Love, Joy, Heartache and Pain

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN

Fuck was I nervous! That probably would be the biggest understatement of the century. It was fifteen minutes past six, and I was starting to think that Luke had changed his mind. Then I remembered we agreed on seven o’clock. Silly me! I walked up and down Kylie’s room, looking at the clock every now and then. One minute had passed since the last time I saw it. I was beginning to sweat through my bra while my legs shook from side to side. I stopped in front of the mirror and stared at my reflection, smiling from ear to ear. I looked spectacular in Kylie’s Sweet Sixteen dress that she never wore. Her mom bought it for her, but Kylie disliked it because she hated anything that was girly and silly. She wanted a black dress. When her mom said no, Kylie cancelled the party. Seriously, do they even know Kylie? Yes, Kylie looked Barbie-like, but she was more than that. Sadly, they never took the time to know their own daughter. Anyway, the dress that I was wearing was long and white with an elegant corset that was embroidered with golden threads in the back. My hair, thanks to Harper, was curled up into a bun with a small golden tiara that matched my yellow diamond earrings and necklace. I have to be honest, I looked spectacular--or Kylie did. Whatever! I looked and felt amazing. When I heard the doorbell ring, I knew that Luke had arrived half an hour early. I ran to the window to see him. My jaw dropped open. He was wearing a pair of blue pants and a blue jacket with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath it. His hair was neatly comb backwards, but his smile was his best asset. He looked spectacular as well, like a cutout from a fairytale.

A few seconds later, I heard Chachita at my door. “Seňorita, the annoying guy is here. Should I chase him away with boiling water?”

I giggled. “No, Chachita, I’m going to the Back to School Dance with him.”

The door swung open as Chachita stood in front of me with her mouth wide open. “You…going to…a dance? With him? The annoying guy?” She looked puzzled.

“Yes, Chachita? Why not?”

“But…but…” she mumbled cleaning her hands with her apron. “I thought you hated that guy? Who are you and what did you do with my Kylie?”

Shenanigans! The woman was right. Kylie hated Luke. I grinned. “I thought it would be nice to give the guy a chance, at least for one night. Don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll be back to hating him.”

There was no doubt in my mind that I hadn’t convinced her because she continued to look at me strangely. “Okay…you look beautiful by the way.” She smiled warmly. “If annoying guy wants to touch you, you kick him in the―”

“I know!” I interrupted her, trying not to get all red. “I know, Chachita.”

She smiled again and walked up to me. Holding my hands, she kissed my forehead. “You look so beautiful, and have fun.” With those words, she left me alone and made her way downstairs, probably to keep an eye on Luke.

I took a final look at myself in the mirror and gracefully made my way down the stairs. Luke was standing at the foot of the stairs, looking around the room. When he saw me, he gave me his full attention. His eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. He managed to crack a smile as I walked towards him.

“You…you look so beautiful,” he said as I stood beside him.

“Well, thank you, Luke.”

“Shall we go?” He gave me his arm to hold.

“Sure.” I held his arm as we made our way outside. I thought the night was going to be magical, but when I came face to face with what was outside, I knew I would never forget it. Outside and hidden from my window view, was a white and gold carriage with two majestic white horses and a chauffer. The carriage was beautifully decorated from top to bottom with white and yellow roses. “Oh. My. God. Luke!”

A smile covered his entire face. “You like it?”

“Yes! It’s absolutely beautiful. I can’t wait to tell Kylie!”

Shenanigans! Luke immediately turned to me with a puzzled look across his face. “Wait…until you tell Kylie?”

“I mean Kyle! It’s just that I’m so nervous.” I smiled scratching my head.

“Okay…let me help you up.” He held my hand and I climbed into the carriage. Luke was smiling, but he looked confused and lost at the same time. Slowly, we made our way out of the driveway and onto the busy Gelson streets. The night was perfect. There wasn’t a single cloud in sight, and the moon and stars created a shiny mantle over our heads. It was a picture perfect moment. I turned to Luke who had been very silent since our departure. He looked lost in his thoughts. I messed up big time.

“You okay?”

He turned to me, but he wasn’t smiling. “Yeah.” He turned to the stars above. “It’s really beautiful tonight.”

“Yes.” I marveled at the beauty above us.

“Remember last year when I asked you to this dance? I finally got the courage to ask you out.”

Shenanigans! I had no idea that he had asked Kylie before. I tried to play it cool by smiling. “You did? I tend to forget things quickly these days.”

“Yeah,” he answered, nodding and looking more confused. “You couldn’t go because your parents were out of town or something. That was the reason, right?”

