After the hooping, hollering, and confusion of yesterday, the students were psyched. Some showed up 'in-costume' early, but were forced to change back, and save it for the dance. The new coach, whoever they were, took about four kids home just to grab clothes. It was a little bit scandalous.
Finally, the end of third-period came, and everyone was out in full-force. Girls adjusted their dress pants, suit jackets and ties, their hair slicked back, some even cut short for the occasion. Boys, looking a mix of embarrassed and incredulous, laughing at one another and stuffing their bras to fit their dresses (borrowed from their moms, sisters, grandmas, etc.). A few had even dared to wear lipstick and eye-shadow, or blush, though not a one could walk in heels, so sneakers and sandals were permitted.
I was excited to say the least – Genevieve gave me a black dress with
shoulder straps (which I'd safekept in my closet, behind the
scythe-staff), and my feet were small enough to fit a pair of ballet
flats. My light orange-colored hair was already long and wavy, my
eyelashes naturally thick. I endeavored a twirl, and my hem flew afloat,
revealing my black tights. On this day, I feared nothing.
"You know you're supposed to cross-dress, right? It kind of makes the rest of us girls look bad," said a voice behind me.
I turned away from the snack table, holding a paper cup of punch and a
plate of crackers and cucumbers. The static-ridden, over-blown music
from the standing radio made it tough to tell who was talking. I saw
only a handsome, straight-haired brunette, with parted bangs and
chocolate-brown eyes; wearing a tuxedo.
"Lana Seong-Yi. And you are?" she asked.
"GRIFFIN." I answered.
"Grim?"
Oh no, not again. She was way too pretty to lose.
"GRIGH-PPHHIN!!"
I tried to yell over the music. The gymnasium was surprisingly small
when it was packed, and I started to feel kind of claustrophobic. My
bare shoulders were cold, and my face was warm-
Please, just focus on the dance.
I shook my head and downed my drink.
"Anyway," Lana started again, "you should have worn a tux. My parents had a laughing fit when they saw me."
"I-" I mumbled, "...this was my idea..."
"What did you say?! Whatever it was, I'll take it as a compliment."
She turned to me and offered her hand.
"Care to dance?"
She was beautiful, even (or especially?) in a suit. I took her hand,
and my heart beat almost as heavy as my feet. She led me, holding me by
the waist, and we waltzed.
"Your boyfriend is gonna get jealous," I joked.
"Don't have one." she replied.
Score.
"We should fix that." I replied back.
"No can do. I am, for tonight, the notorious lady-killer Lancer
Seong-Yi, and you are but one of my many consorts," she declared.
I laughed and blushed. "I'm honored."
"Besides," she went on, "have you not a previous engagement with Sir
Drake of Tempest? I heard tell you and he traded courtship on the
library floor."
"Oh, swoon," I pretended to faint, "Warn me if you see him, I'll start running."
We both laughed, but Jules and Tony approached, reeking of anger. "Hey,
ladies! I think you owe us a dance." They were wearing dresses too,
Tony's apparently having been borrowed from a house-maid. Jules, on the
other hand, could have passed for the Queen of England.
"Quite
right," said Lana, rolling her eyes as she bid her adieu, leaving me
with but a smile and a butterfly in my stomach. I guess her, Tony and
Jules were friends, by some unholy coincidence. Lana and Tony started
dancing, slowly. Jules, being closer to my height, asked for my hand. I
agreed, mostly because he was a safe presence compared to other guys. We
spun around in circles, hand in hand.
"So you're Grim, eh?" Tony
narrowed his eyes, obviously having heard from someone else. "Your mom
is Mrs. LaFayette. She's real pretty, y'know. I wouldn't mind a date
with her."
I've seen my mom roll her eyes with disgust so many
times, I kind of just... reflexively did so. Lana also looked offended,
likely because it's poor form to lust for someone's mom while dancing
with a lady.
"Hmph," Tony huffed. "Y'know, Grim, I think you're just
pretending to be a boy so we don't ask you out. They say things get
passed down, from parent to child. Some day, you're gonna be as
beautiful as Mrs. LaFayette. And when you are, you'll want someone like
me to beat the other guys off with a stick."
