The Promenade Interrogative Expression

Would you care to dance? Spoiler alert for episode 8.08

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Leonard was surprised by the request. It wasn't often that his mother seemed to be caught in a position where political correctness and some form of public relations mattered to her in the least little bit.

Beverly continued her request. "Leonard Dear, it really should be no great feat… All you have to do is put on a tuxedo and escort Professor Denicious' niece to a formal gathering".

Leonard was still not quite sure, but he had some inkling of a reason for the request. "Mother, are you asking me to take Dr. Denicious' niece to her prom because he is editing the chapter of your most recent book and the print date will need to be pushed back if he doesn't do it soon?"

Beverly sighed. "Leonard is it necessary to overstate the need for the input of the editing committee? Quite frankly, I would think that the conclusions I have made should be self-evident".

Leonard smiled. "Be that as it may, don't you think I'm a little old to be taking a seventeen year old girl to her prom?"

Beverly was now bordering on the dismissive tone and nature Leonard was more accustomed to. "Leonard… your physical stature should fit in quite nicely with the adolescent crowd at the gathering. I might even go as far as to say that they would not notice in the least that you are four or five years their senior".

Leonard could see that he was losing this particular discussion. "Fine mother… what is her name again?"

Beverly smiled, knowing full well that this exercise was clearly coming to an end. "I believe her name is Tammy… You should get along fine… I have been told that she fancies herself as being into the sciences. Her uncle has made some off handed reference to her quest to study water purification systems at the local Environmental College after she graduates".

Penny was sitting at her usual Lunch table with some of the other cheer leading squad. "Hey did any of you guys hear the rumor that Tammy is coming to the prom with a college guy?"

Kim smiled. "Yeah… she wanted to go with T.J. but he somehow is taking Anna Mae".

Cheryl laughed. "That's what I heard!... Apparently T.J was out with some of the other guys from the football team and they were pretty wasted. He came out of the bathroom and he ran right into her. She was so surprised that the captain of the football team was there, she was speechless."

Kim continued. "Yeah, she couldn't say anything because he knocked her over and then when he grabbed her to stop falling, he pretty much copped a feel… with both hands… and both boobs…"

Cheryl finished. "Yeah, after that, he asked if she was busy… and she said she was free for the prom…"

Penny was laughing by this time. "WOW... I'll bet Tammy was pretty upset. She was pretty sure they were going to be a thing… So you guys going with the usuals?"

Cheryl smiled. "Yup… Curtis".

Kim shrugged. "I guess. Donnie again. No doubt you're going with Kurt".

Penny smiled. "Yeah… he's such a pain these days… he thinks he's gonna get some offer from some schools in LA… and he's always looking at the other girls… But you can't argue with those arms".

Cheryl laughed. "Arms… sure…but I'll bet you're more interested in his thighs…"

Kim smiled and pointed out her tongue. "You mean what's between his thighs!"

Penny inhaled quickly. "You guys are gross!"

Cheryl turned to go. "Yeah we are… you don't have anything to worry about… Kurt's really into you".

Kim quickly got up and followed Cheryl. "Yeah he is!" She turned and winked at Penny.

Penny threw the balled up napkin she had at her friends. "GROSS!"

Leonard knew that his mother was well aware of his difficulty around girls. It's not that he had a fear of them, he was just self-conscious and uncomfortable around girls that he had nothing in common with. He was hesitantly hopeful about Tammy. If she was truly into environmental issues, it could turn out to be an interesting night. Hopefully, the other girls in her party would also be science nerds and then the night would be turn out to be comfortable.

Leonard drove up to Tammy's house and wasn't sure that he was ready for what he saw. The assembled crowd was not exactly what he was expecting. The guys all seemed to be big, muscular and quite a bit more athletic than you would expect for a typical bunch of geeks.

Leonard got out of his car and Tammy's mother came rushing over. Leonard stood and smoothed out his tuxedo and tried to look a lot less nervous than he really was. "You must be Leonard… it's so nice to meet you… Tammy…. Your date's here".

Tammy came over trying to look more friendly than she really was. She had hoped that her "College" date would be more the type that her friends would be jealous of… especially the guys. "Hiiii….Leonarrrrd….." Tammy took his arm and walked him over to the other couple trying to look as proud as possible. "Guys… this is Leonard… He's a Physics major at college."

Leonard just smiled. "Actually…, Applied Physics…" The other guys just looked back like Leonard was speaking another language.

