Chapter 50

Saturday afternoonI’m sitting on my front porch doing some more studying and enjoying some fresh air when a shiny black limousine pulls to a stop in front of my house. It’s odd enough to see a shiny black limousine prior to prom, but to see one stopping in front of my house? No idea.
The door opens and a familiar sandal emerges. Grace has these brown sandals that are the ugliest thing anyone has ever seen, but she absolutely loves the things. She’s had them since we were 15, and ugly or not, they’re not going anywhere.
What is Grace doing in a limo, though?
With a big grin on her face, she pops out, iced coffee in hand. “Look at this!”
“I’m looking,” I say, setting my textbook aside. “What, exactly, am I looking at?”
Next out of the limo is Kasey. I have to do a double take because, while they are both my friends, I have never seen Grace and Kasey interact at all, let alone hang out together.
Before I have time to question this odd occurrence, a third head pops out of the limousine. Raven hair and good looks to spare—Carter’s older sister, Caroline.
“Hey, Zoey,” she greets.
I am so confused. Tentatively standing, I call back, “Hi…”
“Carter didn’t tell you we were coming, did he?” she realizes.
“He didn’t. He likes to surprise me,” I offer.
Grinning, she says, “I’ll bet he does. This is a good one, though.” Reaching into the front pocket of her tiny, stylish handbag, she holds up a credit card. “We’re going shopping.”
“Why?”
Caroline opens her mouth to answer me, but Grace is bursting with excitement and can’t help shrieking, “Homecoming! Carter’s buying us all dresses.”
Caroline nods and comes closer. I’m at the foot of the stairs at this point, so she leans in to tell me, “He said you might say no. If so, he said to tell you if you let him buy your dress, he’d buy their dresses, too. Your enthusiastic friend got me all discombobulated and I ended up telling her in the car, so… if he asks, you said no, then I had to bring the dress offer to the table. I’m a terrible negotiator,” she states.
Biting back a grin, I tell her, “Don’t worry, so am I.”
“Since he was open to blackmailing you into letting him buy your homecoming dress, I assume he did something terrible and deserves to buy their dresses anyway.”
I nod my head and whisper, “He kidnapped Grace’s dog.”
Caroline frowns. “Do I even want to know?”
Now I shake my head. “You don’t. The dog is home now, but yeah. Just Carter being Carter. Manipulating everyone in his life to get what he wants.”
“That sounds right,” she admits. Without missing a beat, she flashes me a grin. “Now, put your books away and grab your purse. We have shopping to do!”

One incredible gown later,I am ready for homecoming. Or, I think I am, until we drop off half of our girl gang and then Caroline tells the driver to take us to the mall.
“I thought you were taking me home,” I tell her.
Sipping on her smoothie straw, she shakes her head. “Just taking them home. We’ve gotta get you some shoes to go with that dress.”
“We don’t have to go to the mall for shoes,” I reason. “I’m sure we could find something suitable at the thrift store. They have tons of shoes.”
Judging by the alarmed widening of her eyes, I get the idea Caroline has never once stepped foot inside of a thrift store. “We’re going to the mall,” she states.
Depending on how far you want to drive, there are several malls we could go to, but Caroline opts for the closest—and the cutest, in my opinion. It’s the same shopping center that houses the bookstore I work at, so I’m very familiar with the place, I just don’t make much time to shop there. It’s a cute shopping center with cute little outdoor areas for the kids and tons of places to shop if you have money to spend. Today we do, and shoe shopping is not my area of expertise, so I let Caroline take the lead.
“Oh, my God, try these. They’re so pretty,” she says, handing me a pair of black mules with an asymmetrical strap.
“Um, I’m no style expert, admittedly, but… these are black.”
She blinks at me. “What’s wrong with black?”
“Well, nothing. It’s just that my dress is gold. Wouldn’t this clash?”
