i
Todd is late. He glances down at the clock for what must have been the millionth time that morning as he drove behind the world's slowest car tapping his fingers irritatedly on the steering wheel. "You had to stop for donuts." Todd says to Knox.
"Hey, I'm asking a girl out I need the sugar rush for courage." Knox says his mouth full of Boston cream.
"Prom is stupid." Todd says for what must be the millionth time to date. He doesn't get it at all. The chance to pay $50 to hang out with people he sees everyday and listen to music he doesn't like? No thanks.
"You wouldn't think that if Neil Perry asked you to prom." Knox retaliates because he's a douchebag.
"I could pull over right now and let you walk to school."
"Indeed you could" Knox agrees because they both know Todd won't. Not so much because he's a good person but because he wants more donuts. "So'd ya hear?"
"Hear what?"
"Ginny and Neil broke up."
Todd almost slams on the brakes. "What!?"
"Yeah, or at least that's what I heard from Gloria."
"Gloria doesn't know anything. One time she asked me if people in Canada really have a Moose President."
"That's ridiculous. Everyone knows Canada has a Moose Prime Minister. But she seemed pretty confident they had broken up."
"Too bad." Todd says turning into the student parking lot.
"Yeah right," Knox says his mouth full of donut, "You were always going on about how she wasn't good enough for him."
That was true, not in a mean way. Ginny Danbury was beautiful, smart, funny, talented but somehow she never quite matched Neil in that sort of glowing aura of charisma. It's not like he said she wasn't good enough for Neil in a way that implied that he himself was. Ginny and Neil may not have been on the same level but at least they had always been in the same league. Besides at least half of the girls in the school seemed to have a crush on Neil, he'll have a date for the prom by the end of the day and probably a new girlfriend by the end of the week.
"You know," Knox says unbuckling himself and opening the door of Todd's very cool minivan, "There's still time to buy a prom ticket..."
"I'm not going." Todd says.
"Come on! Even Meeks is going, Meeks! He never goes to this kind of thing but even he understands the importance of prom."
"He's going because the principal is paying him to make sure the sound system doesn't crash like last year. And unlike Meeks I wouldn't go even if you paid me to so stop asking!"
"It's funny," Knox says, "I always had this idea in my head like you were a shy boy who never had opinions on anything. And then I got to know you."
Knox Overstreet had actually gone to the same private school as Charlie and Neil but he and Todd had become friends at the beginning of ninth grade when they had been partnered up on a science project. They had gotten a D on the project but they'd formed a tentative friendship, partially over their mutual dislike of Charlie Dalton. Knox and Charlie had been friends until a girl at summer camp had come between them. Todd had made the mistake of asking about it once only to receive a very melodramatic retelling courtesy of Knox.
"So, whose today's victim?" Todd asks pulling his locker open as Knox hovers beside him with the box of donuts.
"I was thinking of Tina...uh...I dunno her last name. Gloria's friend."
"Really?" Todd crams a textbook into his bag. "Well, good luck." He sidesteps Knox.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Knox calls after him, "Oy! What's that supposed to mean!?"
Todd's seven minutes late for his first class of the day and the only one he shares with Neil Perry. "How nice of you to join us Mr. Anderson," Dr. Hagar says as Todd stumbles into his seat beside Steven Meeks ducking his head in embarrassment. Todd could never understand why someone as rigid and stuck in his ways as Dr. Hagar was teaching a philosophy class in the first place. You always got the impression that although they were encouraged to put forth new ideas and their own interpretations that anyone who strayed too far outside the norm would be criticized. One time Charlie Dalton had pointed out that Descartes was really jumping to conclusions presuming the existence of God because the idea of a perfect being was in his mind. Dr. Hagar had then made him write an essay on why he thought he was smarter than Descartes.
"So," Meeks says leaning over when Dr. Hagar has returned to his exam review lecture. "You hear about Neil and Ginny?"
"That really happened?"
"Yeah. Gerard told me, apparently they had a big fight after at the cast party and Neil stormed out."
"I hope he's okay," Todd hazards a glance across the room to where Neil is sitting, laughing and joking with one of his friends. He sure doesn't look like someone who had broken up with his girlfriend of nearly two years. "I mean maybe it's just a little spat or something." Meeks shrugs and turns back to his review sheet.
