I’m still grinning at the familiar faces inside the car. Calum. Leah. Mira. Calum doesn’t have a date but he will be alright. Ben’s hand rests on my knee, drawing my attention back to my handsome boyfriend. My eyes trail the length of him and my mouth waters. So hot.
Ben offers me a glass of what the rest are drinking but I shake my head. I need to be sober for everything that will happen tonight.
This is the first prom I’ll enjoy and I want to revel in it. His nose brushes mine. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I answer in the same whisper so no one hears us. “This is going to be the best prom ever.”
“I swear it.”
We laugh at his promise. But I believe him.
I cup his face, trace the dip of his jaw and lean closer to capture his lips. He tastes different, like wine. I giggle against his lips and pull back.
Tonight is going to be great.
The limousine slows after a few minutes. Calum or Mira, I don’t know who, yells a string of excited words and our laughter echoes in the car. Leah throws the door for us. Ben slips his hand into mine when we step outside together. Muffled music filters out and Ben’s hand lowers to the small of my back as we start up the stairs. Mira does the same for Leah. She’s in a tux while Leah is in a gown. I’m glad they didn’t go ahead with their former plan of wearing tuxes or I would have been left out.
Calum opens the door to our school and the tempo of the song changes. It’s louder. I stick close to Ben and my feet falter when Calum raises a hand to stop us. He stands in front of us, phone raised with his flash turned on to capture all of our faces.
“Selfie time,” he screams above the music.
I make a face at his camera. Mira leans on Leah and Ben slides his arm around my waist. We strike different poses. It’s easy for me to call out pose ideas to our small group. I have gotten better at ‘looking good for the camera’ since that photoshoot with Jon Han and others that have followed.
After more naughty and silly poses, we resume our journey to the hall. Anticipation thrums through my veins at the closeness of the music. I can feel it.
Ben slows down for Mira, Leah and Calum to walk ahead of us. A thin curtain separates us from the event and the disco lights bounce off the floor. Ben brings my hands to rest on his shoulders.
“Are you ready to go in?”
“Yeah.” I clear my throat to chase the nerves. His eyes twinkle with mirth. “I am. Are you?”
“Yep.”
The soft fabric of the curtain brushes my face as we take our first step into the orderly chaos and grin at each other. Leah waves us over to a round table with her purse and empty, red cups. I steal another look at the room. The hall has been transformed into something else, a suitable place for teenagers to party.
There’s a wooden pulpit on the stage and a material with our school’s name embroidered on it covering one part of the wall. Colourful lights swirl over our faces, the table, the dancefloor and the stage. Ben pulls out a seat for me and takes one next to me. His hand is on mine almost instantly. I relax. He smiles.
Mira returns to our table with a weird bottle and empties a red liquid into five cups. From the table Mira brought this bottle, there’s a gallon of what I don’t know and should probably not be drinking. She distributes the cups and raises hers for a toast.
“To us.” The rest of us beam. It’s good to be here. “One more week in this shithole and we are done.”
Our cups touch. Crescent High is not a shithole but that’s an argument I’m not willing to have. Mira sips from her cup and her head sways from left to right in rhythm to the beat. People begin to troop to the front to dance. So far, there are no teachers but I’m sure they will show up. If they haven’t already.
Ben taps my knee. “Are you going to drink that?”
We stare at my untouched cup and I raise it slowly to my lips. I take a sip and nod my appreciation. A shudder zings through me as the drink burns a path to my belly. Ben laughs and I take another sip. It’s sweet at first, till it gives way to an alcoholic tang.
“I like it,” I tell him and he chuckles. “I like you.”
“You love me,” he corrects. “And I love you too.”
The student body president walks to the stage and the volume of the music reduces. Amanda gets a few hoots and cheers while testing the microphone.
Once her speech begins, I tune her out. Ben watches me bring out my phone to take some selfies of us. He grins in all of them. The squeak of chairs draws our attention back to Amanda when everyone on our table but us, stands. My brows draw together.
“They are about to call out the prom king,” Leah explains. Calum might win. I think he will.
We follow behind to join the crowd that has formed on the dancefloor. Amanda raises the envelope for us to see it’s still sealed, then opens it. You would think she was about to announce the next president.
“The prom king of this year is...” A hush falls on the hall. She giggles. I giggle. Ben frowns at me. Calum runs his hand through his hair and Ben pats his shoulder. “Our prom king is Calum Dissick.”
Leah claps the loudest, Mira injects two fingers into her mouth and whistles. Ben and I cheer him as he heads to the stage. He is all smiles when the crown is placed on his head. They call out his queen, a girl I have no idea who she is. Calum finishes up his gratitude speech and rushes down to meet us.
I tap his crown and grin sheepishly. It’s smooth to touch. Smiling, he removes it to place it on my head. My eyes find Ben and he gives me a thumbs up.
“Looks good,” Ben says. And goes on to take a picture of me.
