Chapter 24 Didn’t Think Prom Night Would End Like This
-Drew-
It’s the Saturday of prom, and Luke, Craig, and I are hanging out in my living room, talking baseball and watching the Griffons on the TV.
The plan for today had all of us guys at my house, while all the girls are meeting at Annie’s.
That way, the limo could pick us up and drop us off at the same spot.
Luke asked Kim last month to be his date.
Annie and Meg have both made a huge effort to bring her into the folds of our little group.
The three of them have been huddled up, talking all things prom and schedules all school week.
The three of us guys had known that we didn’t want anything to do with the details.
We had told them to just tell us when and where to be and we would make sure we arrived on time.
We had, in reality, put in a little more effort.
We’d organized ourselves to make sure that we each had our tux and the corsage for each of the girls.
They sit safely in my fridge, waiting for the designated time for us to get them and head over to the Campbell house.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I open the message from Meg.
Meg with the Nice Ass
Drew
See you soon, the color was blue right?
Meg with the Nice Ass
Ha Ha, 28 minutes now
I let the guys know that we should probably head up and get dressed in our tuxes.
It takes us no more than ten minutes to get ready.
We run into Daniel in the living room. He is going with a group of his football friends and is about to leave the house when Mom comes out the door of her studio.
She is holding her digital camera. “Can I get a few of the two of you all dressed up?” she asks.
We give Mom the photos she is asking for, and then my brother heads out the door.
I join the guys in the kitchen followed by my mom.
“Smile, you three.” She snaps a quick photo of us with the corsage boxes.
“You coming over to the Campbells to get a few more pictures?” I ask.
She smiles at me. She looks almost surprised that I asked her, maybe because Daniel hadn’t.
I’m glad I asked. I pull out my phone and text Meg.
Drew
You girls ready?
Meg with the Nice Ass
Yeah we are ready
Drew
Mom is going to come over to take a few photos
Meg with the Nice Ass
That’s great
***
We make our way to the front door, and as we near the Campbells’ porch, the door swings open, and I get my first look at Annie.
She may be my friend, but I can’t help noticing the way that the blue prom dress is beautiful on her.
The slit up the leg is a tempting thing to see.
I have to make sure that my gaze doesn’t linger too long.
From behind her, I can see Meg, and I take in my girlfriend.
She has her black hair curled, and it falls down her bare shoulder.
She is wearing a bright pink dress that matches my tux vest, and it shows all her curves.
“You look beautiful,” I say as I walk up to her and kiss her.
“Thanks, you aren’t looking too bad yourself,” she replies.
The moms take over, and we spend forty-five minutes doing every prom pose known to mankind.
Mom and Mrs. Campbell are clicking away, happily shouting directions.
The only thing that saves us from another thirty minutes is the limo arrival.
Before following Meg into the limo, I hug my mom.
“Thanks, hunny, for letting me come over,” she says as she heads towards our front door.
We all climb into the limo, and then the fun starts.
***
We have the limo driver play our favorite songs on the speakers, and we laugh and sing along to the lyrics.
We make it to the event center, and it’s decorated with balloons and streamers, all centered around our prom theme: Heroes and Damsels.
We stand in line and take the required photos with the backdrops.
Then we join the others on the dance floor, and we dance the night away.
Annie’s brother wins prom king, and Annie is yelling and cheering with excitement that we mirror, getting a few laughs around the room.
Miles just laughs on the stage at us all.
As the night winds down, they start to play a few slow songs, and I wrap my arms around Meg.
It’s nice to have a moment with just me and her.
“You having fun?” I ask. “Yeah, it’s been a great night with friends,” she replies. Then it’s time for the after-party.
***
The limo drops us off back at the house, and we all agree to be back in ten minutes.
The girls take off towards the Campbell house, and the guys make our way to mine.
We meet back outside. It takes the girls fifteen minutes, and we give them a hard time as we jump into two cars and head out to the bonfire.
When we get to the party, Luke and Craig grab the chairs from the back, and we set up near the other guys on the baseball team.
It’s a normal party, people chatting or couples making out, snuggled by the fire.
I see my brother across the fire with a new girl he started dating on his arm.
I look around, realizing I haven’t seen Meg in a while.
I ask Craig if he’s seen the girls, because I notice that Annie is also missing.
He gives me a shrug. “Last time I saw them, they were headed towards the car.” “Thanks,” I say and make my way towards the car.
I overhear, “You have to tell him soon, Meg.” I know that it’s Annie's voice and that the ‘him’ being referenced is me.
I’m not trying to overhear the conversation, but I feel weird about the fact that I have even heard this much.
What does she have to tell me?” I clear my throat, trying to make my presence known.
“What are you girls doing out here?” I ask, as lighthearted as ever.
“Oh, just talking,” says Annie. She looks over at Meg.
“It’s ok, Annie, I’ll talk to you later,” Meg says.
Annie gives me a look as she walks away, and I don’t get the feeling that this conversation with Meg is going to be fun.
“Everything ok?” I ask after I know Annie is out of earshot.
Meg isn’t smiling, and her expression is more serious than I’m used to seeing on her.
“I don’t think this is working,” she says, direct as always.
I should be shocked or hurt that she is doing this tonight, but also, I’ve been thinking that things haven’t felt all that great lately either.
“I don’t know what happened, but I don’t feel like we are connecting anymore,” she continues in my silence.
“We feel more like friends that have sex occasionally and less like boyfriend and girlfriend,” Meg looks at me.
“Does that make any sense to you?” she asks me.
I’ve been trying to let her talk and get out what she needs to say.
She is looking at me, and I know she is waiting for me to say something.
I run my hands through my hair, and then I look at her.
“I understand. I had noticed some distance, but I thought it was just us being busy.” “Yeah, I think that is a part of this. I’m sorry, Drew,” Meg says, looking so sad.
I move to sit by her on the trunk bed of the SUV.
I give her a side hug and say, “It’s ok, Meg, we are still friends.
” We sit like this for a while in silence, then Meg moves to stand, and I remove my arm from her shoulder.
“I think I should head back to the party.” She looks me over.
“You going to be ok?” “Yeah, I’ll be ok, I’ll head back in a few,” I reply.
After she leaves, I think about the last month, and I know I should have read the signs; we'd been more friends than in a relationship. I can’t remember the last night she’d been over to my house.
At the beginning of this relationship, we wanted every ounce of alone time we could get.
“You ok?” I hear from behind me. “I thought I’d check in on you.
Meg said she told you,” Annie says, looking at me with concern on her face.
“I’m ok. I mean, this isn’t the way I thought prom night would go, but I’ll be fine,” I reply.
She nods her head in agreement. “You going back to the party?” “I think I’ll stay here a little while longer,” I let her know.
Annie sits next to me on the SUV trunk. She doesn’t say anything else, and we sit in comfortable silence.
It’s nice to have someone here, and we stay there in our bubble until the others appear at the end of the party.