Adam woke up the morning of the dance with Charlie asleep next to him, drooling on his shoulder. His heart nearly melted at the sight and he cursed himself for having to wake him up. He brushed some hair away from Charlie's forehead and then lightly kissed him on the lips until he could feel movement underneath him. Charlie wrapped his arms around Adam's neck and pulled him in closer, deepening the kiss.
It had been a week since Adam went dress shopping with Julie, and Charlie had stayed over every night since. Those nights were beautiful, but they always ended far too quickly, as the boys had to get up early so that Charlie could sneak out before Adam's parents woke up.
Adam pulled away, reluctantly. "I uh, I have to head over to the rink early today. Get some practice in,"
"All you do is practice," Charlie groaned. He turned over to look at Adam's alarm clock. "Jesus Christ, it's 5 AM. Can't I stay a little longer?"
Adam wanted to say yes, that nothing would make him happier. Hockey was more important, though, and they had a game next week, the day after Thanksgiving. He couldn't afford to lounge around with Charlie.
"I'm sorry," said Adam, tracing a pattern on Charlie's arm.
"Kiss me and I'll forgive you," Charlie smirked. Adam gave him a gentle peck. "You're forgiven,"
"Seriously, though. You gotta get going. I'm sorry,"
Charlie pushed himself up from the mound of pillows he'd fallen asleep on. With that, Adam got up as well, throwing on sweatpants for the time being. He figured he'd change into something nice once he got to school. To Adam's surprise, Charlie didn't jump him the second he took his shirt off. He just got himself changed, which was odd since every morning that week, it had taken a good hour just to get dressed because of Charlie's ever-increasing sex drive. Whatever. Adam wasn't complaining.
"You excited for the dance tonight?" Charlie asked, zipping up his jeans.
Adam shrugged. "I never know what to say to Dwayne, so not really. But I guess it'll be nice to see the whole team with dates, you know?"
"Yeah. I hate dances, though. All that shitty pop music? God. And Portman won't even be there to spike the punch,"
Adam laughed.
"Linda hates dances, too. I don't even know why she wants to go,"
"It's our last Thanksgiving Dance. Maybe she's getting caught up in the 'last' of it,"
"I don't know," said Charlie. He fell back onto the bed once he was fully dressed, staring up at the ceiling.
Adam cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, so um, are you gonna stay over here tonight?"
"Nah, man. Figured I'd take Linda back to Jan's," It stung more than it should have and Adam had to remind himself that he wasn't Charlie's boyfriend. It certainly had felt that way earlier in the week when the Conways had come to meet with Adam's dad's lawyer and Charlie had pulled him aside to kiss him and say thank you.
Adam said nothing. Charlie stared at him for a few moments and then stood up, wrapping his arms around his waist. "You know," he whispered. "We could always find some alone time during the dance,"
"You'll be there with Linda," Adam noted.
"Not the whole time. I mean, she'll probably want to hang out with her friends. And then we can sneak off . . ."
Adam sighed and pulled away. "No thanks. I uh, you know, I like dances. I kind of just want to . . . dance,"
It was a lie. He hated the dances at the country club that he'd been forced to attend over the years. He always felt out of place and always felt like everyone could see straight through him. Plus, he wasn't the biggest fan of the newer artists that the mainstream crowd loved. He'd much prefer to stay home, curl up with a good book and listen to some Prince. But Adam knew damn well that if he did that, he'd end up moping over Charlie and that would lead to self hating thoughts that he really, really didn't want to deal with right now.
Charlie didn't seem too disappointed. He shrugged and swiftly snatched his backpack from the floor. "Your loss, bud,"
His words were clear: I can get ass somewhere else.
"Um, y'know, but maybe we could like, get punch or something?" What a dumb thing to say.
Charlie smiled. "Sure, man. Just gimme the time and place,"
"Well, tonight and um, I don't know –"
"That was a joke."
"Oh. Oh, yeah. I knew that."
"You gotta chill out, Adam," said Charlie as he opened up the bedroom window. Adam followed him and kissed him once more. "I'll see you at school,"
"Yep," Wanting Charlie for years and now getting to be so close to him was a big change that Adam didn't think he'd ever get used to. Now that he knew Charlie's affection, saying goodbye was harder than ever. Before, he'd only known Charlie's kisses in his dreams and he wasn't stupid enough to believe that those dreams would ever become a reality. But here they were, real as the air he was breathing and deep down, he thought that he'd give absolutely anything up to keep them coming, even if they did make him as pathetic as he sometimes felt.
As per usual, the only thing on Goldberg and Averman's minds was sex. That was what school dances were all about, though, right? Getting some in the back of someone's car. Charlie and Linda and Connie and Luis were all gonna be getting it on, so why shouldn't they be? Well, because neither of their dates were exactly sexy. They were the nice type of girl that you took home to meet your parents.
"I don't know what you two were expecting," said Ken, from the passenger seat of Goldberg's parents' truck. "You should be happy anyone even asked your fat asses,"
Averman flipped him off from the back. "Sherrie's nice, I'm not saying she's not. Can't a guy just complain to his boys?"
"What ever happened to bros over hoes?" asked Goldberg.
"I don't think I've ever heard anyone use that expression in real life," said Ken.
"I'm just glad I'm not Dwayne. I mean, I knew he was lame, but I didn't think everyone else did too," Russ shook his head. Goldberg and Averman let out low whistles.
