Holding Love

Prom Night

It's just starting to get dark when I pull up to Clary's house. 

I'm driving my dad's 2011 Camaro, which he had lent me for the occasion.  Actually, my mother had forced him to let me use it.  No one can say no to my mother.  So, here I am, my life on the line lest I bring my dad's precious car back without a scratch.

I pull into the driveway and turn off the car.  I open the door and step out onto the driveway.  When I close the door, I see Clary's little sister, Laurie, move aside the living room curtain and look out at the sound.  Our eyes meet and I wave as I walk up toward the house.  She smiles and jerks the curtain shut.  A few seconds later, the door opens and she steps outside.

"You look like a fag," she says, smirking at me.

Normally, I would say something smart-butt back.  The thing is, I actually agree with her.

My tuxedo is pure, almost glow in the dark white, along with the shoes and collared shirt that I'm wearing.  I'm wearing a royal blue vest, which I'm told is almost the exact same hue as Clary's dress.

I haven't seen the dress yet.  I hadn't even seen my stupid clothes till just this morning when Clary had brought them over, along with the prom tickets that Dylan had refused to let me pay him back for (Dylan is such a nice guy that it concerns me sometimes).

 Originally, Dylan was supposed to wear it, but because he was sick, and since he and I are about the same size, Clary figured I could just wear his clothes instead of going through the trouble to get different ones.  I thought that it was a pretty good idea, but now I realize that I'd made a mistake.

"Just let me in the house," I say.

Laurie smirk grows wider and she walks away from the door and into the den.  I follow her in and close the door behind me.  I walk into the den, where Laurie is already sitting on the couch, texting. 

Pepper, Clary's black lab, barks and wags her tail excitedly at me.  She bounds across the room playfully, and I have to basically pin her to the floor with my hands to keep her from ruining my pure white clothes.

Clary's parents are standing on the other side of the room by the stairs.  I figure that they are probably waiting for Clary to come down from her room, because I can't see her anywhere else.

Clary's mom, Kristen, smiles hugely when she sees me.

"Oh, Austin!" she cries, almost making me jump. "You look so handsome!"

Laurie scoffs silently from the couch.  Clary's dad, Jason, gives Laurie a warning look.

"Thanks, Kristen," I say, giving her a small smile and wondering where she sees any evidence of handsome on my body.

"Clary should be right down," Jason says.  "Laurie, will you go tell your sister Austin's here?"

Laurie sighs dramatically and pounds upstairs.  Kristen turns to me.

"Thank you so much for going through the trouble to do this," she says. "Clary called me after Dylan got sick, and she was so upset when she thought she woulldn't get to go to prom.  She was really happy when she said you'd take her."

I smile at her.  "It's my pleasure."

Just then, Laurie pounds back downstairs and plops back down on the couch, snatching up the TV remote and changing it to MTV. 

"She's coming," she says.

Then I hear laughing.  The soft, quick laugh that I've known by heart for as long as I can remember, followed by the click-click of high-heeled footsteps.