Chapter 21 – The Annual Day of Dread

Six months had flown past since the best day of my life – New Years day, the day Jill and I shared our first kiss. And these last months had been without a doubt, the best months I'd ever experienced. My grades at school were consistently above average, the bullies had picked on other people rather than me, my music creations were progressing well, and most significantly, Jill and I were officially an item. The whole school knew we were together and miraculously Jill hadn't lost any friends as a consequence. We seemed to have the balance right between spending equal amounts of time with our friends (or friend, singular, in my case) and with each other. Yes, I was still timid and reserved, but I was no longer depressed and sorrowful. My mom was obviously still terminally ill and that hadn't changed, but Jill with her uniquely outward perspective on life had counselled and prepared me for when the inevitable day of her passing arrives. These days were blissfully spent, and I have only Jill to appreciate for it, but I'm still in the dark about why Jill is with me, after all, what is it that I bring to the table in our relationship?

The summer vacation was quickly approaching and every year there was always one last hurdle to wade through before school closed for the long summer break - Prom. There was a month's build up of sickening public shows of affection and "promposals" where everyone was trying to outdo each other. It was bad enough that this was one of the loneliest times of the year for losers like me, but it was also rubbed in my face at an intensified frequency the closer it got to Prom night. The irony is of course is that even if someone asked me to the Prom (even Jill), I'd most likely say no – it's definitely not my thing.

Walking back home after spending the middle of the day hanging out with Andy playing video games, I glanced up breaking my thoughts away from the upcoming prom, and saw that the clouds above had thickened unusually quickly; they appeared to be moving at an unnaturally rapid pace towards me. Rolling thunder sounded in the far distance from the direction of my house. Speeding up my walking to a jog, it now felt an urgency to get home before the vicious looking storm hit, but only seconds later, the heavens opened up in a fury of belting wind and stinging rain. Heavy droplets of rain soaked me thoroughly within a few seconds but I pushed harder and broke into a run.

Finally reaching my house, I rushed to the shelter under the front covered porch and almost tripped over a parcel that had been left at the front of the door, just out of reach of the pouring rain. The impromptu maneuver, to avoid tripping over the parcel, sent me sliding on my wet shoes on the slippery painted floorboards before landing painfully on my backside. I cursed sharply and glanced over at the wrapped parcel that sat innocently undisturbed next to me.

The box had been wrapped in plain brown paper and was bound together by light brown string that had a little tag attached to it that simply said.

To J, open with care.

I collected the surprisingly light parcel and carefully stood up before walking into the house fully drenched from the rain. After removing my wet shoes and socks and leaving them messily at the front door, I bolted with the parcel concealed under my arm, past my mom who sat in the lounge, and through upstairs to the upper level.

Heavy rain continually battered the roof and pelted at the window pane, sounding as if multiple pairs of hands were tapping furiously at the glass.

My wet clothes that clung tightly to my body felt nice and cool against the built up heat on the first floor of the house.

Not bothering to change out of the wet clothes, I hastily, but carefully, untied the string that held the parcel together and removed the stiff wrapping paper. Underneath the brown paper, another box revealed itself.

The inner box appeared to be wooden and was lacquered in a pristine pearly white paint. The latch mechanism on top, that kept the lid securely closed, had been sealed shut by a plain red circular wax stamp, and surrounding the latch were gold letters that adorned the message:

To Jill

Someone must have dropped this to me by mistake thinking that this was Jill's place.

Seeing as I was already soaking wet, I collected Jill's gift and headed back downstairs and paused momentarily at the front door. Debating with myself whether or not to put my wet socks and shoes back on before deciding on the latter option, I sprinted across the street to Jill's place.

At the front door, Jill's dad greeted me rather shortly and stared at me with his usual discerning look that always made me feel uncomfortable. He called for Jill to come down, before abruptly turning and walking away without saying another word.