Everything about this whole Neil/Ginny break up doesn't make sense, they had always seemed so happy together. Not like it's really Todd's business, he's not even friends with Neil anymore. The last time they spoke was at a party Neil had thrown at his house, Todd had suspected he had only been invited because it would have been awkward not to. He didn't even want to go but Knox had forced him, "You're going to be annoyed by the party anyways, you live right next door, so why not be annoyed up close?" He said, which was a rubbish argument.
Todd had been standing in the living room, wedged between the keg and a couple who were making out sloppily, wishing that he had just stayed home. "Hey!" came a voice from behind him, "You made it!" Neil was grinning at him like a madman.
"Uh, yeah, Knox really wanted to come so..." Todd trailed off. "Nice party." He said with what he hoped was at least some sincerity.
"Typical high school bullshit, but I guess everyone has to throw one once, huh?" Neil said leaning against the keg. "It's funny, everytime I go to one of these parties I always think 'this'll be what all those great high school movies were talking about! I'm really going to carpe this diem!' and then when I get there it's all the people I see all day, everyday. Only now they're drunk and horny."
"Noctum." Todd said without thinking.
"What?"
"It's, uh, carpe noctum it it's at night not carpe diem. Unless you're going to weird parties during the day or something."
Neil smiled at him, a strange sort of smile like he was proud of Todd or something. "Todd, I-"
"Neil!" Ginny called from behind them, "Can you come help me with this?"
He turned. "Uh, yeah sure." He looked back at Todd, "I'll be back in just a sec."
He didn't come back.
Todd's jerked out of his stupor by a paper plane hitting him in the side of the face. He looks down at it; 'WILL YOU GO TO PROM W/ ME?' It reads in large looping letters, he looks up confused because who the hell would ask him to prom.
Charlie Dalton is waving his hands and shaking his head, "It's for Steven!" He stagewhispers and Todd folds it in half and slides it onto Meeks' desk. Meeks opens it, reads it, makes a disgusted noise and turns around to flip Charlie off just as the bell rings.
"What the hell was that about?" Todd asks following Meeks into the hall.
"I have no idea. I think it's a bet or a dare or something. Ask the only openly gay kid to school to prom, hilarious, original, blah blah blah. I mean I'm just insulted that they aren't being more creative about it." Meeks rolls his eyes opening his locker. For someone whose mind is so orderly his locker is kind of a disaster. Which is weird because Todd has seen his room and it's freakishly clean. "Whatever, Dalton is all bark no bite. I'm sure it'll all blow over soon."
"EMERGENCY! MAYDAY MAYDAY!" Knox shouts, suddenly rushing down the hall towards them. "Prom-mergency!" He skids to a stop in front of them. "I have a problem."
"We've heard" Meeks says dryly. "Along with the rest of the northern hemisphere."
Knox however is not listening and instead launches straight into his story, "So there I was, just wandering past the caf, and there I see Tina sitting with her friends. Nice, not too popular, not too pretty, not too bright Tina. So I walk up to her table all cool and I asked her and..."
"And?"
"And she said yes"
Todd and Meeks exchange glances. "And that's your emergency? That's not an emergency that's a miracle." Meeks says.
"No, but you don't understand, it wasn't Tina!" Knox exclaims then lowers his voice, "It was Chris."
"Wait a minute, how could you possibly confuse Chris Noel with Tina? You've had a crush on Chris since forever." Todd says grabbing a history textbook out of his bag.
"I don't know! I just...well they're both blonde!"
Meeks snorts, "Great powers of deduction Sherlock. Look I have to go, I have chem, but please, I'd like to hear all the excruciatingly embarrassing details later."
"What am I going to do?" Knox moans as they walk to history class.
Todd frowns, "I don't get it, why are you so upset? Isn't going to prom with Chris like your biggest dream come true?"
"More like my nightmare, Chris Noel has standards, she's beautiful and smart and perfect. I don't want to be the reason her prom is ruined. Like what if I get her a corsage that doesn't match her dress? Or the limo breaks down? What then?"
"You should have auditioned for the play. Your becoming very theatrical."
"Voicing your fears and emotions is healthy." Knox mutters, a side effect of having a mother who's a therapist Todd supposed, Knox is very in touch with his emotions.
"Knox!" Chris calls from across the room, sitting with a group of her friends, "Come sit with us."
Knox gives Todd an apologetic glance before practically racing across the room. Todd sighs and sits in his usual seat on the other side of the room. Cameron leans over his desk, "So I heard Chris agreed to go to prom with Overstreet, I'm pretty sure that's a sign of the apocalypse."
