Once in a Lifetime, Page 2

  Chapter 2

  RILEY

  “Good morning students of North High, the results for your senior prom are in!” the morning announcements blare through the intercom speakers. “Drum rollllll….. and the theme is………..A Starry Night!”

  An applause breaks out in our senior homeroom. This will be the perfect end to our senior year. Ace all classes, check! Get accepted into Stanford, check! Valedictorian, check! And my all-time best friend since kindergarten is going to the same university as me and we will be roommates!!! It can’t get any better than this.

  “EEEP! I just got a text from Ethan Bradley asking me to prom!” Sam squeals. Ethan is one of the football players at North High. Sam and Ethan have been hanging out for the past couple months. Nothing serious, just friends. I could tell that Sam was hoping it would turn into a more than just friend’s relationship.

  “OMYGOSH! Sam! I knew it. I see that look he gives you every time he looks at you. This calls for celebration!” I say, sharing the same enthusiasm as Sam.

  “Not so fast missy, I heard rumors that his friend Aden was going to ask a certain someone to prom,” she says as she points a finger in my direction.

  Aden has hung out with us a few times when Sam and Ethan are together. I have had a HUGE crush on him since he moved here in 5th grade. I’ve dreamed about him asking me, but that’s all it is, a dream. Aden would never ask such a dork like me to prom. He and his girlfriend Lisa have been on and off again all year. I am sure they will make up by the time prom rolls around.

  “No way! Last I heard was that he and Lisa were back together,” I say not believing her. I grab my pencil and start jotting down a reminder for myself about our final exam date.

  “Well, I happen to have an inside source,” Sam declares, “And that inside source would never lie. We would be like “the” couples of prom. There would only be one problem though…”

  “What would that be? That Aden hasn’t actually asked me out or will ever ask me?” I set down my pencil and roll my eyes at her.

  “No, I am certain he will, and when he does…only one of us can be prom queen you know. If you win, I may have to rip that crown off your head!” Sam teases. We both giggle.

  “It’s all yours,” I say in defeat.

  When we were little, our moms had put us both in some pageant. It was the first and last one we would ever be in. That was where I met Sam for the first time. It was down to her and I. Both she and I have been competitive since we can remember so we gave this pageant all we had. We twirled our batons and flashed the judges our darling little smiles. Now it was down to the two of us. We stood next to each other smiling and waiting for the judges to come up and crown the winner. It seemed like a very long time, but then finally they announced, Riley Warren! One of the mature pageant girls came out on stage and placed that exquisite sparkly crown on my head. It was so huge, it barely fit on my little head. I won! I can’t believe I won! This was a great accomplishment for little me.

  Little miss Sam was not happy with that. She wanted that crown and when Sam wants something, she will get it. So what does she do? She rips it out of my perfectly curled hair and put it on hers. I was devastated! How dare she! I won that crown fair and square.

  I start crying and take it back, and then she starts crying! It wasn’t pretty, but in the end our moms made us apologize and make up. Somehow we became the best of friends that day. It’s funny how friendship works.

  Ring ring ring. The first period bell rang. “See ya lunch period!” Sam says as she grabs her Betsy Johnson bag from the desk and makes her way out of the classroom door.

  I gather my stuff too and make my way down the hallway. Just as I turn the corner, clumsy me kicks in at the worst time ever to be clumsy. I feel my body crash into another. All my books and papers fly everywhere and crash! I end up on the ground looking up at the ceiling. The figure I bump into comes into view and holds out their hand to mine to help me up. As I regain my vision, I see who it is. His perfect sandy blonde hair combed to perfection, those beautiful gray blue eyes you could get lost in all day, that athletic, solid body and the smell of musk cologne. It could be non-other than Aden. Aden Hansen.

  “I am so sorry!” Aden exclaims as he reaches his hand out to help me up. I take hold of it and bring myself back up on my feet. My cheeks are probably the color of tomatoes right now! I hope he doesn’t notice. Maybe it will do me a favor and add color to my washed out face. A subtle glow, maybe? Who am I kidding, I am a mess! I hope my hair still looks okay.

  “Thanks,” I say shyly. I know I have hung out around him before, but I get like this every single time. I forget how to talk and my heart feels like it is in one of those horse races speeding up to a million miles per minute. He probably thinks I am a dork. I try so hard to act normal, but that is never the case. I always end up making a fool out of myself.

  “It was totally my fault. I shouldn’t have been walking right there,” He laughs, showing his perfect white teeth. “Let me make it up to you. Prom?”

  Is this really happening right now? Aden is for real asking me to prom?! Somebody pinch me! What should I say? Say yes! But I shouldn’t sound too excited right? Play it cool Riley. “Um,” the only sound that comes out of my mouth. Really?! Just say yes already. “Sure I would love to go to prom with you,” I finally spit out, “But I think that fall was my fault,” I smile, “My mind was somewhere else and I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.”

  “I don’t think it matters whose fault it was. All that matters is me and you dancing the night away. To be honest, I think I am the real winner here. I get to take you, Riley Warren, the most beautiful, intelligent girl in the whole school to prom.” He winks as he hands me the rest of my fallen papers. “Pick you up at 7.”

  And that, my friends, was the start of it all.