"Don't mind him," Jill reassuringly said after she shut the door behind herself and stood outside under the small covered awning which protected us from the harsh storm. "But you probably shouldn't come inside – you're absolutely soaked!"

"I've just come to give you this..." I said as I handed the gift to Jill and realized that I'd forgotten to wrap the brown paper back over it. "It was left at my front door, but it's addressed to you but it doesn't say who it's from..."

"Oh, okay Jake. Well I might as well open it now I guess?" Jill replied and in a split second later, she had fiercely broken the wax seal and had opened the lid.

"Jake – are you sure you don't know who it's from?" she said as she peered at the contents of the present with a huge smirk on her face.

"Nope, wouldn't have a clue." I replied eagerly trying to spot a glance inside the box. "But why do you ask? What's inside?"

"Have a look for yourself, Jake." she said tilting the opening of the box towards me and spinning it around.

The box appeared to be empty. I leaned forward for a better look and then I saw it. Contrasting against the black interior of the box were the words written in pearly white:

Jill,

We have so much fun together. Would you like to go to the prom with me?

Jake.

"This was not me –" I started.

"Of course Jake!" Jill shrieked with excitement, completely ignorant of what I had just tried to say.

"Um, I mean I didn't –" But my protest fell on deaf ears.

"Jake! I would love to go to the prom with you!"

"Okay, um… great…?"

"I was getting a little worried you weren't going to ask me… I mean prom is this week after all!"

Jill nudged me lightly and winked brashly.

I didn't know what to say – I stood there confused, but very had every reason to believe Jill had just set me up.

"Ha ha, Jill I know it was you that –"

"I'm not sure what you mean…" Jill interrupted strongly. She gazed down at her feet and shifted her weight from one foot to the other as if she was cutely hiding something.

I caved into her cute game. "Um okay, I guess I'll pick you up at…?" I asked drawing out the last word, fishing for Jill to complete the sentence.

"Err, seven o'clock this Saturday?" she replied, sounding as though she was slightly caught off guard.

"Cool, I'll see you then, err, then." I replied awkwardly, sheepishly avoiding eye contact with her and brushing my sodden hair once again off my forehead.

"Great!" Jill nodded smiling with a kind of mischievous look that glimmered in her eye.

"Okay, well, I better be, um, going now I guess." I yawned unintentionally before turning around and walking off in a daze and back into the falling sheets of water.

The rain hit me like a brick wall the moment I stepped out of the cover of the entrance way, but I didn't feel any urgency to run back home. However I did feel Jill's roguish eyes tingle on the back of my neck, daring me to turn around, but I didn't indulge in Jill's cute little game as I knew without a doubt, that she had just set me up, and I had easily fallen for her trick and now I would be, in a weeks' time, going to the prom with her.

God she's clever I thought as I walked casually across the wet street and back into my house.

The next week came to an end and as the prom fever reached its peak, so did my anxiety levels. My only calming factor through the came in the way of Jill's reassuring voice. Attending prom this year would be a milestone for me; after all, I still struggled with large crowds, but struggled a lot more with large crowds that were excessively loud. And this year's prom advertising flyers and posters that had been plastered around the school suggested that a famous DJ was going to be there providing the music. I had to prepare myself.

It was early Saturday evening on the day of the prom, and I had noticed Jill's friends being dropped off by their parents over the course of the afternoon as they converged at her house to get ready for the biggest night of their lives. There must've been at least fifteen girls that had been dropped off so far but I eventually lost count as I dragged my feet around my room in a nervous wreck.

"Bro, it's going to be all good," Andy mentioned from the corner of my bedroom as he sat in a bean bag in his cheesy looking tuxedo while strumming my guitar casually.

Andy had come for lunch and after we had pigged out on pizza, which was a rare treat, we got prepared for the prom in my room.

"You're not seriously wearing that are you?" I mockingly replied standing in front of the mirror correcting my hair. "You know what you look like in your black and white striped tuxedo? – a walking jail!"

