Saving prom, p.21
Saving Prom, page 21
She put an arm around him and pulled him close. Now that I got a good look at the guy I was pretty sure I recognized him from some sport. Obviously he had to play something if he was built like that. Either that or the AV room had an attached weight room I was previously unaware of.
“Craig here is the reason we were able to hijack the AV system during the pep rally. Without him none of this would be happening,” Connie said.
“Well then a big thanks to Craig the hero of the AV Club,” Jon said with a wink. “I was in the AV Club myself back when I was in high school, though we didn’t have a weight room in our AV Club.”
So he’d noticed it too. Craig smiled a goofy grin, but didn’t say anything. I’d only met him a couple of times so far, but he seemed like a shy kind of guy. Connie swore he’d open up once we got to know him.
I just hoped he didn’t feel too bad when she inevitably went crazy at the big reveal we had planned.
“Let’s get going,” Jon said, clapping his hands together. “Try to ignore the cameras. It’s not like we’re going to air everything that happens here tonight. Just the highlights!”
We stepped through the massive tunnel that’d been constructed to turn the school into a maze. It was pitch black in the thing, but there was more than enough light for us to see by because of the lights on the camera.
Still, it was eerie walking through the thing.
“So you say they’re going to have lights in here?” I asked.
“Yup,” Jon said. “It’s going to be really impressive! Just you wait and see!”
I couldn’t wait to see. Everything in here looked amazing. I knew it would only be a few more minutes now before we were getting to have the full experience right along with everyone else at our school.
“And here we are!” Jon said, stopping just before the doors. “You go do the first steps. I’ll be waiting inside along with the surprise.”
He melted back into the darkness as we stepped through the front doors and found a good chunk of the school waiting for us. There’d been so much demand to get into this thing that a healthy swap had started where underclassmen got upperclassmen to ask them to prom even though the upperclassmen were actually going with their upperclassmen boyfriends or girlfriends.
The practical upshot was most of the school was going to this shindig, but we hadn’t done anything to stop that illicit trade in prom tickets because we figured the more the merrier.
Especially if we wanted to make it look like the whole school had our backs on this one.
“Good evening everyone!” I said, trying not to show how nervous I was. “I’m pleased to welcome you to your prom! I know there have been some difficulties with the prom this year…”
Felicity, Connie, and me turned and looked pointedly at Dirk who’d been silly enough to put himself in the front row of people waiting to get in. He seemed to realize his mistake as the cameras moved in on him and got a nice shot of his frown which was plastered all over late night television later that night and then all over the Internet the next day.
“But I can assure you that we’ve done everything we can to make sure you have a wonderful time this evening!” Felicity said, picking up her part. “We’re going to make this the prom so amazing that everyone will be talking about it forever!”
A few people cheered. I blushed and Felicity gave my hand a squeeze. After all the shit we’d been getting lately it was nice to have people on our side for a change. It was nice to have people cheering for us rather than glaring at us.
It was nice to know Dirk was being humiliated. A couple of people around him bumped into him, and I didn’t even recognize his date. I’m pretty sure she was some home schooled girl from his church. There were a lot of kids like that in our area who were being held hostage by parents who didn’t want their kids exposed to anything that didn’t come out of an ancient book.
I’m getting away from myself though. Sorry if I’m a little snarky considering some of the bullshit I’d had to put up with as a result of people throwing around their bullshit interpretations of that book.
“Welcome to prom!” I said, throwing my arms up along with Felicity. “We’ve been putting in a lot of work to try and fix everything for you, and I think we’ve got something pretty cool!”
I gave Felicity’s hand a squeeze. That was her cue.
“Come on in everyone!” she said. “We promise this is going to be awesome!”
She was shivering by the time she was done saying it. Clearly she was having a lot more trouble with this than she’d been letting on. Clearly she was also enjoying herself judging by the way she smiled at me.
She’d managed to get everything out, at least. I guess that’s what really mattered.
“Let’s do this,” she said. “We’re going to prom together.”
I grinned. She was right. We were going to prom. Together. I was going to prom with the girl of my dreams. With the girl I’d been dreaming about since I could dream about going on dates with people.
Maybe it wasn’t the same plan that a lot of people had when they dreamed about going out with someone, but it was my dream and it was finally coming true.
“Together,” I said with a smile of my own.
38
Surprise
We stepped into the school and into the massive tunnel.
It was amazing what you could do with the kind of money he was able to throw around for a publicity stunt. I was really glad we got his phone number.
The tunnel came to life around us. Pulsing streaming lights, neon flashing stars, and moons made it look like we were traveling down a psychedelic starscape.
Though we didn’t get much of a chance to enjoy all the craziness they’d put together. No, no sooner had we stepped into the tunnel than we felt someone touching our arms and pulling us to the side. Through a secret door in the side of the tunnel that was well hidden behind a couple of dark sheets that wouldn’t be noticed in the darkness.
