Love Songs (Secret Songbook #1) (29 page)

Chapter 32

Kaley smoothed the silky navy blue fabric before she looked into the mirror. The dress hadn’t lost its sparkle between the store and her bedroom, it was still as beautiful as it was in the fitting rooms.

She let her dark hair fall loose around her shoulders, framing her face. Her silver high heels hadn’t been worn for long enough to start to hurt yet.

Overall, she approved of the final result.

She had a few precious moments to herself before Mother Barbie would start to fuss over her and then she would be whisked off to the dance. She took a few deep breaths, hoping she would be good enough to make Eli’s eyes sparkle the way she liked.

With every breath, Kaley tried hard to forget about all her problems. She felt empowered against Abigail. She had taken her on and won.

Perhaps Georgie was right – all the answers she needed could be found in music. Her song had given her the confidence to confront the worst bully of them all.

She could do anything.

“Are you dressed? I’m coming in,” Georgie warned through the door, not waiting for an answer.

Kaley spun around to face her. “Well? What do you think?”

“You’re gorgeous. Strom, come and have a look at your daughter,” she called down the hallway. Within seconds, Strom poked his head through the doorway.

“Wow. When did this happen? When did my little girl get so grown up?”

Kaley stepped over to give him a hug. “Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re beautiful, peanut. You’re going to make Eli a very happy man tonight. But not too happy, okay?”

“I promise.”

“Have a good time.” Strom kissed her on the forehead and posed for a picture for Georgie. She had already taken about a million of them when Kaley was doing her hair and makeup. Surely the memory card would be full soon.

A knock on the door interrupted the photo session. “I’ll get it,” Strom volunteered. “I’ve got to have a talk with Eli anyway. I want to introduce him to my baseball bat.”

“Dad, be nice.”

Strom ignored her, he was a mission. Kaley gave Georgie a pleading look, even though she was secretly glad about it. It showed her father cared.

“It’s a father’s job to scare the date,” Georgie explained. “Before you go, I want you to have something.”

She shoved a piece of folded paper into Kaley’s hand. “What’s this?”

“Just read it before you leave, I’ll go check on your date.” Georgie gave her one last hug and left her standing in the middle of the bedroom alone.

Kaley unraveled the paper and skimmed the page. The paper was yellowed around the edges, like it was old. On it were handwritten lines.

Reading through, Kaley realized it was a song – one written by her mother. It was titled ‘
Letters to my sixteen year old self’
. As she read through, tears started to well in her eyes at the lyrics.

You were always so scared

You were always so shy

You spent your life trying to hide

You were living a lie.

I wanted you to be popular

I wanted you to shine

But above everything else

I wanted you to be fine.

These things I say now,

The wisdom I want to impart

Are for my sixteen year old self,

But it’s not too late to start.

When the bullies would start

And they would be so mean,

I wanted to hold you tight,

And tell you they’ll all be has beens.

You need to know how great you are,

That you really are pretty.

With a little more confidence,

You could show others you’re so witty.

Don’t worry about what others think,

What they say is not true,

You have a long way to go, girl

The stars twinkle just like you.

So, these things I say now,

The wisdom I want to impart

Are for my sixteen year old self,

But it’s not too late to start.

She wiped at her eyes and sniffled, the words were so beautiful. And not only that, she
understood
every single one of them. It was like Georgie had written the song for her.

Never in a million years had Kaley ever thought she was like her mother. If anything, she thought she must take after her father. But reading those words, it was like they were the same person.

Carefully folding the paper and tucking it into her handbag, Kaley felt calm for the first time that week. She could do this. She could go to the dance with her boyfriend and she could have a wonderful time.

She would be elegant and Eli would be charming. Abigail couldn’t hurt her and she could do it without her best friend by her side. She could do this, she got it.

Moving to close her curtains, Kaley saw Harvey standing in his bedroom. She waved, wishing he was going to the dance too. He was still in the same clothes he wore to school, he wasn’t dressed in anything resembling formal attire.

The three amigos wouldn’t be together, she couldn’t remember a dance when that had happened before. If a part of growing up was growing apart, then it was a pity.

She saw him pick up his notebook and marker and scribble something on it. He held it up so she could see:

You look beautiful.

