Page 4 of Chelsea’s Knight

Tonight was going to be special, like a fairytale, and so much fun!

* * *

“I hate boys,” I sobbed, silently crying into my pillow. “Stupid jerks, all of them!”

The venue where the winter dance was held was positively, whimsically magical, with large glittery snowflakes dangling from the ceiling, soft blue lighting illuminating the room, and beautiful ice sculptures shaped like various stages of frozen waterfalls. All of my friends looked so pretty, all dressed up in their formal dresses, with light makeup to highlight their natural beauty, and low, kitten heels to give them an extra inch in height.

It was the boys, those wretched, smelly creatures who ruined everything.

Or more specifically, it wasoneboy, Tad Michaelson.

I’d crushed on him from the first time I saw him walking the halls at Mount Ollinfield Middle School. He was one of the most popular boys in the eighth grade, an athlete who played a star position on the football team, but was also the captain of the school’s debate team. The main reason I went to the stupid dance was because he saw me in the hall two weeks prior, stopped me with a dazzling smile, and asked if I was going to show up. When I informed him Iwasplanning on attending, he told me to save him a dance or two. I was gliding through the sky like a shooting star for the rest of the day. And several more afterward, glowing with pride from his attention.

And I had.

He was solicitous.

Attentive.

Got me a glass of punch to drink whenever he got one for himself. A plate of cookies and snacks the PTA moms baked for this very event and shared them with me like a boyfriend does with his girlfriend.

Danced with me. A lot, even a couple of the slow songs where he held me close and said a bunch of sweet words in my ear.

I was in heaven!

At almost thirteen, I was in the throes of my very first crush and was excitedly anticipating my first kiss.

When it happened, I was on cloud nine. As I practically levitated to the girl’s bathroom, my head was already planning the rest of my life; in the future we’d go steady in high school, head to the local college where we’d go steady, and he’d put a promise ring on my finger. After a suitable time passed, we’d get engaged, a few years later we’d get married then settle into our happily ever after where we’d have kids and a dog or two.

It was going to be epic and romantic!

Instead, coming out of the bathroom, I was so lost in my daydreams I took a right instead of a left and overheard several voices, including his,laughingat the fact that he’d won a bet they’d had, one that involved him charming me so he could steal my first kiss.

He tarnished my first kiss with his foolish need to impress his friends.

I was utterly devastated, embarrassed, and ashamed that I believed in him.

That, however, wasn’t the worst of it all.

As I fled back to the bathroom and dashed into a stall locking myself inside, I had to try hard not to cry because even at my age, I knew, just knew, no boy deserved my pain-filled tears.

Especially not one who used me for his own selfish gain and did what he did.

Just as I had gotten myself together enough I thought I could leave without displaying my emotions for them all to see, I heard some girls come in and what they were saying stopped me in my tracks.

“Did you hear? Chelsea Grant went all the way with Tad!” the first shrill voice judgmentally exclaimed.

“Really?” I recognized that voice, it was Sally Smythe. For some reason, she always went out of her way to be mean to me.

“Yep,” Girl One replied.

“Huh. Well, he was definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel with her, wasn’t he?” she asked.

“Definitely.” I finally placed her, Corrie Anderson, Sally’s best friend. Both of them mean and vicious, doing whatever it took to make girls like me feel less than. “Such a shame. Now everyone’s going to know what a slut she is.”

They talked for a few minutes more but as soon as they left and the coast was clear, I slipped out of the bathroom then out of the school, sticking to the shadows to not be seen. Thankfully, I didn’t live very far away, because I wasn’t about to stick around and wait for my poppa to show up and pick me up.

I needed to escape now, not later.

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