Hold Me Now

Chapter 52: On Par

Prom went off without a hitch. None of the guys or their girls were Prom King or Queen. But that was OK because after the king and queen were announced, Ava said to them "If you can't be the Prom Queen then you can be the dancing queen." 

"Young and sweet only seventeen. Feel that beat on the tambourine oh yeah," chimed in Dawn.

Rachel finished "You can dance. You can ji-ive having the time of your life."

Then all three girls sang "Ooh, see that girl. Watch that scene. Digging the dancing queen" They began a fit of laughter, then took to the floor with each other and danced. Just the three of them. The guys shook their heads at them.

While the girls were dancing, Bobby somehow felt it appropriate to tell his friends "Prom night is the second baby-making night of the year. The first of course is Valentine's Day." 

Dutch agreed and began pointing out couples who would be "getting busy". This made Jimmy queasy thinking about those couples. "Some people should just not be in the baby-making business," he stated. His face held an expression of disgust.

As the night wore on, couples began breaking up. Dutch turned to his friends "And this is why I came single." He waggled his eyebrows as a group of crying girls was spotted across the way. Swaggering their way, he acknowledged them with a loud "Hey ladies."

Having had enough of prom, Ava and Johnny said bye to their friends and headed home. Unlike some of them, they have no need for a hotel room. Nor do they care to go to some after-party just to get wasted and hook up. Johnny still cringes from what happened at the last party he went to. So onward to their house, they went. 

What Ava didn't know was that her thoughtful husband had planned a surprise. Instead of going directly inside their house, he led her around to the back patio. While she had been away getting prettier, he strung up white twinkle lights and set a stereo on the porch dining table. There was also a bouquet of a dozen red roses waiting for her, which he went inside to grab. He presented them to her and she threw her arms around him and held him.

This was their own"after-party". The two of them with their favorite love songs, dancing under the stars. And they danced, and they danced, until well after two in the morning. They closed their eyes and turned up the volume of their souls, dancing together in each other's arms. Because their love is like that.

While Ava and Johnny enjoyed themselves and were totally loving each other's company, many prom couples were the opposite. In fact, the school is still talking about Ali and Daniel's big breakup. As Tommy puts it "He went down like a cheerleader who sneezed on top of the pyramid."

There are a million things Johnny could say about that breakup, a million brilliant, sarcastic, and mocking things. Instead, he declared, "Wuss. She wrecked the idiot's car and for what? A breakup? Pussy moves like that kill me." The guys agreed. He waved his hand in emphatic gestures. "At least I'm married to my hot wife and don't have to worry about selfish chicks like her anymore." 

A week later, one Tuesday afternoon (after soccer practice) everyone (guys and girls) was all sitting around in Johnny's living room. Jimmy, who had been minding his beer, decided to ask Johnny and Ava a serious question. "How did you know that you were it for each other, that you were in love? Why are you so OK with being married?"

Ava eyed him with suspicion. She wondered about this. "Why do you ask Jimmy? Are you in love?" She smiled at him.

He looked right at her and stated "God no. I'm not in love. I broke up with Jenny after prom. I'm graduating and she's not. We're going to be operating in two different worlds. I'm asking for a friend. But seriously, I think we all want to know how did you know?" He emphasized the "you".