We always listened with rapt attention to those invites. Even the teachers seemed to enjoy the show put on by some of the funniest and most talented students as they would ask their crush to the dance. And of course, everyone was on pins and needles to find out if the person would say yes.
It was the Friday before prom, and Nicki and I hadn’t made plans to go. I shrugged it off. I mean, it was just a stupid dance after all. Nicki wasn’t out to the school, so I hadn’t wanted to make a big deal of it.
Prom invites were the last item of the lunch hour, and the DJ would always make a big production, teasing out who the big invite of the day would be.
That day, there were more than the normal number of prom invites, since it was the last chance anyone would have to extend an invitation. Nicki had excused himself to go to the restroom after he ate, and I was finishing my lunch when the announcements started. I was listening just like everyone else around us, only to realize the normal DJ had been replaced by Vinnie Avery. I’d felt the blood drain from my face. I was putting on a good act at school, but Vinnie was still able to hit me where it hurt.
“Hey there, Akron High School! This is Vinnie Avery with your invitedu jourfor prom! We all know this is the last chance for all those wallflowers out there to have any kind of social life this year! So hold onto your hats as we begin the Loser’s Awards for Worst Possible Date for the Prom!”
A lot of kids tittered and laughed. I glanced around and realized there weren’t any adults in sight in the lunchroom. Ofcourse, Vinnie would take this one chance to humiliate people even more. I ducked my head, just wishing that the moment was over and we could go back to important things. Like comic books.
“We all knowthisLoser who shared how gross he is with the whole ninth grade history class!” It felt like my stomach dropped to my feet. Oh no,please, not again. But Vinnie began re-reading the note he had sent me, listing off all my negative traits.
“So—the winner for Worst Possible Date for the Prom goes to—” There was a piercing squeal and I saw my brother, Bishop, standing next to the PA booth.
“Oops! Did I do that?” He asked, smiling around the cafeteria innocently, the power plug to the PA system in his hand.
I saw Vinnie standing inside the glass booth, and I could distantly hear him yelling at Bishop while yanking at the door that, coincidentally, seemed to be stuck shut…
Then I heard the sound of the piano playing from the corner of the lunchroom. Some seniors from the arts and drama group walking down the main aisle of the lunchroom, grouped around someone in the middle, hiding them from sight as they began humming. They were humming a tune, and I realized after a moment it was a popular love song, but with a twist... We all watched with rapt attention as they completed some choreographed moves, just as they got to the chorus the singers spread out and we were able to see the person in the middle.
“‘…cause you’re amazing… just the way you are.”
I froze in my seat, chocolate milk clutched in my hand, as I realized the singer in the middle of them, dressed in a tux and holding a bouquet of red roses, was Nicki.
MyNicki.
I had been dumbstruck. I literally couldn’t think, or move, or say anything as the group had finished their song, and Nicki had knelt down in front of me.
“Kaine Devereaux, youareamazing, just the way you are. Would you go to prom with me?”
All I could do was nod frantically, and then he was kissing me. The cafeteria erupted into cheers and catcalls. I felt like I was in an eighties rom com.
I’d found out later that Nicki had overheard Vinnie and his friends talking about his plans to humiliate me in front of the whole school. Nicki had some friends in the choir group and they had concocted the whole plan with Bishop’s help.
The three of us had been inseparable before Vinnie had come along, and we’d expected to have the same friendships again our sophomore year, even planning out our schedules so we could all three maximize our school time together. Then Bishop had started dating a senior and made the last-minute decision to switch to taking more fine arts classes. That had left Nicki and I together.
“Well?” he demanded.
I grumbled. Bishop was good at making me admit hard truths, whether I wanted to, or not.
“I don’t know!” I lied. He glared at me until I huffed. “Okay, fine! The Nicki we knew wouldn’t have. At least, I didn’t think he would. But he stilldid!”
I stood abruptly and started pacing. I could feel my anxiety ratcheting up, my heart racing, my breathing coming in angry pants.Fuck!
“I can’t let him do it again, Bishop! I can’t! I’ve fought too long, too hard to get over him to go through it all again!” I said emphatically. “I can’t let him hurt me again. I’moverhim!”
Bishop looked up at me calmly. I really hated when he pulled this Zen “nothing-you-can-say-will-rattle-me” crap.
“Areyou?” he asked.
“Am Iwhat?!” I exclaimed as I continued pacing. I really wanted to punch something right now.
“Over him?” he asked.
I froze in my tracks and just stared at my brother.What? Ofcourse,I was over him! It had been almost six years!
“What are the symptoms of abandonment issues, Kaine?” he asked.
