“Oooh, Brianne, look at this!”

I let out a long sigh as Kyla held out yet another dress in front of me.  Shelley and Meghan squealed in delight at the sight of it as though they could visualize themselves in it.  I, for one, would puke if I saw one of them wearing it.  It would match the color of the dress at least.  A color that shade of green should not have been allowed in the world.

“Kill me now,” I muttered.

When we first entered JC Penney, I knew that it was going to be next to impossible to find a dress.  Every single dress in the section (conveniently named Prom Section) was unappealing.  Shelley and Kyla had rolled their eyes at me when I scrunched my nose up, saying that much.  Apparently I had to give the place a chance.  And I had—fifteen chances, actually, if you counted the number of ugly dresses the girls had tried to shove in my face. 

Kyla huffed, letting the dress fall back into its place on the rack.  We’d been dress shopping for a good two hours now, and I was the only one without a dress.  It wasn’t at all shocking that this was the situation we ended up in.  I didn’t like dresses.  Simple as that.

“Brianne, you have to find something,” Meghan said, coming up from behind me and playing lightly with my hair.  I resisted the urge to slap her hand away.  “We want you to look nice and pretty for Dannon!”

I shot a glower to the ceiling.  I was tempted to tell them all that Dannon didn’t care, that he thought I looked fine the way I did, but that would get me absolutely nowhere.  In fact, it would only make them want me to impress him more.  I hated being a girl sometimes.  It was way too difficult living up to the expectations.

“What kind are we thinking, Shelley?” Paula called from across the room.  She was rifling between dresses, looking more concentrated than I’d ever seen her. 

I had to hand it to the girls.  They were rather determined.

Suddenly Shelley was in front of me, grabbing me by the shoulders and spinning me around slowly as she examined me.  “She needs a purple!” Shelley declared after a moment, pursing her lips as she looked me over.  “Spaghetti strap.”  She grabbed my cheeks in her hands, twisting my face in strange ways.  I wasn’t really sure how this told her what kind of dress I needed, but I wasn’t about to ask her.  “Down to the knees—at most.  Hmm, and we want some small frills at the bottom.”

Frills?  Uh-uh, I didn’t think so.  “Um, excuse me—”

“Brianne, do yourself a favor and allow the professionals to do their job.”

I would have slapped Kyla if she hadn’t been right.  I was so tired of dress shopping.  If Shelley thought I needed all of those things—except for the frills—than fine, whatever.  It would have been nice if she played costume designer a little earlier, but hey, no one was perfect.

“I found one!” Meghan called gleefully, cutting me off from my inner thoughts.

Everyone turned, watching as Meghan held up the dress in question.  It was a simple dress, and it had the exact same description that Shelley had provided.  A dark purple with a light purple strip of what looked like silk separating the top of the dress from the bottom.  The bottom half of the dress was frilly—but not too frilly—with black lace underneath.  I hated to admit it, but I actually liked it.

“It’s beautiful!” the girls chorused together, giggling cheerfully.  Meghan ran over, fitting the hanger over my head and pushing me over to a body mirror in front of the dressing rooms.  I huffed, placing my hands on my hips as I looked myself over.  Okay, so it didn’t like that bad.  But—

“Try it on!” Shelley ordered, ushering me into the dressing room.  “This one’s perfecto!”

Love how I didn’t even get my own opinion on my own dress?  That was pretty damn sad.

I grumbled under my breath as I pushed open one of the stalls and dragged myself inside.  I undressed quickly, wanting nothing more than this stupid shopping trip to be over.  Sure the dress didn’t look horrible, and sure it matched my hair style, but it wasn’t going to look good on me.  I knew it wasn’t.  Dresses hated me, and I hated them.  We had a perfect relationship better not to be visited.  What was the point of making us collide?

I pinched my eyes closed as I finished adjusting the shoulder straps.  Biting my lip, I twisted around so that I faced the mirror and opened my eyes.  “Holy shit,” I breathed, staring into the mirror, utterly shocked.

I looked . . . pretty.  Not Cover Girl pretty, or anything like that—hell no.  That would take so much makeup that my entire face would transform.  But I actually looked . . . pretty.

I fluffed my hair out, turning and checking out my back.  None too shabby.  I scowled.  I didn’t appreciate that this dress was making me like it.