"Well it's sure as hell better than what you're wearing!" Andy fired back. "I can't even see you in all your dark emo colors!"

"It's all I've got so I don't really have any other choice, I cannot justify buying a suit for this one stupid night," I replied sharply. "Besides, this is me, black jeans and a black collared shirt."

Andy's phone croaked with a new message. "Lucy just texted, she says we can come over in like ten minutes."

Thumping bass started booming loudly from across the road and Andy got up off the bean bag and walked to the window where we both peered out to see what the sudden commotion was about. Through the large lounge windows of Jill's house, we could see a group of girls dancing around in their shiny and colorful prom dresses.

"Ha ha look at them go!" Andy hooted.

I scanned the packed lounge but I couldn't spot Jill.

A long white Hummer limo that looked like an enormous sausage dog rolled to a stop outside the partying house.

Jill's parents were kind enough to pay for the limo hire for the night, and although the girls were meeting their dates at the venue, Andy and I were allowed to ride shotgun in the limo, separated from the girls of course. This was a small sacrifice because the only alternative was to drive my mom's embarrassingly old and shitty 1984 Toyota Celica as Andy was banned from driving his parent's car.

One of the dancing girls spotted the limo and alerted the others and within a few seconds, they all let out loud shrieking screams of excitement.

"Come on man, let's head over!" Andy said, itching to leave.

We collected our essentials and headed downstairs and through the lounge, where my mom mentioned in passing how lovely we looked and mumbled something about me looking like my father. I ignored her comment and gave her a quick peck on her forehead before Andy and I headed out the front door and to the waiting limo.

"Wow this thing is MASSIVE!" Andy shouted out with an ungoverned enthusiasm as he cupped his hands to the tinted windows and peered in. "They've got like a fifty inch TV in there! And these rims they must be like 24 inches!"

The thumping music abruptly stopped and the front door of Jill's house burst open; a rush of teenage girls ran out screaming in a parade of smacking heels and colorful dresses. A middle section of the side of the limo broke away and lifted into the air, pivoting around the roof like gull wing door; it looked like it would be more suited on a space ship than on a limo.

"WOW!" Andy exclaimed biting his fist.

The girls started piling into the limo eagerly, one by one.

Lucy tapped Andy on his shoulder with a frustrated expression on her sunken fair freckled face.

He turned around, his smile quickly disappeared and his jaw dropped open at the sight of Lucy, but I couldn't tell if it was because of the way Lucy was dressed in her dark navy dress or if it was because he was in trouble for paying the limo more attention than he did to her. I guessed it was the latter.

"Lucy, you look stunning!" Andy said grovelling slightly.

"Well, you look nice Andy, but you kind of look like the Hamburglar in that suit," she scoffed eyeing Andy up and down, frowning.

I snickered loudly at Lucy's hilarious comment, but she then glared at me with her piercing eyes.

"At least he's wearing a suit, Jacob." she snarled.

Andy starting smiled mockingly at me, while Lucy had her back turned him, but Lucy must have eyes in the back of her head, because without even looking back at Andy, she slapped him in his chest as she turned and strutted off into the limo.

"Man, she's one hell of a woman!" Andy said dreamily.

"She sure is," I chuckled.

My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. It was Jill.

Jill: I'm having a bit of a wardrobe malfunction, but nothing major. Please tell the others to go otherwise they're going to be late. You should go too, have a nice ride in the limo!

Me: I will tell the others, but I will wait for you.

"Jill and I are going a bit later," I said to Andy as I slipped the phone back into my pocket. "But she has just text to say that you guys should leave now."

"You're still coming in the limo though right?" Andy replied keenly.

"No, but that's okay." I said pushing Andy to the front of the limo. "You have fun."

"Okay man," he replied shrugging before opening the front limo door and stepping inside. "See you at the prom."

I walked around the front of the limo and informed the driver that they were all ready to go, and with that, the doors clicked shut, muffling out the girls shrieking, and the Hummer grumbled away down the road and out of sight.

