Beautiful Failure (21 page)

“Have I ever told you how cocky you are?”

“No, but you can tell me that I have every reason to be.” He sits across from me and silently dares me to challenge him.

“I’m shocked you haven’t been fired from
your
job. You don’t seem to ever go. Are you secretly unemployed? Is that why you’re able to hang around me so often?”

He grins. “No.”

“I don’t date bums.”

“We’re
dating
now?”

I look down at my plate and stuff a piece of waffle into my mouth. I can’t concentrate when he smiles at me like that and my heart is beginning to race again.

“I want to take you out on a date tonight, Emerald.” He’s suddenly at my side, tilting my chin up. “Say yes.”

“That wasn’t a question.”

“Pretend like it was.”

“Fine.” I cross my arms. “It’s the least you can do after hurting my feelings last night. I
guess
...”

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” He trails his finger across my lips, clearly not catching my sarcasm. “I’m going to make it up to you.”

I don’t get a chance to tell him that I’m not being serious because he kisses me until I can’t remember a damn thing.

“I’m going to take you home and pick you up at six tonight.”

“Are you going to do all the Prince Charming shit?”

“Yes.” He smiles. “All the Prince Charming
shit
.”

***

I
watch Carter pull out of the driveway and rush inside, giving quick hugs to Henry and Virginia.

“Are you
alright
, hun?” Virginia raises her eyebrow.

“Absolutely.” I smile and hug them both again before turning away. I’m halfway upstairs when I hear Henry whispering, “Do you think she’s been drinking?”

Laughing, I slip into the shower and stand under the streams for what feels like forever. I’ve never felt like this and I’m not sure how to exactly describe it, but if I could bottle it up and save it for my darkest days I would.

It’s one o’ clock when I finally step out of the shower with wrinkled skin and reddened blotches, but I’m too excited to care. I have five hours before I’ll be picked up, but when I thumb through all of the dresses I’ve bought this summer, I realize that none of them seem good enough for a “date.”

Virginia and Henry wouldn’t dare let me drive their cars to the store, and I don’t want them tagging along to see what I’m buying if they volunteer to take me. 

My phone suddenly buzzes and I sigh, bringing it up to my face.

“Hey. Did you fuck him yet?”
Sarah.

“NO. Do you have a little black dress I can borrow? He’s taking me out tonight. It’s my first date...”

“You really didn’t fuck him yet? Why not?”

“OMG. Yes. I fucked him! Do you have a dress or not?”

“I’ll be over in fifteen :-)”

Within minutes, Sarah is barging inside my room with shopping bags.

“Why does your grandmother still think that I’m your manager at
a diner
in Tallapoosa?” She crosses her arms. “If she tells me how I can improve ‘those apple pies’ one more time, I’m going to tell her what you really do for a living.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“I wouldn’t, but if you fight me on any of my suggestions today, I just might.” She motions for me to sit on the bed and lays several dresses and shoes out for me to look over. As if she doesn’t trust my opinion, she hands me a sleeveless black dress with a low V-cut in the front and sparkling nude pumps.

I don’t expect for her to stay any longer, but she plugs my curling iron into the wall and asks to do my hair and makeup. I tell her that I’m perfectly fine doing it myself, but she insists.

“Friends don’t let friends do their own hair and make-up for their first big date,” she says, gliding a comb through my hair. “Were you at our prom in high school?”

“No. I didn’t feel like going.”

“Why not?”

I shrug. “Everyone already had a date and no one knew me so I didn’t see a point.”

“I wish we’d been friends then so we could’ve gone together. I had to go solo.”

“No one asked
you
out? I refuse to believe that.”

“I had bangs
and
braces.” She laughs. “Believe it.”

“Oh...Have you ever been on a real date before?”

“Nope.” She slides a bobby pin into my hair. “This is the closest I’ve ever been. That’s why I’m trying to be a part of it.”

Our eyes meet in the mirror and I suddenly wish that I hadn’t turned her away so cruelly in high school—that I would’ve known that “friends” were okay to have after all.

