sorry for the long break, the holidays have gotten in the way. Here is another chapter, which I thought was going to be the end but there are a couple more coming as we wind up for the finish. Hope you enjoy.
The breakfast club gang arrived at Prom, in style, just after 7:30; they were announcing people as they entered, and a small line had formed. Claire and John waited for the others to line up so they were last. John seemed reluctant to get in line, but on the other hand he didn't want to lose track of the others. So they were standing in line, but Claire noticed John clenching and unclenching his fists. She grabbed the hand closest to her, and whispered in his ear, "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
He shook his head, "nothing, not here anyway. I'll drag you off to a secluded location and we can discuss it then." He gave her a lascivious smirk.
Claire shook her head gently and squeezed his hand, "Have I said thank you yet?"
John was thrown by that question, "for what?"
They were the next couple to be called; Claire handed the student, whose name she couldn't place, their tickets and they stepped forward into the ballroom of the hotel. "John Bender accompanied by the beautiful Claire Standish." After each name there was a bit of applause, after their names were called many of the student stood up, giving them a standing ovation. John leaned over, "What the fuck princess?" She shrugged, "I've no idea."
Vernon grabbed the mic from the guy announcing. "Alright, that's enough, you are holding up the line for others." He handed the mic back and walked off stage. John started laughing and instantly felt better. Ruffling Vernon's feathers was one of his favorite past times. If that went away as well he simply didn't know what he'd do. Claire gently pulled him along to the table where Allison and Andy were sitting. Lauren had already pulled Brian on to the dance floor. The last couple at their table was none other than Spaz and Lisa Talmand. Spaz looked almost as uncomfortable as John felt. He pulled out Claire's chair for her; Sarah had drilled some basic etiquette for the night.
About a week before prom, Sarah woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water and found John pacing the living room like a caged tiger. She scratched her head, "What's wrong, John?" Sarah sleepily asked. "Nothing. Why? I didn't wake you did I?" Sarah responded sarcastically, "yeah cause your pacing is so fucking noisy. What's wrong?"
He pulled his pipe out of his pocket and held it up; Sarah shrugged in answer and walked into the kitchen to make sure the window was open. She got her glass of water, turned on the light and sat in her normal seat at the table. John carefully packed the bowl took a deep drag and said, "I don't want to make an ass out of myself or make Cherry look bad, but I don't belong at a fucking prom. What am I supposed to do? I don't even know how to dance, unless you call a fucking mosh pit dancing." He passed the bowl and when he was finished ranting he looked up at Sarah. Her response was unexpected, "I can teach you everything you need to know, if you are interested."
So it was that John kept startling Claire with the unexpected. That pleased him immensely, she was delightfully happy, but a little off balance. John liked keeping her on her toes. When he sat down everyone was staring at him, "What? Can't a guy be chivalrous occasionally; I'm certainly fucking dressed for it." Claire leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "Thank you love, I'll be sure to repay your kindness later." As she moved away she blushed at her own comment. The blush made John ridiculously happy. An upbeat, big band song came on. Many of the students left the dance floor – John stood up and put his hand out in front of Claire, "Dance with me Cherry."
Claire smiled and stood up, "anytime, anywhere, but I don't um know how to dance to this." John smirked, "Just follow my lead and relax, you'll be fabulous." John led her out on to the dance floor and showed Claire just how well they could dance together. At the end of the song they noticed they were the only two on the dance floor, and they were given a round of applause at the end. The two just grinned at one another, and then quartet that was on stage started a waltz; John pulled Claire close to him and they began dancing again. Neither spoke, but Claire laid her head on his shoulder. She never knew how exhilarating and sexy dancing could be, but leave it to John Bender to show her. As the waltz ended, the band returned and started with a pop song, and John led Claire off the dance floor. She said, "I never knew…"
John smirked and interrupted her, "There is still a lot about me you don't know sweets." She kind of half spun and ran into his chest; "Well I'm learning new things about us both, everyday." And after making that statement she kissed him soundly. John was grateful for the dance lessons Sarah had given him, though he'd never admit it to a soul. Everyone had far more fun than any of them had expected, even Claire. The food was good, Claire and John danced whenever the regular band was gone and the small orchestra took their place, which pleased and surprised Claire. He wouldn't dance to any new pop song, but led her through slow dances, and even showed off a little. Always with a sardonic smirk for the people Claire once considered friends. She realized he was, in his way, protecting her. She was even more excited about her plan for later that night.