“Brianne, let us see!” Paula called.

Bracing myself, I stepped out of the stall.  All at once, my four companions started squealing, rushing forth in excitement.  They spoke simultaneously, their words meshing into a huge glob of something I couldn’t understand—like, at all.  It was too high-pitched, too quick-paced.  The girls needed to breathe.

“Do you like it?” Kyla demanded suddenly, reaching forward and gripping my shoulders tightly.  “Because, you know, you have to like the dress.”

Thank you, Kyla, for acknowledging that face.  “Yeah,” I muttered, lifting up the sides slightly, avoiding my friends’ gazes.  “It’s not overly-horrible.”

Kyla grinned at everyone.  “That means she loves it, guys.  Don’t let her fool you.”

Cue the abnormally loud and utterly annoying screaming.

“I’m going to go get back into regular clothing now,” I mumbled awkwardly, detaching myself from my friends and scurrying back to the comforts of the stall.  At least in the stall no one was grabbing at me.  Gosh I hated people.  Maybe I’d create a magical bubble that would only pop on my command.  Once I stepped inside, I was invisible to everything and everyone.  Yep, sounded great.

I quickly changed back into my light-gray T-shirt and jean shorts before stepping back outside, the dress draping neatly over my arm.  I moved cautiously up to the group of crazy girls, hoping that they wouldn’t tear my hair out.  I didn’t really know why they’d tear my hair out, but my mind couldn’t help but visualizing Kyla, Shelley, Meghan, and Paula all going at my hair like barbaric, wild dogs.  Odd, right?  “Are we done now?” I asked as I reached them.  “Can I please go home?”

Shelley clucked her tongue, smiling brightly.  I knew instantly that I was doomed.  “Nope, we have one more thing to do.”

I did not like where this was going.  “What?” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest.  I could feel the cool fabric on my skin as it crushed together.

“Shoe shopping!”

Dammit.

| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |

I stared at myself in the mirror, swaying my hips slightly from side to side.  The dress swayed along with me, tickling my legs.  I tilted my head to the side.  I was conflicted on whether I liked what I was wearing or not.  It was against my better judgment to like being in a dress, but I had to hand it to the disgrace to humanity: it was rather comfortable.  I was just happy that my dress had spaghetti straps and not thicker straps.  Those things were not comfortable.  Though, a strapless dress would be worse.

My mom did my make-up with a minimum amount of squealing.  I liked how it turned out: a little blush, a thin layer of lip gloss, eye-shadow, and eye-liner.  I had been afraid that she would make me look like a clown.  But she didn’t.  She’d made me . . . pretty.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

I jumped, spinning around and glaring at Garrett, almost succeeding in tripping in the high heels I was wearing.  Yeah, Kyla and Shelley forced me to get a matching pair of high heels because apparently none of the flats matched.  Poor me.  “Garrett!” I hissed with a scowl.  “Don’t scare me like that when I’m in heels.”

Garrett, unfazed, sauntered into the room with his arms over his chest.  “You look beautiful,” he said simply, plopping into my bed.  “I like that you’re not like one of those idiots who put their hair up for prom.  Sweat-exposed necks are not attractive.”

I smiled, glancing at my hair in the mirror.  I hadn’t done much with it—actually, I hadn’t really done anything at all.  The mot I let my mom do was curl it.  So, instead of my usual wavy locks of hair, it was now curled.  Major difference right there.

I sat down carefully next to my brother, careful not to bunch up the fabric of my dress.  I wasn’t going to admit it, but I was as nervous as hell.  I mean, this was the only prom left.  There was no, “Maybe next year will be different.”  No, if I messed this up, that was it.  I wasn’t a junior.  I was a senior.

“You look nervous,” Garrett murmured, draping his arm gingerly over my shoulder, as though to protect my hair from being ruined.  “Why?”

I shrugged.  “I dunno.  I’m not used to heels.”

Garrett laughed then.  I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, my lips pricking up into a small smile.  Garrett shook his head.  “You’re going to be fine,” he assured me, giving me a small squeeze.  “Besides, Dannon would let you standing on his feet when dancing anyway.”

Oh gosh.  I had to dance.

