Work Text:
Unknown: hey it's Hunter
Unknown: you looked really cute today
Chloe smiled.
Chloe: Hey! Thank you, how are you? Are you excited for the holidays?
Chloe wanted to kick herself as soon as she hit send. Why did she have to be such a humongous dork?
Hunter: Lol, yeah, I am. I like this time of year.
Chloe: me too, it’s my favorite
Hunter: :)
Hunter: so, I’m sure you saw the posters at school
Hunter: For the Snow Ball, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?
Chloe almost jumped out of her seat. Hunter just asked her to the dance!
Chloe: Yeah, I saw them, I’d love to go with you!
Hunter: Perfect, let me know when you get your dress so I can match your color!
Butterflies fluttered away in Chloe’s stomach. She couldn’t wait to get home and look through her closet (or her mama’s closet) and find a dress.
Chloe decides on a sparkly purple knee length dress from Vanessa’s closet (after her mama’s permission, of course) and quickly texts Hunter to let him know. He sends her back a smiling emoji and she really can’t wait for the dance!
“Are you and Ethan going to the dance too, Noah?” Brooke asks one night.
“No.” Noah’s tone was clipped.
“Why not?”
“Because our classmates don’t need to know about our business. I was hoping he could come over here for a movie night.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Mama and I will be at the bakery, though, but you know the rules.” Brooke said, an air of sternness in her voice.
Noah nods. He didn’t get in trouble for having Ethan in his bed that night but he didn’t want to press the boundaries. His moms trusted him, even though he and Chloe made a mistake with the party. They really were cool moms.
Chloe wasn’t really the type to get all dolled up. Yeah, she wore makeup sometimes, and her hair always looked nice. Well, as nice as it could with a wild mane of curls. But there was just something about this dance that made her want to get her hair and nails done. She wanted to look nice for Hunter.
Chloe was so excited for the dance. This was the first time Chloe had a date for a school dance and she wanted it to go well. She and Hunter had been texting over the last few weeks and talking in the halls. He seemed excited too.
The day of the dance rolled around and Chloe spent close to three hours alone doing her hair with Vanessa's help. She straightened it. Every single curl laid sleek and straight down her back. She looked good, but it wasn't a look she was interested in repeating frequently. It was just too much work.
Her hair was done, her makeup was perfect, and Hunter was picking her up at 7. Her moms had to leave to go to their bakery to work on orders for Christmas so they gave the job of taking pictures to Noah who agreed.
Except 7pm rolled around and Hunter wasn't there yet.
"That's okay, everyone runs late sometimes." She tried to convince herself.
But when 7:15 rolls around and there's still no Hunter, she tries to call. It immediately goes to voicemail.
"You got Hunter, lea-"
She ends the call. A mixture of feelings washed over her and a million thoughts raced through her head.
Maybe his phone was off and he lost track of time.
What if he's hurt?
What if his car broke down?
Or..
What if he changed his mind?
Chloe sat by the door. She got up and paced, then sat down again. 7:30 rolled around- the dance was starting, and Hunter still wasn't answering his phone.
At 8 o'clock, Ethan showed up for his movie night with Noah and Chloe struggled to hide her disappointment when she saw it wasn't Hunter. Noah met up with them in the foyer of the house. He was surprised to see Chloe still there, sitting on the steps.
"Chloe? You're still here?"
Chloe raised an eyebrow, "did you ever see me leave?"
"No, I guess I didn't." He frowned, "what happened?"
"I think he stood me up." Chloe's face fell, and Noah felt sad for his sister.
"Hey," he said softly, kneeling down and resting a hand on her shoulder, "maybe he couldn't make it and his phone died?"
Chloe huffed out a laugh, her brother always the optimist.
"You can join us for our movie night?" Noah asked, "at least until you hear from him. If that's alright with Ethan."
"Of course," Ethan gave a kind smile and he and Noah helped Chloe stand up.
They went into the living room, Chloe curled up on the loveseat while the boys got the popcorn and sat on the sofa.
"Oh my God !" Chloe shrieked.
She had her phone out and was looking through Snapchat stories.
"He went to the dance." Tears clouded her vision as she held her phone out and sure enough, there was a picture of Hunter standing with his arm around one of Chloe's friends, Allie. Not only had he stood her up, but he did that so he could go with her friend.
Noah froze, his back straightened. It wasn't often he got mad, let alone mad enough to cause conflict, but this boy has hurt his sister and if he was being quite honest, he wanted to punch him in the face.
"Ugh, I feel so stupid." Chloe whined.
"No," Noah said, sternly, "don't you dare."
Noah and Ethan joined Chloe on the loveseat, sitting on either side of her. Noah put his arm around his sister.
"It's entirely his loss. You're such an incredible person, and I will knock him out if I ever get the chance."
"And when that plan backfires and he knocks you out, I'll be there as backup." Chloe smiles, and Noah just rolls his eyes.
"Let me go change," Chloe stands up, "then we can watch a movie."
The boys nod and Chloe goes to her room. She returns in a few minutes after changing into sweats and removing her makeup. She curls up on the couch and they start the movie.
Chloe jumps awake when the front door opens, signalling her moms are home. She doesn't even remember falling asleep.
"Hey guys," Vanessa said, turning the living room light on.
Chloe looks over at her brother and Ethan who had also fallen asleep.
"Chloe, how was the dance?" Brooke asked as Ethan said goodbye to Noah and left.
"Um, I didn't go."
"Wait, what?" Vanessa asked, "why not?"
"He stood me up, mama." Chloe didn't want to get upset again, "he didn't come pick me up and then he was posting on social media that he was with Allie so screw him."
"Oh baby," Vanessa said, she could tell her daughter was upset, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. He ain't worth it. I just never want to see him again." She grins.
Brooke rolls her eyes, "yeah good luck with that. You have school on Monday."
"Unless it's canceled, it is winter time."
"There ain't no snow on the radar, mija. "
Chloe shrugs and heads for the stairs, "looks like I'm doing a snow dance tomorrow."