Within The Shadows (3 page)

“
Okay,” I answered, and sat back down on the chair, giving
in to my feelings.

***

The week
passed by in what seemed like a blur.
I
went through all the motions of being the dutiful girlfriend. I
laughed at all the right jokes, and even stomached displays of
affection. Underneath it all, I was dying. Or at least it felt like
I was dying.

Prom night finally came.

Looking in
the mirror, I hardly recognized myself. I knew it was me, but what
I felt on the inside did not show on the outside. The dark blue
elegant dress was dramatic, and complemented my complexion. The
gorgeous peau de soie satin gown was detailed at the bust line with
dazzling crystal stones. Tiny little beaded flowers sat across the
bodice, and glimmered when the light shone on them. The lace-up
back was stunning with ties adorned with crystals. I looked every
inch of perfection.

My phone
rang, and distracted me. “Hello!” I said.

“
You ready for payback, Princess?” Alex asked in his usual
carefree manner.

Sighing, I
could barely talk, and whispered a weak, “I guess.”

“
I’ll see you there. All is set. I just need the duo in the
same room. Catch you later, Bergman.”

Before I
could say ‘bye,’ he’d hung up on me, and I was alone again with
some serious thoughts of self-destruction. Of course, the calls
from my mother soon put a stop to that.

“
Giselle, Giselle, honey! Marc is here,” she bellowed from
the bottom of the stairs.

“
Two seconds, Mom,” I yelled back.

Breathe, just breathe through it,
I thought as I walked down the stairs towards the waiting
chaos.

I swear I
could see tears in my mother’s eyes, and my dad stood looking at me
proudly. My brothers were taking the proverbial piss out of me,
which was the usual, but it was Marc who I avoided looking at. He
made me sick.

Marc and I
stood together in front of the camera, smiling as if we’d won the
lottery, but underneath the façade, I was aching inside. I was
tormenting myself, going over every little detail, and blaming
myself. After all, he was just a guy, and had to get
‘
it
’ from somewhere. As Greg had so cordially said in the
past, I ‘
wasn’t putting
out.
’

I felt so
betrayed and annoyed that he willingly threw four years of dating
away just to lose his virginity to a skank, and not just any skank,
either. It was Evie Stokes, of all people. I could feel the anger
welling up inside my stomach. I thought I would throw up right
there in front of my parents.

“
Oh, my gosh, aren’t they just adorable?” my mother gushed,
squeezing my father’s hand.

Sometimes,
she made me sick, and right now, I felt pretty angry with her for
making me go through with it all. My mother was the type of woman
who would tread on people to get to the front of the queue. Hell,
my mother was more than that. She was the queen bee, and boy, did
we know it! She was also my best friend, and I could not refuse her
this moment.

I did not
intend on standing there for much longer as Marc’s hand rested
casually upon my waist. “Okay, enough of the pictures. We have a
prom to get to,” I replied as I hurried to the door.

I stared at
Marc’s emotionless face. God, he was gorgeous. I could not deny him
that. I only wished he’d waited for me, and had the patience to do
so until I was ready. But in a typical guy style, he blew
it.

“
Oh, sweetie, just one more!” my ever irritating mother
yelped, grabbing the camera from my father.

Snap
. One more for the
album.

Marc
followed me on cue out the door, and into the chill of the night.
“So what’s the deal, Giselle? Why the cold shoulder?” he asked,
convincingly angelic.

I did not
answer. I got into the back of the limo, and waited for him. I
wished that what I had seen were not true. I loved him so much. I
was convinced we would be going to college together as we had
planned. Things would not be the same without him, but it was
something I would have to get used to.

It broke my heart.

***

The ride
to
Le Meridien Hotel
was short. Closing my eyes, I breathed deeply,
readying myself for the night ahead. I thought about caving in, and
forgetting about my plans, but something inside spurred me on. I
had to do this, for me.

Inside, the
theme sickened me. It reminded me of some bizarre scene out of the
seventies. Disco lights, streamers, and a giant piñata thrown in
for good measure.

“
Jesus
Christ,” I muttered to myself, twitching irritatingly.

“
Evie sure has outdone herself this time,” Marc murmured
into my ear, the music drowning out most of his praise.

I just
smiled. The knot in my stomach tightened at the sound of her
name.

Bitch
.

Why did I
have to be so nice?
Why could I not just
sock it to him, then and there? Because I knew payback was coming,
and I simply had to wait.

Most of the
evening’s festivities went by in a haze. I was not really bothered,
and sat patiently biding my time.

“
You look
beautiful,” a familiar voice said from behind me.

“
Alex!” I smiled, and jumping up, I hugged him tight. “I’m
so glad you came. I couldn’t do this without you.”

“
Honey, I would not miss this for anything,” he laughed,
pulling me closer to him. He slipped the disc into my hand, and
kissed me on the nose. “Knock them dead!”

Slipping the
disc into my purse, I smiled nervously as I looked at Marc acting
like a jackass with his friends, and knew there was no turning
back.

“
Before we entertain the masses, how about you loosen up,
and join me on the dance floor,” Alex said as he took me by the
hand, and twirled me around.

“
Alex, I can’t dance. You know I can’t.” I tried to argue
with him.

“
Don’t be silly. I’ve taught you all you know. Now let’s
show these fools how it’s done.” He laughed as he pulled me in
closer to him.

I giggled,
loud enough to get Marc’s unwanted attention. I spun round, and
shook my ass, almost grinding myself up against Alex, and I did it
all to spite Marc.