Allison had gotten her and Andy a room, though he didn't know it yet. She and Claire had talked earlier in the week.
It was Tuesday night; Allison was in her room drawing when the phone rang. She was expecting Andy to call so she jumped for the phone. "Hello hon." Instead it was Claire.
Ali heard Claire giggle a little, "I get to be hon now too?"
"Hi Claire, I was expecting Andy to call, but to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?'
"Well I kinda wanted to talk to you about something, I need some advice. Are you busy? Can I come over for a bit?"
Allison was a bit surprised but happy to have Claire over, the two of them had become very close; in fact, she was one of Claire's last female friends. When she arrived the two of them walked past Allison's parents who of course, paid no attention to them. They reached Allison's room, Claire was amazed at Allison's talent for drawing, she thought she could sit and stare at them for hours. However, that was not the purpose of today's visit.
The two girls got comfy on the bed, Claire started, "Ok, I need you to swear you won't tell anyone what I am about to say."
Allison shrugged, "of course."
Claire took a deep breath, "Ok, about a month ago – actually, exactly a month ago – I went to planned parenthood." Allison's eyes got really wide.
Claire slapped her knee, "not for that reason! I, uh, I got birth control." If possible Allison's eyes got even wider; she whispered, "Have you, you know, like, gone all the way with Bender?"
Claire shook her head, "not yet, but well I was thinking about Prom, except that we're all going to be sharing the room my Dad got us. Do you and Andy or Brian and Lauren plan to stay the night?"
Allison replied, "Well I had been thinking about something similar with Andy, but I bet I could get us another room. Hold on a sec."
Allison boldly walked to her parent's room, took her father's credit card out of his wallet, and went back to her room. She grabbed her phone and plopped back down on her bed. Allison proceeded to get a room for her and Andy on her Dad's credit card and then she put it back where she found it. "There, that's all done now. And come on, do you really think Brian is going to stay the night? Like his parents would even let him."
Claire laughed, "You're probably right. I'm so excited. I've been thinking about it a lot, and well we've done just about everything, but go all the way. I didn't tell anyone about my little trip, but it wasn't a terrible exam, and the pills were free. I was told they might make me feel pretty crappy, but I haven't had any real negative effect, I haven't even gained weight, which I was afraid of.
Allison giggled, "sorry I got stuck on you've done just about everything but…can I get more details please!" Mostly Claire said no, but the two girls spent time talking about what they had done and wanted to. They talked about the plans for prom, and what might happen after graduation.
About the middle of prom evening John and Andy split from the girls to talk to people they knew. John was surprised by how many people he knew and actually didn't hate who were there. There were plenty of people he hated there. Steph Rodgers was there with some guy no one knew. Strickler had been expelled and was banned from prom. Some of the students tried to put up a fight about it, but he'd been put on house arrest until the arraignment, so it was kind of a token gesture. Andy's wrestling buddies gave him shit for a very short time about Allison, when they noticed that he was more relaxed, and was wrestling even better they quit complaining and treated her like they did any of the other guys girlfriends, probably not much of a step up but there was no active animosity.
Allison and Claire used that time to get a few things ready in their respective rooms. Claire had gotten a smoking room for John, and so she could set up some candles. She did started to do that, but decided one candle was enough for now and put their clothes away. She pulled out a beautiful negligee she'd bought with money she'd saved from her birthday, so there was no paper trail about it for her father to find. She put the box in a drawer with her things. They met back downstairs both giggling madly. Each girl went to find their respective dates. Claire found John talking to Spaz, and a few of the other guys she knew from under the bleachers. She came up quietly and wrapped her gloved arms around his waist so she could whisper in his ear, "evening stranger come here often?" A testament to how much John had changed, and blossomed from that day in March to now, just a couple of months later; he didn't jump and get angry when she touched him by surprise. "Well hi there sweets, I was thinking of stepping up to our room, for a quick smoke break. Want to join?"
Claire was very glad she hadn't put all the candles out, only put their clothes away. "Sure babe." Claire, John, and two of his friends headed out to the elevator. "Hey, where are you kids going?" Vernon appeared out of nowhere at the doors to the ballroom. John smirked, "Hey Dick. I didn't see you earlier. We are headed up to check out our room. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Alright, well I best not smell booze of you all when you get back." Vernon tried to sound official and tugged at his tux jacket.
