...26...

It was just a few days before Christmas break and my friends, sisters and I were heading to the mall to look for our winter formal dresses. The dance wasn’t until the middle of next month but we wanted to go ahead and get our dresses. I wasn’t like some snobby girl like Jessica and ordered her dress the year before. I about choked on my French fries when I was told that. This was also the crown she was vying for and it fit her perfectly: Ice Princess. 

 I had to admit though that once she found out that Clay and I was an item and not just faking it, she has backed away from me, I was told that she was making plans to steal him from me. The only thing I had to say about that was that if she thought she could, I would gladly except the challenge. I would also shove my boot so far up you know where that the doctor’s would have to surgically remove it.

 As we strolled along the shops at the mall, Tara and Haylee both found their perfect dresses within the first two stores we went in. Cassie and Lacey were being a little picky and I knew exactly what I was looking for but could not find it. I didn’t want to order it online because I knew that it would take longer to ship so I was hoping that I would find it somewhere in  It was the perfect dress. It had just enough sparkle on it without a chance of blinding anyone and it covered enough and didn’t look slutty.

 When I was just about to give up, something caught my eye. I walked a little closer and it was the dress I have been looking for. It was an ice blue strapless floor length dress. It had a rhinestone embellishment on the bodice and had a lacey skirt with a layer of chiffon over it. I didn’t even say a word as I searched for my size. There was only one dress like it in the store and it was two sizes too big. I looked at the price tag and about choked... five hundred and thirty eight dollars. I knew I was going to have keep searching because there was no way I was paying that much on a dress.

     “Is there anything I can do for you today?” the store assistant asked.

    “No,” I laughed. “Not after seeing the price of this dress.”

    “You know the price on the tag is only half of what it is, right?” she asked, smiling.

    “What?”

    “We get the dresses that have the slightest little imperfection and then my mother is a seamstress and she’ll fix them. This dress is just as good as what you would pay online only instead of paying the five thirty eight, it’s only two fifty,” she smiled.

I about choked when she told me that. That was a difference of two hundred and eighty eight dollars. I just stared at her thinking that this was my lucky day until I remembered that it was too big for me anyway. I turned back to the dress and sighed. The lady looked at the tag and then at me.

     “This dress looks too big for you. We can do alterations also and that will be a sixty four dollar fee. We would have to do a lot because it is so much bigger. When do you need the dress by?”

    “My dance is in about two and a half weeks’ time.”

    “That is very possible if you want to do it,” she said.

I looked at the dress one more time. I had to make a decision and fast. This was the only dress like it, it was the one I’ve been looking for and it was going to be a lot cheaper than I originally thought. I would almost be stupid if I didn’t take it. I was still hashing over it when the bell sounded that indicated more customers were coming.

     “Claire,”Haylee said. “You just kind of walked away from us.”

    “Sorry,” I said, reaching out and touching the dress.

    “Claire,” Lacey gasped.

    “This dress would look perfect on you,” Cassie finished.

     “This is the dress. Like, the dress.”

     “How much is it?” Tara asked, looking at the tag. “Whew!”

     “Two fifty.”

     “But the tag says…”

     “I know but it’s only two fifty plus a sixty five dollar alteration. It’s two sizes too big.”

     “Well, let’s try it on,” Haylee said, grabbing it from the rack and dragging me to the fitting room.

When I was in the room, I slowly changed into the dress. The ice blue did look wonderful with my skin complication and dark hair. I was trying to hold it up when there was a knock at my door. It was the sales lady who came in to pin it so I could walk out and show my friends. When I did walk out, they all gasped.

     “Clay will go absolutely nuts when he sees you in it,” Haylee beamed.

     “Oh my god Claire,” Lacey and Cassie said together.

     “That dress is perfect,” Tara said.

     “So,” the sales lady smiled. “Shall we do the measuring to get it altered?”

     “Yes,” I said, nodding my head.

It took about an hour to get everything done and when I walked out with three hundred and fifteen dollars less in my account, I wanted to cry but I knew that it would be worth it to see Clay’s face. Besides, this was probably going to be the only chance I could go to a formal with Clay. He probably wouldn’t get a chance to come to my Prom and I would be graduating in June.

When I got home, I took my boot off and elevated my foot. I guess I overdone it today and it was throbbing. I was lucky that I only had about three weeks left on it. I was doing well with my therapy so I was hoping that I would get my clear to dance again.

I didn’t realize that I had fallen asleep until I heard the doorbell ring. I was just sitting up when mom came through and opened the door. A minute later, Clay was walking through the living room. I smiled at him as he sat down next to me.

     “You have bed head,” he smiled.

     “That’s impossible,” I said, earning a weird look from him.

     “What?”

     “I wasn’t asleep in a bed so therefore I can’t have bed head. I was asleep on the couch so that can be classified as couch cap or pillow poof,” I smiled, causing him to laugh.

     “You don’t have a lick of sense,” he said, leaning over and kissing me.

     “You must not either.”

   “Why’s that?” he asked.

    “Because you’re dating me.”

    “That, my darling, was the best decision I’ve ever made. Trust me,” he said, kissing me again and pulling me against his side.

    “So, who’s with your mom and the kids?” I asked.

    “My aunt Josephine came in unexpectedly and told me to go spend some time with my friends.”

    “And you choose me over Brent?”

    “Yep,” he smiled, taking the remoter from the coffee table and turned the TV on.

