(38) Something To Dream About

On Saturday morning, Carolynn woke up Makennah with a tray of fresh fruit, oatmeal, and orange juice. 'A light meal' she called it, because they were going shopping for a homecoming dress today and she didn't want to be bloated.

The shops they intended to visit were so fancy that they required appointments. Miraculously, Carolynn squeezed her in and informed Makennah to prepare for a day of homecoming festivities.

Carolynn was eating up every possible second of this. She screamed when Makennah came home and hugged her endlessly. From the second she received the news about her nomination, Carolynn made calls, planned big things, went shopping for food (Makennah still didn't understand why that was a necessity), among other wild things that Makennah didn't understand or even try to comprehend.

Because she figured these shops were pretty bougie, Makennah was finishing up her fresh fruit cup in the car after she hurriedly got ready and dedicated most of her time to curling her hair and donning a little bit of makeup. She dressed classier than usual and wore some jewelry.

"So what color do you think you want your dress to be?" Carolynn asked as she drove her mini cooper to the main shopping center.

Makennah shrugged. "Hadn't thought about it much."

"Do you want to color your hair before homecoming?" She asked.

Makennah munched on a piece of pineapple. "Um...I guess I could." She hadn't really thought about it.

"Great, you don't have a game on Wednesday night, right? I'll schedule it then. Give it a day or two to settle before Friday night. Have you thought about the gown you'd like for the grand march?"

Makennah finished off her fruit and downed it with a bit of orange juice. "Grand march? What's that?"

Carolynn gasped. Makennah suddenly thought of Grace. She was surprised that Grace wasn't invited along for the sheer stark resemblance between Grace and Carolynn. They would get along great...both so dramatic. "Did you even read the packet?!"

She barely refrained from rolling her eyes. "No, not really."

"Makennah! There's so much you have to do! So much you have to know! So much you have to prepare for! Making homecoming court is a big deal!"

Yeah, she was starting to grasp that.

One of Carolynn's hands danced over to her side of the car and tapped a little beat on Makennah's knee. "But no worries. I'm here to help!"

"Thank you," she said with a smile, because she really was grateful that she had someone like Carolynn. Not for the first time, she compared Carolynn to her biological mother, Candy. She was rather unimpressed with her mother's terrible shortcomings. But a piece of her still felt guilty accepting all that Carolynn offered to Makennah as a foster mom. But how could she turn down shopping and the food and the fun and the advice. Much as she tried to deny how much she liked all of the other Sinclair's, Carolynn fell into that category too.

"Here we go!" Carolynn swerved into a parking spot and turned the car off.

Gulping past the lump in her throat, Makennah and Carolynn walked into the store. Immediately, there was a woman at her side to take her coat. Makennah was thrown off but Carolynn led the way and Makennah caught on.

Soft music played in the background and Makennah focused on that instead of the price tags she couldn't see but knew they were astronomical. In all her life, Makennah never stepped into a place to splendid...like heaven. And it smelled wonderful too. And the dresses were so breathtaking that she couldn't focus on anything but their delicate fabrics, handwoven details, and sparkling beads.

"Miss Thomas? Right this way please." A small tiny woman with blush colored glasses gently guided Makennah away by her elbow.

Makennah glanced over her shoulder to ensure that Carolynn was following. She smiled and wiggled her fingers. Makennah raised her eyebrows and waltzed away like royalty. Behind her, she heard Carolynn laugh.

"We took the honor of pulling all of the dresses in your size. Because the dance is in one week, we don't have much time for alterations. I can see that you are very equally proportioned which is a good thing!" The lady with the glasses walked in a circle around Makennah, sizing her up. "You have a lovely neck too...can pull off any neckline, don't you think?" She said to no one in particular, but everyone answered 'yes' as if it were so obvious. Makennah stood tall and proud for all of the workers in the room who assessed her. "Beautiful eyes as well. A wonderful blue." The middle aged woman removed her glasses and bit the ear piece delicately between her white teeth. "Yes, well let's get started! Here's your rack of dresses!" Another very young worker rolled out a beautiful rack of dresses.

