Prologue
Davis Alvarez
It’s Tuesday afternoon and I’m walking home from school, excited for the long Thanksgiving weekend.
“Davis, wait up!” Amelia Price calls, running after me like hell hounds are on her heels.
My brows pull together as I stop and wait for her to catch up.
A minute later, she’s looking beautiful as ever when stops in front of me with bright red cheeks and a cherry red nose. Her long blond hair is hanging wildly down her back and she’s got her hands on her hips trying to catch her breath. “Jesus Christ! I need to work out.”
I can’t help but laugh. “What are you doing? Don’t you usually catch a ride with one of your friends?” I ask, watching her.
Amelia shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly and starts walking. “I decided today was a good day for a walk.”
“It’s thirty-five degrees outside,” I laugh, walking beside her. I have to make sure to take slower steps than usual since I’m over a foot taller than her and my stride is much longer.
“Whatever,” she huffs and waves me off.
Our town is so small that the junior and high schools are on the same campus, while the elementary school is only a block away from them. Amelia and I used to walk to and from school together all the time when we were kids since we lived a few houses away from each other. When we started high school, Amelia started getting rides from friends and I usually stayed after school for whatever sport I was in at the time. For her and I to be walking home together is out of the norm, but nice. It reminds me of the way things used to be when we were kids, when things were simpler. Now I’m working my ass off to get a scholarship to pay for school, while also helping out at my parent’s at their Mexican restaurant. There hasn’t been time for girls, although there’s only one girl I want and she’s way out of my league.
“Sooo, are you going to the dance Saturday night?” Amelia asks, pulling me out of my head.
“Hmm?”
“You know, the Winter Dance, the one the whole school has been talking about for weeks,” she laughs.
“Ohh, that dance. Yeah, no. I’m not going.” Why bother?
“Why not? You have to go. Please Davis!”
I roll my eyes, “why do I have to go? Those dances are just an excuse for girls to play dress up and guys to spike the punch and act like assholes.”
“Those assholes are your friends, plus, I happen to know that some of the girls wanted a dance with the Davis Alvarez.”
I snort. “I highly doubt that. No one has said anything to me about it.”
“We’re girls, Davis. We want to be wooed and asked, we don’t want to do the chasing.”
Is she saying what I think she is? I’ve had a crush on Amelia since the fourth grade when she held my hand and walked me to the nurse after I hit my head playing football with the other boys. I never thought I was good enough for a girl like Amelia. She’s always been this burst of light in our small town. She’s going to get out of here and live a life worthy of her. I’ll never fit into her future.
“We?” I ask, hoping for soemthing I shouldn’t.
“Come to the dance and find out,” she winks, then turns to walk down her driveway.
I watch the sway of her ass longer than I should, but take off before she notices. There’s no point in finding out, yet I can’t stop myself from wanting to.
Amelia
I hope Davis shows up tonight. I picked this specific dress because it’s his favorite color. I did exactly what he said and played dress up, curling my long hair and put on a pretty red dress. What am I even doing? If Davis was interested in me, he would have said something by now. Right? We used to be so close when we were younger, now we’ve got six months left of high school and then he’ll be gone. Tonight I’m going to tell him how I feel and see what happens, if he shows up that is. I can’t believe he was going to skip the Winter Dance. We had a moment the other day, at least I thought we did. I hope he felt it and comes.
“Millie, get your ass over here. You owe me a dance.” Roger says, grabbing my hand and pulling me to him.
“Maybe later, I’m waiting for someone,” I say, pulling my hand out of his.
“I wouldn’t have kept you waiting,” He winks, and walks toward Brittany Kemp. She’s nice but way too easy. Not that I’m judging, okay, I’m judging. Girl, make them work a little harder for it. I watch as she laughs when Roger uses the same line on her that he used on me. Oh brother. I roll my eyes then turn to scan the gymnasium that I worked my ass off turning into a winter wonderland the last two days. It looks fantastic if I do say so myself.
Davis walks through the doors wearing jeans and a black button-up shirt, the material straining against his muscular arms. He scans the area and when he looks at me his eyes flare for an instant before walking in my direction. My heart starts beating fast while my tummy flutters. Damn, he looks so good it’s hard to think straight.
“You showed up,” I smile.
“Well, I didn’t want to let anyone down,” he says, looking me in the eyes meaningfully.
I turn away so he doesn’t see me blush. “You’re such a good guy, Davis Alvarez. They really should give you a medal for it.” I laugh, trying to poke the gentle giant.
“Ah ha ha, you should be a comedian. Do you want to dance?” He asks with a smile on his face.
“Sure, try and keep up.” I throw over my shoulder as I walk to the dance floor.
Davis throws his head back and laughs. I love the way he laughs without a care in the world. He’s normally quiet in a big group of people, but one-on-one, he’ll talk your ear off about the things he feels passionate about.
Davis and I have hung out with the same group of friends our whole lives, but in the last couple of years, I feel like we’ve grown further and further apart. Come next fall he’ll be leaving to start his life somewhere else and I’ll be here, wishing he was with me.
The fun upbeat song ends just as we start dancing, changing to I Knew I Loved You by Savage Garden and our eyes connect. For a split second it’s awkward, then Davis holds out his hand and I gladly take it.
He pulls me close and I wrap my arms loosely around his neck wanting so badly to hold him closer. Listening to the words in the song, I wonder what Davis is thinking and feeling. Is his heart beating as fast as mine? Does he wish we were the only people in this magical wonderland like I do?
“You look really beautiful tonight, Amelia.” He says softly into my ear.
“Thank you, so do you. Handsome I mean.”
I don’t know if I’m imagining it, but I swear his arms tighten around me.
“You never call me Millie, like everyone else does.”
“I knew you before you were Millie. To me, you’ll always be Amelia.”
I look up at him, studying his face. I wonder if he knows how handsome he is. I doubt it. He’s almost six and a half feet tall and looks older than most of the guys in our school. It doesn’t hurt that he put on a lot of muscle, especially in the last two years since he plays sports year round. Any girl would be lucky to have his attention, yet he hasn’t dated anyone seriously.