For the next few hours, she coifs my hair and makes sure my makeup is the best it can be. When she’s done, it’s five forty five and I can hardly recognize myself.

The girl staring back at me looks more sophisticated than I’ve ever looked in my life.

My hair falls over my left shoulder in a bevy of curls that barely touches my breast, and my eyelids are coated in a glittering bronze shadow that brings out the green in my eyes. The black dress hugs my curves perfectly—the V-cut in the front is low enough to intrigue, but not deep enough to give anything away.

“You like it?” Sarah puts another coat of gloss onto my lips.

“I love it. Thank you.”

“That’s not a cue for you to hug me.”

“I wasn’t going to.” I laugh and start helping her put her things away. “I really appreciate this.”

“Anytime. Hopefully you’ll be doing the same for me one day, except my date will be
a lot
sexier and I won’t wait half a year to let him fuck me.”

“Looking forward to it.” I pick up one of her bags and open my door, prepared to help her carry it down to the car, but she stops me.

“It’s too close to pick up time. You don’t want his first glimpse of you to be with you carrying a bag do you?” She takes the bag from my arms. “You’ll tell me all about it tomorrow?”

“First thing.”

She smiles and disappears down the steps, so I sit on my bed and wait. 

At exactly six o’ clock the doorbell rings and I jump.

I hear Virginia’s voice rise several octaves as she greets him.

“Well,
hello
!” She exclaims. “Who are you?”

I can’t make out what he says, but I’m sure his charm is working because she hasn’t said anything for several minutes and she can usually never shut up.

“Emerald!” She calls up the steps. “Your um, your
boyfriend
is here to pick you up for your date!”

Boyfriend?

I grab my clutch and take a deep breath before walking downstairs, telling myself that I’m going to have to address this “boyfriend” thing.

The second I step into the living room, Carter’s eyes widen and he slowly looks me up and down—looking as if he can’t believe it’s really me.

There’s a bouquet of red roses in his hand, and a smaller bouquet of white lilies in Virginia’s.

“You look
stunning
!” Virginia grabs me by my shoulder and spins me around. “Can I borrow you for a second?” She tugs me into the kitchen before I can reply.

“Something wrong?”

“Not at all,” she says. “He seems like a nice young man—only a true gentleman knows to bring
two
sets of flowers.” She smiles. “I take it you’ll probably be out with him all night?”

“Probably.”

“Okay, well...” She sighs and opens a cabinet, pulling out a brown box. “I’m not sure if Leah ever had
the talk
with you or not.”

Oh my god...

“I know how kids your age act when they’re out on dates, and we all slip up and sin sometimes but...Be careful.” She pulls three condoms out of the box and hands them to me.

I look at them and realize that the packages all read, “What Would Jesus Do?”

With a dead-ass serious face, she tells me to “make the right decision” before leading me back to Carter.

Grateful that Henry isn’t here to question him and further embarrass me, I give him a look that says “Let’s go” and he thanks Virginia for allowing him “the pleasure” of taking me out tonight. Once he gives her a hug, he slips an arm around my waist and leads me outside.

“Cinderella.” He hands me the flowers before opening the door for me.

“You’re not supposed to call me that...”

“Get in the car before I fuck you in the driveway.”

I smile and slide into the seat, laughing as he speeds away from my grandparents’ house.

“You look beautiful tonight.” He places his hand on my thigh.

“Thank you.” I look down at the roses in my lap. “Do you normally give flowers to the women you take on dates?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Flowers are special. They’re only for people I actually care about.” He pauses. “You’re the first.”

That fluttering returns to my stomach and I bite my tongue to prevent myself from saying something stupid, something like “I want to be your first in a lot of other ways too” or “Can you just pull over and fuck me right here? You’ve done enough for my first real date.”

“You do realize that you say your thoughts
out loud
sometimes, right?” Carter looks over at me, grinning.

I bite down harder on my tongue—feeling absolutely mortified.

