Eternal (Eternal series) (11 page)

Who did he think he was anyway?  How was it that he could treat her like a pariah the first time he laid eyes on her, then follow that up by not speaking to her for the next seven weeks—not that she was keeping track— and then ask her out to prom and figure that made up for it all?  There was no way he was getting off that easy.  He was going to suffer.

Emma should have known Micah wouldn’t be very understanding of her humiliation.  He seemed a lot more pleased than she was over the upcoming event.  He couldn’t understand why Emma wasn’t excited. 

Emma had never told Micah about her one and only experience with Destry McQuade.  It had been too horrible to share in the beginning and after that she'd tried her best to put it behind her and forget about it completely.

She wondered if knowing how Destry had treated her that day in the lunch room would change Micah's opinion of him.   As it was, he focused most of their conversations over the next week in the direction of prom; showing too much interest in dancing, and music, and the color of the perfect dress to go with her skin tone, and how Emma would wear her hair. 

She assumed he was trying to pump her up, convince her to be happy about the impending doomsday she called prom.  He really had no idea the horror she felt at the whole prospect of spending an entire evening with Destry.

With each conversation, Emma was growing more and more annoyed.  Micah was acting like a superficial girlfriend, or an over-helpful parent, rather than how Emma wanted him to act.  He didn’t seem jealous at all. 

She would have been extremely jealous if the roles were reversed, and he was preparing for a heavenly date.  It was becoming achingly apparent that he didn’t see her at all the way that she saw him.

The week before prom passed too quickly for Emma.  Everything ended up all blurred together.  She had run into Destry all week at school, which was odd because she’d barely seen him at all over the past couple of months.  Maybe he’d been avoiding her like she’d been avoiding him.  She couldn’t see any reason for him to avoid her though; she hadn’t done anything to him.  Besides, if he had actually been avoiding her these past few months, why would he have asked her to prom?  She must have misread him that first day. 

She was probably just conjuring things up in her head.  He seemed nice enough when she’d passed him in the hall this week, which was often.  He seemed to appear out of thin air now, always heading the same way she was, or coming around the corner and running into her.  He was good to always say hello or at least nod and give her a stunning smile. 

He seemed to have a hard time talking to her.  That small fact was going to make prom night that much more awkward. 

Emma had so many things to do that week that she didn’t get as much alone time with Micah as she'd been used to.  She wondered if this was all part of some plan he’d come up with to distance himself from her. 

She wanted so badly to talk to him about it. But it wasn’t wise to push him.  Things had already been set into motion and Emma knew there was no backing out now.

Of course, her mother was ecstatic that she was going to prom.  Catherine was totally into the dresses, the hair, and the shoes.  Emma felt like she was a rag doll being drug along to the stores, and the salons.  She let her mom have her fun. Someone should get some joy out of all this, because she certainly wasn’t. 

Catherine did most of the planning.  She chose the dress, the jewelry, and the hair-do.  She picked up the boutonniere and fussed over every tiny detail.

Emma just wanted it all to end so that she could get back to her real life.  The one that was quiet and uneventful—except, of course, for the time she spent with an angel.



Prom night had arrived.  Emma was not looking forward to what lay ahead.  In fact, she felt a little sick. 

She didn’t want to admit it and prove Micah right, but she had never been on a real date before.  It had become apparent over the years that she wasn’t good at interacting with kids her age.

Why had she let Micah talk her into this?  It was sure to be a total disaster.

“You look beautiful!” Catherine spoke from behind Emma who stood in front of a full length mirror, examining the person looking back at her with apprehension.

"You have to say that, you're my mom," Emma said, looking skeptical.

Her dress was straight out of
Gone With The Wind
, complete with hoop skirt and lace gloves; her mother’s idea of course.  The swirling purple organdy gown with black lace was not going to let Emma fade into the background like she wished she could.

Against her mother’s prodding, she'd chosen shoes that were flat; Emma wasn’t going to compromise on that, she wasn’t good on heels.  Her smooth brown hair was half up in pin curls held by a million bobby pins, with the remainder hanging down over her shoulders in wispy ringlets.  She looked like the perfect southern belle, stepping out of an old movie.

“I guess there’s no way I could fake sudden illness and stay home is there?” Emma grumbled.

“
Don’t even think about it young lady!  Not after all of this work!”  Catherine was aghast at the idea.

“
Maybe you’ll get lucky and your date will realize what a giant dork you are, and won’t show.”  Cody teased from the sofa where he sat, viewing the whole scene with apparent disgust.

“
Cody!  Mind your tongue!” Catherine scolded then turned back to Emma.  She looked all proud like she was about to get mushy.  Emma quickly walked over to the window, and pretended to wonder where her date was. 

In reality, she would have liked it very much if he didn’t show up.  All hope of that was quickly dashed though as she spotted an old gray Chevy step-side turning into the drive.

“Crap, he’s here,” suddenly Emma was a nervous wreck.  Was she supposed to answer the door, or make an entrance once he was inside?  The room started to get hot, and she thought she might faint.

The doorbell rang.  Still undecided about which part she was supposed to play, Emma froze in the middle of the floor.  Catherine quickly brushed past with a worried glance in her direction and opened the door.

Emma tried to compose her face as Destry stepped into the living room.  She had to admit he looked amazing!

He was dressed in a black tuxedo top with tails and a white button up dress shirt underneath.  His pants were black Wrangler jeans—they lived in “Hick-Ville” after all, so that was proper dress for any special occasion.  He wore his black boots, and topped it off with a black cowboy hat.  He looked as if he had stepped out of the same old movie she had.

