Megan Kline is in short...a nobody. She has no friends, never has had any, and as far as she knows, never will. She just wants to graduate from East High, go to college and pursue a music career.
But for now, she's a Junior, and little does she know...
"Hey guys, Ashlyn's gonna be here in five!" I called, bounding down the stairs as I was rushing around, trying to get everything that I needed to get ready for the dance. I walked into the kitchen, but stopped in the doorway as I saw my mom standing there, surrounded by what looked like every snack food that could be sold in the United States. I raised my eyebrows.
"Well, I...I started out getting you girls a snack and then I..." She trailed off. "I don't, I don't know how I got here. I really don't." I laughed at this.
"You may have gone a bit overboard," I told her, "But I appreciate the effort." She smiled at this, and then the doorbell rang.
"I got it!" Dad yelled. I left the kitchen, walking into the living room just as he pulled the door open, revealing Ashlyn, who was wielding a makeup bag, and a garment bag with her outfit inside. "Hi Ashlyn."
"Hi Mr. Kline." She greeted politely.
"Come on in." She walked in, smiling at me as she entered the house.
"Hey." I greeted. Mom rushed into the living room, a smile on her face.
"Ashlyn, hello!" She said. "We've heard so much about you, its great to meet you!"
"Its nice to meet you too, Mrs. Kline. Thank you for having me over."
"Of course!" Mom said. "So, we have all kinds of snacks in the kitchen, you girls help yourselves whenever, and there is a huge mirror in the office, so I thought you might want to get ready in there?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Megan, I already put your stuff in there. I hope that was ok." I smiled, nodding.
"That's great, thanks Mom." She smiled, nodding at this. "Come on, I'll show you."
I led her upstairs and into my parents' home office and her jaw dropped when we walked in.
"Huge mirror?" She asked. "That's a wall."
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I chuckled, shrugging as she put her stuff down in one of the chairs.
"Now, you have to let me see this iconic pant suit you've been telling me so much about." I said. She smiled, hanging the garment bag up on the bookshelf and unzipping it.
It was a silver, sparkly pantsuit paired with a black and pink blazer. My jaw dropped.
"Oh my gosh, its stunning!" I said, running my fingers over the fabric. "You are going to look amazing!"
"Thanks," She laughed, "What about you? What are you gonna wear?"
I looked around until I found my own hanger on the back of the door. I pointed at it.
It was an orange, ruffled, off the shoulder dress that I had wanted to wear forever. It was my favorite thing that I owned but never once dared to wear it to anything. I'd tried it on about a thousand times, and I loved the way it looked on me, but you know...confidence.
"Wow..." She said, in awe. "I can't wait to see you in that."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?"
~~~
We changed into our clothes, and then put on button up shirts over them so we could do our hair and make-up without having to pull anything over our heads. Ashlyn was sitting across the table from me, facing the mirror and doing her make-up, which I was curling my hair. There was a knock at the door.
"Come in!" I called. Mom came in, holding what looked like a tray of vegetables and ranch.
"I just brought you girls this, in case you did get hungry but didn't have time to come down." She said, putting the tray on the table.
"Thank you, Mrs. Kline."
"Yeah, thanks Mom." I said, grabbing a carrot and sticking it in my mouth. She smiled at me.
"Your hair looks gorgeous like that." She said. I smiled at her.
"Thank you." She smiled uncomfortably.
"Ok, I...I'll leave you girls alone now." She went to leave, and I met Ashlyn's eye. She was giving me a knowing look. Mom wanted to stay and help. She wanted to be a part of my first ever high school dance. She just didn't want to cross any boundaries with me by asking.
"Oh, actually, Mom?" She whirled around at lightening fast speed.
"Yeah? What's up, you need something else? Drinks, anything like that?" I shook my head.
"Could you do my makeup?" I asked. "I'm not really very good at that sort of thing."
She smiled and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Of course." She said. I smiled.
"Just let me finish my hair. You can look through my makeup if you want, figure out what you want to use." She sat down in the chair beside mine and began looking through the makeup bag.
"How about some music?" Ashlyn asked.
"What'd you have in mind?" I questioned. She smiled, grabbing her phone and clicking some buttons, and then the music started playing. My eyes widened, looking at Ashlyn as she giggled. I shook my head as 'In the Middle of Starting Over' began to play. She had recorded my audition. I continued curling my hair.
"This is a great song," Mom said, laying out eye shadows on the table, "Who sings this?" Ashlyn and I exchanged a look again.
"Um...me." I answered, turning my curling iron off and turning to face her.
"That...that's you?" She asked. I nodded.
"Its the song I wrote for my audition for the musical." I told her. She reached over, picking up the phone and looking at the video. I stood up, watching over her shoulder. There I was, in my red track singing my heart out. It didn't even look like me, I was so at home in that moment.
"You're amazing!" She exclaimed.
"Isn't she?" Ashlyn asked. "Everyone was blown away by that audition. Just wait until you see the song we wrote for the show. You guys are coming, aren't you Mrs. Kline?"
"Well we want to, obviously its just...our work schedule can be kind of demanding sometimes..." She looked at me, and instantly looked guilty.
"Its ok, Mom." I said. "Worst case scenario, someone records it for you. Don't worry about it." She smiled half-halfheartedly. She looked down at her lap, before grabbing an eye-shadow pallet and holding it up for me to see.
