ORIGINALLY WRITTEN: OCTOBER 18TH, 2016
CHAPTER THIRTY
The Fall Formal is a dance I've always looked forward to. I don't remember a year when I dreaded it. And that's because there hasn't been a year where I've dreaded going until now. Griffyn was the only thing that made the dance fun.
The Fall Formal is lame. That's the simplest way to put it. The school supplies us with too many chaperones and a really crappy DJ, but I've never really cared because Griff has always gone with me to lighten the mood.
Whether it was him dancing idiotically to an awful song to get me to laugh or him singing a slow song to me as we danced when things were heading towards maybe being awkward, he never failed to entertain me.
The Fall Formal was just our thing.
So for me to be walking into the decorated gym alone, without Griffyn by my side...
"Hey, you got this. We're going to have fun tonight." Carolina tells me, appearing at my side. Wes stands beside her, looking really put together and a bit nervous.
"Stop acting like we're actually going to stick together. You know you'll just ditch me whenever the first slow song comes on and you probably won't come back."
Carolina grins at me. "Yeah, sorry. But hopefully Parker and Parker will stay to keep you company."
I snort remembering earlier tonight when we were getting ready at Carolina's. Parker's date showed up and I had to answer the door since Carolina was still applying makeup and Park was having trouble with the straps of her heels. When Parker's date introduced himself as Parker, I thought it was some sort of strange joke and started laughing at him.
That's how Park found me; laughing at her date, whom she confirmed was also named Parker, which just made me laugh even harder. Her face had turned a deep shade of red as she apologized to him for my rudeness and she practically ran out the door with him in tow.
So I highly doubt she's going to keep me company tonight, especially with her date around, because of the embarrassment I caused her.
It's probably for the best I suppose, because if I were to see them together now, I'd probably start laughing all over again.
Carolina leaves my side a few minutes later when a slow song comes on, confirming my assumption about her keeping me company.
I sigh and make my way to the punch table to fix myself a cup. I sip from it as I watch students wander around the gym doing various things. Some are stuffing their faces while others are disappearing to the corners and hallways for scandalous activities, and the kids with actual, real dates are the ones out on the dance floor. I happen to fit into the weird-stalker category where people sip punch from cups and people watch.
Great. Thank you, Mom, for making me come to this dance. It was totally worth my time and money.
By the time the slow song ends, I've people-watched enough to be fairly certain Alesha and Griff haven't shown up yet.
At least, I hope that's what the case is.
My stomach clenches as I imagine a scenario in which they're one of the couples who've migrated to corners and hallways to make out heavily without adult supervision.
Suddenly, my vision blacks out as something is placed over my eyes. "Guess who," is whispered in my ear.
I can't help the amused smile that makes it's way onto my face. "I know it's you, Griff."
He removes his hands from my eyes and I'm greeted with the gift of sight again. He circles from where he was behind me and gives me a grin.
I try to grin back, but I'm too busy staring at him.
Damn, does he clean up well.
His waves are styled as usual, but paired with a tux, they look even more dashing than they normally do. Somehow, his grey eyes are standing out even in the dim light of the gym and his eyelashes look even longer. It's not fair.
"You smell good," is all I manage to say. It's true. He smells slightly like cinnamon, which is heavenly, but that didn't mean I needed to say it. Cue the embarrassment.
Griff laughs. "Thank you, I tried." Another slow song must've started up because many couples start migrating towards the dance floor once again, but I can't hear anything other than Griffyn's voice. "Hey, do you want to dance?"
I don't hesitate to nod.
He takes my hand and leads me out onto the dance floor. Coincidentally, we stop near where Carolina and Wes are dancing. Carolina sees the two of us and instead of giving me a simple thumbs up, she makes an inappropriate gesture, causing me to blush and laugh lightly.
Griff places his hands on my hips and I lock mine around his neck. It's slightly more awkward this year for me to do so because I'm aware of my feelings for him, but he seems to be comfortable and confident as usual.
It's not too far into the song when he pulls me even closer, then starts singing, starting to fill the tradition. He doesn't know half the words so pretty soon he stops before he has me laughing so hard I can't stand any longer.
"Hey," Griff says.
"Hi," I respond.
Griff smirks shifting his hands around on my waist as we sway. The butterflies in my stomach have yet to decrease.
"Where's Alesha?" I ask, bringing her up finally. The fact that I haven't seen her yet has been nagging me.
"I don't know," Griff says, shocking me.
"How do you not know? She's your date!"
Griff shakes his head and smiles at me. "No, you're my date."
"What?"
"Alesha felt guilty for asking me to the dance and I didn't want to break our tradition. Mutual agreement was for just going separate," Griff states like it's nothing. "I mean, come on. I can't just go with you every year since I was a sophomore and then not take you my senior year."
