Beauty and the Dork

God Amongst Men

"Does Jason know you're bringing him?" Andy asked, still not acknowledging my presence. Margot scoffed and leaned further into me.

"Bye, Andy – I hope some lucky girl asks you to the dance," she said coldly.

He watched us for a beat and finally stood. He finally walked away, and I tried to watch where he walked off to, nervous about what he was going to do next. Margot nudged me and pulled my attention back to her. She was smiling my favorite smile and immediately melted any anxiety away.

"What kind of pretzel did you get?" she asked, leaning farther into me. I grinned and set an arm around her shoulders before kissing her temple.

"Cinnamon-sugar for my cinnamon-sugar," I flirted. She belly-laughed and broke a piece of the pretzel off.

"You are such a dork," she teased as she took a bite. I grinned and nodded, agreeing with her. She leaned up and kissed me softly, taking my breath away. I pulled back and watched her, absolutely smitten with her.

This was real. We were out in public. Margot Patterson was no longer my secret girlfriend. She was parading me around, telling the popular kids about us, and kissing me in front of the world. And this wasn't New or Old Margot – this was just my Margot. The Margot that flushed at my compliments and loved puppets. The Margot that was effortless and let no one else get to her while overly protective of me.

And we were going to a dance.

Eddie "The Freak" Munson was going to a school dance with the coolest girl in Hawkins.

"So, not to beat a dead horse, but do I need to get a tux for the dance?" I asked nervously. She beamed at me and shook her head.

"Just a suit. And you'll need to wear a tie," she answered.

"A tie?" I asked, surprised by the formality. She nodded.

"So we can match," she replied. I felt my heart soften.

"We're going to match?" I asked, my voice hitching. She grinned wider and leaned into me.

"Absolutely. A knight always matches his princess," she said. I felt my chest ache at her words and kissed her, unbelieving how different life was from twenty-four hours ago. She set her head on my shoulder and sighed. "I missed you so much, Eddie."

I grinned – a very small, terrible part of me was secretly happy with how much she had missed me. It made me feel better about how absolutely heartbroken I had been over the last couple of weeks, knowing that I wasn't alone.

"I missed you, too," I said, kissing her forehead. "This is kind of fun, though."

She looked up and grinned at me.

"I know. I like it a lot more than sneaking around," she said. I smiled at her and placed a hand on the side of her face, stroking her cheek with my thumb. I leaned close to her face and looked around conspiratorially.

"I think everyone is staring at us, though," I whispered. Her eyes crinkled.

"I don't blame them – my boyfriend is pretty cute," she replied. I grinned and closed the distance between our lips, over the moon whenever she called me that. I took a bite of our pretzel and looked down at her. She cleared her throat. "So, I had a thought for this weekend."

"Oh, do you?" I asked. She smiled.

"Yes – so, maybe, um, if you'll, uh, have me, that maybe I, um, could stay the night?" she asked, her face flushing. I grinned and pretended to have to consider the suggestion.

"Hmm, interesting idea, princess," I replied.

"And then maybe if, um, you want to, Jason's having a party tomorrow, and, um, maybe we could go?" she asked. I smiled down at her, my chest swelling with pride.

"Together?" I asked. I knew the answer, but I still loved when she confirmed it. She grinned and leaned close again.

"Only if you want to," she said, her confidence back. I felt my face flush and pressed my forehead to hers.

"I would love to, princess," I replied.

She grinned and threw her arms around my neck, pulling me into a hug, I buried my face into her neck and took a deep breath in of her perfume that I was so worried I would never be able to smell again. I thought back to months ago, when I was finally brave and kissed her after her party. That Eddie would never have believed we would have made it here. She kissed the side of my face and kept her lips pressed to my ear.

"Let's go back to our spot – I've missed it," she whispered. I pulled back and smiled, nodding. I stood and took her hand to help her out of the booth. I looked around the food court, taking in the different stares. A lot of people were shocked by our pairing, but I noticed that a lot of people were watching me with envy. I felt my chest burn with pride.

As we were walking out of the food court, I draped myself over her shoulders, making her laugh as I peppered the sides of her face with kisses. I glanced around and noticed more envious stares.

I was a god amongst men.