"I'm going to the dance as a girl." Jake smiled up at me.
"Really?" I wondered if she was nuts, or what. Everyone knew we were a "gay" couple. If she went to the dance in girl clothes, people would find out and it would be bye-bye Jake. I posed this to her.
"Hamilton, it's a masked, costume dance. No one will recognize me in what I'm going to wear."
"What are you going to wear?" I asked warily. She grinned and pulled me to her closet. What she showed me was a black and grey dry-cleaner's bag.
"Cute. Do you
have one for me? We could be people who don't actually gave any clothes,
so they have to wear
dry-cleaner's bags."
I joked. She looked less than amused.
"Maybe I won't show you! You might have to wait."
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry." I gave her the puppy dog look I knew she couldn't resist.
"Stop that!" She laughed. "Okay." She opened the bag but I couldn't quite tell what it was. There wasn't enough material to get a clear picture. Something shiny and filmy.
"What is it?"
She rolled
her eyes. "Jeanie. Like, I dream of . . ."
"Oh?" I was already picturing her in it. "Mmmm. So am I gonna have to get an astronaut costume?"
"You can wear a military uniform. He was in the air force, I think." She suggested.
"Well are you going
to show me how it looks on you?" I hoped she would, well maybe not.
I was already excited
enough.
"Not now. I don't have the wig, and you can't get the full effect without it."
"Oh?"
"You'll see it at the dance on Friday." She kissed me lightly. Her kisses always make me melt. She just has that way.
"Okay." I replied dumbly.
Thursday
"So, what are you and Jake going to the dance as?" Scout asked me and looked pointedly at Will.
"This is a couple dance. Who would we go as?" I smirked. They were just trying to see if me and Jake were really coming out. "There aren't many gay, male couples throughout history."
"Hey, you guys could go as The Odd Couple." Scout suggested.
"Look who's talking." I laughed. "Besides, they're a bit ancient. Don't you think? Are you guys going together?" I shoved it back in his face. I was only kidding and they knew that. It just felt good to slam someone after being the cause of a lot of gossip.
"Actually I'm going with the hotter-than-ever Paige." Scout raised his chin in mock pride. He actually only thought of Paige as a friend. I knew that he wanted Bella, but they were not really allowed to be a couple.
"Yeah, and I'm taking Bella." Will replied as if he'd just received the boobie prize. Well considering Bella's...
"So what are you goofs and the lovely ladies going as?"
"Cesar and Cleopatra." Scout replied.
"A witch and a warlock." Will answered at the same time.
"Interesting." I mused.
"Which leads us back to, what you and Jake are going as." Scout wiggled his eyebrows.
"Who says I'm going with Jake?"
"Come on, you guys are almost as famous as Ellen and Anne."
"They're women. And anyway, they split up."
"So if you're not going with Jake, who are you going with?" Will gave me the benefit of the doubt.
"Uh...a...a friend...of the family."
"Yeah, right." Scout mocked.
"Really?" Will asked interested.
"Um-hm. She is the sexiest thing ever to be born."
"Oh, yeah?" Scout rolled his eyes at Will. "What does she look like?"
"She's...uh...she's blonde. Um..slightly shorter than me, an excellent body."
"You're not kidding?"
I shook my head.
"Wow!" They said in unison.
Friday
"Why can't
I see you in the outfit? You got the blonde wig, right?"
She nodded.
I sighed with relief. I had promised Scout and Will a blonde.
"Yes, but...."
"But what?"
"Bella's helping me get ready. I want it to be a surprise."
"Bella knows?"
"Well I kinda had to tell her, but she guessed before I confirmed it."
"Well then, why don't we just tell everyone? It would save all the talking behind our backs." Cool, what an easy out, I thought.
"No, that wouldn't be very good. If everyone knows it'll go around to your dad and I'll get booted out of school."
"You could go to Rawley girls." I knew I'd said that more than once. I was hoping she'd say: 'Yeah, sure. That's a great plan. Hamilton, you're a genius and I love you.' Okay, so she's said she loves me already.
