A/N: This was fun. Especially since we don't do things like Homecoming in Canada. Thank you always to Ellie who helped me with this. As always, let me know what you think.

Chapter Ten

Homecoming felt like it crept up on me suddenly. I hadn't noticed it at all until Carl asked me and suddenly it felt like it was everywhere. Before I even realized it, Carl was asking for my address. I stared at the mirror in Tammy's room. How this girl even managed her hair was a mystery. I combed it as well as I could. I learnt very quickly when I first arrived that brushing it made it frizz out enormously. I was a little thankful Indiana wasn't very humid.

Doing Tammy's makeup was a whole other trial. I was naturally very dark-featured. I used a lot of black eyeliner and red lipstick. I couldn't do that now. I had to find a balance of highlighting her features while using eighties-style makeup. I based it a lot on what I had seen girls at the school wearing. I kept it simple but added sparkles on the edge of the eyes. It was fun because I could go as extravagant as I wanted and I knew no one would really say anything. It also helped to know that social media wasn't a thing now.

"Tammy! Carl is here!"

I stood up, shimmed the dress back into place, and headed down. Carl was waiting by the door, having what looked like a one-sided conversation with Tammy's father. Carl looked nervous. It was a little entertaining. He also looked as young as he was. I tried not to think about it. I didn't want to make this super weird.

"Hey!" I said as he saw me. "Ready?"

"Yeah," he said. "You look great!"

I grinned at him. "Thank you. You're not so bad yourself." He gave a small bow in return. It was a little ridiculous and I tried not to laugh. I turned to Tammy's parents. "Well?"

Deanna came up to me and hugged me tightly. "You look beautiful." I smiled. "Let me get a picture!"

"What?"

Deanna could not be swayed. She took a couple of pictures with a polaroid camera of Carl and me. I posed as instructed before I made a face. "Okay, I get it," she finally said. "Go, have fun!"

"Not too much fun," her father said. "Make sure you have her home by ten." Both Deanna and I looked at him. "Fine," he sighed. "Eleven." I grinned at him before hugging him.

"Thank you."

We were waved off and they watched as we climbed into Carl's car. It was an old Pontiac. Well, maybe not that old now.

"Sorry about that," I said once he started driving.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "It's nice. Besides, you should have pictures of you. You look very bodacious."

I tried not to snort in amusement. "Alright. Ready to party?"

"Always."

Homecoming was more than I expected. My prom hadn't been anything special. A dance at a hotel that was decorated with a DJ and a night that ended in someone's backyard. This was already more than that. The dresses were all different styles and some of the people were dressed more casually than others.

"Shall we?" Carl asked, holding out his arm. I grinned at him. He seemed to be in good spirits and I hoped it would continue through the night. I linked my arm through his.

"Lead the way, good sir."

We ended up sitting with some of his friends to whom I was quickly introduced to, including another Tommy. This one was a Tommy B. I assumed it had been that way since they all started school. Tommy B just got lucky that his last name was first, so he got known as just Tommy while the dickhead got referred to by his first name and last initial. Maybe that was part of the attention-seeking problem he had. I pushed the thought out of my mind. I had no desire to psychoanalyze anyone tonight.

"Can you believe we lost?"

"It's so fucking ridiculous!"

"I know! We had them in the last half! If defence had actually done their fucking job, that last tackle would have never happened!" (i don't know much about football tbh lol)

I turned out the conversation. Carl was talking about the home game with Tommy B and his other friend Greg. I had had little interest in sports before and that hadn't changed. I looked out at the dance floor and the few people out there dancing. The music was blasting and some people looked like they were having fun while others were standing around talking or in some instances arguing. I turned to Carl and touched his shoulder. It pulled his attention to me.

"Hey, wanna dance?"

He smiled at me and nodded. "Boys, a man's job is never done."

"In that case," I teased, "I hope you have the moves to back up that comment." His friends all "oooh"ed in response and he led me to the floor. There weren't many people dancing but I refused to think about it. It was time to have fun.

Carl was a decent dancer. He wasn't afraid to be a little ridiculous which made it enjoyable. We spun around the room and I grabbed some people's hands as we passed by to pull them to dance with us. At one point I left Carl to his conversations and headed to the line of so-called wallflowers. I asked them if they wanted to dance in a group with me. I had been that person before, watching others and wanting to join in but not doing so out of fear you'll be embarrassed.

