Maggie

We headed into the home stretch of our senior year. My classmates were idiots. They choose the Sunday of Memorial weekend to hold a prom. Who does that?

I wore a black cocktail dress and didn't go the classic route with a big, poofy dress. I wanted to keep it simple, although the heels I bought were too big. Ugh, I love these shoes. Pat fixed them for me so that I could wear them. She shoved toilet paper in the toes of my dress shoes.

Kat fixed my hair and makeup while the guys got dressed in their tuxes. I couldn't wait. This dance would be much better than the last school dances. At least, I hope so.

"Girls! Hurry, or you'll miss your prom!" Nate said.

We finished and headed downstairs to see the boys dressed in their tuxes while waiting for us. I walked over to Nash.

"Why is your slip showing?"

"It's not a slip. It's part of the dress and made that way."

"If you say so."

I smacked him as he chuckled.

Someone knocked on the door.

"I got it." Nolan said, answering the front door to find a girl standing there. It's not any girl but a senior girl, making us do a double-take.

"Well, hello, handsome." She gave Nolan a seductive look.

"Hey, Lucy."

"Ready?"

"Absolutely." He held out his arm as she took it.

"Did our baby brother score a date with the hottest senior at school?" Nathan asked.

"Yep," Noah said.

The demon spawn earned a smack from Marcy and Macey.

"The young'un likes older women. That's a change," Nixon said.

We gave Nixon a look as he shrugged.

We were off to our senior prom.

*****

We arrived, exited the limo, and headed inside. The music blared while people danced. Nash took my hand and led me to the dance floor.

He pulled me to him, and we danced. It was like we were dancing in the air. He held me as we danced.

"Imagine us dancing when we get married."

I gave him a weird expression.

"Don't worry. I'll ask you when the time is right. We have plenty of time."

I laughed, as he did too. We continued to dance until we took a break to get something to drink. The others joined us as Bryson walked up to me. This encounter would not end well.

"Maggie?"

I turned to face him. Nash wrapped his arm around my waist.

"I wanted to apologize to you."

"You broke my nose."

"I know, and I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? You humiliated me at homecoming. You broke my nose in the hallway. You made me think that I was this horrible person for liking you, and you're sorry."

"Mags," Nash said.

I turned to Nash. "No." I turned back to Bryson and stepped toward him. "I wasted four years of my life on you. I had a stupid crush. I thought Bryson Tilson was the end all, be all. You humiliated me and broke my nose. For what? Because I liked you. That's the problem with guys. You take an innocent girl who shows an interest in you, making her life difficult. Why? So, you can feel better about yourself. The sad part is you will never notice a great girl. Someone else will see a great girl. Then it's too late for you. Save your apology, Bryson, because whatever feelings I had for you are over. I have someone who loves me, and I love him. That's way more important than a stupid high school crush." I turned and walked back to Nash. "To answer your question from earlier. Yes, I can imagine dancing at our wedding."

He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulled me to him, and then gave me a mind-blowing kiss. He took my hand and led me back to the dance floor. The others followed, leaving Bryson stunned.

Crushes don't last. One day, you'll wake up and understand why it never worked out with anyone else. A wise person told me that when I had a broken heart. That person picked up the pieces.

We danced most of the night. It's a night I'll never forget. I don't think any of us would forget that night.

After prom, we hung out at the Gray's house. I kicked off my shoes. Putting toilet tissue in my dress shoes wasn't a superb idea. My toes hurt. I rubbed my feet as Nash took my feet and massaged them.

"I must hand it to you, Maggie. You grew some balls since we started the year," Nixon said.

"I swear you need to take another anatomy course." Kat sighed and shook her head.

"Yeah, that was outstanding," Nathan said.

"I feel good. I'm not afraid anymore." I smiled. "I have a question. Why did you guys hate me so much when I got here?"

The brothers glanced at each other. It was the elephant in the room that needed addressing.

"We didn't hate you," Noah said.

"Are you sure? What you said and did prove otherwise."

"How so?" Nathan asked me.

"Nolan stole my bra. You both read my journal, then read it to the entire school. Nixon called me a creeper while Nash kicked me out of his bedroom. So, yeah, I would say you guys hated me."

They started laughing.

Nixon said, "Wow, you missed the point."

"Huh? And what's so funny?"

Nash tapped my foot. "I kicked you out of my bedroom because I liked you and didn't know how to tell you. And well, you're hot."

"I only called you names because that's what brothers do when they tease their sister," Nixon said.

"We read your journal because that's what brothers do to their sister. You told the school we were gay and had the Clap," Nathan said.

Noah nodded in agreement.

"Well, you had to admit that was funny." I giggled.

"And I stole your underwear because that's what brothers do to annoy their sisters," Nolan said.

I gave Nolan a skeptical look. "What brother does that? Because I'm sure no brother does."

"Okay, brothers, don't do that. I enjoy a good panty raid." He smirked.

"Nolan! You're a freaking perv!" Nixon smacked Nolan on the back of his head.

"Mags, you're like a sister to my brothers. They consider you a sister. It'll work out when I make you their sister," Nash said.

The brothers nodded.

"Maggie, we don't hate you. We love you. You're the sister that we never had," Nixon said.

"I guess I never looked at it that way," I said.

The things that we did to each other made sense. We're siblings who fought with each other but loved each other. I dragged the brothers into situations, proving I was a sister to them.

I didn't ask for brothers but ended up with them. Yes, they're a pain in the ass. But I love them.