Wicca and Coley were inside still prepping, even after 6:30. The limousine is scheduled to pick us up at 7:00. Gustav and I went out for a smoke break. The night was silent. No crickets chirped and no mosquitoes benefited from Gus or I's bloodstreams due to the frost. A street light buzzed annoyingly halfway down the road and, aside from the moon and the stars, that was the only source of light. Soon, fire came into play. My prom date struck up a blunt and blew the smoke into the polluted Michigan environment.
"That smells like a skunk." I pointed out, but sort of enjoyed the scent. I always have. Nostrils are an oddity of mine.
"Come closer." He beckoned, motioning to me from five feet away and holding the pink crack lighter out to me. "I have another."
"Do you, now?" I messed with the love of my life.
"Do you want it?"
"Why not? It's prom night." I had missed out on the last chance at the bridge. The excuse was welcomed and I took the homemade drug and tool.
"Good girl." He patted my head. "I like to see you getting out of your comfort zone." I inhaled a drag and held it in my lungs for a good seven seconds before releasing it free. "Whatchu thinkin'?" Gustav directed at me.
"Nothing much." A calming sense washed over me.
"Nothing? I find that hard to believe." I barely heard his voice. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts. He's my first boyfriend but I'm not his first girlfriend. Who exactly is Layla and who was she to him? WHat about her caught his independent eye? Nobody had spoken much of this chick since the original plane ride.
"Who's Layla?"
"What?" Gus was taken aback and portrayed a look of confusion.
"You heard me."
"Layla Shapiro?"
"Sure, if that's the one you dated for several months."
"Where does this come from?" He panicked. "Are you mad at me?"
"No, no, just curious." I assured him and moved to assess my appearance in the reflective car window.
"How do you know about her?"
"I'll just say this; if there's ever something you don't want me to know about, you're going to have to stitch your friend's mouths shut." He exhaled and foggy, hazed breath came out into vision. I was freezing in this mesh-sleeved dress while awaiting the arrival of our chauffeur. I felt that this would be the wrong time to benefit from Gustav's body heat, so I said nothing. I shivered and my teeth clattered. Clenching my jaw, I pulled through the pain. The blunt had little effect on me, but the whites of the boy's eyes across from me were bloodshot and red. He didn't even have goosebumps from the weather.
"I would never hide anything from you. You're my other half, you're a part of our family. You have a right to know everything about my past, present, and future." He had been studying something out in the distance this whole conversation, but for a change, he locked his view with mine. Gustav pushed off the car, no longer leaning against it for support, and made his way in a bee-line to me. I met him halfway.
"Can you two uglies stop fucking each other in public?" Wicca yelled from the porch, sporting a tight tuxedo identical to my date's.
"We're just kissing."
"Well stop."
"Knock it off bro," Peep chimed in, "we know exactly what you two were doing in there."
"Oh yeah, what?" Wicca acted hard but Coley was about to lose her shit laughing while stationed beside her love interest. Finally, she burst.
"We were literally just looking at old family albums. Your girlfriend was so cute as a child. Clea, what happened?" I gave her the bird. Tires crunching along gravel at the end of my driveway caught all of our attention. The limo stopped and allowed us to climb in. Wicca and Coley ran down to where we were. Anxiety exploded in my chest for Coley, what if her heel snags on her dress hem and she falls? What if she breaks her ankle? What if--oh good, they got here safely.
"Are we picking the rest of them up?"Coley queried me before we ducked into the formal vehicle.
"Y'all are the last stop." A recognizable voice filtered into our eardrums from deep in the cavernous seating area. "We're on already." It was Mom...I mean, Lil Tracy. The four of us filed in and of course took Instagram worthy pictures. Our school prom is going to be lit and people are going to lose their minds. GothBoiClique is making an appearance, I would shit my pants to. Except I won't. . .because I'm dating one of the members and that would gross him out although he farts on me all of the time. Maybe it wouldn't scare him off.
When we arrived and stepped onto the concrete sidewalk in front of the towering host building students surrounded us celebrities. Reagan and Mint basked in the popularity. Everyone of us smiled widely to expose our pearly white teeth but Coley folded her arms in an irritated manor.
"Is it going to be like this all night?" She steamed.
"Who knows?" Wicca nudged her. "Just have fun, okay?" Her eyes rolled in her sockets but he fixed the attitude with a suckle on her neck.
"Fine." She finally stammered. We entered the elegant ball room linking our dates arms.
Coldhart and Horsehead had stayed home. Avery-Grace paired with Yunggoth, Wicca with Coley, Reagan with her "friend" Tracy, Mint with Wiggy, and me with Peep. Wiggy no longer seemed to mind the fact that Gustav and I had grown closer than he and I ever would. His eyes sparkled when he spoke of Mint and sparks fly int he sky when they are wrapped up in one another's electrifying company. I felt a pang of jealousy in my abdomen but it subsided at the thought of him moving on. I was happy for the young photographer.
Gustav looped his arm around my curvy figure and led me to the middle of the dance floor. We were joined by the rest of the present clique members and my girls. Instantly a slow song came through the stereos. Gus and I were drawn closer to each other as if gravity had us in iron chains. His hands traveled down to my waist and my fingers enfolded around the back of his neck. We were close, so close. I could feel his breath on my ear as our cheeks created friction between our touching skin. We danced so close . . . so intimate.
I felt a feeling I have never felt before; that's how I knew I'd fallen in love with Gustav Ahr.