"Jacob!" a raised but formal voice said from the entrance door, striking my attention. It was Jill's dad. "Come inside son."

He ushered me inside and into the lounge where we both sat opposite each other on the micro-fiber sofas. He stared at me sternly and rubbed his chin as though he was attempting to read my thoughts and intentions.

"So Jacob, tell me, what do you expect from Jill tonight?" he asked, his voice perfectly composed.

"Just to have some fun, dancing and socializing I guess." I replied as confident and as respectful as possible.

Narrowing his eyes, he hardened his gaze at me. I'd never felt so uncomfortable in my life.

Where is Jill? How long is she going to be?

Suddenly, as though he had found what he'd been looking for, his overly discerning look softened and he glanced down at my shirt.

"Do you have a suit son?" he asked with a lightened tone.

"No, um, this is the best I've got, sorry." I replied a little discouraged.

"Tell you what Jacob, you can wear one of my blazers," he insisted as he raised himself off the chair. "Hmm, yes, I think grey would suit what you're wearing... I'll be back shortly." He nodded at himself approvingly and walked away. A minute later he returned holding a grey blazer and gestured me to stand up and turn around; he slipped the jacket over my arms and up to my shoulders before spinning me around again to face him. "It's a little big, but it's passable."

"Thank you," I replied graciously.

"I'm not doing it for you son, I'm doing it for my daughter… I want her date to look good, for her."

"Okay, she's ready!" Jill's mom shouted from the stairs above.

Mr Rothwell and I eagerly walked over to the stair landing and waited.

My heart thudded irregularly in my chest and a ringing developed in my ears. The room suddenly felt cramped.

I had to remember to breath. Anxiously, but patiently, I waited for Jill to walk down in her prom dress.

"Hi Jacob!" Jill's sweet voice echoed from the top of the stairs.

"Hi Jill!" I replied hastily cocking my head around to catch an impossible glimpse.

From where I was standing, I could only see the bottom half of the staircase through the balustrade. And the first I saw of Jill as she silently approached the halfway point of the stairs was her flat-soled pearly white shoes that curled with her toes as she took her next step.

Then the bottom half of the dress that went up to her waist revealed itself to be as pearly white as the shoes, but sparkled with a million crystals that were scattered randomly around the prestigious fabric of the swaying dress. The bodice was unveiled to be a creamy white floral-laced chiffon, formal and elegant with a hint of hipster – perfectly Jill.

Jill's beautiful face came into view and she had the biggest smile I'd ever seen. She had, thankfully, hardly any make up on – she didn't need any anyway. Her ash blonde hair was partially tied up in a wispy bun; perfectly formed plaits embellished the middle of her head, and curved licks of hair fell along side her slightly rosy cheeks.

"Hi, Jacob." Jill said with a beaming smile, but I hadn't registered that she was now suddenly standing in front of me. "Jacob?"

"Sorry. I was just taken aback by how um, beautiful you look." I replied almost gasping for breath.

"Thank you Jake. You look beautiful too," she said slowly. "Nice jacket." She then turned to her dad who was gazing at her with an utter look of ill-realization that she was not a child anymore. "Hi dad. Can we please borrow the car?"

"Sure, here you go," he stammered without a hint of hesitation, pulling the keys from his pocket and placing them into Jill's outstretched palm. "Drive safe, and be home at a reasonable hour."

"Thank you guys, we'll be safe." Jill replied hastily.

"Have a good time my sweetie," Mrs Rothwell said quickly, kissing Jill lightly on her cheek.

I followed closely behind Jill as we entered the garage where two cars sat, a small blue BMW 3-series and a white Chrysler SRT8. Both were late model cars and either of them would be more than adequate to take to the prom, but Jill headed straight for the Chrysler.

After climbing carefully into the cream-colored leather seat, Jill started the motor, burbling its eight cylinders to life. She was clearly in a rush as she reversed out of the driveway and down the road all before I could manage to click my seat belt in.