"I'll be lucky if
I can get into a school in the state. I won't be going to Rawley
anything if they know I lied on my application, forged my mother's signature,
and broke into their personal computer files. Now stop talking and
kiss me."
I was about
to point out that she'd been the one babbling, but hey, I wouldn't pass
up an opportunity to make out with my sexy baby. She broke away too
quickly. Why do girls always do that?
"Okay. Me and Bella will start getting ready, and you and your boys do the same. I'll see you later." One more peck and she ran off.
"But it's only three o'clock." I called after her.
Later
"Army uniform?" Will looked confused. I still hadn't told him what me and my *date* were going as.
"Actually, air force." I wouldn't have known the difference either, except the costume guy assured me that it was.
"Oh, yeah. That's what I meant." He laughed.
"We were just finishing getting ready. He flipped his cape over his shoulders and I set my hat on my head at a rakish angle.
"Shall we go get the ladies?"
"Yup." I had told Will that I'd introduced my date *Jennie* to Bella. Somehow I had to give him a reason that they were waiting at Friendly's together.
Later still
They were inside
and wearing their masks when our rented limo pulled in front of the restaurant.
As we got
out, they came outside and I almost didn't recognize which one was Jake.
If I hadn't known that she was wearing the Jeanie costume, I could've mistaken
them. Granted Bella was more curvy than my girlfriend, but with the
sparse clothing, Jake's curves weren't hidden.
"You were right, Hamilton. She is a babe, and I'd say, a lot better looking than Jake." He chuckled. I didn't know whether to agree or punch him.
"I told you she was foxy!" I finally replied. "Bella looks good too." Which she did. Usually Bella is so girl-next-door, like Keri Russel, but she looked dark and mysterious in her tight black dress and red cape to match Will's.
Jake came close to me. "Hi, boy." she whispered in my ear. I just smiled because I really couldn't call her boy in front of the other two.
"You look good, Bella." Will spoke up. "So do you...Jennie?"
She looked at me,
eyebrows raised. I just smiled and shrugged. Jennie, Jeanie,
kind of a play on words.
"Yes, Jennie,
but lot's of people call me Jen. You look nice Hamilton."
"Yeah, well nice doesn't begin to describe how you look." Then I turned to complement Bella. "Is that a real cat?" I asked instead.
"No, it's fake. They sold these a while back. Salem dolls. Like off of Sabrina the Teenage Witch?"
"Yeah, I've seen the show."
"Well it matches my outfit." She giggled. "Where is Scout...and Paige?" She likes him as much as he likes her.
"Get this...." Will paused for effect. "Paige came and took him away in a horse-drawn carriage." He started laughing and I joined in.
"What's wrong with that?" Jake queried.
"Yeah, it seems really romantic." Bella added softly.
"Maybe if you're the girl. To guys, it's just embarrassing." I continued to laugh. The girls looked at each other like 'Boys. Who get's them?'
"Well here's your carriage ladies." I motioned to the limo where Will was already standing with the door open. As they walked in front of me to the vehicle, I almost freaked-out when I noticed Jake had a tattoo of a butterfly on her lower back.
"I didn't know you had a tattoo." I said to her after we all got into the limo.
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." She smiled coyly.
"So, is Jake going to be there? Maybe with Lena?" Me and Jake looked at each other after Bella posed the question. Was Bella just messing with my head?
"I don't know. Jake doesn't tell me everything." I grinned at the fact that I'd used her own line against her.
"Who's this Jake guy? Hamilton always talks about him. Jake this, Jake that...." Jake gave me a sweet look. Sure, babe, get me stared at more. Bella and Will exchanged a knowing glance, but for two different reasons.
"Oh, he's a friend...of ours...of all of ours." Will attempted to bail me out. He didn't know it wasn't necessary.
"Yeah, he's a nice guy." Bella put in.
"Oh? Well that
would explain it then. And does he go out with this...Lena?"
"
Well, they actually...."
I began, knowing that she was just trying to catch me.
"Yeah, a lot. They're serious." Will, the only person in the car that wasn't in on the joke, replied.
