Prom - Part I

Prom is the senior year graduation party in the USA. In the story, the correct chronology of this event was not obeyed, because there the party is at the beginning of the year and not at the end as I put it in the fic, because for that date I used the academic year of my country.

I would like to thank Carla (lucca-jeller) for her collaboration with part I of this chapter, which was entirely hers!

Hope you like it!

Ellen ...

Ellen Brigs didn't welcome her children's excitement at the school dance. He had devoted the best years of their lives to those brothers and had plans for them. The way they learned to channel their anger into physical strength and determination to survive in the illegal orphanage where they spent their childhood would make them the best soldiers for the cause she championed. Ordinary social activities like this ball would only take you out of focus on the really important things.

She didn't even care much about Roman. He knew that he would easily convince him to put these frivolities aside in the future. But Remi ... Remi was different from his brother. Much harder to fold. And there was this guy that he was getting involved with. Definitely inappropriate and dangerous. This Kurt guy was a threat to Remi's future, planting fantasies in her head like love being more important than her duties before her country. Ellen knew how this type of teenager saw life: any stable job would be an excuse to start a family. One day she was innocent as well. But she wouldn't let that keep Remi from the bright future he dreamed of for her daughter. No prom. And the change would take her away from Kurt.

An extra study plan. That was the strategy she used to justify Roman's going to the party while Remi stayed home. The consequences of this, Ellen had also predicted: several discussions, countless questions, resistance from her daughter. She handled it as she always did: reminding Remi that if she hadn't adopted them and taken full responsibility for them, the brothers would have been executed when the orphanage was discovered to be considered too lethal for life in society.

Remi...

Remi did everything in her power to convince Ellen that this extra study plan was unnecessary and that she could perfectly go to the dance without it affecting her performance. But it was in vain. The mother was adamant. She came to think of a direct affront, but when the rescue from the orphanage was brought on the agenda, she was silent. Ellen would always be grateful for taking them out of that hell and saving their lives. He thought of sending a note to Kurt through Patterson warning him of his absence, but she never did. There was still a tiny flame of hope inside her that kept her from burying the dream of one last meeting with him before the move and the party was her big chance.

On the day of the event, she dedicated herself to her studies even more diligently. She stayed cool with Ellen because she knew her mother would be suspicious if she acted otherwise. When he managed to finish the extensive to-do list, it was too late. The dance should have started almost an hour ago. It would have to be more than discreet, imperceptible. She prepared the bed with pillows under the blankets for her mother to think she was sleeping. She would go out the window and return without being noticed.

She didn't have a dress or any clothes like the ones the girls wore on those occasions. A flash of discomfort passed through her as she realized this. But she didn't give up. Clothes would never determine their destiny. She wore dark jeans, a black blouse, and a leather jacket. The pencil in the eyes and the leather choker closed the look before sneaking out the window.

When she entered the party room, everyone looked at her. Remi knew that it was not her angelic beauty that called attention, but the inappropriate clothing. She took a deep breath and covered everything with her eyes in search of Kurt. He was at a table with Allie, visibly restless. That singular way of scratching the back of his neck gave him away. The gibberish soon made him look in her direction. And the smile on his face gave her the certainty that she did the right thing by deceiving her mother and coming even though she was dressed disgustingly in the eyes of the rest of her schoolmates.

He almost ran to meet her.

"Hi... I was already thinking that you wouldn't come." he said with that crooked smile that always broke Remi's heart.

"I said I'd come." she also replied with a rare smile.

"Would you like to drink something?" He asked

"I'd like..."

He led her by the arm to the drinks table and served them both. They were still the center of attention and it started to bother Remi a lot. If they were the subject of the next day at school, Ellen could find out and be in trouble with her mother. Kurt noticed his discomfort:

"Do you want to talk in a more discreet place?"

She nodded and left the room.

Outside, the night was dark. Kurt pulled her into his arms and Remi allowed herself to enjoy that moment with him closing his eyes. When she felt energized enough to get out of that hug, she said:

"I know that this outfit is not suitable..."

"I don't care about the clothes you wear. I'm glad you came."