Tammy tried to smile. "Leonard this is Kim and Donnie". Kim looked wide eyed and Donnie just said. "Bro". Tammy smiled. "This is Cheryl and Curtis". Cheryl smiled and giggled. Curtis tried to fist pump. "Dude". Leonard returned the fist pump. Tammy smirked back at Cheryl. "This is Anna Mae and T.J." Anna Mae tried to smile. It looked to Leonard that she had already been drinking. T.J. just nodded in response. Tammy gave a little harrumph to Anna Mae. "And, this is Penny and Kurt". Penny looked at Leonard and noticed that he looked so much more polished in his Tuxedo than the other guys. His jacket was buttoned, his black tie was just so. As he looked out from behind his black rimmed glasses, she could see the most beautiful brown eyes. And he had the softest looking curls of his wavy brown hair at the back of his neck. The other guys had short buzz cuts or hair that was long like T.J. Penny just smiled and stumbled out "H.. Hi?" Kurt just chuckled. "Sup little man?"

Leonard didn't register what Kurt had said to him. He was far too taken by Kurt's blonde haired, green eyed beautiful date. She was wearing a gorgeous red gown that hugged her curves perfectly and was obviously not wearing a bra. Leonard thought he felt a little ashamed and looked quickly away.

It wasn't long before a limo came to pick them up. During the drive over to the Hall, Kurt broke out the flask of bourbon he had with him and passed it around. Anna Mae was more than willing to partake in the festivities. All the girls took a sip and the guys took down more. When the flask made it around to Leonard, He smiled, held it in the air and said "Skoll"! He took a sip and coughed then passed it along the line.

Kurt laughed. "A little too much for you little guy?"

Penny poked Kurt in the ribs. "Kurt…. Be nice".

Kurt smiled over to Leonard, and ruffled his hair. "Aww… I am being nice…. Aren't I little buddy?"

Leonard just smiled in return and looked away when he saw Penny looking at him a little ashamed at how her date was treating Leonard.

When they got to the hall, everyone took their seats at a big round table. Penny was seats on the other side of the table from Leonard. He could steal a look at her as he pretended to follow the conversation from one person to another. Leonard was more than a little uncomfortable in this group. He decided that he should try to get into a conversation. "So… Tammy… I was told that you were interested in the environment?"

Tammy looked at him like he was crazy. Not knowing what he was talking about.

Leonard suddenly could feel himself getting warm. He was probably blushing from nervousness. He could feel sweat starting to trail down his back. "I was told that you had an interest in water purification systems?" Penny, Cheryl and Kim immediately broke out laughing.

Cheryl stopped first. "Who told you about that?"

Kim was next. "Oh my god… I almost forgot about that…."

Tammy was turning a shade of red both from embarrassment and anger for Leonard bring it up.

Cheryl laughed. Tammy thought that you could turn urine into drinking water…"

Leonard looked around trying to fix the situation. 'Well, if you use reverse osmosis…."

Kim broke in… "Reverse nothing… Tammy was using pantyhose!"

The guys all broke out laughing and slapped the table. Penny could not help herself. She tried to be nice, but it really was too funny. "Guys… be nice… that was a long time ago in Girl Scouts…"

Tammy immediately got up and left the table. Everyone seemed to settle down a bit. Leonard felt terrible and seemed to collapse into himself not saying much from that time on. After a while, Leonard excused himself from the table to get some punch. Anna Mae was being fed more liquor and she was obviously getting more and more drunk. T.J started to make eyes at Penny. He had thought that he would hook up with her some time. After all, all the cheerleaders were after him. Penny noticed that T.J. was not paying any attention to Anna Mae anymore. Kurt started to look around at the other couples in the room.

Anna Mae looked terrible and Penny thought that she should help Anna to the bathroom. They made it to the bathroom just in time before Anna Mae started to throw up. One of the chaperones followed Penny into the bathroom and took Anna Mae.

Penny came out of the bathroom to find T.J. waiting. "T.J. … Anna Mae is REALLY sick, I think you should call her parents or take her home. T.J. leaned in to kiss penny and held her close. Penny was taken completely by surprise and melted into his arms.

Leonard had gotten a glass of punch and was walking around the hall looking for Tammy so he could apologize to her. He saw all the kids dancing and having a good time. He thought that he would have liked to dance. He wasn't a good dancer, he could barely dance to slow dances. Still… he thought it would be fun. He hadn't danced at his own prom. He thought how it would have been nice to ask Penny if she would dance with him. Of course he also thought that she would most certainly turn him down, especially considering she was with Kurt. And most probably, if she didn't turn him down, Kurt would probably kill him.

Leonard saw Donnie and Kim dancing close. He saw Curtis and Cheryl standing in the corner kissing. He thought he saw Kurt talking to a girl he didn't know and then they went into one of the girls rooms. As he turned, he saw Penny and T.J. It occurred to him that this was just what went on at his own prom. He was left to wander alone trying to find some friends to talk to. He decided to just go out into the courtyard to get some air.

T.J. thought that this was his chance. Penny was one of the most popular girls in school, and from what Kurt had said she was wonderful in bed. T.J. slipped one of his hands into Penny's dress. Penny immediately shook her head and stepped back slapping T.J. across the face.