Here was the thing about Richard Cameron, it wasn't that he was inherently a jerk, he just had this way of speaking which made his jokes go from funny to douche-y. Or maybe it was his face. Either way Cameron wasn't half bad, you just had to look past the wall of douchebaggery he had built up.
"Yup, frogs, plagues, and Knox going to prom, the end is nigh." Todd deadpans rummaging around in his bag for his pen. Todd is very particular about his pens, since he was twelve he has bought the same brand from the same store and refuses to use anything else unless absolutely necessary. Todd likes history but the tendency of the teacher to make them write out long notes tends to give him hand cramps instead of insight.
He darts a glance over to Knox who's smiling in a dopey lovestruck sort of way at Chris. Maybe it's mean but Todd sort of hopes that this doesn't turn into a real relationship. Even if he's only here for the rest of the summer he'd rather not spend it being Knox and Chris' third wheel, or worse being abandoned again. He tries to push the though out of his brain, Knox is happy in his own weird panicky way so Todd should just be happy for him.
History drags on, the class not the concept, that would be stupid to even mention since history is always dragging on. When the bell finally goes for lunch Todd slips out of the door quickly not bothering to wait for Knox. Last time he checked he was talking to Chris animatedly, probably about matching his tie to her dress or something. Knox was more unabashedly excited about prom than most of the girls at school and completely unapologetic about it.
"Hey," Meeks says appearing suddenly at Todd's side, "Cameron texted me, something about death of the first borns? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"The world is ending because of Knox and Chris' prom date."
"I think it's kind of cute, even if it's weird and against the laws of nature. Like a unicorn." Meeks pulls open his locker and barely avoids a small avalanche of school supplies.
"You've been spending too much time with Gerard."
"Probably." Meeks agrees, "What are you doing for lunch?"
"Well I was going to eat with Knox but he'll probably sit with Chris, why?"
"I was going to go study for physics but I can do it later, I don't want you to have to eat alone."
Todd's oddly flattered by this but he shakes his head, "No, that's okay. I have a bunch of stuff to get done anyways, you go ahead."
"You sure?" He asks
"Yeah, no big deal." Todd catches Knox gesturing to him out of the corner of his eye. He's still with Chris and one of her friends. "See ya later."
Chris Noel is the kind of girl people tend to underestimate. Sure she's beautiful and rich with a fondness for sundresses and pastel colours but not only does she have a sharp wit she's also on the school's champion academic decathlon team. To be honest she kind of terrifies Todd. Though she's smiling nice enough when he approaches them.
"You going to come eat lunch with us?" Knox asks already seeming less like the panicked kid eating donuts in his car this morning and more like Neil or Charlie, confident, cool, collected.
"Uh, if you don't mind."
"Of course we don't mind," Chris says sincerely, "The more the merrier. We were going to go to The Davenport, if that's good with you." Todd nods mutely.
The Davenport is the fancy restaurant at the country club just outside of town. Todd's parents are members but he hasn't been there since his brother's graduation. It's not usually the kind of place that high school students go to eat lunch, but as aforementioned Chris Noel is filthy rich. She wasn't obnoxious about it like some of the other kids Todd knew but she wasn't trying to hide it like Todd did.
A lot of kids at Todd's school were rich, but that's what happens when your school area includes a pricey old-fashioned gated community. The thing was that there are lots of different types of rich, you could be new-money rich like Knox's parents his dad a high power paralegal his mom a high sought-after marriage counsellor, you could be old money rich like Neil's family who had inherited their house and had the power of an established family but who actually lived pretty modestly, or you could be a combination of both like Chris and Todd's families who had both the power and the money to keep them well established.
The Davenport wasn't very busy at noon on a Tuesday, just a smattering of older ladies gossiping and one group of newly retired men fresh from a game of golf. Chris and Knox had talked excitedly about prom the whole drive there. "It's good to see Chris happy," Her friend Audrey, who Todd recognizes from his math class said, "She's been so down since Chet broke up with her."
Chris didn't seem it though as she places her order and smiles at the waiter who knows her by name. Todd just gets salad because he doesn't want to have to use his credit card. His parents said they trusted him when they gave it to him and as long as he paid the bill that he could use it as he liked. They said that but Todd knows if he uses it he'll have his dad calling him up the moment school is over to interrogate him on what he bought. Like his parents think he's going to use a visa to buy drugs and hookers. His parents are weird like that.
"So, Todd" Chris says, "Knox said you weren't going to prom. I've know a number of girls who'd love to go with you, I could set you up!"
"Uh," Todd says.