Bitch! I truly had no idea that he’d asked Kylie to the dance or what she’d told him. “Yeah, I think that was the main reason. To be honest, I don’t recall. That happened a year ago.”

“Yeah. Remember last Christmas when we accidentally ran into each other at Lake View?”

Shit! I knew Kylie went to Lake View last Christmas, but I had no idea that Luke had been there too. Lake View was the rival town next door with an amazing and impressive view of a perfectly round lake. That’s how the town got its name. I knew that Kylie always ignored him, and she would never speak to him whenever their paths intersected. Now I had no idea what to answer. “Yeah, I remember that incident.”

“Yeah, me too.” He nodded. “We’re here.”

Thank the Lord up high and praise his heavenly name! I was about to have a heart attack! Luke was so close to discovering me that my hands and boobs were drench in sweat! I’m not even making that up. Luke helped me down and gave me his arm to hold. The dance was held in a nearby auditorium. Several cars were parked outside and the distant sound of music clouded the air. Two guys were at the door who immediately opened it to let us in. The moment they swung the door open, we were hit with the loud sound of music. Students were dancing, laughing, talking, joking or simply standing around with their dates. A few of them looked our way and smiled.

Suddenly, Luke turned to me, smiling. “I’ll be right back. I’ll get you something to drink.”

“Okay.” I smiled breathlessly, looking around. Everyone was now staring at me. I must have really made an impression with them because I saw drool coming out of their mouths. Well, not to that point, but you get the picture. I didn’t know what else to do other than to shift nervously from foot to foot as I waited for Luke. I was freaking out. I was at a dance with Lucas Edward Johnson. Lucas Edward Johnson! I seriously need to stop saying his name in that manner.

“Here.” Luke came back with a cup full of soda. “Non-alcoholic. The others were tampered with by some seniors behind the teacher’s back.” He smiled.

“Thank you, Luke.” I took the cup from his hand and stopped shifting nervously.

“I ran into Josh after classes.” f**k! I spilled half of my drink on the floor. Luke immediately took the cup from my hand. “Did it spill on your dress?”

“I don’t think so.” I said doing my best to calm the f**k down. He talked to Josh! I checked my dress again since I didn’t want to ruin it. The s**t was Versace and it cost a fortune. When I realized that there were no spills on it, I turned to Luke, who had a slight smile on his face. He quickly handed me back my drink. “Thank you.”

“Don’t spill it.” He smiled.

“I won’t.”

Luke took a sip of his drink. “So, about Josh.”

Holy period! I think it was starting to come back again. I took a huge gulp of my drink, hoping that it was mixed with alcohol. “What about him?”

“He seemed to be acting funny. He had a few questions to ask me.”

Shenanigans! What did Josh ask him? What if Josh told him about what stupid Kylie told him, or worse, that she kissed him? I had to calm down since my body was trembling uncontrollably. I took a few deep breaths and smiled. “Really? He has been acting really weird lately.”

Luke smirked. “He’s not the only one.”

Oh my God! I was ready to scream and make a run for the hills. Maybe I could hide inside a cave and live out the rest of my life like a smelly old hermit. I had to compose myself and keep it cool. I couldn’t let Luke get to me. “Can we walk around?”

“Sure.” Luke smiled. He took the drinks and placed them on a nearby table. Then he held my hand and led me through the cluster of students that were packing up the auditorium. He smiled and nodded at several of them, not stopping once to make small talk with any of them. When we reached the emergency door, we stepped outside.

A chilly wind instantly greeted me. I smiled at Luke, but his face was blank. Was he not having a good time, or was he still thinking about what Josh told him? I needed to know what was going on. We walked in silence to the back of the auditorium where a garden and a small manmade pond were located. A beautiful pathway full of flowers and lights led to what seemed to be a cupola that was surrounded by even more flowers, lights and even candles. It was one of the most beautiful and breathtaking sights I had ever seen. “Whoa, Nelly!”

“Yeah. I think that they’re preparing it for a wedding or something.” Luke was smiling again.

“It’s lovely, Luke.”

“Shall we?” He pointed towards the cupola. I grinned broadly as we made our way towards it. A few people were setting up some chairs, but they didn’t seem to mind that we were there. Luke led me to two chairs that were in the middle of the cupola, facing the small pond in the distance. A few flamingos were slowly making their way through the edge of the water, searching for food. The lights of the city radiated from the distance, making the water sparkly and shiny.

