Love, Bitterly Sweet

Chapter Nine

“Dylan,” I say in my sweetest voice. “Can you do me a favor?”

Dylan turns to look at me warily. It’s Monday and we’re on our way to school. Since he’s driving, he only takes a brief look to assess my expression before turning his attention back to the road.

“I’m afraid to ask what the favor is.”

I bat my eyelashes prettily, even though he’s not currently looking at me. “It’s nothing big, really. The teensiest favor ever.”

I can see Dylan rolling his eyes because I’m very obviously overloading on the saccharine charm, if what I’m doing can even be called charm.

“It’s just that I’ve decided to go to the dance on Friday and I need to get a dress. And since you’re my bestest friend in the whole wide world, I was hoping that maybe you’d go to the mall with me to help me pick one out.”

“No way. That’s why you have girlfriends. I am not letting you drag me to every dress store in town. That’s definitely where I draw the line.”

“But –”

“Nope. Not happening. Go with Katie. She’ll probably be ecstatic.”

“But –”

“No, Lily. And that’s final. I love you but I would only ever willingly put myself through that torture for my mate, and that’s only if I really, really, really loved her. Seriously. Have Katie, or your mom, go with you.”

“Fine,” I huff, crossing my arms against my chest.

“Fine.”

We’re both quiet for a few minutes. I actually have no real problem going with Katie, but I’m not ready to tell her why I’m going to this particular dance after having boycotted every single other one so far. And I’m pretty sure going with my mom would be more embarrassing than dragging Dylan with me, only because she’d want me to try on every dress until I found the “perfect” one, and then accessorize with heels and makeup. While I’m not exactly a tomboy, I need to take baby steps when it comes to dolling myself up.

“Why are you going to the dance anyway?,” Dylan asks, breaking the silence.

“Because I was asked to go,” I mumble, not really looking forward to his response.

Dylan twists his head sharply to glare at me. “What? Who? Max?”

“Watch the road! And of course Max. Who else would ask, and who else would I actually agree to go with?”

“And you said yes? Lily – I hate to point this out to you, but you do realize what going to a dance requires, right?”

Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes at him. “Yes, Dylan. I am quite aware, thank you.”

“You’d actually have to dress up. As in, put on a dress and makeup. And you’d have to dance with him and make small talk. And you’d have lots of people looking at you, including all of the weres. You’ll probably also have a bunch of girls staring daggers at you because you’re there with Max.”

“I know.”

“And you still said yes?”

Dylan sounds so skeptical that I almost want to laugh, if not for the fact that he’s obviously doubting my ability to function socially with my classmates. 

“Of course I said yes. He’s my mate. Doesn’t it make sense that I would want to spend time with him? And it’s just a dance. It’s not like we’re getting married or anything.” Now I’m grumpy and moody, which isn’t how I wanted to start the week.