Sudden comprehension lands, but she waves me off. “Oh, honey, these aren’t for homecoming. These are for New York. Carter said you need some new things for the trip. These don’t look super comfortable, but if you’re not used to walking in heels, here’s a tip. Wear comfortable shoes for walking if you won’t be talking a cab, but bring a big purse. Put your heels in your purse, then change into them right before you get to wherever it is you’re going. Saves your feet, but you still get to wear the pretty shoes.” Waving her hand at the shoes, as if to urge them closer, she says, “Go ahead, try them on.”
I push back the thin white tissue around the shoe and pull it out of the box, eyeing up the heel. “These look high.”
“They are, hence the advice. They’re so cute though, imagine all the outfits they would go with.”
While I wrestle with this heel, she goes back to the shoes to browse some more. I no more than get this one on the ground and she comes over with a big smile and another pair of heels.
“These,” she enthuses, holding them out like an offering. “I don’t even care if these are uncomfortable, we’re buying these. Try them on anyway,” she orders.
These shoes are much bolder than I would wear. A black base with fire engine red pointy toes, I can see them on her, but I think they might be a little much for me. “I don’t know where I would wear these,” I tell her.
“I do,” she says, firmly. “You’re getting them. They’re perfect for something Carter has planned for you that I can’t tell you about. Just trust me. Those shoes say all the right things. You’ll thank me later.” Already onto the next thing, she murmurs, “Now to find you an outfit,” and wanders off, presumably to find an outfit.
We end up leaving with 3 pairs of shoes for New York and a pair of apparently boring nude strappy sandals that I picked out myself. Once Caroline got distracted buying my wardrobe for New York, she completely forgot about the homecoming shoes and left me to fend for myself. I was more interested in the comfort of the shoes I would be dancing in all night—especially since my gown is floor-length, and no one will even see the damn things—than the look of them, so I picked out a pair of basic-looking shoes that didn’t kill my feet when I walked around in them.
Meanwhile, Caroline picked out some dressy-casual clothes, a long belted coat for the cold weather, and a big white handbag to smuggle my pretty shoes in for the 90% of the time when I prefer comfort over elegance. It’s definitely someone else’s wardrobe, but someone who dresses very fashionably, so I can’t complain. It’s crazy to think about going to New York, and even crazier that I haven’t even asked my mom if I could go yet. It was one of those pipe dreams that didn’t seem like it would ever happen, but now that I have a wardrobe for the trip, I decide it’s probably time to ask.
She has been permissive about letting me stay the night with him, but I don’t know how she’ll feel about a whole weekend 1,500 miles away.
It’s slow cooker BBQ sandwiches for dinner tonight so there’s not much help needed, but that’s my in to start a conversation, so I make my way into the kitchen when she’s taking the lid off the Crock-Pot and stirring the meat inside.
“Need help with anything?” I ask her.
Glancing curiously over her shoulder, she says, “Not really. I suppose you can take the macaroni salad out of the refrigerator, if you want to.”
“On it,” I say, heading to the refrigerator. I grab the bowl, pop the lid off, and tell her, “Mm, looks delicious.”
“Oh God,” she says, putting the lid back on and spinning around to face me, her eyes wide. “It’s true. You are pregnant.”
I frown back at her as I put the bowl down on the counter. “What? No, I’m not. I was just saying the macaroni salad looks good. Am I not allowed to compliment your cooking for no reason?”
“How far along are you? Have you told Carter yet? It is Carter’s, right?”
Rolling my eyes, I open a drawer and grab a serving spoon. “Mom, I’m not pregnant.”
“Everyone is sayin’ you are. I couldn’t believe you wouldn’t tell me first, but—”
“Mom,” I interrupt, shooting her a look. “Relax.”
“I’m not mad if you’re pregnant, you just need to tell me. It’s not the end of the world. Carter certainly has the means—”
“If I hear one more word about Carter’s financial means, I’m going to scream, I swear to God. Can’t anyone in this town see past his money?”
Frowning, Mom asks, “Well, if you’re not pregnant, what’s wrong, then?”
“Nothing is wrong, I just had something I needed to ask you.” I don’t know why I feel so awkward asking her about college. Maybe it’s because she never went and she seems a little defensive about it, maybe it’s because I know she thinks of college as something that’s not that important, while for me it’s a crucial life goal. Whatever the reason, I would actually rather tell her I’m going to be a teen mom than talk to her about college.