Smiling, she nodded a thank you. The compliment seemingly a thousand times better coming from him than her parents. They had to say stuff like that, right?

She looked around for her notebook, wondering where she left it. She pulled it out of her drawer and wrote quickly:

You should come.

She held up the notepad and waited for him to read it. He shook his head, not agreeing with her comment. She waited to see if there was another message coming back, but he put down his notepad and waved instead.

Disappointment filtered through her, she didn’t really want to go without him. It should be Harvey, Harper, and her. It didn’t feel right otherwise.

“Come on, Kaley,” Georgie called from the hallway, bringing her back to reality. She closed the curtains and hurried out, excited to see Eli in his suit for the first time. She would just have to deal with being without her friends, at least she had Eli.

Stepping into the corridor, she caught her first glimpse of him. He was wearing a black suit with a tie that was a perfect navy blue. It didn’t exactly match his suit, but she didn’t care. He was so handsome it was breathtaking.

“Wow, you look great,” Eli said as she reached him. He looked her up and down, admiring every inch of her.

“So do you,” Kaley said shyly, trying to suppress a giggle. She never thought she would be taken to the school dance by someone as hot as him.

Never in a million years could she even dream about it. Yet it was happening, right then and there. The thought made her giddy. He smelled good too, like he was wearing expensive aftershave. The giddiness took over again as she inhaled it in.

“We should be going.” Eli took her hand and led her toward the door, having to dodge around Strom and Georgie first. They were guarding the door as if they didn’t want them to leave. It probably wasn’t intentional, but subconscious.

“Have a wonderful time!” Georgie yelled after them, leaning against Strom for support. She cuddled into his side while they watched them leave. “Our baby grew up too fast, Strom. I thought I would have a few more years to get used to the idea.”

“I know what you mean.”

Chapter 33

With the lights, music, and dancing bodies, the gymnasium looked completely different to when Kaley was last there.

Someone had covered the tables with food and drinks, more streamers were hanging from the rafters, and a whole bunch of balloons had been filled and allowed to float to the ceiling. Someone was going to have a hell of a time cleaning the place up tomorrow.

“Do you want to dance?” Eli almost had to shout over the music.

“Sure,” Kaley replied, taking his hand.

He led her onto the dance floor, finding a spot where they could merge into the crowd. The Ravens were performing on stage, however they toned down their act slightly to fit within the school guidelines. No swear words or crowd surfing was allowed on school grounds. It didn’t make them any less the rock gods.

Eli twirled her in a full circle, her dress flaring out. Kaley felt so light and dizzy, like she was the ballerina on the top of a music box. She didn’t care about anything else except being at the dance with Eli. She was so lost in the moment that nothing else existed. It was the fairytale moment she had always dreamed of.

The song finished and a new one started, this one slower than the one before. As they swayed back and forth to the melody, Kaley saw Harper over Eli’s shoulder. She was standing alone, watching the stage and smiling up at Cooper singing.

Kaley felt a pang of sympathy for her, she wouldn’t be doing much dancing with Cooper having his band duties all night. So much for her perfect evening.

As she was staring, Kaley realized Eli was trying to talk to her, she shook her head to try and put Harper out of her thoughts. “What did you say?”

“I said it’s hot in here, don’t you think?”

“I’m okay.”

She looked up at Eli and smiled, she wouldn’t have cared even if she was hot. All she could feel was his arm around her waist and his heart beating right beside hers. Nothing else really mattered.

The song finished and they let go of each other long enough to join in the applause.

“I think I’m going to get some fresh air,” Eli said. “I’ll be back later.” He was heading toward the door before she could reply.

Standing by herself, Kaley looked around for Harper. Perhaps they could stand by themselves together. She made her way over to the stage but couldn’t see her in the mass of bodies anymore. The room was so full it was difficult getting around let alone finding anyone. She made her way over to the food table to get a drink.

Kaley kept one eye on the door to the gymnasium and another scanning the crowd for Harper for the next twenty minutes. She moved along to the beat of the band but stood in place. It was almost reminiscent of how every single other dance had gone.

Once a wallflower, always a wallflower.