Claire smiled sweetly as the elevator doors opened, "Do you really think I could hide booze in a dress like this Mr. Vernon?" The door closed before he could answer. Everyone in the elevator burst out laughing. They got to the room and Claire opened the door, she held it open for John's friends, but she grabbed John as he passed to give him a kiss and a shy smile. He tilted his head as though he were trying to read a particularly difficult text.
The group smoked a couple of joints; Claire lit the candle she'd set out. Spaz asked, "What's that for? Mood lighting?" While he was closer to the truth than Claire cared for, it was not why she'd done it now. "Well the fire and the smell of the candle help to mask the smell of the grass. Now why didn't you think of that?" She sarcastically stated before she sat down primly on the bed next to John. Spaz and a guy named Joe were sitting on the couch in their room, they were arguing about rolling another joint.
John pulled himself closer to Claire, kissed her neck gently, "do we really have to go back downstairs?" Claire let him hold on to her and even nuzzled him back a little, "Yeah, we at least have to say goodbye." Claire had taken a few hits, though she preferred John's shotgun method and now she was feeling relaxed but not out of it, so she turned down the next round that was passed. She went to the bathroom to touch up her makeup and hair. When she came out the boys were getting ready to go as well. Spaz opened the door, he and Joe went out it, but John grabbed Claire around the waste and let the door shut behind them. He pinned her up against the wall and started kissing her shoulders. "I really don't want to go back down there Cherry."
What John was doing was totally making Claire forget her big plans. When he kissed the front of her throat and cleavage she came back to herself. "Just hold your horses big guy. Let's go say goodbye to everyone, ok? Then we can come back up here and have the rest of the night to ourselves."
John pulled back, "I thought we were sharing the space with Sporto and Kelpto?" Claire kissed him and laughed, "Nope, we have this space magnificently to ourselves for the night. So let's go and get this done, sooner out, sooner back in."
John stepped away from Claire reluctantly. "Have I told you how fucking beautiful you are?" Claire blushed and smile just a little shyly at him. "You have, but it makes me feel good to hear it." They made their way back to the main ballroom; Claire feeling a little stoned, John feeling very comfortable. There was another slow song playing. Claire tugged on his arm, "Just one more dance?"
John smiled down at his girlfriend, "Sure, Princess, one more." They walked to the dance floor and once again John showed off a natural talent for dancing her around the floor. Claire was sure heaven was in his arms when he held her tightly. After the one dance they headed back to the table where the rest of the group was already seated. Andy spoke up, "You guys look awesome out there, didn't know you could dance Bender."
John smirked, "I'm chock full of surprises ain't I Cherry?" She blushed and chuckled, "yep, all kinds." She sent a look to Allison and the two girls started laughing. Andy, John, and Brian all looked kind of confused which made Lauren join in the laughter. The band stood up to take a break; Vernon, and two members of the student council took to the stage. "It's that time folks, what you've all been waiting for; it's time to see who made prom court and who are our new king and queen."
Most of the room broke into applause; Claire looked a little sad, and John put his hand on her lower back to show support. He knew they should have just stayed in their damn room. Two of Claire's old friends made prom court: Jenn and Bethany. Neither girl would have anything to do with Claire any more. Everyone expected Steph Rodgers to get Prom Queen, though no one was positive who would make prom king since Tom Strickler wasn't in the running. Two guys who were in the popular clique and on student council filled out the rest of the court.
Claire leaned back into John's touch and listened with actual interest, which was more than anyone else at the table could muster. "Ladies and Gentlemen, you all know that Prom King and Queen, as well as the court are based on votes from the senior class; so even I don't know the names on this envelope. Mr. Vernon, want to give us a hint before I open it?" Someone in the audience hollered, just tell us already damn it. The student opened the envelope and stared at it for a moment, as though he was stupefied. "Uh, Ladies and Gents, the 1983 Prom Queen of Shermer High School is… Claire Standish." Claire sat there stunned. John gave her a little push, "You'd better get up there cherry, or they'll choose someone else."
Claire stood up and began walking to the stage, as she climbed the stairs she was still stunned, and now a little shaky about being out in front of all these people. Steve! That's this dweeb's name, Claire thought to herself as he put a tiara on her head and Mr. Vernon put a sash over her and handed her a bouquet of roses. The class gave her a standing ovation. Claire was beaming and still stunned.