Penny then went into the nearest girls room to get away and fix her makeup. As she stood in front of the mirror she could hear the telltale sounds of someone getting it on in one of the stalls. Penny was both curious and ashamed to be there. She tried to leave quietly as she heard the girl call out, "Oh Kurt". Penny didn't want to believe what she had heard. She walked over to the stall and pushed open the door to find her date with his pants down and bent over a girl with her gown pulled up. The girl turner her face toward Penny and when she saw her standing there, she smiled widely.

Penny couldn't believe who she saw. "Valeri? Kurt… you sonofaBITCH!"

Kurt immediately stood up and saw Penny run out of the bathroom. He called after her. "Babe… Wait"

Valeri Masbacher grabbed Kurt before he could get his pants up and pulled him in for a deep kiss.

Penny went into the hall and saw all the kids dancing and having a good time. She just wanted to die. She was so humiliated. The only thing she wanted to do was leave the prom. The night was a disaster. Penny opened the nearest door and walked outside into the courtyard. The cool air felt good. She took a deep breath and sat on one of the benches, put her head in her hands and cried.

Leonard was walking around just thinking of how he was going to get away from the prom and to his car so he could put this night out of his mind. He soon came across Penny as she was sitting on the bench. Leonard sat quietly beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Penny? Is it? Are you okay?"

Penny looked up into those deep brown eyes she had seen earlier in the evening. "Oh … Hi… yeah… no… I'm okay…"

Leonard looked surprised at her answer, "Well, I'm not sure, but I don't think those are tears of joy".

Penny smiled and sniffled. "I must look terrible".

Leonard took the handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Penny. "Actually, you are beautiful".

Penny smiled and giggled through another sniffle. "Yeah sure … you probably say that to all the crying girls."

Leonard scooched a little closer. "C'mon, it can't be that bad".

Penny leaned into his hold. "Oh really? Well… let's see… One of my friends was throwing up and taken away by a chaperone… I was accosted by the captain of the football team… so he'll probably try to ruin what little reputation I have left for rejecting him… and I caught my date DOING the head cheerleader in the girls room. Yeah… sure… you're right… it can't be that bad".

Leonard tried not to be amused by what he just heard. "Well… when you put it that way…."

Penny sat up and looked into Leonard's eyes. "What about your night?"

Leonard chuckled. "Well, it was certainly more interesting than any I would have planned for myself."

Penny looked on interested. "Really?"

Leonard sighed. "Yeah… I had a date with a girl I didn't know, set up by my mother for the expressed reason to further her next publication…. I was thrust into an evening where I was part of a party made up of hulking specimens of man flesh more than happy to have me the butt of their jokes, not the least of whom happens to be your date, and young beautiful women…. Neither of which I usually find myself around. I then manage to embarrass my date to the point she leaves. I then find myself seemingly adrift in a sea of adolescent frivolity without a way to go home."

Penny giggled. "Yeah… we have had one heck of a night, It's too bad the theme of this night is forget me not… because this is certainly a night I could easily forget… Except for you…"

Leonard looked over. "Really?"

Penny smiled shyly. "Sure… You look really nice in that tuxedo. It fits you so well. And you just look more… I don't know… mature than the guys I usually hang out with."

Leonard almost blushed. "Thank you… like I said…. You are beautiful… I'm not sure if they voted yet… so I elect you queen of the Prom."

Penny smiled…. "That's sweet…. Thanks." Penny then listened to the music from inside the hall. "Say… do you want to dance?"

Leonard was surprised at the question. It was like a dream come true. "Well… I'm not really that good a dancer".

Penny stood and took his hand. "Well, then it's a good thing then they are playing a slow song". The two then went into the hall and faced each other. Penny put both hands on Leonard's chest and smiled into his eyes. Leonard smiled back and placed his hands on Penny's hips. Penny leaned into his hold and they swayed more than danced to the music. They stayed like that for two additional dances, much to the dismay of the others in their party. Kurt was kept at bay by Valeri. Cheryl and Kim were just a bit jealous. Tammy had gotten together with T.J.

After the dance, Penny and Leonard decided to walk to Tammy's house to pick up his car. Along the way, Penny had started to get a chill. Leonard immediately took off his jacked and placed it around Penny's shoulders. Penny smiled into his eyes "Such chivalry…" Penny then say deeply into his eyes. She suddenly felt a chill up her spine that was not due to the cool evening.

Leonard looked into the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. By pure impulse, Leonard did something that he would never have thought he would do to such a beautiful girl. He leaned in and kissed Penny tenderly on the lips. Penny was not surprised. She had been hoping for a moment like this from the instant they were introduced. Penny put her arms around Leonard's neck and returned the kiss. Maybe this night was something to remember after all.