“Wow!” I was out of breath now. The moment was too perfect to be real. This could not be happening to me. This couldn’t be real. After pinching my arm, I knew that it wasn’t another figment of my imagination since I didn’t wake up. “This is unbelievable, Luke.”

“Yeah, I would’ve never pictured the night going this way.”

“And why is that Mr. Johnson?” I smiled.

Luke chuckled and my heart quickly melted into a puddle of love. He was so fantastic and magical. “Because of my interesting chat with Josh.” His smile disappeared again.

Shenanigans! What did Josh tell him? I wanted to know, but I was too afraid to ask now. I gulped deeply. If a bomb was to explode, I needed to let it rip right now and let everything go downhill from here. I sighed deeply preparing for the worst. “What did Josh tell you?”

Luke turned to me. His face held no emotions behind it. “A couple of weird and bizarre things.”

My heart was about to explode now. Josh told him about what Kylie told him. I wanted to run away and never look back. To be honest, Mexico sounded like the perfect place to hide. All I needed was to break my piggy bank and call Kylie to meet me there. My phone! I quickly lifted my left foot and felt for it. Kylie had strapped it on my right shoe. It was still there. “Can you share them with me?”

“No. I don’t want to ruin this night. I want to treasure it for the rest of my life.” Luke really loved Kylie! He was in love with her. Tears were now threatening to escape from my eyes. I had to grab a hold of myself and be strong. I needed to make this night all about him and make him happy. “You want to dance?”

Okay, now I knew that the kid had lost it. There was no music playing except for a Britney Spears’ song that was muffling from the auditorium. “Sure.”

Luke stood and took out his phone. In a matter of seconds he found a song and played it. It was an instrumental version of Michael Buble’s Quando Quando Quando featuring Nelly Furtado. My heart was now beating hard. This moment couldn’t get any more perfect. He took a bow holding out his right hand. I took it, and he immediately pulled me into his arms. His body was warm. I felt his heart pounding violently against mine. He was not the only nervous freak that night! My heart was about to explode like Mount Rushmore! It took everything in me not to tremble inside his arms. Slowly and graciously, we began to dance. I carefully followed his steps as he swayed me from side to side. I looked up in his face and Luke was smiling again, from ear to ear. That little action calmed me down. I decided to let loose and enjoy the moment with him.

We were halfway through the song when I searched his eyes again. There was something behind them that told me that he was nervous, anxious, and confused. He wanted to tell me something, but he simply couldn’t let the words form. Slowly, he leaned forward. My stomach began to dance in a circular motion. Was he actually going to kiss me? Luke froze and closed his eyes tight. There was a hesitation on his face that he couldn’t hide. He opened his eyes again and silently stared into mine. After a slight nod, he bent forward once again. He was going to do it this time! To my disappointment, he stopped and squeezed the s**t out of his eyes. f**k! Why was he hesitant to kiss me? That was something that he had probably dreamt of for months now and he was hesitant about it? Deep inside, I knew why he was hesitant, and his name was Josh. I was staring to pull away from him when he grabbed my waist and pulled me in. My lips met his in an explosion of passion, desire and love, at least on my part. His lips were delicate yet rough. The sweet taste of pear and wild berry infiltrated my senses and made my entire body numb with excitement. Just as quickly as it started, Luke pulled away. He looked disoriented and apprehensive.

“I’m sorry Kylie! I should never have done that.” He turned his back on me and silently stared at the radiating lights in the distance. I had no idea what was going through his head at that moment. My heart was pounding, and I was completely breathless. I needed to know what Josh told him. If Josh had mentioned to him that Kylie and I switched bodies, that would give me a clue as to what he was going through and thinking. I had to find out, even if it meant cutting our date short. I walked towards him and touched his shoulder. Luke immediately pulled away from me. He couldn’t look me in the eyes. “Don’t touch me! I need to think and be alone.” Slowly, he began to walk towards the small pond in the distance.

I was baffled. His action affected something deep inside my chest that immediately brought tears to my eyes. Luke hated me. No, he was repulsed by me. I took a few steps back holding my chest with my right hand. It felt as if a car was resting on top of it, crushing me to death. Now, I had no doubt that Josh told him what Kylie had confessed to him. I wanted to move again and make a run for it, but my feet felt glued to the ground. A cold chill blew my dress and I immediately retrieved my phone. By hitting and holding the number two button, I instantly connected to Kylie. The girl picked up after the first ring. “Oh my God, Kyle! How’s it going?”

With tears running down my cheeks, I managed to turn around and make a run towards the auditorium. Somehow, I managed to talk among my huffing and crying. “Please come and pick me up as soon as possible. He knows. Luke knows!”