He finished adorning the ends of his sleeves with cufflinks before reaching for his black vest and securing the silky cloth around his broad chest. He tousled his untamed orange locks for what seemed to be the umpteenth time; Nazz had practically begged him to go without his beloved cap for the night and the jock had a feeling he'd be moving his hair out of his face for majority of the night.
He had opted for a tie in hopes it would be easier to finish off over a bowtie, but he realized it was just as difficult. He huffed before leaving his room, "Pops?" he called out.
The older Barr man had been more excited for today than his son, enough to request to go in later for work. "Lemme guess your tie?" he heard the man calling from the living room; a baseball game could be heard coming from the TV. Kevin descended the stairs making way to where his dad sat on the couch.
He stood in front of him blocking the game obviously desperate to finish getting ready, his dad huffed overdramatically "Boy I swear I'm gonna strangle you with it." He stood up adjusting the silky cloth before tying it off "Couldn't wait until a commercial."
The older ginger gripped firmly at his shoulders, "I'm proud of ya'" he stated before giving him a hearty pat on the back.
"So…whose all going in your group?" he asked as he plopped back down onto the couch. He wasn't too sure how his dad would react to him going in a group with Double dipshit; there had been numerous times he had come home with a broken nose or black eye and his dad asking 'in blue blazes' had happened only to spend hours convincing him he wasn't being bulled in the traditional sense of the meaning and the other guy hadn't come out any better.
He sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Well Nazz and Marie are going together," he said "and so is Edd." His dad glanced at him with a quizzical look, "Ain't that the smart Vincent boy who became a badass?" he asked. Kevin nodded, "I wouldn't say a badass more like a douche."
The older man sighed scratching at his growing stubble, "Well from what I've heard and seen, well lack of seen, he hasn't had the best parental upbringing." Kevin shifted on his feet, not entirely caring if Edd had good parents or not did'nt warrant him being an ass to anyone. Or did it? Would he be a total dick if his dad was never around after his mothers passing?
He shook his head, "I don't know. Maybe." He huffed answering his own question.
The doorbell rang eventually pullng both Barr men from the gam flashing in front of them. The older of the two jumped up to answer the door, "Well Nazz don't you look beautiful." He side stepped allowing the blonde to enter.
And she did look beautiful, her hair had been pulled to the side and hung in ringlets, she wore a one-shouldered silky blue form-fitting gown. At one time or another he thought they'd be together but he knew deep down the love he felt for her was only brotherly, she loved Marie and he was happy for her. The redhead only wished he too could one day relish in such feelings.
"Where's Marie?" he asked her, she jutted her chin across the street, "Getting Edd." She said nonchalantly, the jock never thought in his wildest dreams he would be going in a group to prom with Double D. Nor did he ever fathom the raven haired boy becoming such an off-standish douche. Yeah, he knew his parents were never around neither was his own dad that didn't turn him into the worst person in the world. Come to think of it he never even saw any other vehicle parked in the driveway across the street since before middle school, other than his own or every so often Marie's beat up Taurus. Did his parents ever visit?
Everyone in the cul de sac knew the Vincent's were a physician power couple off wherever such a highly esteemed doctors were; saving lives or whatever it was they did. Did they talk to him ever? Call? Write? Text? Anything? At least he saw his pops occasionally on the weekend or the early mornings when the younger was rattled with insomnia and night terrors and the older coming home from a double shift. But he knew his day loved him and cared for him the best he could. Did anyone love Edd?
"Alright Well I want some pictures." His pops said breaking him from his thoughts. Nazz's eyes sparkled at the words that left the older mans lips. She was the selfie queen and her Facebook and Instagram backed her title up.
After a few thousand pictures Marie walked up beside his pops, her normally wavy hair was straight with a sparkly headband, she wore a strapless light blue that closely matched her girlfriends in style. "Marie!" she greeted cheerfully then she gasped. A tall dark man stepped next to the bluenette. He wore all black; black dress pants, black button up, black vest, elegant black dress shoes. The only vivsble color was a bowtie that matched Marie's dress; he had a long face with a strong jaw. Jet-black hair lay at his nape rolled into a bun; a few lose tendrils wisped around his eyes. "Oh Edd you look so handsome." The jock's best friend breathed, there was no way this was Double Dipshit, where was his hat? "Thank you, Nazz. You look stunning, Marie is extremely lucky." His voice ricocheted in his mind, has his voice always been so deep.