"Two sticks," Jules
corrected, hands entangled with mine, leading the dance as I remained
silent. "One for the boys, one for the girls. I heard Atlas is a ladies'
man himself, and he's slept with half of the lady teachers in town." I
noticed that a sticker-bandage on his neck had slipped off, with a small
bruise underneath. Jules quickly flattened it back on with his palm.
Tony let go of Lana, and she shook her head.
"You're such an ass," she spat. "You aren't paying a lick of attention to me!"
"Whatever, babe, run along," Tony chuckled, watching her take a step
back. He turned back to Jules and I, and suddenly the atmosphere
changed... dropped. Jules's grip tightened, and he didn't feel quite so
safe anymore. Tony continued. "That's why we gotta clear the air, right?
Make sure everyone knows where you stand, so they don't get so confused
no more." Tony picked up his cup, and spat into it. I started to get
the feeling that between the two boys, Tony was the one calling the
shots.
I didn't want whatever they had planned to happen to me, so I
"accidentally" stepped on Jules' shoe as hard as I could and smiled.
"Whoops."
His jaw dropped, and he staggered back. Tony caught him
before he fell over, like a fresh-cut tree. He got upset, and shouted at
me. "HEY, that wasn't very NICE! I'm telling your MOM!"
I rolled my
eyes, and tried to join Lana as she was walking away. She didn't see
me, so I touched her on the shoulder. She flipped out a little, and put
her arms up defensively. "Hey, don't touch me!" Then, examining me, she
relaxed. "Oh, it's you. What do you want, stretch?"
"I, uh... I just..." I stammered.
She just shrugged. "Look, Grim, you're nice but you can't dance worth a dollar. You're boring, and I need someone fun, okay?"
I nodded, feeling incredibly alone in a crowd of a hundred students.
She walked away, and I slammed my half-full paper cup into the trash and
walked to the doors, but ended up walking into a tall, suited young man
instead.
The suited man, anachronistic, looked around with
confusion bordering on betrayal. His suit was black with a red vest, a
cape adorning his shoulders. Just as soon as I'd figured him some kind
of prince, I realized it was Drake.
"Wow," I exclaimed, from a
distance. "You really cleaned yourself up." His hair was no longer
messy, his clothes were fresh, and his manner was refined. Even his skin
looked better.
"Thank you," he said. "but why does everyone look like they switched clothes in a dark room?"
I was excited to hear him speaking straight, no longer faking an accent.
"It's a Cross-Dress Dance, for uh..." I tried to explain, but he looked
uninterested. I also kind of didn't want to talk to him anyway, not
after he stole my fries and pushed me.
"You look like you're enjoying that dress," he remarked.
"Maybe." I said.
"May I have this dance?"
I thought for a moment, and looked back at Lana, who was now dancing
with a crowd of three guys from the eighth grade. She didn't look like
she was gonna be talking to me later. I held my hand out. He took it,
and his wasn't clammy – it was soft. I noticed, as we started to dance,
that he was only two inches taller than me.
He danced elegantly, and
yelled over the music with ease, "My family really is from Romania,
y'know. I got to go last year, by boat. My dad took me."
"That's neat," I responded.
"I'm sorry about your fries, and for pushing you," he sighed.
I shrugged, and saw a dressed Max behind me dancing with the suited
Rita, staring at my tights and knowing Rita couldn't see him. He winked
at me, and my stomach flared – I was ready to bash his nose in. Drake
saw this, took my waist, and spun me around before leaning us over for a
dive. He glanced up at Max, who looked away. Then Drake pulled me back
up and continued like nothing ever happened. I know we were just
pretending, but he was treating me as if I was really his girlfriend. I
was scared he'd think I was gross for enjoying it. Instead, he held me
closer. It was nice. Nobody said anything, assuming that because we were
dressed differently, that we were the opposite sex. I wasn't about to
ruin that.
Everyone
left the dance that night in a pretty great mood. Drake and I parted
with a simple handshake, and he thanked me for the dance. I felt
honored, and excited. Tony and Jules swung by on their way out to say
good night, which was unusually nice of them. They must have figured
that Drake's company was good company.
I walked outside, and had to
keep myself from laughing at what I saw. The jocks of the school were
lined up in dresses, smoking cigarettes against a brick wall. I
whistled, and they threatened to beat me up, so I ran off towards home,
my own dress flying behind me. Totally worth it.
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