In mere moments, Makennah was stuffed into a dressing room with five different dresses all in different colors and styles. The woman dictated that Makennah should try on the different necklines, hem lengths, colors, and waists to see which flattered her figure the most. Because she wasn't supposed to lift a finger, Makennah was instructed to slide the dress over her body and wait for an attendant to zip her up in the back. There were also five different pairs of shoes that she was supposed to try on with each corresponding dress. She was overloaded with girl crap, but she loved it.

The first dress was just...a no.

Purple, kind of fluffy, a little loose, and not flattering. Instantly, the dress was voted as a no.

"Next!" Carolynn and the older attendant announced.

Without further ado, Makennah shed that dress and donned another. This dress was heading in the right direction but too...bright. It wasn't Makennah's taste.

"Oh, well this is interesting." The attendant removed her glasses again like the first time and studied Makennah in the mirror. She kind of felt like a Barbie doll on display.

"I don't like it," she said confidently. If they were going to all of this work to find a nice dress, Makennah could find the balls to express her opinions on the dress. One thing she did notice was that none of the dresses had a price tag pinned to any of them. She wondered if that was done on purpose or it was just that fancy.

"Very well! Next!" The attendant clapped her hands and she was led back to the dressing room. Unzipped and tied into a different strapless bra, Makennah squeezed into a tight little dress with a high neckline and lots of bedazzled beads. It fit like a dream, a second skin. The color made her summer tan pop, and her eyes shone brightly.

"Oh, Makennah!" Carolynn gasped and covered her heart with both hands. "You look absolutely stunning!"

She bit her bottom lip but she couldn't stop the smile that overtook her face. Even after all of the fancy clothes that Matt and Theo helped her pick out at the mall before the first day of school, she didn't get used to this feeling of trying on something so magnanimous and feeling like a supermodel.

And a little like an imposter. But she squandered that feeling for all of the good ones.

"That has to be the dress!" Carolynn exclaimed.

Makennah smoothed her hands over the slim-fitted dress. For the first time, she imagined herself standing side by side with Theo, wearing this special dress. And he would smile at her like she held the world in her hands, kind of like how he always did. She would wear the shoes and do her hair and paint her nails and impress the crap out of him.

"Do you like it?"

Stuck in her daydream, Makennah didn't notice that Carolynn stood at her side. "I love it," she whispered, gazing at herself in the mirror.

"Well this is it!" Carolynn announced and all of the attendants clapped for her in approval. "One dress down, two to go!"

"Two to go?!" Makennah shrieked.

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Makennah wasn't a girly-girl by any means. That didn't meant she couldn't shop til she dropped.

But Carolynn amped it up to a whole new level. But the time they got home, her feet ached and she could barely keep her eyes open. After she munched on a few breadsticks that Carolynn whipped up to go with leftover lasagna which Makennah avoided just because she was simply too tired, she trudged upstairs, jumped in the shower and then sneaked into bed around eight o'clock. She fell asleep with the light shining on her face from the tv which was playing Hart of Dixie reruns. Every so often she was awoken by a loud sound or laughter from the boys but she rolled over in all her fluffy pillows and dragged the white comforter up to her chin.

During her late night nap, she dreamt of homecoming dresses galore, flowers for corsages, hairstyles, shoes, jewelry, makeup, and anything pertaining to homecoming. Then she had this bizarre dream that Theo gave her a little puppy which about licked her to death. She faintly realized that she had a smile on her face as she slept.

She sighed and rolled onto her back, relaxing her entire body into the amazingly comfortable bed.

A feather light touch awakened Makennah as another episode of Hart of Dixie ended. Her brow puckered as she brain tried to keep herself in a deep comatose. She sighed and shifted away, but the touch followed her.

"While you are so beautiful while you sleep, I'd love to see those pretty eyes for just a minute."

Dragging in a deep breath, Makennah sluggishly lofted her hand and closed her fingers around another hand that delicately traces the arch of her eyebrow. "Sleeping," she mumbled.

