The Fool That You Are

two

Dawn, just like three hours before every school dance, was perched on the edge of my bed and complaining about how the dress she was wearing felt dull. 

It was beautiful, actually, but I could see her eyes one of the dresses I had in my closet. I laughed at her. "Go ahead. I don't care." 

She grinned at me sheepishly and closed the door to my closet, re-emerging with my tye-dye dress on. She looked good in it. Her blonde hair had been curled and she had applied a light layer of makeup before coming here. 

I however, wasn't being as flamboyant with colors. After all, this was just the Summer Dance. It wasn't prom. It was my last school dance before I was off to college, which was something I couldn't wait for but also dreaded.  My dress was black with three neon strips down the side. It was cute, but it wasn't super attention-grabbing. Exactly what I needed. 

"Oh, hey," Dawn said, "I think you'll have to catch a ride home with David or Ren or someone. George and I are going on a date after the dance. 

I smiled. "How cute. Don't forget to get my dress back to me sometime," I told her. Usually, I let her keep them,  but I'd just gotten that one last week and haven't' even worn it yet. 

Dawn shrugged as an answer. She glanced at the clock hanging above my door. "Shoot! We have to go or we'll be late." 

I nodded and spritzed myself with perfume once more before sliding my short heels on, and then we headed out the door. 

Ren, David, and George were all waiting outside of the school for us when we got there. "Finally," Ren groaned dramatically. 

I scoffed. "We're like, maybe three minutes late." 

He smiled at me. " I know. But you're cute when you get annoyed." 

I rolled my eyes. Ren looked good tonight. His jeans were dark washed and they suited his legs well enough without looking too tight. His shirt was a simple light orange and it made his brown eyes pop. 

He seemed to notice me studying him. "You think I look good?" 

"As if. Orange makes you look scrawny." 

Orange did not make him look scrawny. 

I head Dawn laugh behind me, her arms wrapped around George's waist. "Be nice. Let's all have a good night." 

David headed inside the school first, leading us all to the gym. 

The dance actually didn't look horribly bad. I mean, there was still the vague odor of sweat and teen dignity being washed down the drain after being the last to finish the mile, but other than that, the Hawaiian theme wasn't to wishy-washy or in your face. 

Dawn led George to the dance floor, and the two of them did a little bit of dancing together. Dawn was smiling George was smiling. They were a walking cliche'. It was adorable. 

Ren and I sat down while David walked over to talk to some girls. He looked super uncomfortable. 

I glanced around the room and saw a few groups of girls looking at Ren. 

Like I said, orange was his colour. "You should go dance with one of those girls. They're all looking at you." 

"No thanks," he mumbled, leaning back in his chair. He turned his head to face me. "I'd rather not start a catfight." Ren winked at me. 

"Oh, get over yourself, Reginald," I said, flicking the hand that was resting on the table. Though I felt kind of relieved he didn't agree to it. I don't know how long I could sit here and watch everyone have fun while I sat at this table. 

"What about you?" He kicked my foot under the table lightly. "There's plenty of guys staring at you. Go dance with one of them." 

"Nah." 

He shrugged and turned his head away. And then, he started grinning. It made my heart clench. "You sure? Because it looks like one is heading your way." 

I snapped my head towards the direction he was looking. 

Sure enough, a blonde was heading my way with red cheeks. He looked nervous. He should be. Blonde definitely wasn't my type. 

"Hey," the boy said. "I, uh, was wondering if you were interested in a dance?" 

Don't get me wrong. I was going to feel horrible. But I needed to make it clear how uninterested I was. "Get lost." 

His shoulders deflated and he turned around, a hesitation in his steps before he headed back to where he came from. 

Ren scoffed from next to me. I turned to look at him. "What?" 

"You're evil, Millicent." There was a smile on his face though, and I was almost positive he was smiling because of me. I liked that. 

"What can I say? Not interested in Sophomores." 

Ren laughed. "Yeah. Don't blame you." 

We sat there quietly for a moment before Ren spoke again. "You know," he told me, dragging his words together. "We could dance." 

I shook my head and smiled. "In your dreams." 

Truly, it was in mine. 

Dawn and George left about an hour after that. Ren and I had taken to deciding the destinies of all the couples dancing. "The girl in the bright yellow dress is going to get divorced from her man in two years. They're going to have a child, but they only got married in the first place as a shotgun wedding." 

I nodded. "She looks like that kind of girl." 

David came over then. "I'm going to head out, guys," he told us. 

"Sounds good," Ren shrugged. 

David waved me goodbye and then headed straight for the door, seeming to want to get out of here as fast as possible. I'm not really surprised. He didn't seem too sold on coming in the first place anyway. 

"Well," I sighed, looking over at Ren. "I guess you're taking me home." 

He shrugged. "Whatever." 

We picked on a few more dates before we left two. It seemed like more and more people were leaving, and we didn't really want to be the last here or get stuck in traffic from all the kids getting kicked out. 

Ren pulled up to the curb at my house. "I uh-" he picked a piece of lint off of my dress before putting his eyes on mine. "I had fun tonight." 

I smiled. "I didn't have a horrible time." 

Which was true. I had a fantastic time. 

Ren smiled. "Goodnight, Millicent." My heart fluttered. 

The atmosphere in Ren's truck got thick, so I hopped out. "Night. Sleep well, loser." I stuck my tongue out at him but winked in a moment of bravery before darting towards her front door. 

I regret that wink so much. 

When I got up to my room, I unzipped my dress and slid on some shorts and a t-shirt and took off my makeup before crawling into bed. The darkness and quiet made me replay the night's events in my head. 

What would have happened if I said yes to dancing with Ren? 

Would we have kissed?