Homecoming
Laura's POV
I twirl a strand of my curly hair and glance at the clock. It reads 7:25 P.M., same as the last three times I glanced at it. To distract myself from the time, I decide to look in the mirror again. My dress and shoes sparkle, my hair is curled and falls gracefully down my back, and even my makeup looks alright… or so I think. But will Joe think it's alright? Nervously, I glance at the clock again. 7:26. Ugh! Time is going soooo sloooooooooo—"
Ding dong!
The doorbell! I start to race down the hall, then trip over my heels! Ugh! Why am I wearing them yet anyways? I quickly take them off and finish my rush to the door.
I open the door… and see Joe standing there with a bunch of flowers! "Oh my gosh," I whisper. "Those flowers are beautiful!"
"So are you," Joe says, blushing.
"So are you," I repeat, taking in his nice-fitting tux. "Do I really look alright, though? I mean, my makeup is a bit off, and there's this strand of hair that—"
Joe laughs. "You look fine. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah," I reply nervously.
Joe looks like he's about to say something, but instead he just blushes and nods. We walk outside and over to a car with two people waiting inside. Well, Joe walks, and I kind of stumble along in my heels. Hmm, maybe I should have practiced walking in them more. Oh well.
Anyways, Joe and I climb into the back seats of the car, and I am surprised to find that, instead of Joe's parents, there's an older teenage guy and some girl in the front seats. I'm relieved that I don't have to talk to Hawkeye after what happened before, but now I wonder who these people are.
Joe seems to be reading my mind. "So, Laura, meet my brother, James, and… his girlfriend," Joe says after a pause.
"Hey, if it isn't the girl my baby bro keeps talking about!" James says, winking at me. "Nice to finally meet you."
"Um, thanks," I say, embarrassed. James's girlfriend just smiles at me, then resumes talking to James about some friends they're meeting at the dance.
As we drive away, I realize that it should have been pretty obvious Hawkeye wasn't driving us. After all, James's dented, old, lurchy stick-shift car doesn't really seem like Hawkeye's style. Still, it makes me wonder how much Hawkeye really approves of us going to the dance… or disapproves.
We end up at school quite quickly, probably due to James's speeding. I step out of the car and take a moment to gaze at the beautiful sunset that there is tonight. Then we walk into the building… and the first thing we see is a long line. "Darn! I forgot about the breathalyzers," Joe complains.
"Oh yeah, those stupid things," I say, having forgotten as well. Apparently, some people showed up to a previous school dance drunk, so now everyone has to breathe into a thing that tests for alcohol to prove they're not drunk.
For a few seconds, the two of us just stand there in awkward silence, waiting for the line to move. I start to panic, worrying that the entire night will be like this, and that Joe will never want to date me again… and then Joe cracks a joke, and I say one back, and suddenly we're talking about anything and everything, and everything is alright.
Before I know it, we're at the front of the line. I get ready to blow into the breathalyzer, when I realize the person holding it is "Tony Stark?!"
"Yep, it's me, so don't think you can get away with drinking! If you have any alcohol, please hand it over, because I could really use a drink."
"Why are you here?" Joe asks.
"Because you," he says, pointing at Joe, "are in a lot of trouble. Your dad knows."
"Shit!" Joe swears.
"What's going on?" I ask.
"So I kind of didn't tell my dad that we're going to Homecoming," Joe mumbles.
"Oh," I reply. I had a feeling Hawkeye accepting me was too good to be true, but I was hoping just maybe… Oh well. I just hope Joe doesn't get in trouble because of me.
"He isn't coming to take us home, is he?" Joe asks.
"He was going to, but I told him I'd keep an eye on you instead, Tony says, winking in an I've got your back sort of way. Then he frowns. "However, I do mean it when I say I'm going to keep an eye on you," he says, staring at me, "so don't think you can get anything by me. Not even alcohol," he says, now facing Joe and smiling. "I mean, seriously, what kind of a party doesn't have alcohol?!"
"Maybe the kind that is both underage and at school?" Joe says, raising an eyebrow. "Just a thought."
Tony makes a face. "For that, you get to blow into the breathalyzer."
"Challenge accepted," Joe says. He breathes into the breathalyzer, which says he is alcohol free, and I follow suit. Then we keep walking to let the people behind us fan girl over Iron Man and make him autograph stuff.
We walk into the gym, which has been converted into a dance floor, complete with a DJ and disco ball. All around us, people are talking and dancing. "Want to dance?" Joe asks.
"Sure," I reply, a little nervous, but wanting to have fun. We start dancing next to each other, but not actually together. The song is fast-paced, so most people are just kind of moving around wildly on their own anyways. As I raise my hands in the air like the people around me, I notice Anne nearby. "Hey Anne," I call to her.
"Hey Laura. Wow, I like your dress!" she exclaims.
"You look nice too," I reply. Anne is wearing a peach dress and her hair, including her bangs, is done up in a fancy up do. Without her bangs nearly covering her eyes, and with delicate makeup, the true beauty of Anne's face is revealed.
Anne then turns to Joe. "Hi, Joe," she says, smiling.
"Hey," Joe smiles back.
"You two make a cute couple," Anne says, causing us to blush.
"Anne! Chrissie's here!" A girl yells, trying to get Anne's attention.
"Great!" Anne exclaims. She turns to us. "Would you like to meet some of my other friends?" she asks us.
Joe and I look at each other. "Sure." We then start talking to a bunch of people, some that I know from class, and some that I don't. After I told Anne that I was going to Homecoming with Joe, she decided to go with a group of her friends who didn't find a date either.
We end up talking and dancing with them, as well as some other people we know. At one point, I see Liberty stomp past me in a red dress. She is immediately followed by Sam, who is wearing a black tux with a red tie that matches Liberty's dress, and yelling "Wait!" I'm kind of curious what happened between them, as well as when they started dating in the first place, but there's no way I'd want to be around Liberty when she's angry to find out.
Then comes time to vote for the Homecoming queen. I notice Liberty is one of the choices, so I vote for someone else instead.
After that, I dance some more, this time with Joe. I end up stepping on his toes a few times, but thankfully, he just laughs about it. Then comes a slow song. I look into Joe's eyes and he smiles and gently pulls me closer to him. We start to dance, and even though we are dancing slowly, my heart is racing. I can't help thinking that, with Joe's hand on my back, if he pulled me just a little closer, we would be hugging.
All too soon, the song ends, replaced by another fast-paced song. Joe surprises me by trying to spin me around, except I spin the wrong way, and end up smacking into Joe's arm. "Sorry!" we say at the same time. "I'm sorry," Joe repeats. "I just figured you'd know which way to turn. It worked in a movie…" he trails off, probably realizing how clueless he sounds.
I smile. "It's ok. Want to try it again?"
Joe tries spinning me again, and by the third time, I finally manage to turn the right way, at which point the song ends.
"Aww, I was just getting good at that!" I complain.
Joe shrugs. "We can try it again later."
Just then, the DJ walks away, and our principle steps up to a podium at the front of the gym. "And now, the moment you've been waiting for: the crowning of the Homecoming queen." She takes her time opening an envelope that has the name of the Homecoming queen on it. Finally, she has it open. Taking a deep breath, she yells, "And the Homecoming queen is…"
AN:
LarissaValenti2613: I went to San Francisco.
KMB: Thanks :) You're right, the second verse does remind me of Laura. Also, cool song :)