The DJ turns up the music and the crowd goes crazy again. We make way for the first dance with Calum and his queen. Ben disappears and returns shortly with our cups. I nurse the drink throughout the first song, body moving slowly to the beat of the song.
People dance around us. In pairs. In groups. Alone. Leah and Mira are out of sight. The prom king and queen dance ends and everyone scrambles to the centre of the dancefloor to take the attention. I dump the cup on a tray and tug Ben forward for a dance.
Other students have already formed a circle, people take turns to dance in the middle while the others cheer them on. I eye the dancing couple and wiggle my brows at Ben. He is a great dancer and well, I am not so horrible at dancing. Ben shakes his head.
“Babe.” I take another step forward. “No.” My feet move of their own free will. I move to the left, then the right, hoping Ben will fall into step with me. His lips turn down in a frown. “I don’t want to dance in front of everyone.” He sounds cute talking like that and I want to hear him speak that way again. I stretch my arms to him. Just one dance. “Tessa, no.”
I stop. Everything fades as Ben covers the short gap between us. My gaze meets his and he runs his hand over his hair, starting from the base of his neck. I pry his other hand open and kiss his knuckles softly.
“You just called me Tessa,” I say.
“Is that bad?” he asks.
“No. Wait, is it?”
His face is an open book for me to find my answers and whatever I might be curious about. There’s no trace of anger or pain. Ben shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“Hmm.”
“See, babe. I know you’re not her and you will never be like her.” Ben plants a kiss on my nose. “But it felt so odd calling you that though,” he says with a laugh. We fall in tune with the new song and his arm locks around my waist. The circle dissolves as people shuffle to find themselves partners for the new song playing. “I’ll stick to calling you Gracie.”
“Yeah?” My fingers brush his shoulder. I smile. “I like it too. But Tessa is good too. If you prefer it.”
Ben scowls. “I prefer Gracie. You know that.” I pout and he pinches my nose. Our bodies inch closer to each other and my head meets his chest. I am locked in his embrace but our feet don’t stop moving. “I don’t feel so angry anymore. When I think of Tessa, I see you, not her. And I like it.” We break away and I stare into his eyes. They sparkle with love for me. “She owned me for too long even if it was subconsciously. But now, you own me.”
I flatten a hand on his chest, right above his heart. My lips curl in mischief. “Since I own you, does it mean I can sell you?” Face straight, Ben squeezes my butt and we erupt in laughter. Our laughter dies down and I slide a hand behind his neck. His breath warms my face. At this moment, he is the only one in my world. “You own me too, Benny. All of me.”
“Thanks.” Thanks to him too. He makes being his girlfriend so easy. “I have a surprise for you.”
I pat his pockets, spare a glance at our table. Maybe the surprise is in the car. “Where is it?”
“I’ll show you when we leave this place.”
“Can we go now?”
Ben pouts. “Nope.”
I smack his chest and he laughs harder. He spins me in a circle and I catch Leah doing the same to Mira. They wave at us and we wave back. Calum is nowhere to be found.
“Will you at least tell me what it is?” His silence says more than his words would have. I hit him on his chest again and his lips pucker in protest. He should have waited till we were out of here before pricking my curiosity. “Is it something I can easily guess?”
“Maybe.” Lines deepen his forehead and he draws me closer for a quick hug. “I think you’ll like it.”
If it’s coming from him, I’ll love it.
We continue dancing for most part till our feet hurt. Leah switches places with me so I am left to dance with Mira. She’s a much better dancer than I am.
“Are you coming for the after-party?” she asks.
“Errm...” I trail off to find my partner. Ben and Leah are laughing hard at something one of them said. An unfamiliar wave of jealousy coils inside me. I don’t want him laughing with another girl. Mira taps me and I force a smile to my lips. It’s nothing. “Yeah. No. I don’t think we will be coming.” My cheeks are burning with embarrassment when I whisper, “Ben has other plans for us. No after-party.”
“Is that so?” she teases but I’m grateful to her for dragging me towards the duo to retrieve Leah from my boyfriend. “You can go back to your Benny.”
My laughter is forced but I am all too glad to return to Ben’s side. He seems to share my relief. If the brief kiss is any indication “Are you ready to leave?”
“Very much so,” I reply.
Offering me his hand, we bid our friends a lovely night and excuse ourselves. Thrumming with excitement, I laugh at nothing in particular on our way out. Ben helps me into the limousine and I haul myself on his lap as soon as he is seated. My lips attack his, kissing him hungrily till I’m sated.
“Babe.”
“What? I missed your lips.” I wipe the lipstick stain on his lips. He squints. “So... Where’s my surprise? Benny, you’re killing me with the suspense.”
“A bit more, okay? It’s in the house.”
Putting a lid on my curiosity is hard but I try. Once the limousine stops moving, I open the door. I need to see my surprise immediately.