entire life. Blue Ridge is a smaller town, everyone knows everyone in a roundabout way. I never paid attention until she was sitting next to me.

It’s all the little things that has me breaking my promise right now. The way she always smells like her grandmother’s bakery. How she chews on the end of her pen cap when she’s reading or thinking. The way she giggles at all my dumb jokes. How she always gives me her dessert at lunch, because nothing can compare to her grandmother’s, she’s not wrong, but I still take the dessert. It’s the way the blush creeps into her cheeks from her neck when I compliment her. It’s everything.

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