Westbury High School, 1961
"I swear to God, Darlene is gonna puke," Charlotte whispered in Louis's ear as he guided her around the dance floor at their high school prom. "Look how green she is."
Louis glanced at Darlene as she sat next to John, her arms folded and her head inclined away from him, a pout marring her face. "She looks okay to me. I guess she's jealous but that's all."
Charlotte giggled. "That's what I meant silly! She's green with envy. John's prom king and Rosalind is his queen."
Louis chuckled. "Well, she's only been seeing John for a couple of weeks. Most people probably thought he was still with Ros when they voted."
"Yeah, it was kinda awkward when the results were announced." She couldn't help thinking that if John and Rosalind had split up earlier in the year, she and Louis might have been in with a shot. They were a long-established couple at Westbury High, however, Charlotte suspected Louis would have refused to wear the crown. He'd probably have refused to attend the prom. She had another attack of giggles as she looked at John; he had a big grin on his face, the king's crown jauntily perched on his head. Luckily he seemed oblivious to his date Darlene's sour expression.
"Why did Ros even dump John in the first place?" Louis asked quietly as Rosalind passed them by with her dance partner Dale. She gave Charlotte the thumbs up, and she had to admit Ros made the perfect prom queen with her model figure and ready smile.
"I think Rosalind got bored of John," Charlotte said in a hushed tone. "She said he was too much like her dad." Louis spluttered. "I'm serious, he's going to work with her dad and she had an absolute fit when she found out." She felt a bit sorry for John, he was arrogant but he'd been trying to do the right thing, lining himself up with a job on the local housing project. "She said that there was no way she was going to settle for the life her mom had."
"I think she's a bitch," Louis said and for once Charlotte didn't jump to her friend's defence. "So that's why she's with Dale? Cos he's going places."
"It looks that way." She peeked at Dale over Louis's shoulder. With his clean-cut good looks and straight-A grades, she knew he'd make something of himself and Rosalind clearly felt the same. He'd never been part of their group - he was too clever by far - in a way she wondered what he saw in Ros beyond her good looks.
"Do you wanna go sit down?" Louis asked. "We're been dancing for ages."
"Okay." Charlotte knew she'd kept him on his feet long past his boredom threshold. "Let's go join John and Darlene." Louis gave her a 'do we have to?' look but she grabbed his hand leading the way.
"Hey," John said smiling as they sat down. "So what do you think of me being king of the prom?"
"I don't think there was ever any doubt that you'd win," Charlotte said and John basked in the compliment while Louis gently elbowed her.
"What I don't understand is how Rosalind is prom queen," Darlene said sourly. "I mean she's not even your girlfriend."
"People probably voted ages ago," Charlotte said quickly. "And I bet Dale's just as put out about it as you are."
"I doubt Dale wanted to be prom king." Darlene's mouth turned down making it obvious she had wanted to be prom queen.
"No, I meant Dale wouldn't have wanted Ros..." She stopped talking when it was clear Darlene was determined to sulk. "It doesn't matter. This is our prom and it might be the last time we're all together. We should be enjoying ourselves."
"Hear, hear," John said slurring as he held his drink up causing Charlotte to suspect he'd added a little something to it. "Who knows when we'll all get together again."
"Some of us won't be very far away," Darlene said inching closer to him, the smile back on her face. "You can count on me to stick around."
"Great," John said pulling a face at Louis. "I can always count on you, honey."
Darlene beamed at him, taking his words at face value. "Now Lottie, why'd you want to go to Ohio? Tell her she's being stupid, Louis."
Charlotte bristled. "Ohio State University accepted me, that's why I'm going there."
"But why go to college at all? I'm not, I'm gonna stay here and become a hairdresser."
Charlotte couldn't help rolling her eyes. "I don't think it's as easy as you make out. You need more than a pair of scissors to be a hairdresser."
"Yeah but Ohio! You'll get lonely."
"No, I won't, Judy's going there as well. I'll have some company." That ought to shut Darlene up, Judy was one of her best friends.
"Judy's an idiot," Darlene said. "She's gonna throw away her relationship with Brad. He'll soon forget about her once she's out of town."
"I won't forget about Lottie though," Louis said and Charlotte leant over to kiss him, grateful for his intervention.
"Urgh you guys make me sick," Darlene said scowling. "Johnny, why don't you give me some attention like that?"
John grimaced at her. "Okay, how about a dance?" He stood up and Darlene got to her feet, smoothing her dress down.
Charlotte gasped as saw the dress in all its glory. She hadn't particularly paid attention to the white heart-shaped bodice when seated, but the puffed-out skirt made the dress look positively bridal. It was pretty obvious where Darlene was setting her sights.
"Nice dress," Louis snickered once John and Darlene were out of hearing.
"Isn't it?" Charlotte paused for a moment. "But I'm glad she's gone, she was going on a bit."
Louis cleared his throat. "I've gotta confession to make. I don't want you to go to college."
Charlotte's heart sank. "Louis we've been through this." How many more angst-ridden conversations did they have to have?
"Yeah, I know," he murmured looking sheepish. "I'm not being fair."
"No, you're not." She crossed her arms giving away her displeasure. "I'll be back by Christmas, the time will fly by." She took a deep breath and forced a smile onto her face. "Besides, absence makes the heart grow stronger."
"Yeah, tell me that when you're dating some hot guy at college," Louis said and for all she thought he was teasing her there was a definite edge to his voice.
"I imagine I'll be snowed under with essays and stuff," she said lightly. "You're the one who's going to be fighting the girls off."
"No, I'll probably be working all hours," he said referring to his engineering apprenticeship. "I won't have the time. But if you're not planning to date anyone, why do want us to keep our options open? It seems kinda dumb to me."
Charlotte chewed her bottom lip, mulling it over for what had to be the hundredth time. "We've been together for ages and I want to keep it that way. I just think if we put what might be unrealistic expectations on each other then we'll be more likely to split up."
"I dunno, I think seeing other people-"
"We don't have to see other people," Charlotte said quickly. "I'm just saying, say you got talking to a girl or went on a double date as a favour to a friend, I shouldn't see it as a big deal and vice versa." She looked over at Judy and Brad. "Like Darlene was saying, we all know the minute Judy goes to college Brad will have some other girl in the back of his car."
"You don't know that," Louis said but doubt entered his voice.
"Yeah, I do cos Judy's placing all these demands on him to be one hundred per cent faithful. She's setting him up for failure."
"I'm not Brad though," Louis said his brows furrowing.
"Thank heavens for that," Charlotte said with a laugh trying to diffuse the tension. "Now we've got the whole summer ahead of us. Let's just enjoy it and by the time I'm heading off to college you'll probably be glad to see the back of me!"
Louis shook his head, his eyes meeting hers. "That'll never happen."
I hope not, she thought feeling torn. I hope to God I'm not making the biggest mistake of my life here.
~~~