"You should go without it more often." She winked, he chuckled "Perhaps, however it took quite a bit of convincing on Marie's part to get me to go without." She shook her head, "Sounds like we both had the same idea too get you both out of your hats." Marie teased toward a hatless Kevin, he rolled his eyes at her comment.
With that his pops took another thousand photos assuring Nazz he'd print all of them out for her and Marie. Another ten minutes of arguing whose car they'd be taking they settled for Edd's dad's car. A 2010 Rolls Royce Phantom, Kevin had to keep from drooling, this had to be easily a 300k-dollar vehicle. The girls climbed into the back for a bit of privacy. He took shotgun glancing at the mileage, 203 miles. He snorted of course, the small group left the comfort of the cul de sac eager to start the night they'd remember for the rest of their lives.
Another twenty minutes on the freeway they arrived at the venue prom was being held at. After parking they located the banquet hall with the sign that read 'Peach Creek Prom' out front. The lights were dimmed with several tables covered with white table clothes were scattered around the large room, at opposite walls were long tables filled with food and drink for the wild dancing students. Everything was already in full swing; a large crowd was gathered on the dance floor while a few others lingered throughout.
Eventually Kevin's uneasiness dissipated and he began to enjoy himself; he danced with Nazz and Marie as well as the few girls that found their bravery and asked him to dance. He even noticed Edd dancing with Marie and few times. Before the small group noticed almost three hours had passed, prom was set to end at half past ten. The redhead's stomach growled with hunger, he pulled himself from the dance floor and made his way over to one of food tables. He pied spaghetti on his plate and took a handful of rolls. He spotted Edd close by with his own plate seated at a table, the ravenette was swirling the last bit of noodles around his plate staring absently at the dance floor.
The ginger poked awkwardly at his food, taking a mouthful. A slow song replaced the upbeat pop song that had just ended; Kevin watched all the couples hold onto one another, Nazz and Marie being one of those couples. If he didn't know any better he would've thought they were simply best friends. However, the fact they began sloppily swapping spit proved otherwise, he noticed Edd tense up in the seat next to him at the sight.
He had never seen the sockhead so uneasy at the site of the two girls being so intimate, he watched Edd practically vibrating in his seat. Edd side glanced at the jock before returning his gaze back to the dance floor. Kevin followed his line of site, the two girls got more heated in their actions and a few people had taken notice and not in a positive light. Especially one girl in particular, Tara; she was you typical Christian bible thumping homophobe. She had been dancing with her date only to stop and glare at Nazz and Marie in total disgust.
Tara stomped over to the duo reaching for Nazz's curls to yank her away from Marie's grasp, "Disgusting filthy faggots!" she spat, both Kevin and Edd were up in a flash and raced over to their friends side. "Tara stop!" the jock shouted, the scene was slowly gathering everyone's attention.
"No, there is no need for such vile filth here!" Tara retorted, "Who cares Tara, just let them be they were hurting no one." Edd stepped in. Marie held a sobbing Nazz in her arms stroking her ruined updo. "Why do either one of you care. Huh, does that nasty shit turn you on or something." Kevin snorted, "Nazz is my sister I'll defend her to the end!" the ginger said.
"Still its an abomination, I don't see why two straight guys are defending these lowly fags." She glowered, Edd clenched and unclenched his fists several times, he was seething with intense raw rage, "Why do you care what they do and who they love." Edd said through gritted teeth. "Why do you care?" Tara argued, "Does it matter?" he snapped, Tara shook her head her fake blonde hair moving as she did. "Yes, god says those who are fags don't deserve to live. They choose to be like this so they don't deserve life."
"Wha the fuck does that even mean?" Kevin interjected, Tara took a step closer to Edd never moving her gaze from him, "They do not choose this no more than you choose to be a fucking bitch!" Edd growled. Tara narrowed her eyes, "You don't know anything, don't defend these disgu-" Edd caught her off before she could finssh. "I know exactly because I'm gay!" he shouted.
If their little scene had caught any attention before, it definitely had everyone's focus now. Tara's mouth hung open at Edd's revelation, if she had a retort planned out she didn't voice it whatsoever before she stomped off. Marie had let go of a now calm Nazz to comfort Edd. All Kevin could do was stare at the ravenette; the man was visibly shaken at coming out in order to defend both girls.
Edd snuck a glance at the jock, "You're gay.." was all Kevin could muster, with that Edd sprinted from the room.