31 minutes
457 words
2 seniors
1 prom
The Senior Prom. Even the geeks swallowed their fears and forced themselves to ask someone – anyone – to the Senior Prom. Charlie Eppes at thirteen was a full fledged geek, five years younger than his classmates. Well, he was only four years younger than Tommy McCain. And he was six years younger than Rocky the dumb kid. But even though he hadn't done the calculations, he felt safe in saying on average, he was five years younger.
When you're thirty, five years doesn't make a whole lot of difference. When you're thirteen, five years is an eternity. No eighteen year old girl in her right mind would date a thirteen year old. Charlie had to admit there was something pedophile-ish about the situation. But he knew one girl out of all of his classmates who wouldn't laugh at him.
Val Eng was sweet, funny and nice. She and Charlie were lab partners and friends. Val would understand. She wouldn't laugh. She'd go with him to the prom, and she'd make sure he had fun. Maybe she'd even kiss him goodnight.
But this was Val's Senior Prom, too. Charlie didn't want her to miss out on any fun by going with him. He studied the prom like he studied advanced calculus. He even went so far as to buy the prom issue of Seventeen Magazine. He decided on the corsage he would buy. He picked out the tuxedo he would rent.
Finally, he was ready to ask her. On the way to school, he decided to tell his ultra-cool big brother, Donnie. "Hey, Donnie..."
"Yeah, Buddy?"
"You know the prom is coming up, and I'm ready to ask someone. I know what kind of corsage I'm buying and everything."
"Cool! I've already got my date. I asked Val yesterday and she said yes."
Charlie blinked back the tears that stung his eyes. "I... uh... that's ... that's great, Donnie."
"Buddy?" Don stopped, staring at his little brother. "Oh, man. You were going to ask her, weren't you? You shoulda told me. I..."
"Don't worry about it, Donnie," Charlie forced a smile. "She likes you, you know."
"Really? You're not kidding me, are you?"
"Nah. She told me in lab a while back. She hates baseball but she goes to the games so she can watch you."
"She told you that? Really?" Donnie's voice squeaked like it hadn't since he was Charlie's age.
"Yeah, Bro," Charlie's smile was genuine now. "I'm glad she's going with you," he said as they walked up the steps to the school. "I've gotta meet with Mr. Rockwell for a few minutes. See ya." Before Donnie could say anything more, Charlie ran through the front door of the school and disappeared down the hallway.
Author's Note: That's just one guess at how the whole prom thing between Don & Charlie went down. It was inspired by two lines of dialog from "Soft Target": Don: "Kind of weird, Val getting married at our house., though, don't you think?" Charlie: "Uh huh. Even weirder because I liked her and you – you took her to the prom."
Author's Note: "prom" was supposed to be a one-shot, but Bookworm79 (Jenny) noticed a major error in my plot. So you have Jenny to thank for this second (and final) part of "prom"!
26 minutes
406 words
2 attempts
"And that's how I should have handled it. Well, looking at it logically, Don was a much better date for Val Eng," Charlie said with a shrug.
Amita snuggled against him. "So now, twenty one years later, you're finally able to look at it logically?" She reached up and ran her finger along his stubbly jawline. "So how did you really handle it? Before the twenty-one years of perspective and logic?"
"Not well," Charlie said with a sigh. "I was sitting next to the koi pond, reading that Seventeen Magazine I'd bought to study up on proms, trying to figure out the best way to ask Val. Don came out to the back yard. He was doing a dumb little celebration dance. You know, like the football players used to do in the end zone? So I asked him what was up."
"Oh no!" Amita gasped. "That's when he told you..."
"Yeah. He said, 'I just scored a date with the hottest chick in school, Buddy. I'm taking Val Eng to the prom.'"
"What did you do?"
Charlie gnawed his lower lip for a moment before answering. "I freaked out. I dropped the magazine and picked up a rock."
"You didn't!"
"I did. Good thing I was a crappy aim. I wanted to knock his head off with it. It hit his arm instead. Looking back, I should have aimed for his legs. At least it would have slowed him down. I got up and ran for my life. He caught me in the front yard and tackled me." He shook his head. "I was so angry, I ignored the fact that he was five years older, outweighed me by about twenty pounds, and was an athlete. I wailed away at him like I wanted to kill him."
"Obviously you didn't succeed."
Charlie chuckled. "No, I didn't. I did give him a black eye. He gave me a bloody nose. And Dad had to break it up. Afterwards, Donnie asked me what made me go off on him like that."
"What'd you tell him?"
"The truth. I told him was all ready to ask Val to the prom and he got there first."
"Aww. I'll be he got all big brothery and sorry."
Charlie laughed out loud. "You really don't know Don very well. He gave me four very wise words that I have tried to live by to this day. 'You snooze, you lose."