Destry was staring at her like the whole world was gone and she was the only thing left in the universe.  She felt uncomfortable under that stare, and cleared her throat, successfully bringing him out of his daze. 

He smiled a crooked smile at her, and pulled a corsage out from behind his back, his hand shaking slightly.

Emma swallowed hard. 
Here we go
, she thought to herself.  She forced her feet to move forward so he could place the corsage on her wrist. 

Emma smiled politely at him.  “Thanks, it’s really pretty,” she managed to squeak out. 

“You look very pretty too,” Destry responded quietly, avoiding her eyes.

“
Oh, I almost forgot!  I have your boutonniere in the kitchen,” Emma said nervously.  She made a dash for the kitchen.  Once out of view, she stood with her hands gripping the counter, trying to breathe. 

Everything will be okay
, she told herself over and over. 
This will all be just a memory in a few hours, there’s no need to freak out
.  Emma took one last deep breath.  She grabbed his flower and headed back to the living room.

His face brightened noticeably as she reappeared.  She timidly reached for his lapel and pinned the boutonniere into place.  Emma thought she heard his breathing stop as she touched his jacket, and then resume again after she took a step back.  

Unbelievably, this seemed to be as uncomfortable for him as it was for her; either that or she smelled bad.  She took a quick whiff of the air around her, and decided he was just nervous.  Emma knew she'd better get control of herself if they were going to make it through the night.

“
I like your tux.” Emma said lightly, giving him a friendly smile.

“
Thanks, I’m not used to dressing up.  Sorry about the Wranglers, but the other pants felt weird.” Destry grimaced at some painful thought involving the tuxedo pants and fidgeted with his bow-tie, trying to loosen it.

“
I think you look great!” Emma admitted.

He looked relieved this first awkward moment was over and stepped toward the door.

“Don’t move a muscle!”  Catherine shouted, holding her hand up to stop him.  She dashed into the kitchen and came back carrying her camera.  Shoot, Emma had hoped they were going to get away without pictures.  How embarrassing!

“
Stand next to each other and smile,” Catherine prodded.  Destry took a step back to Emma's side and put his arm loosely around her waist as if he wasn't sure he wanted to touch her. 

This was awkward, Emma thought, being that they barely knew each other.  This probably wouldn't be the last time this evening he would be touching her though, so she'd better get used to it. 

Suddenly the flash was going off.  Emma was blinded momentarily.  When her sight came back, Destry was already over by the door again with one hand on the knob and the other held out to her.

“
Shall we?” He grinned, but his voice seemed to shake.

“
Yes, let’s go,” Emma said in quick agreement.  She didn’t want to give her mom a chance to grab the video camera. 

She walked quickly to the door.  Her hoop skirt caught slightly as she stepped through, obviously doors weren’t quite as wide in this century.  Emma didn’t stop and her dress popped through the door reluctantly after her.

When they reached his truck, Destry opened the passenger side door and offered her a hand up.  Emma could see it wasn’t going to be easy to get into the truck without her dress ending up over her head, but she did it.  He closed the door and jogged around to the driver’s side and climbed in.  The engine roared to life, startling Emma a bit.  He must need a new muffler. She’d never heard a truck that loud in her life. 

Conversation was a bit strained, either because of the noise barrier or because neither one of them knew what to say.  They drove in silence for most of the trip. 

Emma's hands were clutched together on her lap in a death grip.  She tried to smile and act casual as she stared straight ahead.

Chapter 9:  PROM

Destry kept his eyes focused on the winding road.  Every once in a while Emma thought she saw him glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.  He seemed to have a pleased look on his face, although she couldn’t figure out why?  She was relieved his truck was a stick shift because it prevented her from having to sit too close to him.

As the truck rounded the last curve on the mountain road, their destination came into sight.  Prom was being held at a mountain lodge at the base of the Snowbasin Ski Resort.  It was all lit up with tiny lights, and it looked beautiful against the dark pine forest and snow covered hills.

Destry pulled into a parking place not far from the entrance to the lodge.  Emma was grateful for this, first because they wouldn’t have to walk far in the chilly mountain air, which was good because she hadn’t brought a jacket.  And second, they were under the lights of the sidewalk leading up to the front doors.  She still didn’t feel comfortable being alone in the dark with this boy she hardly knew.

He was suddenly at her side of the truck again, opening the door for her.  He held her hand as she stepped out, knowing she wasn’t exactly coordinated in her dress.  At least she was wearing sensible shoes, she thought thankfully.  When Emma's feet reached the ground, Destry released her hand quickly. 
I must be making him nervous,
she
assumed, so she tried her best to be friendlier.

“
This place looks awesome!” she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.  Destry grinned a huge grin and nodded in agreement.  As he turned to look at her his grin faded.

“
Let’s go inside.  It’s kinda’ cold out here,” he said quickly.  His voice was trembling.  Emma didn't think it was from the cold.

Sudden worry began to wash over her.  Was he just nervous or was he not sure he wanted to go inside?  Was it because of her
Gone with the Wind
getup?  Emma hoped she wasn’t an embarrassment to him.  Maybe he was rethinking his decision to bring her.   She had probably seemed like a safe option to him, but then, he hadn’t counted on her mother’s influence over her choice of evening wear.

Emma was considering giving him the option of calling it a night when he grabbed her hand softly and twined his fingers through hers.  That was unexpected.  She felt a tingling sensation shoot up her arm. It must be an after effect of the cold.  Destry's hand was warm.  To Emma's surprise, it felt good to have it wrapped around hers.

They made it inside in record time.  Luckily, the entrance to the lodge was a pair of large double doors.  Emma maneuvered her skirt through easily.