Ch. 2- Day One- The Winter Formal
"Hey, are you okay?"
Cate was slumped on the asphalt, crying. She looked up to see who was talking to her. Just her luck: it was her crush Nate Bazile, noticing Cate for the first time during the most humiliating moment of her life.
All she'd wanted was to be alone for a minute. Frankie Palladino—who had given her a rose when he asked her to the dance two weeks ago—had ditched Cate because she wouldn't give him a blow job in the school parking lot while everyone else was distracted by the arrival of the MEDEVAC helicopter. They'd gone back inside and danced once or twice, but she could feel the tension in Frankie's shoulders. He was pissed.
The more Frankie acted ticked off, the madder Cate got. Eventually, she told him, "If you're going to be like this about it, I'm glad I didn't do anything with you!"
"Whatever, ice princess. I'm out of here." And he'd just left her standing there in her stupid, long, satiny blue dress—the same dress that was probably getting ruined, because she was sitting on the ground in the parking lot.
Cate wiped her eyes and looked up to see Nate Bazile looking at her. He had a bottle in his hand Is that Zima? and the Spin Doctors' "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" was playing on the tape deck of his van.
"It's cold out here. Come on," he said, taking her hand and leading Cate into the van. He slammed the door shut behind them, opened a clear bottle and handed it to her. She sipped the Zima and made a face.
"Here, I've heard it makes it taste better," he said, unwrapping a Jolly Rancher and slipping in mouth of her bottle.
"God knows it couldn't hurt," she said, dryly.
Baze laughed. "That's funny." I didn't know Cate could be funny. Usually he just annoyed the hell of out him and made him want to pull his hair out.
At his laugh, Cate glowed. She loved Nate Bazile. She tried not to—knew she shouldn't— but she couldn't help it. Of course, everyone loved Nate Bazile. Despite the trouble he got into, teachers and the principal adored him. The student body worshipped him, including her own little sister. And yet, Cate was supposed to be smarter than that. He was just some shallow pretty boy who never seemed to care about anything. Hell, his date to the dance had been MEDEVACed to the hospital for a stomach pumping, and instead of being by her side, Nate Bazile was drinking in the parking lot with Cate.
Yes, he was handsome: he had an athletic build, thick brown hair, and a contagious smile, but he was unsuitable for her. Cate had been sure he would never notice her, anyway. To remind herself that Nate was off limits, she picked fights. In classes, she would correct his answers to teachers. They were both on student council (Baze due to popularity, and Cate because her classmates realized someone had to do the work), and she routinely called him on his lack of effort toward achieving class and council goals.
Basically, she annoyed him enough to sabotage her chances with him. Cate had never realized that she'd had a chance—never realized that she was pretty, with her shiny brown hair and eyes. But now, they were alone. There were no classmates around to see them, or remind them of who they were supposed to be. Right now, they were two people commiserating over lost dates.
"How'd you lose your date?" Baze asked.
Cate blushed up to the roots of her hair. She couldn't bring herself to admit that she'd been dumped over fellatio, yet for some reason, she couldn't lie to Baze, either. "Um, he wanted to…go faster than I did."
He nodded. Of course he wanted to go faster. We always want to go faster. Too bad Palladino had to be a dick about it. I mean, does he really think girls go for that? Baze wondered.
"Sorry he was such a jerk," Baze said. "God, like I'm one to talk. I got my date so drunk that she's off getting her stomach pumped."
Kate had to stop herself from making the usual knee-jerk criticism of Baze. He was beating himself up enough for both of them. "What happened?"
"I didn't realize she hadn't eaten anything," Baze said, staring at the upholstery on the van floor. "I guess she'd been starving herself to fit in that stupid dress. And the paramedics found diet pills in her purse. I swear, I didn't know."
He looked really upset, and she reached out to take his hand. When she did, she felt a spark. Both of their eyes popped open in surprise. There had always been tension between them, but before now it had always manifested as bickering annoyance. He was a dumb jock. She was a goody-two-shoes geek. And yet, when they touched…
The music shifted to Two Princes, and as the drumbeat rolled, suddenly Cate and Baze were all over each other. For once, Cate's too-loud brain shut up. She wasn't worried about the future, or whether this was a smart decision. For once, Nate's brain shut up, too. He didn't wonder what his friends would think of this, or how his Dad would react.
All either of them could think about was how good it felt too be kissing each other, touching each other. All they could think about was how to get free of the clothing that was keeping too much of their skin apart.
AN- Sometimes I accidentally call Nate Bazile "Ryan." Oops. Let me know if I miss any. More on the night of the winter formal, or should I skip ahead to when Cate realized she was pregnant? Let me know.