Page 64 of My Fake Relationship With the Popular Boy
“If he bought the dress right before the pedicure, this must have been what was in the bag he was carrying around that day,” she said thoughtfully.
“No, it can’t be,” I said immediately.
Madison frowned and tilted her head. “What? Why not?”
“Because he said that was for…” My voice trailed off as I whispered, “Some girl he liked.”
Suddenly, everything clicked into place. Jaxon being so evasive about the purchase must have been because he wanted to surprise me. And Sabrina was so insistent that he still liked me, that he still talked about me… None of it had been fake toJaxon, either. We both wanted it to be the real thing and I had gone and ruined any chance we’d had of it working out.
I put a hand to my mouth as I tried to hold back the sob that was building in my chest but I ultimately failed. Soon enough, tears spilled over onto my cheeks as well. All I could think about was Jaxon’s face in the closet when he’d realized what I’d done.
Madison ran back over to the bed. It bounced a little as she jumped on but I barely noticed. She wrapped her arms around me and brushed my hair out of my face. The smell of her perfume was overpowering. While I normally loved it, I found myself oddly longing for the smell of Jaxon’s cologne instead.
“I ruined everything!” I sobbed.
“No, no, you didn’t,” Madison soothed. “Here’s what you’ll do, Violet… You’ll wear the dress to prom and Jaxon will see you and everything will work out.”
“I’m not sure Jaxon even wants to talk to me.” I wiped at the tears with my wrist but it wasn’t any use, since they were still falling
Madison stared at the box on the ground.
“The kind of love he wrote that note with doesn’t just disappear overnight,” she said quietly. “No matter what happened between you two.”
twenty-four
I briefly considered wearingmy sister’s old dress to prom anyway, but quickly threw that idea away. I wasn’t going to do that just to make a point — the dress Jaxon got me was perfect and I wasn’t going to waste the gift, nor did I want to hurt his feelings by wearing something else.
The dress was emerald green, just like he said in the note, and floor length. It had a jewelled bodice that sparkled in the light, a low back that I would have worried would get me in trouble at any other time, and a high slit up the left leg. All in all, it was stunning.
Jaxon and I had never planned to arrive at prom together since we both already had transportation plans when we made this deal. I went to Madison’s place to get ready, along with a few of our other friends, while Jaxon was going with Eli and Sabrina.
“Violet!” my friend, Stella, said when I walked out in my dress for the first time. “That is the most gorgeous dress I’ve ever seen!”
“Thanks, Stella,” I said. I glanced over it again. “You don’t think it’s too much?”
“Not at all,” Theresa jumped in. I didn’t know her that well but she and Madison had been friends for a couple of years. “It’s perfect. Where did you get it?”
My cheeks heated up. “Uh, Jaxon got it for me.”
“No way!” Stella squealed. She grabbed my hand and made me twirl so she could see the full thing. The bottom splayed out as I turned.
“Where did you find a boy like that?” Theresa asked. She knocked her hip against mine. “You really won the lottery, didn’t you?”
I forced a smile, a little overwhelmed by the attention.
Stella sighed happily. “I’m so glad you two finally got together. I always knew it would happen one day.”
“I was starting to get worried it wouldn’t happen,” Theresa said. “But you got together just in time.”
I kept trying to smile and thanked them for the compliments, but each nice comment they made was like another dagger being stabbed in my heart. I wondered whether Jaxon would see it the same way they did when I apologized to him; I wondered if he would have it in himself to give us a new shot.
Unsurprisingly, almost everyone went to prom in a limo. I didn’t know if that was common at other schools, but at Bayshore, it was strange for someone not to. The prom was being held at a nice hotel about twenty minutes from our school. It had a driveway that circled around in front of the entrance for people to be dropped off, so we wouldn’t have to walk far. It made me feel a little like I was at a ball or something. Like I was a princess.
I glanced out the window as my limo pulled up and was unsurprised to see Jaxon leaning against a decorative pole next to the door. We’d agreed to meet outside so we could walk in together. Stella, Theresa, and Madison all got out of the limobefore me, but I saw over their shoulders how Jaxon pulled himself up to full height as we got out.
“Hi Jaxon,” Stella called out.
He nodded at them as they walked by. “Looking good, ladies.”