Theo chuckled under his breath. She even felt his breath fan across her face. He was so close that she sensed him rather than felt him.

"I can think of lots of things to wake you up."

She rolled her head awake from him and sighed, sinking into the sheets. "Did you mean that sexually?"

He laughed. "We're in your room in the dark and you're in bed. Plus I'm not totally certain you're not a little naked under there. So yeah, I definitely did."

With great effort, Makennah opened her eyelids and blinked slowly at Theo who loomed over her. Shadows of the night clothed him in darkness, while little speckles of light from the TV illuminated his features enough to see him. Indeed, she noticed it was absolutely pitch black outside, casting a comfortable darkness over her room. A little candle she lit before she fell asleep had burned so long that it weakly flickered at the bottom of the glass.

"What time is it?" She asked quietly, brushing her clean soft hair out of her face.

Theo helped her by tucking a strand behind her ear. "Almost midnight."

She rubbed her hands over her face. "Dang I slept for like four hours."

"Yeah I've been texting you." Theo knelt on one knee beside the bed and leaned over her. "Matt let me come up here to talk to you about homecoming stuff."

"Homecoming stuff?" She asked confusingly.

"Yeah," he nodded his head. In the dark, she could see that his eyes openly praised her face, noting her features and lingering on all of the soft feminine features. His eyes watched her blink lazily as she tried to awaken her mind from the fog it slept it. "I mean I can talk about homecoming if you want. I kinda just wanted to say hi."

Even though it took a lot of energy, she managed a smile and rested her cheek on the pillow. "I'm surprised Carolynn let you up here."

Theo smiled back at her. "They're asleep."

Her hand grazed along the comforter to find his. One of her fingers gently slid of her knuckles. "Oh you're being sneaky."

He didn't stop looking at her like she was mesmerized by her smile. "Just a little. So tell me, how was shopping today?"

Makennah groaned and closed her eyes. "Don't even get me started. Exhausting."

Theo's ginger covered hers and tucked her pointer finger into the palm of his hand. He was warm and soft to the touch. "You got a dress I assume?"

"Three dresses," she said distressfully. "One for pictures, one for the grand march and one for homecoming."

He squeezed her finger to try to comfort her. "And what color are they?"

She shrugged. "Can't tell." She tried to keep the smile off of her face. She was incredibly happy with all of her purchases today. Carolynn promised her that she would wow everyone but she really only cared about one person. And that person was in her bedroom holding her finger.

Theo clicked his tongue. "Oh come on. I'm you're date, queen. You have to at least tell me so I can plan what I'm wearing for the homecoming dance."

She rolled her eyes when he called her 'queen.' "Carolynn and I are still deciding what color you should wear. I'll let you know when I decide."

He sighed and cocked his head, unhappy that she was withholding information. "Not. Fair. But I'll back off. Let me know ASAP though so I can get the corsage and boutonnière."

Makennah shook her head. "No I'll get your boutonnière."

Theo yanked on her hand gently and opened his palm to envelope her whole hand. Their fingers interlaced habitually as if they had done it a million times. "No. Let me do it. I got it."

"You're spoiling me," she whispered because it felt like the moment warranted whispering.

"No," he said calmly. "I know you have lots of things going on and lots of girl things to do so I'll take care of this for you."

Spoiling. That's exactly what he just described. But she would accept it because he said it so nicely. "Are you sure Matt isn't auspicious? Especially with us going to the dance?"

Theo braced one hand on the pillow beside her head and scooted closer, still holding her hand. She felt protected, caged in by his body. "He asked me if I liked you. I lied but I don't think he believed me. He doesn't think you like me though."

"What makes you think I like you?" She smirked and rolled her eyes.

Tilting his head back, Theo looked down his nose at her with a slight grin. The hand beside her head shifted closer and fingered a piece of her hair. "Oh you don't?" He asked as if he didn't believe her.

"No I never said that."