Vernon stepped up the mic, "settle down folks, we have one more to get through." Steve, the student council pulled Vernon aside and the two of them appeared to be having a discussion about the name on the card. Claire overheard John's name as the two of them tried to figure out if it was a joke or not. The kid went so far as pulling out a rule book of some kind – Vernon stepped up to the microphone and said, "it's gonna be just a minute." One of the students, stood up and said, "Just read the damn name, apparently the students voted on someone you don't approve of. But you read the queen without all this bullshit. Just fucking read it Vernon." Steve looked at Vernon and shrugged, he stepped up to the microphone and said, "The Prom King for 1983 Shermer Prom is: John Bender."
Andy, Brian, and Allison pushed him up to the stage, holding back their laughter. Once he got to the stage, a crown was put on his head and some kind of scepter was handed to him. He walked over to Claire with a mild scowl on his face, "What the fuck princess?" Claire was startled, he thought she did this. She started laughing. "John I had nothing to do with this, I swear. I dropped off the committee right after Sarah was hurt." Suddenly they realized everyone was waiting for them. John gritted his teeth a little and looked at Claire. "You have to take the lead here toots; I wasn't even supposed to be here."
Claire put a big smile on her face and said, "smile and act like you don't hate me." John was slightly taken back by her irritated tone. He put his trade mark smile on and the two of them walked hand in hand to the front of the stage and bowed. Claire kind of pulled him over the mic, "This is an unexpected gift from everyone. I know that the bulk of you voted in the last few weeks and so I want to say thank you for being better than we expected." She kissed John on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "Do you want to say something?"
John walked up to the mic and said, "I have no idea how this happened, I thought you had to run and shit, but uh, thanks I think." The band leader came up and asked what song they wanted to dance to. Claire looked at John completely confused and beginning to get upset with herself. John whispered something to the teacher and they walked off the stage to lay their things down. The quartet from the orchestra of the school took the stage; almost everyone had forgotten they were still there. A beautiful waltz started and John, who took to this lesson better than any of the other dances Sarah tried to teach him, pulled Claire very close to him; he swept her off her feet and turned her on to the point of near pain. Afterwards, everyone including the musicians gave the couple a round of applause, which was the only think that broke them away from one another. John shook hands with the orchestra director who complemented his dancing skills. And then they were swamped by everyone except the 'popular crowd' who sat at the back of the ballroom bitching and trying to figure out how this could have happened.
After nearly an hour of various kinds of congratulations they were tired of people. They said their goodbyes to the rest of the gang who gave them both a great deal of harassment at their new titles. They were finally able to slip away; once they got on the elevator and the doors closed on just the two of them, they looked at one another and started to laugh. They were still laughing when they got to their room; Claire had succeeded in getting a few things set up so when John opened the door there were candles lit, and a box on the table next to the bed.
The look of wonder on his face was worth more than any school title. She was overjoyed to be able to give him this gift. "I have a couple of presents for you tonight." John said, "um, ok, I didn't know this was something I was supposed to buy gifts for." Claire leaned down and kissed him soundly. "It's not, just something I want to do. So um, did you want to smoke that bowl you're fingering first or open the present over there?"
He looked up at her in surprise. "I didn't think you'd noticed that, but uh, I'll take the gift box."
Claire smiled and sat down next to him. "I'm betting you wanted a toke from the moment they called your name, and I definitely noticed it took Alli, Andy, and Brian to get you to the stage. I figured out how you got the title." He stopped pulling the ribbon and looked up at her expectantly. "Well are you gonna keep me in suspense?" She grinned, "open that first." She sat kind of primly with her legs tucked under her, she was surprised the dress let her do this, but it wasn't full of crinoline like the princess dress Lauren had on.
John lifted the lid to the box and something flimsy and pink was in the box, he looked confused and then looked to Claire. She had a smirk on her face, "well it's kind of a gift to you.. but only well.. uh, be right back." She grabbed the box off his lap and went into the bathroom. She stuck her head back out, "don't smoke it all before I get back." He laughed and suspected he had the world's best girlfriend.
She'd been voted prom queen. She was the most popular girl at Shermer, she felt like she had her cake and now she got to eat it. As for John Bender as prom king; well apparently one of his stoner friends, Joe maybe, overheard a couple of the Richie clique using John as the antithesis of what was possible in the world. Well it pissed Joe off and he had been looking for a way to get back at the guys who made the comment. In another world entirely, it seems that the student council forced the prom committee to add a write in position to the prom ballots. Some synchronicity happened after John pulled off the whole graffiti incident and awards. So he'd been made prom king by the student body, not the committee as it usually worked out.