We stepped into the darkness beyond, but it was bright enough that it was still a shock stepping through.
“Are you ready?” a tech asked.
Bright light hit us. From a camera pointed in our direction. Jon appeared and gave a thumbs up. It was go time.
We sprinted down the hall to the gym. We needed to get to the gym ahead of everyone else to reveal the big surprise.
When we go there the big surprise was waiting.
“Hello ladies,” Tommy said with a lopsided smile that had won so many hearts.
Though that night it was breaking a bunch of hearts considering he’d made his big announcement in between us meeting him backstage in New York and him coming out to our small town prom.
“Tommy,” I said, hugging him like we were old friends even though we’d only met the one time and talked a couple of times on the phone. “Good to see you!”
“Thanks for coming out,” Felicity said.
He hit her with a lopsided grin and she blushed as she realized exactly what she’d said.
“I mean I don’t mean it like that,” she said. “Thanks for coming out here to be our special guest. But obviously it’s good that you came out too.”
“And seeing the two of you is what inspired me to finally take that step,” he said. “Screw staying in the closet my whole life like some old Hollywood celeb. Besides, I’ve made my millions. Why not have a little fun now?”
I grinned. Felicity grinned. Everyone was grinning and having a good time, but Jon stepped in to interrupt the warm fuzzies.
“We’re showing everyone is still in the tunnel,” Jon said. “Are you ready for the big reveal?”
“I think so,” I said, suddenly out of breath for reasons that had nothing to do with running a sprint through the high school and everything to do with the excitement of the moment.
We were about to pull off something people were going to be talking about in this town for decades. The story of the two crazy lesbians who ruined and then saved prom. I was pretty sure that was how it would be phrased, too.
“Okay. We’re ready with the lighting,” Jon said. “Now it’s up to you to do the big reveal!”
A light shone down in the middle of the gym.
I took Felicity’s hand and this time there was no hesitation as we made our way to the center of the gym floor. Tommy joined us and put his arms around our shoulders.
I looked at Felicity and Tommy and grinned. Jon faded into the shadows and the only light came from the entrance where the tunnel let out. We could see easily enough over there because there were neon lights blinking from inside the thing.
They had to be really confused by now. I wished I could see that confusion, but I also figured I’d be able to see it all later when we saw some of the footage.
“You ready for this?” I asked Felicity.
“I’m always ready if I have you with me,” she replied. “Are you ready for this?”
“Hey. I’m on a date with the girl of my dreams. Next to that nothing could ruin my night,” I said.
She really surprised me then. She leaned in and pressed her lips against me. Sure it was just against my cheek, but standing there under the lights when I was about to go to prom with Felicity it was electric.
My toes curled and that sent a shock running through me. I was tempted to do a little more direct kissing with her, all the cameras that were no doubt on us in that moment be damned, but then I heard some confused murmuring coming from the other end of the gym and turned my attention in that direction.
Plus Tommy was still there, though he’d taken a step back when he realized what was going on.
If there was going to be more kissing it’d have to come later, because everyone had arrived.
Connie and Craig were at the front of the little caravan. They’d been beside us when we started the whole thing and I’m sure she had a moment of confusion when she realized we’d disappeared.
I hadn’t even told her what was going on. I figured it served her right for all the trouble she’d been giving me lately. Sure she’d also been giving me great advice right along with, but mostly it’d been trouble.
“What the heck is going on here?” she called into the dark gym.
“Wait for it,” I said, giving Felicity’s hand another squeeze. I seemed to be doing that a lot that night, but it was the sort of situation where I needed to remind myself that she was right there next to me.
More people streamed in. Dave was close behind Connie and Craig with his date. I think her name was Melanie or something like that. She was one of those people that I knew from seeing her in the halls, but we’d never really interacted beyond that.
It was really gratifying watching Dirk stepping into the gym with his home schooled lady friend. He looked around and seemed satisfied that the gym was dark and there were no obvious decorations.
The jerk should’ve realized we had something up our sleeves considering we’d already put together a tunnel that had a special effects budget matching some pretty low budget scifi movies, but I guess he was never big on the whole critical thinking thing.
“Good evening everyone,” I said, my voice booming from a mic they’d put on me earlier.
“And welcome to prom!” Felicity said after me, her voice booming over the gym PA as well.
“I hope you all have a great time tonight hanging out with me and my new friends here,” Tommy said.
The gym was pierced with a scream. Connie had realized who was there, though for a wonder she didn’t go tearing across the gym to see him. Other girls did as they realized who was standing there with us, much to the consternation of their dates.
Poor Tommy was mobbed, but he was sort of expecting that.
People seemed really confused now. Obviously they were expecting this prom to be a bust, and obviously we were beating their expectations in a hell of a way considering we already had one of the hottest stars right now here on our side. We held our arms up and the lights came on.
