"Nikki! Nikki!" I ran frantically into my older sister's room, "Can I
borrow your shoes? The black strappy ones?"
"Yeah, come get 'em," she called back from the depths of her closet.
I ventured into the spacious walk-in closet, where I found Nikki among
a
heap of various clothing and a large mound of shoes, things flying
everywhere.
"I think the ones you want are near the bottom," she gestured to the
shoes.
"Oh, great," I groaned, rolling up my sleeves and preparing to dive
in,
"Hey!" I exclaimed about halway down, holding up a pair of grey mary
janes,
"What are THESE?"
"Oh, those? Your Steve Maddens," Nichole replied casually.
"Yeah, the ones I've spent the last half hour tearing my room apart
looking
for! The ones I was going to wear tonight but had to resort to asking
for
your black strappy shoes cuz I couldn't find them!! Next time, I'll
look in
here first!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air and running
back
to my room. As I left, I could hear Nichole laughing behind me.
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"Nichole! Brad's here," my mom called up the stairs.
Brad, Nichole's boyfriend was picking the two of us up to go to a
party
that evening. It was two weeks before the move, and our friends were
throwing us a party.
Nichole and I nearly crashed into each other as we ran into the
bathroom to
check our appearances in the mirror one last time, and retouch our
makeup.
"Aw, you look really cute!" Nichole smiled at me.
"Thanks, you look great, too!" I replied.
Nichole was dressed in a short dark red dress with a round neck and
low
back. The material was satiny, and a vibrant color. She wore her
straight, smooth blonde hair down with jeweled bobby pins in the same
color
as her dress holding her bangs back, and a small silver chain was
around her
neck. On her feet she had the black strappy shoes I was going to wear.
I
was wearing a satiny black dress. The back and neckline were straight
across, and the top was fitted, with adjustable spaghetti straps. The
skirt
was straight and came to just above my knees. My hair, which looked
the
same as Nichole's except hers was shorter, was held up in a messy bun
with a
couple small clips. I had my gray maryjanes with a small flowervine
embroidered on the toe, which I had unearthed from the depths of
Nichole's
closet.
"Alright, call Nick and get him to come over now," Nichole instructed.
"K, meet you downstairs," I agreed.
When I called Nick, he wasn't quite ready. Rather than having to deal
with
Nichole, he was going to take his car, and we would leave a bit later.
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Nichole and I had essentially the same group of friends, a combined
bunch,
some from her grade, some from mine. This was a result of the two of
us
being so close. We had been friends with some of these kids since
kindergarten, and picked up others on the way. The two of us were
considered fairly popular, and had many friends. As Nick and I walked
into
the party, we were instantly met by the familiar noises of chatting,
laughter, and the latest hits blaring from the speakers. Gabbie, the
girl
throwing the party, came running to the door to greet us.
"Maddie!" she squealed, "You're finally here! You look great! I love
your
dress!"
"Thanks, Gabs, I like yours, too!" I grinned,
hugging her.
"Hey Nick!" Gabbie greeted him, "Come on in you guys!"
The party was in full swing already. Some couples were dancing, there
were
small clusters of people chatting, food everywhere, and it was very
noisy,
as expected. I loved it already.
"Come on, Nick," I dragged him unwillingly into the center of the
room,
"Let's boogie!"
He laughed and grinning at me, reluctantly giving in. The two of us
were
grooving when a slower song came on.
"You- you wanna?" he stuttered, looking at me questionably.
His hand accidentally brushed mine, and I felt something almost
electric,
that same spark I had been feeling lately. I quickly pulled back,
embarrassed and uncomfortable.
"Nah, I think I'll sit this one out," I tried to act relaxed, however
I was
anything but, "I see Gabbie over there talking with Corey and Kristin,
I'm
gonna go see what's up with them."
"Oh, okay," Nick replied, "Guess I'll go see what the guys are up to."
I could tell he was hurt, although he tried to hide it. I had the
strangest, nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach as I watched him
walk,
dejected, out to the kitchen where most of the guys were. Confused, I
wrote
it off as hunger and attempted to shake it off as I went to chat with
the
girls.
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