"That's a great idea, we could share the limo." Knox interjects.
Todd shoots him a look, "Uh, thanks for the offer Chris, I'm, uh, just not really into prom." He hates the way his voice gets all shaky and quiet when he talks to people he doesn't know very well but he really can't help it.
Chris makes a sympathetic noise, "Well, okay. But let me know if you change your mind. Gosh, don't you think he and Ginny would be the cutest couple? They're both so shy and sweet."
"Is Ginny even going to prom?" Audrey asks delicately cutting her chicken into pieces.
"Maybe, she has a dress and everything. It's weird she doesn't seem all that upset about the break up, I mean her and Neil were hanging out this morning like everything was totally normal."
"It might have just been a mutual break-up" Knox offers.
Chris rolls her eyes, "Oh please, there's no such thing as a mutual break-up, that's what the person who gets dumped says because no one likes to admit they got dumped. It's just so weird. I mean who dates for two years and then have a huge fight and break-up and then act completely normal a few days later?"
Todd likes to pretend he's above this sort of high school gossip but it does seem strange, even for Neil Perry who has always been filled with mysteries.
They pull back into the school parking lot just as the bell rings to signal the end of lunch. Knox hangs back to chat longer with Chris, they really are disgustingly cute together, so Todd walks into the building with Audrey. "See you around Todd." She calls as he walks to his locker as if they've been good friends for years instead of two practically strangers who shared the backseat of a car.
The rest of the day is typical and boring, he spends his free period working on his study notes for philosophy and history. Then his math teacher spends the entire class going over how to use the answer card for the exam, as if it were a class of ninth graders using them for the first time. It's all very dull and between that and the heat Todd is feeling sleepy already as he packs his bag and walks out to the student parking lot. There's a note folded under his windshield wiper;
Going to the mall with Chris to help her find shoes for prom. -K.O.
Todd tucks the note in his pocket and climbs into the car. Once in tenth grade Knox had tried to get people to start calling him K.O. Because 'he was a knock-out' but it never took hold, just like at the beginning of the year when Meeks insisted everyone stop calling him by his last name. That was the thing about high school, you can't change things once they have stuck.
Todd pulls into the parking lot behind the bookstore where he works narrowly avoiding one the million alley cats that live behind the building. Todd has told Keating a hundred times to stop feeding them but Todd knows he does the second he leaves. Keating is generally a nice guy, maybe a little eccentric, but he's nice to Todd and doesn't mind if he works on his homework when it's slow.
The bell jingles as Todd pushes through the front door and there's no one in the store except for a 30-something mom pushing a stroller that looks like an off-road vehicle. That's pretty typical for a weekday afternoon, their clientele mostly bored house wives in book clubs or Nicholas Sparks enthusiasts. It drives Todd nuts but Keating is pretty zen about the whole thing, he must have accepted it a long time ago.
Todd dodges around the off-road-stroller and heads to the back room. Keating is lounging on his hammock reading The Great Gatsby for what must be the millionth time. "Hey Captain," Todd says, because Keating insists on it. Though Todd thinks that giving yourself a nickname based on a poem, especially one about Abraham Lincoln is a little pretentious, but as long as Keating is employing him he'll keep his mouth shut.
"Ah, Todd" Keating says looking over the top of his book, "Good you're here, I have a new shipment in I need you to unwrap and stock." He gestures over to a stack of three large boxes. "That should keep you busy for a few hours." He looks back down at his book.
"How do you even manage when I'm not here?" Todd asks.
"Shhhh," Keating says, "Fitzgerald is casting his magic spell."
"Spoiler alert, the green light across the harbour is the American Dream." Todd calls over his shoulder as he grabs the first box and heads back into the main part of the store. The mom and her off-road-stroller are gone so Todd sets up behind the counter reading to input the new books in the computer. He grabs an exacto-knife and slices open the top of the box.
"You have got to be kidding me." He groans pulling the first book off the top of the pile.
Two hours and approximately a million eye rolls later Todd has input seventy-five copies of Fifty Shades of Grey into the computer. Actually make that seventy-three because he sold two. "Ugh, I can't believe you made me do that." Todd complains, "I feel violated. You do not pay me enough to do this."
"Well maybe there's a raise in your future. After you finish imputing the sequels tomorrow."
"It's a triology? Wow, okay I have officially lost faith in humanity." Todd says throwing his satchel over his shoulder, "Can I go or would you like me to listen to a Taylor Swift CD first?"
