Post Dance
November 1
"I'm sorry, Rhonda, if I'd know I was going to ruin it-"
"Relax, Sam, you didn't ruin it," Rhonda told her with an exasperated smile, as she helped the young woman out of the dress and placed it back on its hanger. "It just needs to be dry-cleaned and it'll be good as new."
"I'll pay for it," Sam assured her as she shrugged back into her t-shirt and jeans. "It's the least I can do after you lent it to me."
"Ah ah," the older woman grinned, shaking one finger in denial as she hung the dress on the back of her bedroom door. "No, you won't. The only payment I want is the story of how things went tonight - was it worth it?"
"Every second!" Spinning, Sam collapsed into one of the wicker chairs that was near Rhonda's vanity, propping her chin in her hand as she smiled at her friend.
"So you had a good time."
"Until my alarm went off. It had the worst timing."
With a laugh, Rhonda settled on the edge of her bed. "So, tell me about him; what was this secret admirer of yours like? Handsome?"
"And charming."
"A double threat."
"Triple," Sam corrected impishly. "He's romantic too."
There was a moment as the two shared a grin before Sam's smile started to fade - and Rhonda picked up on it immediately.
"So what's the problem? He wasn't what you expected?"
"Not in the slightest," settling back in her chair, Sam stared at the ceiling. "I don't know what I expected, but he sure wasn't it."
"The handsome, charming and romantic just aren't your type?"
Sam considered the comment. Nomad had been a poet, a very romantic and charming poet, so those traits hadn't come as a surprise. What had been a surprise was the package he'd been wrapped in. "No, not exactly," she didn't dare look at Rhonda. "More like who he turned out to be wasn't even remotely who I expected. Terry would have made more sense as Nomad than he did."
"So who was he?"
"Only the most popular guy in school," Sam covered her face with her hands and rubbed. "Austin Ames."
"The cat's meow, huh?" The name meant nothing to her as Rhonda moved to Sam's side. "Sit up Sam, you're smearing that stuff all over your face."
"Now you know why I never wear it."
"You don't need it either. So what's so great about this Austin Ames anyway?"
"Ugh," reluctantly, Sam pulled her hands away and sat forward as Rhonda prepared a cloth. "If you'd asked me that a week ago, I'd have told you nothing but being a glorified pain."
"Is he not very nice to you?"
Sam considered her answer. "He's fine; it's the people he hangs around with that are awful. His best friends and girl... ex-girlfriend delight in calling me 'Diner Girl', or they pick on Carter. Austin doesn't do anything to stop it, but I guess it says something that he never joins in."
"So on his own he's what?" Rhonda's tone turned teasing. "Handsome, charming and romantic?"
"Right." Rolling her eyes, Sam shook her head as she pulled another few pins from her hairdo. "Maybe to Cinderella-"
"Cinderella?"
"It's what Mrs. Wells called me at the dance and it's kinda stuck." Sam leaned back again to stare at the ceiling. "Anyway, when Austin's on his own and we've crossed paths, he's... polite. You know, like we are with strangers?"
"And you don't see anything that's so great in that."
"Other than the fact he's the quarterback for the two time state champion football team or that he's Student Body President? Not really. There's no way he could be the guy he was tonight all the time."
"Not if you don't give him a chance." Rhonda told her pointedly. "Did you vote for him?"
"Yeah," Closing her eyes, Sam submitted to Rhonda's cleansing routine. "But only because I liked his platform better than the other ones."
"And?"
"And he's proven he's someone who will follow through to the student body when he makes a promise. He took the team to state - and won - two years in a row."
"Was that something he promised in his campaign?"
"It was that or step down as team captain." Her voice was muffled as Rhonda rubbed at her lips to rid them of gloss.
"And you wanted the team to win state?"
"What? No, that was just an example! The teachers love him so his reforms to the school are easier obtained in ways that would have been impossible if we hadn't had someone the teachers couldn't resist in charge; plus he not only promised better cafeteria food, he delivered."
Laughing softly, Rhonda dropped the cloth to the side and reached for the cleanser to do the rest of Sam's face. "I have yet to hear any reason why you would vote for him."
"Better him than a techno geek who lives on another planet or a bimbo whose biggest campaign promise was to introduce a required scoped neckline policy."
"Ah, the best of the worst, is that it?"
"Something like that."
"Then what's with that sigh, Sam?"
"Nothing, I just... he's better off without me."
"What? Are you crazy?"
"I'm nothing like the girl he met tonight Rhonda; think about it. I wouldn't know how to do any of this without your help even if I wanted to. He's the most popular guy in school and I'm a nobody - he's rich, I'm not.... we have nothing in common."
"Which is why you've spent every night for the past two months glued to your computer screen when you were supposed to be sleeping? Just who do you think you're trying to fool?" Rhonda patter Sam's face dry and leaned back; she hadn't used much product - Sam didn't need it. "You two must have more in common than you think and tonight only proved it."
"I know what I have in common with Nomad - but Austin?" Sam shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, it's like something out of a dream - to think that he might want someone like me, but I know better. Deluding myself isn't going to change anything; but it was nice while it lasted."
The clock in Rhonda's main room sounded and Sam pushed wearily to her feet. "I'd better get home before Fiona notices I'm missing."
"She won't notice unless she needs something - and it's two in the morning. Even she knows you need your sleep if she wants to order you around effectively."
"Yeah, but if I'm missing when she finally calls for breakfast, they'll be hell to pay - especially once she realizes I no longer have my cell phone."
"What happened to it?"
"I must have dropped it at the dance; I'll check with the Hotel tomorrow, but it's more likely another student picked it up... or it was stepped on." Sam ran the brush Rhonda had lent her through her hair to rid it of some lingering curls. She didn't entirely succeed, but it was unlikely anyone would notice since they'd all be sleeping by the time she got home. "I'll see you at work tonight, Rhonda. Thanks again."
"I wish you'd rethink this, Sam." Rhonda moved with her to walk to the door; Sam had retrieved her car from the Diner and ferried a distraught Carter home to face his father - Carter's future was currently in limbo. "You're giving up on something before you even try."
"An impossible dream is still an impossible dream, Rhonda. Trust me, by Monday, Austin will have forgotten all about me and have moved on to the next interesting girl in his path."
Hugging the younger girl, Rhonda shook her head as she watched Sam head for her car, waiting until it was started and moving before closing her front door. Sam, she feared, had a lot to learn about men; the taste she'd given this Austin boy tonight wouldn't drive him away, but only fuel his interest. Without having given up her identity, Rhonda was certain Sam hadn't heard the last from his handsome, romantic and charming fellow.
She would bet on it.