"Hmmm." Was all Jake said.
Even later
"You have to help me. Jake's puking in the bathroom." Bella whispered.
"What?"
"She said she was drunk. There must have been something in the punch."
"Well that explains
why a bunch of people are getting so wild." I got up and followed
her to the bathroom. I didn't really care that it was a girl's room
right now.
She was sitting
beside the toilet with a little ribbon of spit on the corner of her mouth
and her wig was matted. Okay, so I'd seen her looking prettier, but
she was my girlfriend and I was there for her.
"Hey, Hamilton." She hung her head. "I don't fell good at all!"
"Well the toilet's right there if you need it." I reminded her gently and pulled the ruined wig off of her head.
"Okay." And she did. I ripped off some toilet paper and held her up while Bella wiped her mouth.
"This is ridiculous.
I have to take her home. Help me get her up." I asked Bella
and we managed to pull her to her feet. I scooped her up by the neck
and behind her knees, and began to carry her. She'd passed out and
her dead weight made it almost impossible to hold, but the dorm rooms weren't
to far away.
I finally
made it to her room and laid her on the bed.
"Can you watch her?" I asked Bella, who had followed us. "I'll be back, but first I have to find out who spiked the punch. I have a pretty good idea who it was though."
"Ryder?"
"Yeah, that prick.
See you in a bit." I ran out the room and back to the dance.
I had seen Ryder and his buddies laughing in one corner. Within seconds
of when I started over, he looked around and started running off.
I chased him, knowing now that he was the one.
We ran around
the buildings and back again through the ballroom where Scout, Will, and
Paige were standing menacingly close to the other culprits. They'd
somehow gotten ahold of a few cartons of eggs, that looked like it had
belonged to the guys. They were huddled in a corner and Ryder ran
by, oblivious to the fact that he was about to get egged. Paige haled back
and whipped the egg, that was in her hand, at him. Whap! Right
in the side of the head. With that hit, Scout and Will started the
assault and I joined in. After we were out of eggs, I strode over
to Ryder.
"I know you did it." I stated angrily, and looking at his faceāthat stupid smirk, made me even angrier.
"Did what?"
"Don't play stupid, jerk."
"So your girlfriend got drunk. If you were a real man, you'd be thanking me."
"What does that mean?" I stepped closer. If he wanted a fight, he was going to get one.
"We got her smashed, and a real man would've taken advantage of that. Instead you run off to your bitchboy's room. Scotty seen you leave his room. Was he sad that you didn't take him to the party, mate?"
"Whatever, Ryder." He was such a joke. I felt confident enough to say what I did next. "What we do is none of your business. Weather we're just friends, or something more, you and anyone else with such a small mind, don't need to be involved." I turned away, while I wasn't in the mood to punch him, and jogged off.
Late, late the same night
"So how do you feel now?"
"Stupid, and still really sick." She cuddled into my shoulder. "Thanks for staying with me. Are you sure your parents aren't going to be mad that you didn't go home?"
"Nah. They'll just assume I spent the night here with you."
"But in the same bed, and if they knew I was a girl....So what happened with you and Ryder?"
"I wanted to punch him, I really did. I could've just gone ballistic on his...but I didn't because I realized he doesn't know us. He doesn't know what you go through just to stay here with me. He also doesn't know how gorgeous you are."
"Barf breath and all?" She laughed.
"Yeah." I had to say it. Yeah, her breath at the moment was pretty harsh, but she was still the most amazing chick I'd ever met. "Ryder actually made me realize something."
"What's that?"
"I don't give you enough credit. You do this all for me and another girl would have given up and gone home for the amount of times I ask you to come out, but not you. You are my world, and I don't care if everyone thinks were gay. We're together." I didn't regret not creaming Ryder. Being here with her, as mushy as it sounds, was worth all the torment.
"I love you Jake." But she didn't answer back. She was already lightly snoring. I pulled her to me tightly and smiled to myself happily at her light breathing, as she slept. This felt good, it felt right. I chuckled, though, at another thought. What would happen when my parent's found out? The End