Claire felt a shiver of delight, she wasn't sure if the evening could get more perfect. She pulled out the rose colored negligee. It was made of silk and felt decadent against her skin. She looked in the mirror and fixed her hair some, took a deep breath, and walked out to the hotel room. Claire felt herself flush as John looked up and saw her in the mirror. Even through the mirror she could feel the heat in his eyes light up. She leaned against the wall in a fairly provocative way and said, "So the day we met you called me queenie as an insult; does that mean I can call you kingly?"
"Hell no." John was up and in front of Claire in a heartbeat. "holy fuck you look like a fucking goddess." He ran his hand down her side. "What the fuck is that made from, it's amazing. It looks and feels fantastic." John pushed her up against the wall and started kissing her deeply. Claire kissed back with abandon. John picked her up and carried Claire to the bed. He stood up and pulled his tie off. He sat down and pulled off his doc martens then he came back to the bed.
Several hours later, as they were lying naked next two one another trying to catch their breath. Claire rolled over to face John. She brought herself up against him. He'd given her more orgasms than she could count, and he had unexpectedly only cum once. His self control astounded her; he had proven that he had an iron clad will more than once. Claire started to draw on his chest, "I have one more present for you tonight." John rolled over to face her, he was already hard again he reached out and began massaging her breast, "what more could I possibly want princess?" He leaned in to put his mouth where his hand had just been. He reached down and began building the pleasure in her again. She surprised John by rolling them over, straddling him in on smooth motion. "Ha! Cheerleading paid for something." Claire leaned back and moved to truly straddle him. "What would you think about," she moaned a little as she began to push herself down on him. "Hold … Fuck princess, Claire baby… you… fuck that feels good. I uh.." a long moan was all that came out of his mouth. Claire giggled and moved herself up and down then took a deep breath, relaxed her body as much as she could and she slammed herself all the way down so she was sitting straddled across John, sheathing him entirely. She put her hands on his chest, and failed at holding back a moan, she was still for a moment, allowing her body to adjust to him.
"God, sweetheart, you've got to move, I don't know how long I can hold back." Claire let herself lie down on top of him, every movement making her whimper or moan at the change of position. John flipped them, and proceeded to kiss Claire till she was breathless and panting. He held himself above her, trying to be as still as he could. As he was kissing her neck, he felt her buck up to meet him – giving him the permission he needed to start moving. "I'm gonna have to pull out soon sweets, you didn't give me time to get protection." In response, Claire wrapped her legs around him holding him within her, "I trust you, and I got on the pill just over a month ago. Now move, please… god John… fuck, please."
He kissed her chin and her neck, he nipped her ear and said, "It'll never be just fucking princess… but do you mean, this?" He began to move in and out faster and harder than before. Just as he finally gave in and began fucking her as gently as he could force himself to be, which wasn't very. Claire screamed as her body began spasming and clenching around him forcing him to cry out her name.
John collapsed half on top of her. Claire began kissing his head and gently rubbed every place she could touch. He kissed her nose and dragged himself off the bed, "be right back lover." Claire felt herself flush at the new nick name. He returned with a wet wash cloth; Claire asked, "what's that for?" John smiled affectionately, " to clean you up princess, unless you want to sleep in a wet spot?" Claire wrinkled her nose and threw the cover off, then flushed at the forwardness of the move. This caused John to chuckle, he'd reached Claire and began to gently wipe between her legs. Once she was cleaned up he tossed the rag and climbed into bed to spoon against the exhausted and nearly insatiable girl. "So when did you do the whole pill thing, and why didn't you tell me?"
She snuggled back into John, "I told you tonight didn't I? And I did it 6 weeks ago, so I could be sure that when we did this we wouldn't have to worry. I haven't told anyone, because I wanted it to be a surprise." She sounded worried, sometimes she was so self doubting, John kissed her head and replied, "Oh baby, it certainly was that.. and uh.. thank you."
Claire squirmed around his arms so she could look at him. "You are most definitely welcome." She punctuated each word with a kiss. "so, what are you thanking me for anyway?"
John chuckled, "I don't know, everything babe; tonight most especially, but for take a chance on me."
Claire squirmed back around, and snuggled back into his arms, "I'm gonna sleep a little now." John kissed her gently, "You do that princess, I mean your highness." They both chuckled and Claire elbowed him.
Hit that little review button it keeps the muses happy so that I can finish the story... :)