Ava's POV:
Ben was the one who suggested it. I couldn’t imagine Ben wanting to go to any school event. He always dodges it as if it’ll give him so sort of disease if he goes.
“What are we all talking about?” Trevon came with Mina in his arms. I know what they did. Earlier, Trevon received a message from Mina, and he practically threw himself out of the car while it was moving. Judging from how both of them had chapsticks on their lips. They probably came back from a makeout session somewhere in the school.
“We’re talking about the winter dance,” Mary responds. “Are you two going together?”
“Of course,” Trevon responds. He looks at Mina, “We are going together, right?” I blame myself for my twin low self-esteem.
“Of course, we are! You’re my boyfriend. Who else am I supposed to go with? The English teacher?” I’m slightly thankful that Mina became Trevon’s girlfriend. When Maeve was his girlfriend, all she did was boss him around and stepped on his already low self-esteem as if he’s lucky to have her - a woman with a child whose father is in prison.
“Well, you can’t. That’s illegal,” Trevon responds. That’s such a Trevon thing to say. Even while Mina is sarcastic, he couldn’t catch on.
We all exhale dramatically.
“Did I say something wrong?”
Mina pouts, “I can’t even be mad at you.” She crosses her arms and stomps her foot. I can see why Luke fell for her. Mina has this appeal to her, one where people tend to become comfortable.
“Wait. Why would you be angry?” Trevon asks. “Did I do something wrong?”
We all exhale dramatically again.
Among the conversational exchange, I witnessed Winnie and her little crew waltz through the hallway. Her eyes met mine momentarily, but she didn’t acknowledge me. I can see her eyes flicker towards Ben, but instantly, she avoids him.
Landon and few guys flock towards Winnie. He said something into her ears, and she laughs. Not too long after, they disappeared around the corner.
I glance at Ben, who stared at the corner. His head dropped down, and his lips twisted to its side. His hands formed small fists, but it flattens.
There was something in his silence, a pain behind it. I watched. I watched Ben’s eyes. Then I knew. The exhaustion was apparent. His dark bags couldn’t be hidden underneath the thick glasses. The laughter from earlier was nothing more than a shield. He’s scared. He’s scared that this is his life, a lonely and desperate one.
He breathed in real slow, attempting to pull back the explosion.
I should know.
I understand the bitter pain of unrequited love.
“You know what? That sounds good,” I said.
“What sounds good?” Mary question.
“I thought about it. Why don’t all of us go together? Dates are overrated.”
I don’t want Ben to go through the same pain I did. To sit there, and wonder - just when - just when will their hearts change. The answer is: it never does. Because you can’t force someone to change who they love or who they are. They change because they want to change.
You can’t rescue someone from a hole if they refuse to grab the rope. At the end of the day, you’ll only be tired of waiting.
I looked at Ben and winked.
Ben smiles softly.
In the end, the six of us decided to go together despite Trevon’s disapproval.
Trevon pouts in the car. He glances at me before resuming his sight on the road and pout once more.
“Get over it.”
“My first dance with a girlfriend and I have to go with my sister!” He threw an arm up, “How else am I supposed to feel?”
“Grateful.”
“Pardon?”
“Think about it, Trevon. For the past seventeen years, you have never had a girlfriend. Now, some sucker is willing to be with you without someone putting her at gunpoint.”
“Pardon?” He sounds offended.
“Which means she went into this relationship willing. She is okay with her involvement with a guy who pops his buttne-”
He points a stern finger at me, “Mom told you never to mention that.”
Trevon pops his butt acne - buttne - every Friday night.
I accidentally walked in on him once.
It wasn’t pretty.
I place two hands in the air, “My main point is-”
“This better be good, or else I’m going to kick you out of the car,” he threatens.
“My main point is since we’re going as a group, you don’t have to worry about several things. Such as how you’ll be under Mina’s dad investigation.”
“Wait. What? I have to meet him...again?”
“I mean, you do know if you two go together. You have to pick Mina up, and you have to see Mina’s dad again.”
Trevon hands tighten on the wheel, “S-So what? I can handle him.” What a lousy liar.