You’d think I’d remember that at a prom you had to dance, but no.  I didn’t remember that.  Gosh I was stupid.  “Watch as neither of us know how to dance,” I mused, sounding lighter than I felt.

“No, Dannon knows how to dance.”  Garrett grinned.  “We were talking about prom yesterday while you were in the bathroom.”

Dannon had come over yesterday to work on the project.  Like usual, we got barely anything done—except for the portion when we took breaks and Garrett decided to video-tape us while we had a water fight with the hose in the yard.  Dannon won, obviously.

“Oh yay,” I muttered.  “I’ll look like a loser then.”

“No you won’t.”  Garrett chuckled.  “I told you, he’d let you step on his feet.”

I was about to respond, but my mom shouted, “Brianne, Dannon’s here!”

Butterflies battled in my stomach.  Damn, they must have been in a full out war because my stomach hurt.  “Here we go,” I muttered, shaking Garrett’s arm off my shoulders and standing up.

“Oh, oh!” Garrett shouted excitedly.  “Can I be your escort?”

I stared at him like he was crazy.  Which made sense, seeing how he was crazy.  “Garrett,” I drawled, moving toward my door, “your sanity needs to be checked.  Immediately.”

And, with that, I left him pouting in my room.

I took a deep breath, descending carefully down the stairs.  I gulped, my hands curling tightly around the banister.  I felt like Mia from The Princess Diaries when she was going to the royal dinner.  Except instead of a huge room full of royal men and women dining, there was Dannon and my mom standing next to each other talking softly as they waited for me to arrive.

Dannon looked handsome.  There was no other way to put it.  I was thankful that he didn’t gel his hair down, because if he had I would be forced to kill him.  His hair was naturally beautiful, along with his eyes.  Add a fancy tuxedo, and you had a winner.  I couldn’t place why, but his tuxedo made his eyes pop.  They seemed so much brighter today.

Dannon’s eyes shot up and stopped midsentence as his eyes latched onto me.  His eyes widened, and I instantly panicked.  Was something wrong with my hair?  Did the nail-polish on my toenails not match?  Was the dress not good enough?  Hiding my worry, I kept a straight face and continued down the stairs.  I was pretty proud of myself; hiding worry wasn’t exactly easy to do.

I came to stand in front of Dannon and looked up at him.  I smiled slightly.  “I look horrible, don’t I?”

Dannon shook his head slowly, his eyes still wide.  Something in his expression made me flush.  He hadn’t even needed to say anything corny.  Just by the look in his eyes my legs felt like water.  It was a wonder I didn’t fall to the floor when Dannon finally spoke.  “You look . . .”  He smiled brightly.  “Absolutely breathtaking.”

“Aww!” my mom cooed.  “You guys are so cute!  Now get together so I can take a picture.”

I kept my sarcastic thoughts to myself as I closed the distance between Dannon and me, leaning into his side and wrapping my arm around his waist.  He copied, pulling me closer to him.  Together, we both smiled brilliantly as my mom snapped the photo.  My mom squealed as she brought the camera down, her expression so bright that even the sun couldn’t compete with it. 

“You ready?” Dannon murmured, reaching down to take my hand.

I nodded.  “I suppose so.”

After bidding goodbye to my mom, we left the house and headed down the pathway toward Dannon’s car.  He opened the passenger door for me and closed it after I was seated inside.  I buckled my seat belt, watching with a faint smile on my face as he rounded to the other side, hopping into the driver’s seat.

“You’re being rather polite today,” I commented as we pulled out of the driveway.  “Since when do you hold the car door open?”       

“It’s simple really,” Dannon said with a chuckle.  “Today you’ll let me.”

Ah, he had a point there.

| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |

“You dance wonderfully.”

 I smacked Dannon’s back slightly.  I would have smacked his arm, but that would include me unwrapping my arms from around his neck.  Why waste the effort?  “You’re lying and we both know it.” 

The first thing Dannon had done when we arrived was drag me out onto the dance floor.  I didn’t even have a chance to look around the gym, at the way things were decorated.  But now that we were dancing, my eyes devoured everything, absolutely amazed.  It didn’t even look like the gym anymore.  It’d been transformed into something that could be compared to a ballroom.  The bleachers were covered in mirrors, reflecting the dance-floor as students swayed back and forth to the music.  The photo booth area looked majestic, the entrance covered with streamers that twirled like silver vines.  I felt like I was in Cinderella’s castle.  Everything was decked out to be like royalty.  Even the punch table.  In the depths of my mind, I struggled to recollect what the theme was this year.  Elegance?  Probably.

