Page 24 of Perfect Chemistry

I kept my hair looking natural. Large looping curls fell down my back and my make-up was soft and shimmery looking. There were eight of us sharing a limousine to prom. Andie’s date was a guy she met in shop classes. He seemed nice enough, but was just arm candy. Bradley’s date was a girl from chemistry class, a sophomore named Kiki. He didn’t have anyone that he liked and thought he would take Kiki as a thank you for helping him pass the labs and midterm exam.

Then there was the final couple that Kai and Bradley invited from the baseball team, Matthew and Christine. I had known Matt since the first grade; his date, I had met our freshmen year. Matt was nice enough, just really misunderstood. As for Christine, I hated her and she hated me. I could only imagine how this was going to go down.

Just after six o’clock, the limousine pulled in front of my house. Andie, Kiki, and I had decided to meet together at my house as the last stop for pick-ups. Of course, Christine had a fit, but we didn’t care. The guys climbed out of the limo and we all posed for pictures in the garden.

Nearly thirty minutes later, we were all giving our parents hugs and running to the limo. Unbeknownst to me, my mom thought it would be sweet to have all of the parents over for pictures before we left and now she was stuck with them.

Unlike homecoming, prom was held at the nicest hotel in our area. Hart Castle was a gorgeous hotel built in the early 1900s to look like a European castle outside. Inside, it was completely modernized and very glamorous. I never understood how the school could afford to rent such a luxurious venue, but I wasn’t complaining.

The grand ballroom was decorated with twisted shimmering branches, dangling stars and muted vines. The whole room looked like a dining hall for fairies. There were soft silvers, golds, pinks and purples around the room, and twinkling lights that made it seem like fireflies lit up the ceiling.

Kai held my hand as we walked through the grand entrance and found our table with Andie and Bradley. Thankfully, Christine was sitting on the other side of the room. The food was amazing, but I spent the whole night afraid that I would spill something down my dress. Kai went to get us drinks and I walked around to speak with friends I knew.

I cleaned up nice and dressed girly, but I was a tom-boy at heart. Aside from Andie, my closest friends were guys I met working around cars. I understood that shoes, pads, and the need for a bigger C to get a job done, referred to changing brakes. What’s more I could hold my own in any conversation that pertained to motorcycles, high end cars, or classic roadsters.

Thankfully, most of the girls accompanying my friends knew me and just saw me as one of the guys. That was until I bumped into Matthew. He smiled and asked how things were going, and we proceeded to chitchat. Then, he asked if I had ever made a decision and I knew that he was referring to the time Andie and I ran into him at the strip mall.

“I did,” I replied, smiling.

“Any regrets yet?” Matt asked, eyes looking around the room.

“None. You?” I asked back.

“Not really sure yet. My secret hasn’t seen the light of day yet. Yours?”

“Same. Are you going to let your date know?” I asked, wiggling my eyebrows at him.

Matt laughed. “No. Not this weekend at least,” he sighed.

“I won’t know about what?” A nasally, high-pitched voice asked from behind us.

We turned to see Christine glaring at me. Matt shook his head and waved it off. “Nothing, Chrissy. Just an inside joke,” he attempted to explain it away as he pulled her into his arms.

Christine, however, had decided that she needed to make a scene out of this moment between friends. “Bullshit. What does she know that I don’t? I’m your girlfriend!” She started to yell.

“Matt, I will talk to you another time. Have a good night,” I said, attempting to make my departure, but Christine had other plans.

“Oh, no, bitch. You tell me right now what the hell you were talking about!” She screamed.

Matthew’s face flushed bright red with embarrassment, while I stood still in shock.

“Chrissy, you need to apologize right now. You have no idea what we were talking about!” Matt seethed, pulling the other girl away from me while I simultaneously took a few steps away from her.

My eyes began to search the room, looking for Andie or Kai or anyone who could help diffuse this situation. I didn’t want everyone to find out my personal information. My decisions were my own, and I wasn’t ready to share them.

Christine’s voice began to scream above the music and chatter, “NO! NO! You don’t get to tell me to calm down, when you cheated with this SLUT!!”

The music stopped. I looked over at Christine as she huffed in rage. I couldn’t help but laugh. It started small, and then grew until I was laughing loudly at her face.

I shook my head at her, “You are so stupid.” I watched as her mouth opened to say something more but then snapped shut when Matt whispered something in her ear. I looked at him and smiled. “It was nice running into you. I hope you get to enjoy the night.”

I turned and started to walk back to my table. The music had started back up, but it did nothing to conceal the now arguing couple on the other side of the room. Andie and Bradley finally made it through the crowd of spectators to walk with me back to the table. “What the hell was that about?” Bradley asked.

“Matt joined the Marines, and hadn’t told his girlfriend yet. He was planning to propose this weekend, hoping they could get married after he finished bootcamp, but he may be rethinking those plans,” Andie said quietly.

Bradley’s eyebrows shot up and his jaw dropped. “Holy shit, that’s a lot to unpack.”

I laughed, “Yeah, but he says that she’s it for him. I’m not getting married anytime soon. There’s too much world to see.”

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