Chapter 4: After you part II
"Do you want any drink?" Wade asked her beside her right ear.
"Can I have a glass of punch?" Zoe whispered back to him which he was sitting nearby her at their table.
"As you wish."
They came into the gym that held the prom but the event already started with a loud music that blast through the gym. After they got out of the Rammer Jammer, same as before, Wade rode the Vespa with Zoe behind him and her arms around his waist. They wore their masks before they went inside. Wade went to the punch bowl at the corner of the room and found his two best friends were there too.
"Dude! way to go." George said while himself tried to get a glass of punch.
"You lucky bastard." Lavon said a bit of jealousy in his voice but smiled at his friend.
"What about y'all? You're taking who to the prom?" Wade tried to change the subject.
"Well, Annabeth Nass asked me just a couple days ago." George's cheeks slightly went to pink and he also tried o hide his smile from his friends.
"Annabeth is cute. You, Lavon?" Wade said.
"Uhh…first, Lemon Breeland asked me, and then Ruby Jeffries asked me just an hour after Lemon asked me to go with her to the prom, but I already said yes to Lemon. So I have to gently reject Ruby before she ran off to tell her grandfather." Lavon said and then thought of Sergeant Jeffries, her grandfather. He was a scary man and almost every kid in the town was afraid of him just to hear his name. His granddaughter was everything to him and Lavon was so scared that Sergeant Jeffries was gonna had his head before dawn, but he was alive and thank god for that.
"Oh! and also Didi Ruano asked me, but I know that Al O'Grady likes her so I turn down her offer and tell her that Al is waiting for her to ask him." Lavon said and saw Didi and Al danced on the dance floor laughing at each other. Yeah, they would make a good couple.
"Wait! So you're saying that the head cheerleader and soon-to-be the head of the Belles, Lemon Breeland asked you out?" George almost choked on his drink when he heard his friend said that name.
"Yeah. She is a lovely lady. What's wrong with her?"
"No! Not at all, I just surprised that a high-strung girl like her was brave enough to ask a big heart man like you. That's all" George said while Wade only nodded his head.
"I gotta go now. I don't want Zoe to wait so long." Wade said to his friends and walked away from them. George and Lavon also went to separate way to their date.
Wade came back with two glasses of punch, one for Zoe and one for himself. Zoe took a sip and sneaked a glance at Wade for a moment. Wade caught her stare and only chuckled and smiled that cute smile of his. They just sat in a comfortable silence and then the DJ - Meatball - decided to change the rhythm to slow. Even though he was kind of an ass, but he was a good musician and he volunteered himself to do this duty for the night.
"Everybody! Grab your partner and enjoy the night." Meatball said to the mic.
"Shall we?" Wade stood up from his seat and turned toward Zoe. He stretched his hand to her.
"We shall." she giggled and grabbed his hand. She stood up and literally dragged Wade to the middle of the gym.
The slow song started to begin and both of them swayed following the beat of the music. Zoe looked into his eyes for a moment and smiled softly at him before leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes. Her arms circled around his neck while his arms around her waist. He tensed for a short time before he began to relax and swayed a little more.
"I just want to dance with you all night when everyone has their disguise." Zoe said loud enough for Wade to hear, but not enough for other people to make out what she said.
"Me too." Wade tightened his arms and kissed at the top of her head. He didn't know why he did it but in that moment, it felt like it should be. Zoe didn't push him away, that was a good sign. They embraced each other like no one was in this room, just the two of them. They danced for so long they didn't know it was almost an hour that they had been on the dance floor. Then Meatball stopped the song and started to speak to the mic.
"Okay, everyone. It's time to announce who is the prom king and prom queen for this year." Everybody gathered around the stage waiting for their names to be called.
"And the prom king this year is….George Tucker!" Everybody was clapping at George. He walked up the stairs to the stage and smiled at everyone. You could swear that you heard every girl in this room was doing googly eyes at the golden boy.
"The prom queen this year is… Lemon Breeland!" Everybody was clapping at her too especially the boys from the football team because they knew that Lavon, The quarterback of the team, was her date.
Zoe and Wade were clapping at their friends in the corner before Wade stopped and whirled toward her.
"Do you want to get out of here?" Wade asked gently.
"I thought you would never ask." She took Wade's hand and lead Wade out of the door to the parking lots where their car was at. The sound of the party started to fade way as they walked further and further.
Wade rode the Vespa to the town square and stopped in front of the gazebo. Right now, every store was closed because it was already 11 at night. Zoe hopped out of the Vespa and beelined to the gazebo. She sat on the bench inside the shed and sigh loudly. Wade followed her and sat beside her on the bench.
"Ahhhhh!" Suddenly Zoe screamed at the top of her lungs and then laughed afterward. Wade startled and then confused about what was just happening.
"Are you okay?" Wade asked baffle.
"Yes! I'm okay." She uttered enthusiasm with a smile. She had never screamed in the middle of the night before.
"Are you sure? I can take you home if you want me to."
"I don't want this night to end." Her smiled starting to fade away and her eyes moved to the ground looking at her own high heels that dangled above the floor.
"I don't want it to end either."
"Let's talk."
"About what?"
"I don't know. Anything will do. I want to know all about you. Tell me everything."
"Well, my life is not that interesting."
"My life is not a fairytale. So that makes the two of us then…I'll go first!"
"Okay. Go ahead."
"I like black and white cookies."
"What is that?" Wade chuckled and looked at her.
"Hey! don't judge me. It is my favorite thing in the world."
"Okay. Okay. I'm allergic to pumpkins."
"No way! So you have never eaten pumpkin soup from Shula Whitaker before?"
"Nope."
"Whitaker's recipe is the best. Next, umm… I love peach pie."
"I'm allergic to rabbits."
"I like rabbits. They are so tiny and cute."
"I'm also allergic to birch beer."
"Why are you allergic to many things so much?"
"Just three, I'm only allergic to that three."
"Good… I'm Jewish."
"Ah. That's why you never attend at the Bluebell Community Church."
"I'm Jewish from my mother's side."
"How's your mom?" Zoe tensed a bit.
"I don't mean to get too personal. I'm sorry I say that."
"It's okay. Don't worry." She smiled at him but her smile didn't reach her eyes.