Looking at
Alex as we slowed down, and danced to ‘
Pictures of You
’ by The
Cure, I examined his face. He was so beautiful, and I really could
not understand how he had never bothered much with the girls at
school. It was always college girls who got the most attention. I
knew he was selective with his choices, and that he was never short
of female company, but sometimes the way he looked at me kind of
made me feel all giddy. If things had been different, or if we were
in another life, maybe something would have happened between
us.

Alex was the
closest friend I had. He was everything a girl could want in a guy
– tall, toned, mousy blond hair with curls that fell over his face,
and the most luscious emerald green eyes. But it just never
happened for us. His friendship was precious, and I could never
complicate it with a crush.
Especially now
.

I do not
know what I felt, but God, something inside me almost burst. I
pulled away from him, retreated back to my table, and diverted my
attention to something, anything, other than him.

The music
stopped, and Brookes took to the stage. It was time.

The
inevitable was about to happen. Marc and I were, after all, the
‘it’ couple, or, more to the point, I was dating the ‘it’ guy. So,
being crowned prom King and Queen did not surprise me in the
slightest. The crowd cheered and applauded as we both made our way
to the centre stage.

He
high-fived a few of the guys from the football team, and waved as
if he was a film star. I received my crown first. I smiled, waved
to a few girls from my class, and then stood back as Marc received
his crown. I had never really seen him acting as an ass before now,
but seriously, he was parading around the stage like a total
retard. I felt like a fraud for the first time ever.

“
Wow,” he gushed into the mike. “This is something else, and
you know what? You guys rock!” Everyone, well, almost everyone,
cheered and whooped.

“
But
seriously, my girlfriend
rocks. She’s made me the guy I am, so give it up for Giselle.” He
looked back at me with those adorable puppy dog brown eyes, and his
gorgeous cheeky grin that first made me fall for
him.

God, I was nervous.

I flipped
the disc in my hand, and slipped it into the DVD player Alex had so
kindly set up for me earlier. Walking to the front of the stage, I
fidgeted nervously. All eyes were on me, and, trembling, I removed
the crown from my head.

“
You know something? I always dreamed of this night. Marc
and I standing here, hand in hand, living what every high school
couple dreams of. This is so cool, seriously, but I kinda have to
forfeit this great, honourable prize.” I heard the echo of stunned
gasps. “I know you all probably think I’ve gone mad, but I believe
that a girl here tonight should be standing where I am instead of
me, because this girl has earned it, in more ways than one. And for
your pleasure, I’d like to introduce you to a match made in
heaven.”

Clicking
play on the remote control, I waited for the penny to drop. I could
not stop trembling. The adrenalin was pumping through me, and Alex
was soon by my side holding my hand. He was my saviour.

Marc was
taken aback. He looked at me, confused, and for a split second, I
felt sorry for him. On the screen, Evie moaned, moving her hips
back and forth. Marc held her ass, sweating as he kissed the nape
of her neck. It was pretty obvious what they were doing, but I
could not bring myself to look. The noise from the tape drowned out
any chatter amongst the crowd, and inside, I felt my heart crumble
into a million little pieces.

Looking
around, I saw the reactions on people’s faces. Some stood with
their hands over their mouths. Others laughed, and a few of the
football guys cheered, while teachers rushed around trying to find
the off switch.

I stood in
front of the mike, and exhaled. “I believe Evie Stokes is the
rightful owner of this crown. She has earned it.” I dropped the
crown on the floor, and left the stage.

Concentrating on nothing but the exit sign above the
security door, I briskly walked towards it. I had to get out of
there, and no one was going to stop me. Marc tried to run after me,
but Alex thwarted his advance.

“
Let it go, man. She doesn’t want to know.” Alex pushed Marc
back into the crowd.

“
It’s not what it looks like. Alex, dude, you’ve got to
believe me. You know the truth. You know what really happened. You
gotta help me out, man!” Marc pleaded breathlessly.

Alex laughed
as he pushed his hair from his eyes. “You know, I’d believe you,
only the footage speaks louder than words. Besides, I’m not
interested in your sob story.”

The noise
from the crowd became a mere echo as my tunnel vision led me away
from the chaos I had caused. Chaos that would one day come back to
haunt me.

Chapter
Three

OUTSIDE, THE
COLD
night air hit me hard in the face. I
ached inside, and soon, the tears were burning my eyes as I cried.
I ran as far as I could, not stopping until I entered
Round Lake Park
. The dimly lit pathway led me down to the shore of the
lake, and I crumpled in a heap. I sobbed for what seemed like an
eternity, only stopping when the silence around me caught my
attention. It was so dark I could hardly make out the street lamps
on
Old Highway
8
. The water rippled gently, silently
hitting the stones on the bank. I felt more isolated than ever
before.

From the
corner of my eye, I could see a dark figure standing there watching
me. The silhouette was covered by the low hanging branches of the
trees, and I could barely make it out.

I froze.

Holding my
breath, I looked around, trying to get my bearings. I knew I had to
make a run for it, but the damn dress was so tight, and even in
bare feet, I probably would not be able to outrun the
person.

Fumbling
around in the darkness, my hand found a lump of wood. I grabbed a
hold of it tightly, and got up. Frantically, I tried to control my
breathing.

Come on, Giselle
. Get
it together!

I studied my
opponent.
I could not make out the
person’s face, but he was definitely male. He looked so much bigger
than me, although the distance between us was too much for me to be
sure. That was when I made the worst mistake of all. I ran like a
scared little child. Hitting the overgrowth of the trees with my
bare arms, I could feel the sting from the cuts, and in error, I
looked down to examine the damage while trying to catch my
breath.