I nod, feeling like a charity case because of the way he put it. "Glad you felt guilty enough to take me."
Griff's mouth hangs open like a fish. "That's not what I meant! Carson, I meant that I wanted to go with you. Since the beginning. I made a mistake by saying yes to Alesha in the first place."
Feeling slightly better, I just lean my head against his shoulder as he leads us in circles for the remainder of the song.
Once the slow song finally comes to an end, we back away from each other almost reluctantly.
"Punch?" Griff asks me.
I nod in response and we head to the punch table where Wes is standing, sipping from his own cup.
"Yo, Wes!" Griff greets as we fill our own cups full of punch. "Did I just see you slow dancing with Carolina?"
Wes gives Griff a nervous half-smile. "Yeah, sure did."
"Dude, how could you not tell me?"
Giving Griffyn a knowing stare, Wes says, "You would've given me crap, nonstop if I'd have told you."
Griff shrugs. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Besides, I really like her and I didn't want to take the chance of rumors spreading and ruining any shot I had with her," Wes explains.
Griff raises his eyebrows at Wes, clearly surprised. "Wow, she's got you whipped." When Wes nods, Griff sends me brief glance, grinning. When he returns his attention to Wes, he says, "Don't worry. I think I am too. Or pretty close to it, anyway."
What?
My heart speeds up involuntarily. Was he just joking or did he mean that about me? Could he really mean me? Is he... into me?
Whoa, calm down there, Carson. You're probably just over exaggerating, I think to myself, willing my heart to slow down to a normal rate. Griff jokes like that all the time. He's a flirt.
Wes smirks and nods. "Oh, you're there alright."
What?
There my heart goes again.
Griff ends up driving me home after the dance.
After the perfect dance that ended up being everything I imagined it would be. Griffyn proceeded to carry on the tradition of dancing at every single terrible pop song the DJ played and made me laugh more than ever. He danced with me every song, refusing everyone else who asked him to dance because he said it was his senior year and he wasn't going to waste a single dance with me. And when I brought up that I'd be a senior next year and would be able to invite him back to the dance as my date, he'd waved me off and continued to dance with me.
Griff pulls into my driveway and parks the truck. He starts to get out, and helps me out even though he doesn't need to since we're neighbors, and walks me to my front door.
He stops at my door and before I can reach for my door handle, he says, "Tonight was fun."
I nod. "Yeah it was. Best night ever."
Griff doesn't nod, doesn't agree; just stares at me. He starts to edge back shifting on his feet, which I take as a hint that he wants to leave.
I ignore the tug of disappointment in my gut and reach for the handle of my front door.
Why'd I expect him to kiss me goodnight? He obviously just wants to stay friends or else he would've made a move by now. I gave him plenty of chances at the dance and he's had a few chances in the past few minutes on my doorstep. So if he hasn't kissed me already, then it's become pretty obvious to me that he won't ever.
"Well, goodnight," I say, sounding kind of bitter to my own ears. I turn my back on him and try to unlock my front door as quickly as possible before the tears start to fall.
Griff mumbles something behind me, causing me to pause with the keys.
"What?" I ask, still refusing to turn around, my voice wobbly with held back emotion. "I couldn't hear you."
"I said 'Not yet.'" Griff speaks up from behind me. "It hasn't been the best night ever just yet."
I frown and turn around, only to come face to face with Griffyn. He stares down at me for only a fraction of a second before dipping down to capture my lips with his.
Shock causes me to freeze for a moment, but when he kisses me more forcefully, I'm finally able to respond. He a hand on my hip and another he buries in my hair, giving me enough courage to place my hands on his chest.
The pressure of his lips on mine sends me into a frenzy and I'm suddenly buzzing everywhere, my mind going in a thousand different directions. The butterflies in my stomach increase to a point where my whole body aches.
We kiss until we're breathless and even then, we both seem reluctant to break away from each other.
"That was..." I gasp, leaning my forehead into his shoulder.
"Amazing," Griff finishes for me, seeming more breathless now than he gets during any of his baseball games.
I can't help but grin into his shoulder.
"Carson, I really like you. I have for a while but I've been such a coward and couldn't work up the courage to tell you. I figured we'd be better as friends. It wasn't until I almost lost you as a friend that I realized that I would be miserable without you and that maybe, just maybe, we'd work out better as... more than friends."
I pull back from his shoulder and look up at him in awe. He's liked me for a while now? So what he was saying to Wes in the gym was about me...
"Wait," I say. I can't think straight. "You're saying... you're, like, mine now? Like my boyfriend?"
Griff chuckles, amused. "I just said that. But if you want confirmation... Yes, Carson. I'm yours. I've always been yours."
the end
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