“No, you’re actually pretty good.”  Dannon smiled lovingly.  “You haven’t stepped on my feet yet.”

The song came to an end, replaced by a slower, more romantic one.  Ah, the cliché slow song that was always played for the prom in movies.  I should have known it was going to come soon.  We’d been dancing for almost an hour.  It was about time.

“Girls and boys, grab the one that means the world to you and step out onto the dance floor,” the DJ called lightly from the corner of the room.  From the corner of my eye I could see him dancing slowly to the song.  I didn’t recognize the tune, but it was self-explanatory: it was time to slow dance.

“Hmm,” I mused, looking around.  “I can’t find the person they were referring to.”

Dannon grinned.  “Neither can I.”

We both laughed, shaking our heads.  I glanced around, searching for Kyla.  She’d run off with Oliver a few minutes earlier, wanting to request a song.  I bet she was the one who requested the slow song.  I wouldn’t put it past her.  I spotted her dancing with Oliver near the edge of the room looking happier than I had ever seen her with other guys.  When they began kissing, I turned away.

I bit my lip as I caught sight of a few girls drinking punch.  They were staring at me, their faces fit into tight scowls.  I still wasn’t accustomed to the haters that I’d earned when beginning my relationship with Dannon.  I tried my best to ignore them.  But, sometimes, it was hard.

“That girl just spilled punch on her dress,” Dannon said cheerfully, following my gaze.  My eyebrows creased.  No one had. . . . He turned back, smiling.  “Don’t let them ruin your night.”

I smiled back.  “Whatever you say.”

Dannon grinned, bringing a hand through my hair before pressing his lips to mine.  I kissed him back, a smile forming on my lips.  All at once, the glaring girls disappeared.  All my problems seemed to evaporate.  All that mattered was Dannon and his arms around me. 

It wasn’t until we pulled away that I realized something: we’d just danced with our eyes closed.  “We’re so skilled,” I said, giggling.  “We can dance blind.”

Dannon laughed.  “Very funny.”

The rest of our time at the prom was a blur.  Dannon and I danced our hearts out until our feet were so sore that we all but collapsed into chairs.  Meghan and Paula danced together laughing and having the greatest time.  Oliver and Kyla pretty much kept to themselves except for the few times they popped in to say hi before they ran off again.  Shelley and Garner lounged around at a table for the most part, but danced for a few songs.  There were only a few times when the whole crew hung out together.

Three hours later the crew and I were heading outside together, laughing and chatting merrily.  I had to admit it: I had a lot of fun.  And, apparently, it was just the beginning.  Shelley announced that we’d be going to Dairy Treat—a small ice cream place on Main Street—in celebration of a wonderful night.  I wondered how much money she spent celebrating happiness.  Probably a lot.

The ride to Dairy Treat was short.  Well, it felt short anyway.  The whole time Dannon, Kyla, Oliver, and I bickered about what ice cream was better.  Dannon and I both agreed that chocolate frappes were the best, while Oliver was fighting for cyclones, and Kyla was defending for the Snoopy ice cream.  Yep, she was defending an ice cream meant for little kids.  Eh, let’s face it: we’re all kids at heart.

“Oh, Brianne, for your birthday are we going to the movies like last year?” Kyla asked suddenly.

It was such an odd question, seeing how my birthday was all the way in June.  June third, in fact.  It was the day when I’d turn eighteen.  I couldn’t say that I was looking forward to it.  Being a minor had its perks.

“I don’t know,” I replied with a  small scoff.  “Can you ask when we’re closer to June maybe?”

“We should go to the movies for Dannon’s birthday,” Kyla announced, leaning forward.  “Your birthday is in a few weeks, right?”

“Yep, April fifteenth.”  Dannon grinned.  “And, if you would like, we can go to the movies.”

“Yay!” Kyla squealed, clapping her hands together.

Dannon smiled as we turned into the Dairy Treat’s parking lot and hopped out.  Everyone else was already there, looking out of place as they stood in line to order.  A Main Street ice cream place didn’t exactly call for elegant wear.  I glance down at my own dress and smiled a small smile.  Well, at least I’d look out of place along with them.

