CHAPTER THREE #2
She laughed and quit looking so serious. “Fine. I won’t say it even though it’s true. Tim has been your best friend all these years for a reason. You don’t see him hanging out with Jayne or any of the girls he’s hooked up with. He only hangs out with you.”
It was true. If I wasn’t at his house, he was at mine.
We were practically inseparable. I went to see him play football, basketball, and baseball.
He came to my scholars bowl meets and debate tournaments.
The only time we were really apart was for parties or things like that.
He always tried to get me to go with him, but I wouldn’t.
I’d made the mistake of going a couple of times and had felt so out of place I might as well have been a zebra in Antarctica. I’d also seen him in the process of hooking up with a girl or two, and I’d found it difficult to watch.
I sighed. “I know. It’s just that I know it’s pointless to even dream about it being me kissing him.”
Imani looked at me sharply. I almost never talked about the realities of being in love with my best friend. At least, that’s what I thought the emotion was. It had to be love, right? Why else would it hurt so badly to see him kissing other girls?
“Why don’t you lay one on him tonight and see what happens?”
I snort laughed before I realized she wasn’t joking. “Seriously? Can you even picture me doing that?”
“Honestly? No. But it’d be great if you just took that risk.”
Imani’s boyfriend Malachi walked up sipping punch. He handed a cup to Imani. “Do you want me to go get you a cup?” he asked me.
I shook my head and smiled. “No, thanks. I might get one in a minute.” I squeezed Imani’s hand once more.
Tim was now dancing with a junior girl who could have been Jayne’s twin.
I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d lost my date for the rest of the night.
“I’m going to go to the restroom. Y’all have fun. ”
I didn’t know if I’d see them after the prom. They were invited to the prom breakfast the Summers family was having, but Imani was having one, too. I was invited to both, but since I was Tim’s date I knew I’d be going to the Summers’ house. Or that’s where I was supposed to go, at least.
As I watched Tim start dancing with yet another blonde girl who looked only vaguely familiar, I wondered if I actually wanted to go or not.
I made my way to the girl’s restroom and locked myself in the stall.
I really just wanted somewhere to hide for a minute where I didn’t have to appear happy.
Everything was fine between Tim and me when it was just the two of us.
But as soon as his popular friends started milling around him, I felt…
extraneous. Tim didn’t need me to have a good time.
I was the one who needed him. I blinked back tears. I didn’t like having to stand along the side of the dance floor and watch while he had a blast with all the beautiful people. I wished I hadn’t even come tonight.
It had started out so nicely. But I could tell it was probably going to get worse, not better, as the night wore on.
I finally came out of the stall, washed my hands, and started back down the hall towards the school gym. I knew a lot of high schools had their proms at amazing locations, like Zoo Atlanta, the Fox Theatre, or the Georgia Aquarium. In Indigo Falls, though, we still had ours at our school gym.
I heard the muffled sounds of someone talking and ducked into the shadows before they saw me. I almost gasped when I realized it was Tim and Jayne Myerslie.
He was talking to her in a low voice while he cupped her face in one of his hands, and her arms rested around his waist.
“You can’t possibly like Natalie Martin,” Jayne was saying.
I covered my mouth.
“Natalie is my best friend,” he protested.
“But you’re not going to fuck her tonight, right?”
“No. I don’t think of her that way.”
“So, why can’t you be with me?” Jayne asked and gave him a sly smile. I heard the sound of a zipper.
“Jayne, what are you… Oh, fuck.”
I watched in horror as Jayne dropped to her knees in front of Tim. Even though I couldn’t see what was happening, I knew what was going on. Tim’s hands moved into Jayne’s hair, and he started moving her back and forth in synch with the thrust of his hips.
He was groaning and grunting, clearly enjoying himself.
“Fuck, baby, I’m going to come,” he said, right before he moaned loud and long. He let go of her head and leaned against the wall for a moment. Then he helped her up. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and smiled at him.
“That was great,” he said in a low voice, giving her a kiss on her forehead, “but I need to get back.”
Jayne looked a little pissed. “What about me? Now I want you to fuck me.”
“How about later tonight? I’ll drop Natalie off a bit earlier than I was going to, and you can meet me under that big old tree down by the creek in my backyard. I’ll text you when.”
I wiped a tear from my cheek. Not only did he just get a blowjob during prom while he was supposed to be my date, but he’d also made plans to have sex later.
After he got rid of me. And even worse, he was going to do it under the same tree we’d played under, fished under, eaten picnics under, and so on. It was a special tree.
At least, I’d thought it was.
I wondered how many other girls he’d fucked under that tree. I probably didn’t want to know.
I waited until the two of them had walked off before I’d gone a back way into the gym. I was casually drinking a cup of punch when Tim walked back in. He winked at Jayne then I saw him looking around for me. When he saw me, he smiled and came over.
“Sorry I was gone so long. What have you been up to?”
“Not much.”
“Yeah? Are you having fun?”
“Sure.”
He blinked at me. I wasn’t normally so short with him. It’s just I couldn’t seem to make myself be pleasant.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but I cut him off. “Hey, do you think you could take me home? I’m not really feeling well.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You were fine just a few minutes ago.”
Before I could get myself under control I rolled my eyes. “Right. A ‘few minutes’ ago.” It had been at least an hour since he’d been crowned Prom King.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I sighed. There was no use causing any problems between us. I never should have come to prom in the first place, and definitely not with him. The two of us together was laughable. “Nothing.”
He looked at me suspiciously. “You really want to go home? What about the prom breakfast? Mom will be so sad if you don’t come.”
His mom would be sad. Not him… his mom. “Yep.”
“I wish you’d just tell me what’s wrong instead of hitting me with this passive aggressive shit. It’s not like you, Nat.”
“Come on. Let’s go,” I said, and started walking off.
He followed me. “Did you even hear me? Could you quit pretending everything’s fine and just tell me what’s wrong? You’re a terrible actress.”
When we got in his car, I finally just decided to tell him. I mean, why not?