Jill intensively concentrated on the road as she sped towards the proms venue at the Old Town Hall that was situated on the outskirts of the town.

"Sorry Jake, hope my driving is okay... I don't normally speed like this." she said with her eyes locked on the road ahead of us.

"No it's all good," I replied suppressing the joyous feeling of freedom that currently surged through me.

What felt like a short time later, we arrived at the prom venue where Jill steered the car into a reserved parking spot which was at the bottom of the steps that lead up to the Hall's grand entrance. I jerked forward, then backwards suddenly, as Jill braked hard and the car squealed to an abrupt stop. She turned to me and smirked cheekily. "We've made it!" And with that said, we both hopped out of the Chrysler and jogged up the fountain of concrete steps.

I gazed up and couldn't fathom how such a huge brick building was built to such a high level of detail so many decades ago. The orange brick building had been used as a venue for weddings and proms for the last century but prior to that, according to the school history lessons, it was used as a meeting point for the Town's elite.

One of the school teachers stood by the huge front wooden double doors to usher us into the lobby area beyond where couple photos were being taken.

"You're just in time," Mr Porter said looking up from the view finder of the camera that sat on a tripod after he'd just taken a picture of another prom couple. "Come over and stand over here where the feet marks are on the ground."

"This is why I was in a hurry Jake – I didn't want to miss out on our picture," Jill whispered as we stepped up to the markers on the ground. I cocked my head around and saw that the back drop was a huge fairy light wall that spanned almost the entire length of the lobby.

"Okay ready, in three, two, and one –" the teacher bellowed out from behind the camera. And just before the picture was taken, Jill leaned into me, wrapped her arms around my waist and dug her finger into the side of my ribs in an attempt to make me laugh. It worked.

"All these portraits are being printed out and posted on the first wall on your left when you walk into the main hall. Here are a couple of tokens each. Write on the blue token who you want to win prom king; the pink one is for prom queen. Then place your token into the box underneath the pictures and during the night they will be tallied up and the winners will be announced before the formal dancing begins. Good luck you two." Mr Porter nodded kindly, unscrewed the camera from the tripod then strolled over to the other teacher who stood by the front door.

I glanced worryingly at Jill and sighed deeply as I prepared myself for the crowded room ahead of us.

"You'll be okay," Jill said grabbing my hand. "Come on"

We walked through the swing doors and into the main hall.

Concrete pillars outlined the room and they extended up all the way to the top of the ceiling some twenty feet high.; maroon tapestry hung between the gaps between the stone columns. A sea of round tables and seats that were covered with white linen were spread out across the entire hall except for areas at the front and rear of the room that had been left open. There was a raised stage at the front of the room where large speakers and an unoccupied DJ desk sat. Pop music played quietly in the back ground from numerous speakers that were positioned around the hall.

"Jill!" A girl shrieked loudly above the murmuring discussions from around the other tables, "We're over here!"

We sat down at the one of the round tables with some of Jill's friends. Not really knowing any of them, I struggled to strike up any conversation over the course of dinner and as the night progressed into the dancing and socializing stages, I well and truly felt out of my depth. The music progressively thumped more intensely in my brain and the urges to escape and run out of the building got stronger as the night wore on. I was almost at my tipping point.

"Hey Jake, how are you doing?" Jill asked as she came back to our table from the dance floor sipping on her bottle of water. She and her friends had been dancing for the last hour and she had worked up a bit of a sweat. Jill never asked me to dance with her, she knew it wasn't my thing; she was so understanding, but I felt as though I had let her down and I couldn't help but wonder yet again why she was with me.

Glancing away from her in self-disappointment, I peered up along the surface of the sculptured pillars. "Not so good, feeling trapped."

"That's okay, did you want to go outside and get some fresh air?" she asked placing the now empty water bottle on the table.

I nodded.