"It doesn't matter," I told one group of girls. "It's just a dance and we'll all be together. Let's just have fun. If you make a mistake, then you make a mistake. No one really cares and those who do, don't matter. Come on, who's in? If we all go together, we'll outnumber anyone who tries to make fun of us."

Despite the few protests that I got, many of them followed me. We danced in a large group and as more songs passed, people started to relax. Carl at one point showed up and dragged some of his friends and their dates with them. I tried to do some ridiculous dance move that almost made me fall and had everyone laughing. I shrugged it off. The dress was not made for really funky dance moves.

The group finally disbanded when a slow song came on. Some of the people paired off, including some of the previous wallflowers.

"You're making quite the impression," Carl said as we swayed together. I could barely remember the last time I slow danced with a boy. Maybe at a cousin's wedding?

"What do you mean?"

"You seem to be having the most fun out of everyone, and you did just have a huge group of people dancing with you."

I shrugged and gave him a smile. "We're at a dance. Why not have fun? Sure, dancing can be embarrassing, but if you just laugh it off, few people remember it and you move on. Not everyone wants to dance and that's fine, but I like to and I figure why not give others the opportunity to join in." He stared at me for a moment before shaking his head lightly.

"You're something else, Kate." He had no idea.

I was washing my hands when I noticed the girl crying.

"Are you alright?" I asked, drying my hands quickly before heading towards her.

"Bangin'," she replied. "I just, god, I'm so fucking sick of the stupid football game. Like, I get it, we lost, that doesn't mean you have to be an asshole about it." She blew her nose into the tissue she had. "I'm sorry."

"No," I said softly. "It's cool. You want to talk about it?"

"Ugh, gag me out, I'm going to break up with him. Like what does he think this is, the dark ages?"

"Yeah, if he can't respect you, and give you the decency to be with you at a dance, and not be a jerk, then move on. Find someone who won't treat you like crap."

She wiped her eyes and smiled at me. "Thank you! You're like, some totally glam angel. You're the only one giving good advice."

I shrugged. All I did was tell her not to waste her time on a guy who sounded like he didn't appreciate her, or at least, they weren't communicating it.

"Oh my god!" I tried not to sigh as I recognized the voice behind me. "Are you actually hanging out in a bathroom? Do you not have anything better to do Tamara or do you live here? I'm surprised you showed yourself in an outfit like that. Do you not have any semblance of a style? We're not at prom."

I turned to face Carol, already tired of the interaction before it even started.

"Oh shut up Carol!" the girl who had been crying snapped. "Just because you're a mega-bitch doesn't mean everyone else has to be!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the bathroom, past Carol. I tried not to laugh at the expression on her face. The girl finally stopped once we were in the hallway and not in the dance. "I'm sorry," she said. "She drives me crazy, like nails under my skin."

"I know the feeling," I said. "Here, hold on." I took a kleenex from her and wiped at the eyeliner and mascara under her eyes. "There, you look good."

"Liar," she said. "Thank you, again. I'm Veronica by the way."

"Kate," I said. She was the first person I had introduced myself to only as Kate.

"I know," she said. "Well, I have to break up with my dickweed linebacker of a boyfriend. See you around Kate!" I waved her off and watched her disappear into the dance. I mentally wished her the best of luck before I headed off to find Carl.

The drive back to Tammy's house was pretty quiet but in a positive way. We had spent part of it talking but had fallen into a peaceful lull as we got to her house.

"Thank you, Carl," I said, turning towards him. "I had a good time."

"Thank you for accepting! It wouldn't have been nearly as fun if I took someone else."

I grinned at him, accepting the compliment for what it was. "Well, this is me," I said, grabbing my purse.

"Hey Kate," he called out as I went to open the door. I turned back to him.

"Yeah?"

He leaned in a bit closer, watching me carefully. "You want to go out sometime? Not to a dance." He looked a little hopeful, but I shook my head.

"Sorry, Carl," I said. "I'm not really looking to date right now. I'm planning on heading to Nashville and I'm very busy preparing for it. I wouldn't feel right just letting someone fall in love with me and leaving them." I smiled softly, trying to convey my thanks but regrets.

"You think I'd fall in love with you?" he asked teasingly.

"Who wouldn't?" I joked back. "See you around!" I left the car. I knew I did the right thing. Dating a teenager, despite the fact that I was in appearance a teen myself, seemed way too weird. Dating in general was going to be weird. I didn't belong here.

[tbc]