"Tell me about it. Going with Julie and Adam? That's rough, man,"
"It's not rough! Julie's nice and Adam's a homosexual. It's not like he'll be intruding on our date," said Dwayne with a reassured smile.
Russ rolled his eyes just as they pulled up in front of the high school. At the same time, Guy and Alexa exited out of Guy's parents' van. And at the same time, Connie and Luis were walking over from the dorms. Goldberg let out a low whistle. "Well, if this wasn't a sign of tonight being shit, then I don't know what is,"
"Yo, what's good, Germaine?" asked Luis, offering him a handshake.
Guy stared at him with disgust for a moment, but upon noticing Alexa's glare, shook his hand. "Just glad to be here at the school dance with the girl I actually call my girlfriend,"
Luis caught on quickly. "Well, I'm happy to be here with who I actually want to be here with."
They fake smiled at each other until Dwayne jumped between them, throwing his arms around the two boys. "I know I'm excited to get my freak on out there. How about you two?"
Averman groaned audibly at Dwayne's word choice.
"I certainly am, Dwayne. Care to escort a lady inside?" asked Connie, grinning. Dwayne took her arm and tipped his hat to her.
Guy turned to Alexa. "You go on inside. I'll meet you in there."
Alexa looked flabbergasted and offended, but she did as she was asked. As soon as she was out of earshot, Guy pulled Luis close to him. "Ruin this night for her and I will end you,"
"What's your punk ass gonna do? Besides, she's not yours anymore, in case you've forgotten,"
Averman's date hopped out of her mom's car and called over to him, pulling attention away from the situation, making everyone but Guy grateful.
By the time the commotion was over, Luis was already inside.
But that certainly wouldn't be the end of things, and they all knew it.
Julie had spent the first hour of the night missing Portman and wishing he was there to spike the punch. Adam hadn't minded – he'd been off in his own little world, and Dwayne would do whatever she told him to do. But once they started the Backstreet Boys, she had to get off her ass and go join Connie on the dance floor, leaving the boys alone.
Adam was left alone, and once he was, one of the lacrosse players, Jimmy Hudson approached him. Adam normally tried to avoid conflict, especially with the lacrosse team, but this time he was practically backed into a corner.
"So is it true?" the other asked.
"Is what true?"
"The rumor . . ." Jimmy pushed Adam back with one hand. "that . . ." He got up into his face and Adam was reminded of how much bigger Jimmy was then him, and began to feel a bit intimidated. "You're a fag."
Adam swallowed hard. "What?"
"You heard me. Is it true?"
He felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. Sure, he'd been called a fag before – jokingly, by the other Ducks, but never up front like this. Never as a direct insult to his sexuality. What was he supposed to say to this?
"I – I don't – I mean, I – "
"It's a simple question. Are you a homo or not?"
"No," Adam's face was bright red as he lied through his teeth. He hated having to lie about this.
"Really? Cause that's not what I heard. I heard you like taking it up the ass,"
"Well . . . it's not . . . it's not true . . ."
"Yeah, sure. You better watch yourself, faggot."
Thankfully, Julie approached him then, running over and grabbing at his hand, insisting that he join her on the dance floor. Before this, he would've said no, but now he took the opportunity gratefully.
Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit blared through speakers, bringing all of the Ducks and their dates together.
Luis and Connie were making out under the spotlight, in clear view of everyone to see. Guy danced with Alexa, but couldn't help sneaking peeks at the two of them, a weight in his chest. And then when he couldn't fight it anymore, and Luis stuck his tongue down Connie's throat, he approached them, shoving Luis off of her.
"Hey, hey, hey, watch it, Mendoza,"
"Fuck off, Germaine. I'll do what I want, mind your fucking business,"
Connie stared at Guy in shock.
"My teammates, my business."
"She's not your girlfriend anymore, so get the fuck over it,"
Just as the bridge of the song began, Guy punched Luis straight across the face. Luis lunged for Guy, knocking him to the ground. Connie and Alexa both screamed, Alexa begging for Guy to stop it, while Connie tried to break it up.
Russ and Charlie hurried over, pulling the two of them off of each other, while Julie and Adam grabbed Connie away from the situation.
"You think you're real tough, huh, Germaine?" Luis called out as a chaperone took him from Russ.
"You got lucky this time," said Guy.
"Yeah, and I bet I'll be getting real lucky later," Luis winked at him and Guy lunged forward, his hand in a fist.
"Calm down!" said Charlie, pushing him back. "Dude, you've already fucked things up enough. Chill out,"
Guy looked around for Alexa, but she was gone. Great. Just great.
And to make things worse, Connie was standing by Luis, rubbing at his arm and giving Guy a death glare.
The chaperones escorted Luis and Guy out of the dance and to both of their cars, telling them they'd deal with the consequences on Monday. Inside though, you could've cut the tension with a knife. Although it was unspoken, all of the Ducks had quietly picked sides and they all knew that that would be one of the consequences that Guy and Luis would face the following week.
But Monday would bring much worse things than detention for the Ducks.
Julie and Adam had picked up Connie from her house, deciding that the best thing to do was to stay on her side throughout this whole thing. The three of them were having a great morning, laughing and joking around, when they approached Adam's locker.
Written in big black letters were the words "FAGGOT."