Jill grasped my hand tightly and we walked outside to the rear of the building to the manicured gardens that were lit up by thoughtfully placed spot lights. A moon-lit large field stretched out about a hundred yards into the distance and beyond that appeared to be the bordering forest.

"Is this better for you?" she asked caringly, turning to look at me with her sincere crystal eyes.

"Much better thank you." I sighed in relief. "It's beautiful out here."

"Yeah it's very nice..." Jill trailed off unexpectedly falling into a deep thought.

"What's on your mind, Jill?" I asked.

"I've got an idea – follow me" she replied suddenly, grabbing my hand and pulling me into a light jog.

I chuckled out loud. "Where're we going?"

"We've got to be quick otherwise one of the teachers will spot us."

We ran out past the open field hand in hand and into the woods, stopping just within the shadows under the trees. The bass still thumped from across the field but the Hall's thick walls managed to subdue most of it.

Jill glanced back at the Old Town Hall. "No one can see us now, but where was that path?" she trailed off again glancing around the darkness with her arms outstretched trying to find something. "Ah here it is!" she said in excitement as she stretched out and grabbed my hand; pulling me deeper into the woods Jill placed my hand on what felt like a steel wire.

"What are we touching?" I asked concernedly.

"It's an old wire fence, it leads to a special place." she replied looking back at me; only her white teeth were marginally visible through the thick layer of darkness.

After following the wire fence in almost pitch blackness for about ten minutes, we slowed our pace and I peered through the tree trunks in the near distance where I could see a soft glow of light.

"And we're here, but careful Jake, there's a bit of a sudden drop beyond the rocks." Jill mentioned as the ground underneath our feet turned from dirt to stone.

I breathed in deep and took in the spectacular surroundings as we broke past the darkness of the tree tops and out into a moon-lit opening. We stood on a large smooth flat rock in a small clearing that bordered what appeared to be a small cliff. A fig tree clung to the side of the rock and partially sheltered the open area. To my left, the town's lights shone a warm golden yellow and to my upper right, the stars gleamed vividly against their black canvas.

"This place is amazing!" I gasped to Jill. "How did you find it?"

"Well, when we first moved here, my dad took us around the town for a history lesson and one of the points of interest was this place. I was bored so I wondered off and found this fence and from the old aerial photos that were displayed in the Hall, it showed a cliff nearby with clearing. So I just wondered along the fence and it lead me here. It's stunning during the day, you can see the sweeping forest hills for miles, but at night it's something else. It's breathtaking."

Jill lowered herself until she lay on her back on the stone – I did the same and lay next to her rubbing my arm up against hers. We stared up at the moon and stars above us for what seemed like hours, talking about our childhoods and what we hoped for our futures. It all seemed so surreal.

Our childhoods were eerily similar and although we seemed to both want the same things for our futures, like to get married and have a family, Jill also really loved to help others. She shared with me how she would spend her Christmas holidays in the hospital cheering up sick kids and the elderly, and Thanks Giving was spent feeding the homeless. She labelled it soul-enriching and suggested that I should try it one day. I consoled in her as I opened up about my struggles with my mom's illness and how my life felt stagnant and without purpose until she came into my life. We pondered for while in silence, then all of sudden, Jill rolled on top of me.

"What are you…?" I started, but Jill hushed me before sensually pinning her index finger on my lips.

"Shh… Quiet," she whispered as if she had heard someone close by.

But then she relaxed and lowered her upper body placing her petite weight on top of me. Softly, she pressed her lips against mine. We kissed gently and slowly at first but an overwhelming urge progressively flooded my bodily chemicals as Jill slowly writhed voluptuously on top of me, our kisses becoming strong and indulgent. By this point we were both heavily aroused, but then Jill unexpectedly pulled away from me and rested on her knees over my legs.

Her demeanor had all of a sudden dropped.

"What's wrong?" I asked worryingly. "We don't have to do anything tonight if you don't want to."

Jill looked at me with an angst I'd never seen on her before. She remained silent.

