All I've Never Wanted(141)
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not wearing that,” I declared defiantly. Nope. No way in hell was I going to put that on.
Then Adriana gave me her special, withering look, the one she usually reserved for people who wore sandals with socks or pleated pants or—gasp!—both at the same time.
“Ok,” I said weakly, taking the flimsy scraps of cloth from her. “I’ll be right back.”
Don’t judge me. She can be really scary sometimes.
But as I locked myself in the bathroom and reluctantly pulled off my shirt and pants, despite Adriana pointing I could just change in the room with her because we were both girls and had the same body parts anyway, I couldn’t help but grin giddily. This was it. Tonight, Roman and I would finally be able to celebrate our anniversary, and I couldn’t wait.
I felt more excited than ever, now that I’d finally gotten my “talk” with my dad out of the way. It went much better than I expected, and it sounded a lot like the talk we had right after I saw him and Lexi in New York. Lots of tears and emotions and promises, but this time, I actually believed him. I even forgave him, for the most part. He is, after all, my father, and one I loved very much.
Honestly, after the whole James incident, I figure I should just let bygones be bygones. Besides, tonight happened to be New Year’s Eve, and I wanted to start the year off on the best foot possible.
Thankfully, my family could care less about New Year’s—thanks to my mom, we usually only celebrated Chinese New Year—which meant I could go out with Roman while the rest of the gang enjoyed champagne and fireworks on the boat he got Zack for his birthday.
After I put on my brand-new designer underwear and pulled my lounge pants and shirt back on, excitement fluttered through me. I wondered what Roman had planned. I’d spent the entire week trying to guess, but of course, Roman, being the huge meanie he was, refused to tell me if my guesses were correct or not. He even outright laughed at some of them.
But seriously, judging from all the extravagant things he’s done, a hot air balloon trip over Austria followed by a private concert is not out of the realm of possibility. Not that I really wanted a hot air balloon trip over Austria. The whole Arnold Schwarzenegger scandal pretty much ruined Austrian accents for me, and besides, I’m afraid of heights.
But it would’ve been cool anyway.
“So, have you decided what you’re going to wear?” Adriana asked, once I exited the bathroom.
“Yeah.” I walked over to the closet and pulled out a simple, elegant black silk dress. “I don’t know what we’re doing, but this seems like a safe bet.”
She tilted her head, fingering the material. “Hmm.”
“What?” I looked at the dress. It was one of the nicest items of clothing I owned. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know if you should wear silk, it…might not be a good idea.”
I paused, then nearly jumped with excitement. “Wait! You know what he has planned, don’t you?” I shouted.
Adriana winced at the volume of my voice. “Let’s see.” She rifled through my closet, evading my question. “This is nice.” She held up a draped white jersey dress I’d worn for my parents’ ten-year anniversary dinner.
“That kind of looks like my homecoming dress,” I murmured.
She shrugged. “It’ll be fine. Trust me, this will work better.”
I took her word for it. Adriana had exquisite taste, and considering she probably knew what Roman was up to, I should probably take her advice.
For the next two hours, she helped me primp, pluck, moisturize, exfoliate, and depilate in preparation for the big night. In fact, she did so much I’m a little scared of how crazy she’s going to get once our one-year anniversary rolls around.
I bit my lip. Hopefully, Roman and I would still be together in one year. After all, we were both seniors, and college can change a lot of things…
“Don’t do that, you’re messing up your lip gloss,” Adriana scolded, spritzing me with her own Chanel perfume.
Normally, Venice would be here too, but she was probably off in la-la land with Zack, chasing puppies or something. I smiled at the thought. Those two were too perfect for each other.
The doorbell rang, causing me to nearly shoot out my chair. “He’s here!” I squealed.
Adriana pressed her hand firmly down on my shoulder. “Your mom will get it. We need to finish getting ready.”
“Yes, m’am,” I joked.
I guess she was right after all, because Roman stopped ringing the bell, and I could hear the low hum of conversation float up the stairs. When Adriana finished, I stared at myself in awe. This was even better than homecoming. I swear, that girl is a genius.
“Where did you learn to do hair so well?” I marveled, touching my perfect waves.
“Boarding school,” she answered matter-of-factly, tossing her Mason Pearson brush back into her giant bag, along with her Hot Tools curling iron, Bumble & Bumble hairspray, and various other products from brands I couldn’t pronounce. “One of my best friends there is the daughter of a famous hairstylist.”
I was so startled by this nugget of information I almost fell out of my chair. I’ve never heard Adriana talk about boarding school before, but now I was more than a little curious. What made her leave her elite Swiss campus and its international princes and whatnot to come back to Valesca?