He finally settled on reruns of That 70’s Show and set the remote back down. Mom had already come in to check on us and invited Clay for supper which he accepted and I couldn’t have been any happier. We were just sitting there when he started talking again.

    “It’s going to suck to have to leave you.”

    “I know,” I said, snuggling against him more. I didn’t want to think about that and I didn’t want him to think about it either, at least not right now.

    “How about I take you out as often as I can over the next few weeks? Get as much Clay and Claire time in as possible.”

    “That sounds good to me,” I whispered.

    “Claire,” he said and I felt his finger under my chin, trying to lift my head. I resisted him though because I didn’t want him to see the sadness in my eyes. “Claire, you listen to me. I’m not leaving you. I may not be here physically but I’ll never leave you.”

    “My dad said the same thing.”

    “I tried to talk him out of taking that. I tried my best Claire. I would rather be the one in the ground than seeing you miss your dad so m…” he stated but I cut him off by pressing my lips against his.

    “Maybe my dad is the reason we’re together. Maybe in a roundabout way, he knew that we would meet.”

    “I have no doubt in my mind,” he smiled. “Claire, I’m pretty crazy about you.”

    “The feeling is mutual,” I said.

The rest of the night was kind of quiet. It was much too soon when mom came in and told us that it was time for Clay to go home. I wanted to walk out with him but he told me to stay inside because me ankle had become a little swollen. After he kissed me goodnight and left, I went up to my room and got ready for bed. I was playing around on my phone for a little while and then when I was finally tired enough to sleep, plugged my phone up, turned the lights off and drifted into slumber.

That night I dreamt of my dad. The good memories as well as the bad, there weren’t many bad memories other than when I was grounded or when we got the news of his death. The dream also went a little further. I was having a dream that I knew could not possibly be a future because it was on my wedding day. 

Daddy was standing by my side proudly. Telling me how beautiful I looked and how proud he was of me. It was just us in the room for a little while and he was talking to me.

    “Claire, you have turned out so much better than I ever dreamed.”

    “Thanks dad,” I beamed.

    “He’s a lucky man.” 

    “I think of it as I’m a lucky woman.”

    “Be good to each other. Your mother and I didn’t have a great start because other people stood in our way. Don’t let anyone change your mind about how you feel,” he said. 

    “Daddy, I love him. I mean, like really love him,” I smiled.

    “You deserve it. You be good for one another.” 

    “I couldn’t have had a better man even if you had hand picked him out yourself.”

    “But I did Clairey,” he smiled. 

    “What?” I asked.

    “Honey, you’re dreaming, you know. This is not real and you know that I’m still not there with you.” 

    “You’re being silly, dad. This is my wedding day,” I laughed.

    “Honey, I won’t be there on your wedding day. You're just missing me so much right now because you know that your time with Clay is coming to an end. You have to accept that he’ll be shipping out again soon,” he said. 

    “Dad, Clay and I are getting married today. He’s not going anywhere,” I huffed and stood up. I had my back to him but I felt his hands on my shoulders.

    “Claire, I made sure that you and Clay would meet one another. You’ll eventually understand why I did what I did. I did it because I knew that you and Clay would be perfect together. You all will make this through and you know why?” he asked, I shook my head. “Because I’m never leaving him either. I’ll make sure that he comes home to you. Have I ever broken a promise?”

I wanted to say yes because he promised that he would be safe while he wasn’t home and look where it ended. He was no longer in our lives but I knew that I couldn’t because he would have something else to say and he would be right. In turn, I shook my head no.

     “Claire, no matter the physical time apart, you know that I will always be right here,” he said touching my chest. “Clay will be there to. He’s a good guy and he knows that he’s going to be fighting to come home to you. Just remember Claire-bear, as long we live here, we’ll never be gone,” he said touching his chest and turned to walk away. As he walked, his figure began to fade away. I begged him not to leave me again. I told him that we needed him more than ever but he wasn’t listening to me. I wanted to be mad at him as I fall to my knees and cried out for him.

I awoke with a jolt. Sitting straight up in my bed; I was drenched in sweat and tears. It felt so real but then again, every dream I’ve had about dad felt real. Even if they were past conversations I’ve had with him, it still felt like they happened at that very exact moment. This one was a different kind of real though. I have never had a dream about the future with him and there he was, admitting that he took the fall just to get Clay and I together. I couldn’t be mad at Clay over that though because he did try to persuade dad from doing it. One thing he should have learned about my father if he didn’t know, was that once Luke Henderson set his mind on something, no one could change it.

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The next chapter is Christmas Day and the one after that will be the Snowball Dance. I don't know if I've given it an officail name but that's we had had at my high school so that's what I'm going with. It was held in January so I think it will be fitting.

What did you think about that dream? I'm not sure if I put the emotion into it that I was feeling but I"ll admit, even I teared up a little reading it.

I now have to admit that I am behind on my writing. I have about half of chapter 27 written but I seem to have lost my notebook. POO ! ! ! !

Guess what??????..................

I have 9 days until my birthday. I don't look forward to it though because it will be my last year to enjoy my 20's. I am not looking forward to turning 30 and that's a year away. It makes me feel old when I can say that I remember something happening 20 years ago. It makes me feel even older that I have been out of high school now for 11 years and my baby girl starts school this August and she's going to be 5..... Can I go back about 10 years when life was a little more simple....

Okay enough of my sob story. Hope you all liked this chappter and I'll try to get a new one up as soon as possible.