“All right,” she says tentatively, watching me. “What is it?”
“Okay, so, you know how college visits are coming up, and students will be visiting the colleges they’re hoping to attend?”
Grabbing a hand towel off the sink and absently wringing it, she murmurs, “You said something about that. We can’t afford to take some vacation to look at some fancy college out of state, if that’s what you’re thinkin’ about.”
“I’m not. Well, sort of. It’s not really my college visit.” I’m getting nervous and tripping over my words, so I focus and blurt. “Carter is going to Columbia next fall. He’s already in, they’re giving him some football scholarship.”
“Where’s that?”
I blink, momentarily taken off-guard by that question. “Columbia? It’s… in New York City. I guess Carter is from there. Anyway, he’s going there for school and his dad bought him an apartment near campus. After the state championships, he has to fly out there to visit the campus and sign some papers on the apartment. He wanted to take me with him and show me around, since he knows I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“Oh, how nice,” she says, instantly warmer.
“We wouldn’t have to pay for anything, Carter even sent me out with his sister to buy me some warmer clothes for the trip. We’ll take a plane Friday after school is out and come back Sunday night, so I won’t miss anything. I might need money for food, but I’ll use my own money for that. Anyway, Carter is really looking forward to it. I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal, but I told him I needed to ask you before he booked the plane tickets.”
“Well, I think that sounds wonderful. How romantic,” she says, flashing me a soft little smile. “New York at Christmastime. Do you think he’ll propose?”
“Do I—?” A bubble of nervous laughter slips out of me. “No, Mom, I don’t think he’ll propose. God, I don’t even think we’ll date past high school.”
Her smile falls. “Why not?”
“Because we’re just starting our adult lives and we won’t even live in the same state.”
“Well, why won’t you? You’ve always wanted to move up north, you’ve always had that idea bouncin’ around your head. If his father bought him an apartment up there and he’s taking you to see it, that sounds to me like he’s hoping you’ll move there with him.”
Sighing, I tell her, “Trust me, I’ve already thought about that, but I can’t. There aren’t any schools in the city that are affordable and offer the programs I’m interested in. None of them are even affordable, but livin’ with Carter would obviously cut down on living expenses, so I thought maybe with a small loan… But at the end of the day, I would have to sacrifice too much to move to New York with him. My future starts in Pennsylvania and his is in New York. Four years is too long to attempt long distance. It just won’t work.”
“Of course it won’t work if you decide it won’t work,” my mother says, firmly. “It’s a matter of priorities, Zoey. If you’ve got a good man on the hook, I’m not afraid to tell you those don’t come around all that often. You can read your books anywhere, they even have those online classes you can take now. If Carter wants you to move to New York and start a life with him, I think you’d be crazy to turn him down.”
Frustration rolls through me like a slow train about to putter to a stop at the railroad crossing. I can already tell this conversation is going to go south and end up in a clash of personalities, so rather than sit at the tracks and endure the pointless frustration, I steer into the nearest open parking lot and turn around.
Pulling my phone from the pocket of my jeans like it just vibrated, I flash my phone a smile. “Oh, what do you know? That’s him now.” I slide a finger across the screen and glance up at her. “I’m allowed to go to New York for the weekend, right?”
“Yes, of course,” she tells me, glancing anxiously at the phone. “You haven’t told him you won’t move there with him yet, have you?”
“No,” I murmur, opening the message to Carter. Since I have the phone out, I may as well share the news. It goes with my excuse to exit this conversation anyway. “He hasn’t asked, so I haven’t had to.”
“Well, do yourself a favor and don’t tell him no just yet. Think it over, Zoey. Think long and hard. If you love him, maybe the small sacrifice is worth it. He can give you a beautiful life. Chances like this don’t come around a lot in one lifetime.”
Neither does the chance to go to college, I want to tell her, but I don’t want to fight, so I keep my mouth shut and flash her a faint smile. “I’m gonna go upstairs so I can call him.”
“All right. Don’t be too long, dinner’s just about ready.”