We hurried over to our friends, murmuring apologies to the few people that were standings behind them.  I looked up at the sky, tempted to throw my hands in the air and spin in circles.  I felt so light—so free.  Like nothing in the world could touch me.

“Took you guys long enough,” Garner teased as we squeezed our way in line.

“Shut up, Garner,” Shelley snapped with a sniff.  “You almost got us pulled over by a police officer because of your reckless speed.”

Ah, that explained it.

Shelley’s comment set the two off, their loud voices echoing through the night.  None of us tried to stop them from fighting.  It was as amusing as hell.  Even the families behind us giggled and chuckled under their breaths.  And who could blame them?  Shelley and Garner arguing was like watching reality television—except better.

“Can I help you guys tonight?” the girl at the counter greeted us with a cheerful smile.  She couldn’t have been much older than us, maybe twenty at most.  “Prom night, huh?”

Shelley and Garner stopped fighting to laugh along with the rest of us.  As we took our orders, however, the bickering continued as though it had never ended.  Because the lady was so nice, she made the frappes first.  I couldn’t help but feel a tad triumphant as Dannon and I thanked her, trotting over to one of the picnic tables behind the building.  Everyone else had to wait in line while Dannon and I got to eat.  Ha!

“Dannon, can I ask you a question?” I murmured, sipping at my frappe.  This question was probably going to ruin the good mood, but it’d been nagging me for a while now.  I needed to know, and there wasn’t really a good time to ask.

“Of course you can,” Dannon replied, tossing his legs over the picnic table bench, plopping onto the seat and twisting to face me as I stood over him.  He smiled, and I smiled back before taking a seat next to him. 

I played with my frappe’s straw between my fingertips for a moment before finally asking the question.  “What kind of cancer is it?”

Dannon paused before answering.  He sipped at his frappe, glancing up at the sky.  That, of course, only made me worried.  Pauses couldn’t possibly be a good thing.  “Leukemia,” he finally answered, his eyes meeting mine.

felt like I’d been hit by a bus.  I felt a sinking dread in my stomach.  Of course it was leukemia.  That was the most common cancer in younger people, wasn’t it?  And in the movies it was always that specific cancer.  But, what I didn’t get was—“Isn’t there any treatment they could do?”  I asked hopefully, straightening up.  “Like, chemo or something?”

Dannon shook his head and my stomach sunk again.  “I tried chemo already.  Remember in the beginning of the year when I was gone for a really long time—missed the first two weeks of school?”

I gulped down bile in my throat.  “Everyone said that was a vacation. . . .”

“Everyone believed that’s what it was, and I let them.  I was getting treatment in the hospital.”  He sighed deeply, bringing a hand through his hair.  “That’s why I came back with really short hair.  It was growing back.”

I blinked, trying to imagine Dannon bald and failing.  “Isn’t there something else . . . ?”

Dannon shook his head again.  “They’ve tried everything, Bri.  That’s what all the appointments were—in the beginning, anyway.  They were trying to find some way to help stop the growth process of the tumor.  But, now, since I’ve stopped reacting to treatments, it’s just check-up appointments to see the growth rate.”  He laughed without humor.  “Tracking the rate of my death, I suppose.”

Sheer ice that drifted all the way to my bones pierced through me.  I fought to keep my voice even as I opened my mouth to speak.  “So there’s no. . . .”

“Cure?  Treatment?”  Dannon smiled sadly.  “Afraid not.”

I expected my eyes to burn with tears, but they didn’t.  Maybe it was because of shock.  Maybe it was because subconsciously I expected it to be this way.  Either way, the tears weren’t flowing.  Which was good.  I mean, crying in the middle of what was turning out to be a great night would be rather suspicious. 

I sighed, glancing back at the building where all of our friends were still waiting to receive their ice cream.  “You have to tell them sooner or later.”  I turned back to him.  “You know that.”

Dannon bit his lip, but you could tell from the look in his eye that he knew I was right.  “I know, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.”

I smiled, reaching over and patting his hand.  “I have faith in you.”

Dannon smiled back swiftly.  “That’s one of the many things that I love about you.”