Page 22 of Once Bitten

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, come on, you’ve been gagging for it all night! I thought you’d be glad I brought you here for this. How did you THINK this night was going to end?”

I just stared at him with my mouth open. He was...I mean, I’d seen and heard him be a jerk in the past, to his sister, to his parents, even to people at school, but it was always mostly just some harmless ribbing. I’d never seen him like this.

He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a flask and took a sip. The smell of scotch filled the car as he breathed.

“Take me home, Finn.” It wasn’t a suggestion out of concern for him now. Now I just had to get away from him.

“Whatever. I didn’t want to spend tonight with you anyway. Heather and my parents ganged up on me to ask you.”

The bombshell dropped, and exploded my heart into a million pieces.

“What did you say?”

“I said – Heather told my parents you didn’t have a date and she was sooo desperate for you to come that she made a deal with my parents that they’d give me my car back if I took you to prom.” He shrugged his shoulders as if it wasn’t any big deal that he had shattered me with his words.

“I can’t believe it.”

“Nothing not to believe, it’s what it is.”

I turned to him and watched his profile slide into a cold hard distant mask. “You bastard.”

He snickered and turned to me, “You didn’t REALLY think that I wanted to go with YOU, did you? We hardly even know each other.”

I shook my head, I didn’t recognize this asshole, this hurtful jerk in front of me, and I had to get far, far away from him.

“What about-“

“What about what?” He asked, sounding like he didn’t care either way.

What about the things you said when we were sitting on the bench, my soul cried out to him in my head.

“What happened to you, Finn?”

“Nothing happened, it’s Prom night. I wanted to have a little fun, but I didn’t realize what a party pooper, you are.

My bad. I’ll just take you home and find my fun somewhere else,” he said staring straight out into the night, not even caring to look at me.

That was the last I could take.

I pushed open the door and climbed out of the car.

“You are a fucking bastard. You ruined EVERYTHING! I NEVER want to see you again!” I screamed at him through the open car door.

“That’s NOT going to be a problem!” He snickered

I slammed the car door shut and he skidded off, leaving me standing in the dust cloud, holding my shoes, crumpled prom dress dragging in the dirt.