Thank you SecondStar1111, the wait is over. I want to dedicate the Ghostbuster Song part to my son, who is obsessed with the Ghostbusters. Also, I am aware that As The World Falls Down was not written until 1987, but I don't care. It fits and its the song that the book was written around. If you listen to the song when it is mentioned in the story, it brings everything together beautifully. It was written by David Bowie and was written for Jim Henson's the Labyrinth if you have trouble finding it on youtube. Enjoy.
Chapter Twenty Nine
On Saturday, I was at Brit's house getting ready for prom. Brit was already dressed and I helped her do her hair and make up, but I was more sluggish. A part of me didn't want to go. Brit sat me down in her chair and started to work on my hair.
"Cheer up, you love to dance." she said as she started to straighten my hair.
"Yeah well...whatever." I mumbled, void of a witty comeback.
"Are you still going with Andy?" she asked.
"Yeah, he'll be here to ride with us in about an hour." I said.
"Have you thought it over?"
"No, I've been avoiding it." I sighed.
"That's not good. You can't leave him hanging." she rolled her eyes.
"God damn it, I know. I just don't know if I can be with him."
"'Cause you love Johhhnnnyyy!" she sang to mock me and I groaned.
"It's not that simple."
"It is! It was just a kiss, he doesn't care about her, he's sorry and he loves you. Just forgive him!" she huffed and moved to do my make up.
"But Andy-"
"Yeah, he helped you, so what? That doesn't mean you have to marry him. This is the free world." she snapped.
"It's easy to say when you're a non biased third party." I mumbled.
"Oh, I'm totally biased. John is your man." she clicked her tongue and I laughed.
"We'll see."
Matt and Andrew arrived a little after we were done getting ready. Matt walked over to Brit to kissed her sweetly and I smiled. They were so perfect together. He pulled out a corsage made of pink ribbon and an pink rose and slipped it onto her wrist. She swooned and thanked him with another kiss. This was how a relationship was supposed to be.
Andy came over to me and handed me a golden box. I looked to him, puzzled, before I gently opened the box and saw a corsage made out of glittery green ribbon and white tulips.
"Oh Andrew!" I gasped, "It's beautiful!"
"Brit said you liked tulips." he smiled proudly.
"I love them, thank you!" I beamed and hugged him.
He hugged me back tight before we parted and I let him slide the corsage onto my wrist. I looked it over as the ribbon gleamed in the sunlight. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts anyone has ever gotten me.
"Alright, come on. We're gonna be late!" Brit laughed and pushed us all out of the house.
We piled into Brit's car and I rested my head on Andy's shoulder as we drove off. For now, everything was okay.
This year's prom was in the dance hall of the Hilton hotel. It was decorated Vegas style and the school went over the top with it. There were glittering streamers and balloons, colored spotlights and a giant disco ball. The back drop for the photo booth was a spilled deck of playing cards and a black and red balloon arch. The food table had pretty much every snack you could think of and was decorated with loose poker chips. The room was stunning, and I started to get excited. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. Andy linked his arm with mine and escorted me over to the snack table to get some punch. He poured each of us a cup and we clinked our glasses together before downing them.
"Hey now, let's go! Time to dance!" Brit yanked us away from the table and we dropped our glasses.
The DJ started with Def Leppards "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and I swung my hips to the music with Brit, losing myself in the song. I noticed that Andrew wasn't really dancing, so I pushed my hips up against him and lead him to the beat so he'd loosen up a bit. He was shy at first but eventually he started to get wild like us.
As I was dancing, I noticed John sitting in the corner at a table with Claire, half halfheartedly sipping on some punch. Both of them looked bored and I was confused. Why did they come to prom if they weren't going to dance? I then realized that John probably didn't want to come and was dragged here by Claire to keep up her image. A twinge of guilt made itself at home in my stomach. If I could just go to him...
The Ghostbuster's theme song started to blare from the speakers and Andy pulled me back to dance with him. I shook off the negative feelings and began to swing my arms and shimmy to the song. Andy followed suit and soon we were all dancing like idiots without a care in the world. For that moment, John left my mind.
A slow song came on that I didn't recognize and Andy pulled me close to him so we could do a lazy version of the waltz. I rested my head on his chest and swayed with him, and although this would be romantic to most it didn't feel right to me. The song played for a little bit before he leaned back to look at me.
"So...have you given things some thought?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah...I-" I looked up to answer him, but he was no longer looking at me.
His face was pale and frozen as he stared off behind me. I turned to see what the problem was and when I did my face went pale with shock too. Allison was standing in the doorway alone, looking like a Goddess in a floor length black gown and silver jewelry. I gasped and ran to her, crushing her in a hug.
"Allison! I was so worried about you!" I cried, and then I noticed that she was still staring back at Andrew, "Oh God...Allison. I swear, nothing was going on between us. We were pretending to date to make Bender jealous and-"
"Lindsay." she cut me off and smiled, "I'm not mad. I never planned on coming back, I wanted him to get over me. And whether or not it was real I'd rather have him be with you than some loser."
"Allison...there might have been some misplaced feelings, but I know he still loves you. You should go to him." I said kindly.
"I don't know if I can...what if he's mad?" she quivered.
"I wouldn't worry about it. Take it from someone who's loved and lost, you don't want to let him go." I said and gently grabbed her hand, "Come on."
She let me lead her to him and when we got to him I placed her hands on his. Both of them blushed and smiled, entranced by each others presence. Slowly, I backed away to let them have their moment, and as their lips collided my heart stung. I backed away to a different part of the dance floor. I was alone now.
David Bowie's "As the World Falls Down" began to play and I felt like crying. The most romantic song was playing the very moment that I had no one. I turned to retreat but I slammed into someone's chest. I looked up to see John, his hand outstretched to me. My heart almost stopped.
"May I have this dance?" he asked.
A tear trickled down my cheek as I stared back at him. He looked right through me with those beautiful eyes of his and my heart began to ache. It was then and there that I realized that our breakup, though it hurt, was absolutely stupid, and I had no more excuses left to push back. I loved him, I wanted him, and I could have him for an eternity if I just let him back in.
"Yes." I sniffled and placed my hand in his.
Skipping all formalities, he pulled me into him as close as he possibly could and we wrapped our arms around each other. I sobbed into his shoulder and he held me tight.
"Oh, lover..." he purred.
"I'm so sorry, I over reacted and-"
"Now now, dear." he hushed and placed his hand on the back of my head, "There's no need, I'm here. Everything is okay."
"I love you, John." I whispered as I looked up at him. He smiled at me, a faint blush on his cheeks.
"I love you too." he murmured.
Our lips crashed together and I was filled with bliss. I parted my lips to let him slide his tongue inside and I pulled him closer. He massaged my tongue with his and we ran our fingers through each others hair. It was perfect, this is what I had been missing, what I had been yearning for. This felt right, this was right. My world had come back to me.
"So." John smirked as he pulled away, "Shall we get a hotel room?"
"You pig!" I laughed and playfully slapped his arm, "Yes!"
He laughed with me and pulled me into another kiss. We continued to slow dance together, even long after the slow song had stopped. Nothing else had mattered then. We were right where we were supposed to be, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
The end. I will be posting an epilogue tomorrow at the latest but otherwise their story is done. I am sad that it is over but I had a lot of fun writing it and immersing myself in their world. I hope you had just as much fun as I did and that you truly enjoyed the story. Thank you for taking the time out of your days to read this and even give some feedback. I will cherish the journey.