“Of course, you also have to rent out a limo.”
“A limo?”
“You don’t know? Limo is a must for dances!” I shook my head, “Mina would’ve been disappointed by your lack of plans.”
“Disappointed?”
“But, at least you thought of the corset.”
He parks in front of our house, “C-C...C-Corset?”
“Yeah.”
The sweats lurk down Trevon’s forehead. He swallows, “Of course, I thought of all those things!” Liar. He didn’t even know about the winter dance until this morning. “You’re the one who ruined my plans. Suggesting we all go together and whatnot.” He got out of the car.
“Yeah,” I said while sitting in the car. “My fault.”
More days passed by, and life only got more pleasant.
Inside the classroom, I settled my books down and exhaled softly.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a part-time job. I tried to apply for alot of places, but they told me they only need weekday workers. I promised my parents I would only work weekends.
They want me to focus on school and not worry about finances.
I exhaled softly and stared at the ceiling.
“What’s wrong?”
I look to my right to see Shelbie, a girl from cheer, settled down. We have a history class together.
“I’m trying to find a job, but-”
“No luck?”
I nod slowly, “Economy sure is tough.”
“Well, if you want, maybe I can introduce you to one.”
“You can?” By now, I’ll take anything I can grab.
She nods, “How do you feel about children?”
“I love them.” Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but I don’t dislike them.
Shelbie chuckles, “Well, my auntie says she knows this family that needs a babysitter. I would’ve taken the job but with everything going on. I can’t fit it in my schedule. The pay is decent, and it’s on the weekend.”
“And the family?”
“My auntie says the family is great. The dad only needs someone to watch his boys while he does some business for a few hours.”
“I’ll take it.” I stood up and embrace her, “Thanks, Shelbie!”
“No problem.” She returns my embracement. “Now, I need to know. What’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been distant to all the girls, and well, shit has been going on. Winnie is acting like you’re dead,” she whispers.
I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, “It’s nothing serious. I just want to spend some more time with my brother. You know we haven’t been spending time since high school started and...well, I feel bad. He’s family, you know.”
“And Winnie?”
“Things between Winnie and me had been rough.”
Shelbie looks around the classroom before she scooted closer to me. I lean inward, “Between you and me. I’m worried about Winnie.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Av, I saw Winnie taking pills inside the locker room and trust me, it’s not birth control.”
My brows inches together, “You mean...popping pills?”
She nods, “I was worried about her, so I followed her after school and-” her eyes went around the classroom to ensure no one listened to us, “there’s this guy in front of her house.”
“What about the guy?”
“The man slapped her.”
“What?”
Shelbie frowns, “He even grabbed her hair and dragged her into the house. When she screamed, he slapped her again.” Shelbie grabbed her arms and shuddered, “It was so scary.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“Yeah.”
I exhale lightly, “I’ll try talking to her. Mind keeping this on the down-low?”
Shelbie smiles, “If I didn’t want to keep this a secret. Why would I go to you?”
“How do you know I wouldn’t tell anyone else?”
“A few months ago, you might’ve.” That statement made me speechless. “But, now, no. You won’t.”
Shelbie and I weren’t close even though we’re on the same team. We would talk, but it’s mostly gossip. I’m surprised she had this side to her.
“Why didn’t we talk more?” I ask.
“We do. We talk alot of shit.”
“I mean, talk about things that aren’t shitty.”
Shelbie took a few blinks before she looks up at the ceiling. “I don’t know.” Her eyes went back to me, “But, we can now. Better late than never, right?”
I smile, “Yeah.”
Throughout history class, my mind fasts forward in time. What happened to Shelbie Xiong?
Shelbie and I were never closed in high school, but we kept touched on social media.
The last photo I remembered from Shelbie was when she had her second daughter.
Shelbie moved out of state after high school. After she graduated from college, she got married. I think she married a plumber.
I remembered because I was envious of her whenever I saw her on social media. She rarely posted pictures, but whenever she does, she looks extremely happy.
What a pleasant future awaits Shelbie Xiong.