"Look, I'm not any kind of rebel without cause trying to get attention by appearing here dressed like this..."

"I didn't think that, I swear." he tried to position himself.

"But the others thought. Ellen didn't agree that I would come. I left hidden. If I had a dress, I would have put it on, but I didn't have it. And... Wow, the girls are beautiful, especially Allie."

"You are still the most beautiful of the party even without a dress." he said, pulling her back into his arms and now putting his lips together in a kiss. Her heart sank with everything he said, it shouldn't have been easy.

The two surrendered to the moment, enjoying each kiss and all the forms of affection they exchanged. They talked banal things. They laughed a little. They looked at the moon. Everything seemed perfect. But he noticed that sometimes, her eyes filled with sadness. He knew it had something to do with her mother and decided to show how much he was willing to fight for her:

"Remi, tomorrow I'm going to your house. I'm going to talk to your mother and show her that, despite going to military school next year, I want to stay with you. She will see that I have good intentions..."

"No! You can't do that. Ellen would never understand."

"But I'm worried about you. Your mother suffocates you too much with this study routine. This is not normal."

"Ellen just wants our good. Roman and I owe her loyalty for taking us out of the orphanage."

"Remi, I understand that you are grateful to her for this, but you need to agree that this is all very strange. The link that unites a family must be love and not loyalty. Ellen seems to want total devotion from you, and that is not true. She doesn't even let you call her mom."

"I know everything seems strange, but it's just her way. You have no idea what we went through at the orphanage and what could have happened to us."

"Okay, she got them out of there, but that's no reason to stop you from living in the present. And the present is us. She needs to understand this."

"Kurt, being with you is the best thing I've ever experienced, but that is above us. Ellen's work is important and she is preparing me to help her. I owe it to her. What I wanted most was to owe her nothing to be able to face her with all of this, but I can't. And there's Roman, he needs me there too."

"I will repeat again: Ellen has no right to steal from you the rest of her life. You are not alone in this, Remi. I'm with you. We will fight and get together. Tomorrow I will talk to your mother and make her understand this."

"No, Kurt, please don't."

"Why not?"

"There is a lot about the past and the future that I can't tell you. And talking to Ellen wouldn't change anything. We're going to move, Kurt, and I don't even know where. Her job is like that. This is our last night together, that's why I risked so much to be here with you."

"Our last meeting? And are you just telling me this now?" Kurt stood up impatiently.

"I wanted to tell you, but she took me away from school..."

"Then let's run away. Today! I will not let her separate us. I drop out of military school and get a job."

"No! You are aware of what you are saying. Military school is your dream. I would never forgive myself for that. And there's Roman, I can't leave him. I'm sorry, Kurt."

"You are more important to me than any dream." he said sadly. "But apparently, I don't mean the same thing to you, do I?"

Remi wanted to scream that he was the person she loved the most in the world and kiss him so that she could feel how immense her love was, but she knew there was no hope for them. Ellen wouldn't accept that relationship and wasn't willing to see him sacrificing his dreams for a life without a future with her. Her mother always said that the psychological consequences left by the orphanage would make it risky to start a family because sooner or later it would hurt everyone around her. For all this, the words that came out of her lips said the opposite of what she had in her heart:

"Everything between us ends here, Kurt. It was a mistake that I came. I don't expect you to understand, but..." and afraid of betraying, she shut up the rest of the sentence "Good night."

And she left him alone.

Kurt came back inside the ball feeling disappointed and deceived. Allie came to her and offered her company as a comfort. He accepted.

Remi walked for two blocks almost in a trance trying to contain the urge to cry. And suddenly, her feet no longer obeyed her. Nothing about her obeyed her rational side. In a rush, she turned and ran back to the party. She would find Kurt and say she was willing to risk everything for him.

But she barely entered the room and saw the saddest scene of her life. To the sound of slow music, everyone danced on the dance floor with their bodies glued together. Kurt and Allie, however, were standing still, exchanging kisses that seemed like it would never end.

Stunned, Remi turned her back on the salon and any hope that she might have a normal life. This wasn't for her. Ellen was right.