"Whose he?" Keating calls to Todd's retreating back.
By the time Todd pulls into his driveway he's ready for a nap but he has too much to do for exam prep so he gives his bed a sad glance and gets to work. His first exam isn't until next Monday but he knows he'll never be ready if he puts it off. He's already been accepted into his first choice program at Columbia but if he doesn't keep his average up he could loose his spot or his place in residence.
He barely even notices it's been almost 3 hours until there's a buzz on the intercom, "Todd, dinner." His mother's voice says coming out tinny through the speakers. She insisted on having the intercom build when Todd moved into the attic because she hated having to climb up two flights of stairs. Todd doesn't really mind, it means the only people who are even in his room are him.
Dinner's pretty normal, Jeffery's home for the summer so his parents are mostly focused on peppering him with questions about school and girls and his internship next fall. Though half way through dinner his mother turns to Todd unexpectedly and says; "Mrs. Dempsey says she saw you at The Davenport today?"
Todd swallows, caught by surprise. "Oh, yeah, I was there with Knox and Chris Noel."
His mother looks excited, 'That's wonderful dear. Did you have enough money?"
"I just got salad."
"Salad?" Mr. Anderson interjects, like the very idea is ridiculous, "Why didn't you use your credit card?" Todd fights the urge to roll his eyes and shrugs instead, looking down so his parents will turn their attention back to Jeffery.
After dinner Todd heads back to his room and boots up his computer. It's a hand-me-down from Jeffery and it still has stickers he plastered on it stuck to it. Todd picks at one idly while he checks his e-mail. There's one from Columbia, reminding him not to fail his exams, another from Knox telling him that he doesn't need a ride tomorrow morning because Chris is giving him one and one from Meeks asking Todd to message him.
ToddAnderson: What's up?
StevenDon'tCallMeMeeks: He brought me a cake.
ToddAnderson: What?
StevenDon'tCallMeMeeks: Charlie Dalton brought me a cake. At work.
ToddAnderson: A cake?
StevenDon'tCallMeMeeks: Yeah, with 'will you go to prom with me?' written on it.
ToddAnderson: Charlie Dalton brought you a cake at work asking you to go to prom.
StevenDon'tCallMeMeeks: Well, he didn't. There was a a guy in a costume. He sang a song.
ToddAnderson: Ouch
StevenDon'tCallMeMeeks: I don't know what his deal is, I'm a short gay nerd whose last name is Meeks. I really don't need any help in the humiliation department.
ToddAnderson: You going to come to school tomorrow?
StevenDon'tCallMeMeeks: I guess so. Can't let the assholes win.
ToddAnderson: Charlie Dalton is such a tool. Don't let him get to you.
StevenDon'tCallMeMeeks: Yeah, whatever. I gotta go, my physics essay is due tomorrow and I should really look over it again.
ToddAnderson: Okay, bye.
StevenDon'tCallMeMeeks is Offline
Todd should probably work on his own history essay but he can't muster up the energy. It's only 8:30 but Todd feels way too tired. He decides he'll just watch a movie or something and then falls asleep while Netflix is loading.
Todd is awoken by a strange high pitched jingle noise. He blinks in the dark, disoriented and confused. His alarm clock says that it's 1:45 am. Todd's about to roll back over and go to sleep when he hears that same noise again. It's the message alert on his computer. Drowsily Todd pulls the laptop over to him and gives the mouse pad a click to wake it up.
sexymotherpucker: come to your old room quickly now! quickly!
Todd blinks for half a second, thinking that this must be some sort of strange dream because that is definitely Neil's screen name. No one else he knows would have a stupid Shakespearean reference and such a blatant disregard for capitalization. His computer chimes again.
sexymotherpucker: and bring your keys.
Todd crawls out of bed as quietly as possible. This feels eerily like when they were kids and they would stay up late writing each other notes pressed up against their window frames. It also feels nothing like that at all and Todd's heart is thumping wildly as he climbs down the stairs to the second floor. His old room is now a sort of combination craft room and storage room his mother barely uses. Todd pulls the door open gently and it squeaks a little on it's hinges. He goes to the window and looks across into Neil's room but there's nobody there and the light is off.
Todd's about to turn around and go back upstairs when suddenly there's a knock on the window. He turns in time to see a pair of legs, feet kicking at the pane. Todd pulls the window open and Neil Perry tumbles in, dressed all in black with black war paint under his eyes like a football player. "Hello Todd," He says grinning like the madman he is, "Ready to go on an adventure?"