He turns the radio up and we slowly drive out of Blythe and into Mobile. Then we slowly approach the smaller towns that lead to the Gulf Shore beaches. 

I’ve never thought to venture here—mainly because I had no one to come with, but if I had known how beautiful it was, I would’ve escaped here every day that I could.

The ocean’s waters are lapping against the bottom of the bridge we’re crossing, sparkling in the dwindling lights of the sunset. A small set of seagulls are flying low overhead, and in the distance I can see a strip of bistros and hotels that are all flanked by a huge stretch of white sand.

I can see couples holding hands and walking near the shoreline—kissing and holding onto each other, and I hope I get to experience that by the end of the night.

“Something wrong?” Carter parks the car in front of a small white wooden building.

“No. What makes you say—”

He cuts me off and kisses me, leaving me gasping for air when he finally stops. “I just want to make sure that your first date is everything you want it to be.”

I’m still trying to catch my breath when he opens my door and leads me into the restaurant. He makes a point to hold me close to his side as the hostess greets us, and he pays no mind to the women who are staring at him and whispering.

Our hostess, a pretty blonde who is still blushing leads us to a single table on the patio that faces the ocean. She asks him if he needs anything else, and he kisses me before telling her, “No thank you.”

Cream colored candles burn softly on our table, and there’s another set of roses bearing my name.

Pulling out my chair, he kisses my cheek and watches as I run my fingers across the blooms.

“I had a great time tonight,” I say. “Thank you.”

He raises his eyebrow. “The night isn’t over. We just got here.”

“I’m telling you just in case I forget to say it later.”

He smiles and reaches over the table for my hand, gently stroking my knuckles with his fingertips. 

I let him order my dinner for me—I can’t pronounce half of the shit on the menu, and we enjoy our meal in silence. Occasionally we break it with “How’s your food?” “Would you like to try mine?” “Look at the view” but for the most part, dinner is quiet.

“Why is our table the only table with candles?” I ask. “And why are we the only people out here? It looks like they just randomly placed us out here—everyone else is inside and it’s not packed...”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He takes a sip of drink, reminding me of something else that’s strange.

“I know a place
like this
has good wine. You don’t find it odd that the waitress didn’t offer us a drink menu? She just gave us tea without asking...”

He smiles and reaches for my hand. “Are you ready?”

“You called ahead and told them I was a drunk didn’t you?”

He pulls me up, holding me against his chest. “You honestly think I would say something like that?”

“I would hope not...”

“I would
never
.” He lifts me up and places me on the other side of the railing—setting me down in the sand.

After he climbs over, he bends down and takes my shoes off, hiding them underneath the pier. Once he has his off, he holds me against his side again and walks me down to the shoreline. 

The water is lightly brushing against our feet, and with every few steps that we take, he leans down and kisses my lips. When we reach a more secluded part of the beach, he walks me into the water—far enough to where the waves crash against my thighs, and each time they knock against us, he kisses me again.

“I’m pretty sure Prince Charming didn’t kiss Cinderella this much on their first date.” I smile as the waves roll over us.

“Would you like me to stop?”

“Yes.” I try to sound as serious as possible. “Your kisses don’t do anything for me. They’re actually quite dry.”

He swoops me into his arms and covers my mouth with his, whispering, “Lie to me one more time tonight and I’ll make sure you regret it...”

“I
hate
having sex with you.”

He grins and sets me down. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you later.” He tugs on one of my curls. “You’ll be begging me to let you take that back.”

I bury my head in his chest so he won’t see my facial expression. 

“You’ve changed a lot since I first met you,” he says, rubbing his hands up and down my back.

“You’re just saying that because we’ve had sex—very, very
bad
sex.”

“You’re really pushing it right now.” He picks me up by my waist and I wrap my legs around him. “I’m only going to be a gentleman for a little while longer.”

“What makes you think I’ve changed?”

“Besides the fact that you haven’t stopped smiling since I picked you up tonight? Or the fact that you smile and giggle
every time
I pick you up?”

“I’ve never
giggled
a day in my life.”