After half an hour, the band stopped playing and left the stage. The crowd booed, they hadn’t even announced they were taking a break. A CD was put on in their place but it completely lacked the intensity of having the music played live. The dancing became more subdued.

After forty minutes, Kaley gave up waiting for Eli to return. It didn’t take that long to get some fresh air, he was obviously distracted with something. If he was hanging out with his friends and talking about football, she was going to kill him. He did that every day, that night belonged to her.

She went outside.

Couples mingled around in the courtyard under the stars. Lighting was limited but she could see where she was going well enough. She could also make out faces and bodies the closer she crept to them. It was just enough illumination for Kaley to search for Eli.

She did a circle around the yard and couldn’t find him anywhere. She cast her net wider, searching the area they called the Grove because of all the trees.

She could hear people talking but no-one sounded familiar. It definitely wasn’t the smooth and charming voice of Eli, anyway. She disturbed several people making out on the wooden benches and stepped away with embarrassment, moving along as quickly as possible.

She wondered if she should take Eli there later when she found him, perhaps they could be one of those couples. It made her stomach fill with butterflies at the thought. She used to envy those couples so much.

The Grove was a bust, he wasn’t there. She continued on behind the administration building. There were a few rows of seats, perhaps he and his friends had set up camp there to talk or ‘get some fresh air’.

She vowed she wouldn’t let him out of her sight once she found him, she didn’t want to look for him again. She tried to remember if he was wearing a watch, perhaps he didn’t realize how much time had elapsed since he left her on the dance floor?

It was completely black behind the administration building, so dark Kaley almost tripped over several times as she hit her legs on the benches she didn’t see. Noises echoed around the place, there were people around, at least.

She carefully made her way along the rows one by one, trying to imagine in her mind where she was up to so she could find her way back easily. On the third row, she heard something that sounded familiar – Eli’s laughter.

“Eli? Are you here?” she asked to the darkness. The noise stopped. She took a few more steps forward and felt the warmth of a body. She flailed around until her hands made contact. It was a guy and he was wearing the same aftershave as Eli. “Eli, is that you?”

“Yeah,” he replied.

She blinked into the darkness and could make out the outline of his face. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Sorry, I’ve been around.”

“What are you doing out here in the dark?”

He didn’t need to answer. Kaley saw the outline of another person beside him. This one wasn’t a guy. It was the very curvy outline of a girl, one that was Abigail shaped.

“Are you here with Abigail?” She couldn’t believe it, nor contain her disbelief. She wanted to punch the pair of them.

“Of course he is,” Abigail replied for both of them. “Now get out of here, we have a better use for our lips than talking to you.”

It was like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs, Kaley couldn’t even find the breath to talk. The world started spinning around her as everything came crashing into her like a heavy truck.

Surely she wasn’t seeing what was right in front of her? It couldn’t be real, it couldn’t be true.
She
had won the race, not Abigail. Why was Eli making out with her in the dark at the dance?

Why?

“Kaley, I can explain,” Eli started. He stood but she was already backing away. She didn’t want to hear anything from him, his actions spoke louder than any words he muttered.

“No, you can’t.”

“I can, just listen. It’s not what you think.”

Abigail gripped his arm and pulled him to sit down again. “Let her go, we’ve got more important things to do.”

Kaley wanted to run, be as far away from there as possible. Abigail’s voice kept repeating in her head, along with Eli’s. They were haunting her as she hurried along.

If it wasn’t so dark, she would have been able to get away much quicker. Eli didn’t chase after her like she had hoped. Not that she wanted to see him, but he should have at least had the decency to try and make amends with her. He obviously didn’t want to. He had Abigail now, why would he want her?

She made it to the Grove and then the courtyard but couldn’t bear to go back inside the dance. She didn’t want anyone to see the tears running down her cheeks and messing up her makeup. She probably looked frightening.

Quickly assessing her options, she hoped the rest of the school would be unlocked, she needed to be alone to calm down. If that could ever happen.

The door to the main corridor opened at her touch, it was a good sign. The school was creepy after hours, like ghosts lingered in the empty hallways. She entered anyway and slipped into the one room she loved above all – the music room. Turning on the light, she had to blink to adjust to the brightness.