Not the gym lights, mind you. No, the lights on the decorations came up along with the DJ who’d been brought in to play the dance.
The decorations looked like something out of a movie. I figured there was a good chance they were something out of a movie that Jon had grabbed from some Hollywood warehouse somewhere and repurposed for our night. Glowing stars and moons. A starscape that was actually a net that’d been strung over the top of the gym with twinkling lights blinking above us.
And of course a DJ with the kind of sound system that no DJ running a dance at our school had ever shown up with before or since.
Also? The lights coming on totally illuminated Jon where he’d been hiding in the darkness just behind us. People gasped in shock, that was totally real and not something that was faked after the fact like some Internet commenters might want you to believe, and he had a grin on his face.
“Thanks for putting up with our little surprise,” Jon said. “We’ve spent a lot of time putting this together, but it couldn’t have been done without these two great ladies who stepped in to rescue your prom after it was nearly ruined!”
The cameras were moving in close on us now. Interestingly enough one of the cameras was also moving in on Dirk to get his reaction to that moment. I guess Jon had quietly told someone that he was part of the reason why the prom had been almost ruined in the first place and they wanted to get his reaction for whatever video they were putting together.
His reaction wasn’t the greatest. It was the look of someone who thought his enemies were going to fail spectacularly, and now he was pissed off that we’d managed to pull off something way more amazing than having the prom at an overpriced college student center.
Whatever. He could take his saltiness and choke on it for all I cared.
“So who’s ready for a party?” Jon asked, and everyone cheered and moved out onto the dance floor as the music started pumping and a couple of stations for pictures lit up around the edge.
Jon walked over to us and held his hands up for a high five. Felicity and I obliged him. This really was amazing, and despite everything he said about us saving prom there was really no way we would’ve been able to pull this off without his help.
Sure we’d smoothed things over with Helen and the school board. It helped that none of this was going to cost the school anything beyond the money that’d already been wasted thanks to principal Asshat and Dirk the boy blunder.
“I think this is going pretty well ladies,” Jon said. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s amazing,” I said. “Like this is so far beyond anything I ever thought we’d be able to pull off.”
He winked. “Helps to have friends in high places who are looking for a nice feel good story, doesn’t it?”
I couldn’t help myself. A high five didn’t seem like enough to communicate just how wonderful I thought all of this was. So I think I surprised Jon just a little by wrapping him in a huge hug. Felicity came in pretty soon after.
“Hey, it was no problem,” he said. “I’m glad to help you ladies.”
We pulled away and smoothed our dresses. I grinned at Felicity and offered her my hand.
“So what would you say to a dance? Because I’ve been waiting for this my whole life, and I’m not gonna waste the night!”
She grinned. “A dance sounds wonderful.”
“You girls go have fun,” Jon said. “I’ll be here watching everything and making sure the night goes smoothly.”
“Thanks!” we said in unison, and then it was time to head out to the dance floor for a dance I really had been waiting for my entire life.
39
Dance
I think Jon might’ve been pulling a little something with the DJ, because no sooner had we stepped out on the dance floor than the fast song that’d been playing faded out to be replaced by something decidedly slow.
I blushed as I looked at Felicity. Our first dance together and it looked like it was going to be a slow one. I knew that shouldn’t have been a big deal after everything we’d been through, or after that hot tub in New York, but there was something about all the weight of a slow dance that made the moment just a tad awkward.
“Um, so are we doing this?” Felicity asked.
I frowned. I worried she was saying that because she’d suddenly decided she didn’t want to dance with me after all, but upon closer examination I realized that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
She wasn’t saying that because she didn’t want to dance with me and she was looking for an out. No, she was saying that because the idea of a close slow dance with yours truly was something she’d obviously been dreaming about for a long fucking time and the idea of finally getting what she’d wanted for so long was terrifying.
I smiled. Took her hand. Pushed down on that pesky part of my brain that was still going to the worst case scenario despite the fact that everything had been going so well lately.
It was time to forget about the bullshit and have a little fun.
Even if it was hesitant fun. At first, at least. I mean sure both of us had danced with guys before, but there was something different about dancing with someone when it actually meant something.
It was one of those weird things where the gay kids got a later start on their real love lives than the straight kids because the straight kids get to get all of that awkward stuff out of the way when they’re in their early teens. Meanwhile there are some gay kids who don’t get to be themselves, at least as far as dating goes, until their twenties or even later in life.
I guess we were kind of lucky in that respect. At least we were getting started in our late teens rather than our twenties. Or someone who married the opposite sex and didn’t get started until way later in life.
Her hand wrapped around mine. She interlaced her fingers. Sort of the same as she’d done when we were at the mall and she was trying to tell me she was interested in me without coming out and telling me she was interested in me.
There was no doubt she was interested in me now. No, she might’ve been smiling a hesitant smile and biting her lip, but there was no question about it.