"There is no rush," I added. "No rush at all."

"We should go back," she insisted in a joyless voice as she raised herself off my lap. "It's probably really late, people will probably start noticing we're not there."

"Okay…" I replied standing up hastily. "Please tell me what's wrong though."

Jill turned cold and headed into the forest with me closely behind. We followed along the wire fence much more quickly than before and stumbled over the exposed roots more frequently before we managed to get to the open field at the rear of the Old Town Hall, where Jill suddenly broke out into a frantic run with her dress frittering behind her. I gave chase and half way across the moon-lit field, I managed to sprint past her where I then turned and held my hands up grabbing her tightly by the shoulders and slowing her down to a stop.

"Please – stop – Jill –" I panted. "Please – what – is – going on?"

"I'm – I'm – going…" she started between gasps.

"You – know – you – can – tell – me!" My panting subsided to a heavy breathing.

"I'm… I'm – going away – overseas, for six months." Jill stuttered between breaths, her face was ill-stricken with worry.

"Oh." I replied taken aback and stunned, feeling my heart sink deep into my stomach as a huge dread descended on me. "Where… Where are you going?"

"Syria." she replied flatly. "In the Middle East"

"Syria – why would you be going to dangerous place like that?" I asked releasing Jill from my grip and turning back to head to the Hall in a dazed, staggered walk.

I gazed senselessly through the Hall windows and realized that the place was now empty and all its lights had been turned off. The prom had concluded, but that was the least of my worries.

"My parents signed up for the 'Doctors Without Borders Organisation'" Jill rasped and cleared her throat. "And they really needed help in one of the refugee camps."

"Can't you stay behind?" I questioned assertively. "I mean, they're putting you at risk!"

"I wish I could, but I'm torn. I want to stay with you, but I know there are kids there that also need my help Jake, I'm really sorry." she paused as we approached the rear door of the Hall. "Six months is a long time, but at least there's an end date to look forward to."

"When did you find out this was going to happen?" I sniffled suppressing the flood of tears. "And when are you leaving?"

"Um we leave on Monday…" Jill hesitated briefly "…and my parents told me about the plan a week ago."

"…A week ago! Why didn't you tell me?" I protested, clearly upset. The world around me began to spin.

"…Because I wanted us to enjoy tonight." she replied in tears. "Now everyone's gone and we're both upset."

We lumbered our way around to the front of the building and down the grand stairs to the car in a numb silence.

"There you two are!" a familiar voice broke out through the still night air. "I've had to stay behind because of you two!"

I turned around and saw Mr Henry standing at the left of the base of the stairs. Too wrapped up in our dire sadness, we hadn't seen him on our way past.

"Sorry sir" I replied autonomously. "We were just…."

"It's okay Jake, you two drive back home safely and have a good summer break." Mr Henry smirked and walked off towards the car park further down the road.

The drive home was the most awkward moment I'd ever endured. Being angry at Jill was pushed aside by the overwhelming woefulness that stirred within me at the thought of not seeing her for the next six months. Sure, it was only six months but any amount of time away from Jill felt like a state of perpetuity.

Half way home and absorbed in my cauldron of thoughts, I had stared out the side mirror at a pair of trailing lights and became suspicious of this vehicle as it had seemingly followed us from near the prom venue; but my suspicion quickly waned as it was engulfed with thoughts full of angst about the next couple of days when Jill would be departing.

We finally got to our dimly lit street and Jill pulled the car into her driveway. As we waited for the automatic garage door to open, I turned my gaze around back to the street just in time to see it. The ominous, long black, fully tinted car that had haunted me in the past rolled slowly past Jill's house as if whoever inside was surveying us closely. A burdening disquiet enfolded me as my eyes gazed weakly at the car's soulless windows.

Was I seeing things? Was this stressful situation causing this apparition to reappear?

"I think that car had followed us home." Jill quietly mentioned as she steered the car into the garage.