She took a seat at the piano, the place where she always felt most at home. She had no intentions of lifting the lid and playing though. She took several deep breaths and wiped at her eyes, trying to stop crying or at least calm down.

What had started out as a fairytale had turned into a nightmare. Not only had Eli cheated on her with Abigail, but they had done it at the dance, the place where he had invited her. There were so many things wrong with the whole situation she didn’t know where to start.

She wanted to go home. More than anything, she wanted to be away from the school. She couldn’t face anyone. If she encountered Macy or Madison, or even Abigail and Eli, she would be humiliated.

It was probably part of the plan the entire time – for Abigail to snatch him from her when she least expected it, at a time when it would cause her the most distress. Make him abandon her at the dance, she wouldn’t have anywhere to go. It was evil, so very, very evil.

Kaley heard a noise outside and felt every muscle in her body stiffen. She didn’t want anyone to find her there, she didn’t want anyone seeing her like that. She was a mess, not fit for public interaction. Not yet, not until she had her tears under control.

She watched with horror as the doorknob turned and the door opened. She quickly looked around, wondering if there was anywhere she could hide. There was a cupboard across the room, but she knew it was filled with instruments and music books. She wouldn’t fit and doubted whether she had time to get in anyway.

The seconds ticked by as the door opened and her time ran out. She sighed when she saw the head that poked around the door.

It was Harper.

“What are you doing in here?” she asked, the most words Kaley had heard Harper speak in a week.

“Dying. What are you doing here?”

“I came looking for you. I couldn’t find you anywhere so this was my last shot. Are you okay?”

Kaley shook her head, unable to say anything. Harper quickly crossed the room and sat next to her, enveloping her in a hug. “What happened?”

“Eli and Abigail… behind the admin building… making out…”

“Shh,” she soothed. “I’m going to kill Abigail. And Eli. They are ridiculously horrible.”

Kaley couldn’t disagree, they
were
ridiculously horrible. She had many other words to describe them too but none she could voice without sending another wave of tears down her cheeks.

“I’m so sorry, Harper. I didn’t mean to get so angry at you the other day. It’s been hell this week not having you talk to me,” she managed to blubber out. “Please forgive me.”

“I shouldn’t have been snooping, I’m sorry too.”

“Friends again?”

“We were never not friends.” Harper smiled, letting her out of her grasp. “You’re going to make it through this, Eli doesn’t deserve you. You are going to be better off without him.”

“He was everything I ever wanted.”

“No, he wasn’t. Otherwise he wouldn’t have done what he did. Especially not tonight of all nights.”

Kaley wiped at her eyes and sniffled. Perhaps Harper was right, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. She wished words could heal her heart, it would be nice and simple.

“Why were you looking for me, anyway?”

Harper hesitated, inwardly struggling with something. “The Ravens are sick, they’ve all gone to hospital with suspected food poisoning. Cooper was one of the worst.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. You didn’t even get to dance with him.”

“Nope. So much for our dream guys, huh? I think I had more fun when we were invisible losers with no dates.”

Kaley couldn’t suppress a laugh, wasn’t that the truth. “Next year, I’m staying home with a rom-com marathon. But now, I’m going to call my mom to come and pick me up. Do you want a lift?”

“You can’t go. Which brings me to the reason why I was looking for you. The band is gone, the dance is in dire need of some entertainment. You need to replace The Ravens.”

“Nice one, Harper. I’m calling my mom, are you in or out?” Kaley took out her phone, ready to dial.

“I’m serious. You are the only one at this school with some talent. You need to go on, sing and play your guitar. The dance is dying. Mr. Stephens sent me to find you. He says he’s going to flunk you out of music class if you don’t do it.”

“He can’t do that. And why do I care about the dance anyway? If I’m miserable, they can all be too. My singing isn’t going to save anything.”

“It will save your grade. I’m pretty sure Mr. Stephens wasn’t joking,” Harper said earnestly. It didn’t seem like a plot, Kaley was actually starting to believe her.

She weighed up the idea of losing her perfect grades to going out on stage and performing in front of others. And not just anyone, but her entire school. She would rather lose the grade.

“I’m going home,” she said resolutely.

“Please, Kaley, do it for me? I promised Cooper I would organize something.”

“I don’t even have my guitar.”