Resting his hip against the mattress, Theo used his arm as leverage to lean over her, closer than ever. The hand that was holding hers let go and braced himself up by planting his fist in the bed beside her opposite side. "You never said you liked me or you never said you didn't like me?"

Her eyelashes fluttered and her hands came up to cover her chest to protect herself from his prying eyes. "You're being purposefully confusing."

Theo laid his arm down on the bed and pressed his chest against hers. She could feel his breath on her lips. "Am I being confusing now?"

Her breath hitched. Her eyes dropped to his lips which he licked slowly, dragging her whole attention to his mouth. "A little."

Theo tilted his head and leaned even closer. Heat ricocheted through her body and settled in her belly. "Maybe I should clear things up for you."

Licking her own lips, Makennah sighed contently as her entire body responded to his nearness. "Maybe..."

Looking into her eyes for permission, Theo bent his head and lowered his lips over hers, pausing very briefly with a whisper of a breath between them. Automatically, she tilted her chin up to give him open access to her mouth which was agonizingly waiting for him.

Theo slid his arm under her body under the covers and wormed his hand up to the back of her neck. He cupped her head gently, positioning her comfortably where he liked it. Her palms opened and lay gently on his muscular chest between them.

Of their own accord, her eyes fluttered closed and her eyelashes brushed against her cheeks.

Parting his lips, Theo closed the distance between them and kissed her so sweetly that she melted instantly upon contact.

For a split second, her mind screamed that she was kissing Theo and then she completely lost herself in the kiss.

His firm lips sucked her bottom lip into his mouth before he slightly released and took a deep breath. Makennah moved her chin up to capture his lips again, taking more possession than the first kiss. Theo sank into her mouth, tantalizingly licking her bottom lip.

Makennah shifted one hand around to cup his jaw. His jaw tensed and she felt the muscle twitch under her touch.

With soft power, Theo demanded she opened her mouth and kissed her more deeply, intertwining their lips in a heated kiss. She followed his lead and let his lips move over hers. Shifting onto her side, she inflated her chest with a long breath and pressed every inch of her body into him.

His sweet tentativeness gave way to raw need. The fingers in her hair clenched and tugged pleasurably, sending tingles all down her spin. Makennah held back a moan in her throat. Her fingers circled around his neck and dug into his hair. It was so soft to the touch.

Licking her mouth for permission, her lips parted and his tongue slipped into her mouth. Their wet kiss sealed permanently in their locked lips. He kissed her again and again, driving her crazy with his tongue and lips.

His kisses drove her absolutely crazy. He was a good kisser, commanding but also soft. His lips took charge of her mouth while letting her make a move every once in a while. His powerful embrace kept her locked securely in his arms but she didn't feel overpowered or out of control. They simply moved together in tandem, enjoying the kiss to its fullest extent.

Theo nibbled on her lip, igniting a fire in her low stomach. She groaned and flexed her hips. Theo's arms tightened around her before he drew back.

His hazy eyes looked down at her in sweet surrender to all that she offered. Her lips missed his heat immediately.

She blinked slowly, taking all of him in. His taste, his smell, his touch. Everything intoxicated her.

Theo cleared his throat and leaned away from her face. Makennah melted into the bed, losing all control of her mind and body after that kiss.

"I have to go or I won't stop," he whispered.

All coherent thoughts fled her mind. She just nodded her head.

He cleared his throat and licked his freshly kissed lips. "Maybe that will give you something to dream about." The side of his mouth lifted into a smirk as he gazed down at her. He looked at her differently, like she belonged to him.

"Good night," she whispered, smiling at him.

Standing to his feet, Theo fixed his jeans and briefly bent at the waist to drop a kiss on her mouth, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth as a reminder of the past and a promise for more in the future. "Goodnight, Beautiful."

Brushing his thumb over her lips, Theo walked away quietly and shut her bedroom door behind him.

Makennah sighed and closed her eyes. Laying in a bed of white clouds, she felt like an angel.

Theo kissed her. Makennah kissed Theo.

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Been waiting to write this for forever!!!!! So much more coming!!!

Xoxo

W. Carolina