I really didn't mean to go at all. I wasn't going to. I didn't want to pay three hours worth of my lifeguard salary to go to a stupid dance.
Honestly, I'm not sure he was too keen on it either. He certainly hadn't mentioned it until my rant about our friends. As far as I knew, he'd gone to as many dances as I had; the number was countable on one hand.
But he didn't have to turn on me. He didn't have to go over to the dark side. He knew it too, but it was too much fun for him to torture me.
"Oh, come on," my friends said, when we sat down for lunch, "It won't be that bad." I didn't respond, realizing that nothing can help me now, and he rolled his eyes. "What would it take to get you to get a nice dress and go?"
"We're not discussing this," another girl friend said. "You're not skipping out on your senior prom. We will not let you."
I rolled my eyes at them, thinking how ridiculous the idea of me at a prom is, then got an idea, which seemed good at the time. "I'll go," I said, "but only if someone asks me." I knew full well that there was not one in the high school who would stoop so low as to take me to prom. I'm quiet, I'm rude and sarcastic when I'm not, and I'm not any form of attractive. It was a perfect way to avoid the situation.
"I'll take you," he said, with a joking spark in his eye, and all I can do is blink. "If you want, I mean. I'll go with you."
And then our friends decided it was for real.
So, I've been asked what story this is. That's a good question, and I am basing this sort of around one story, but I'm not going to tell you which one. I kind of want to see what you think.