Somewhere Only We Know - 1. Story

The Junior Class of Washington County High School

Cordially Welcomes You

To the

"Somewhere Only We Know"

PROGRAM

Welcome

Senior Response

Hors d'oeurves

Dancing

Pictures

Crowning of Court

Brought to you by the

Senior Class officers

And

Junior Class officers

I wrestled valiantly with my tie, trying to get it straightened under the starched collar, then tucked into my periwinkle stardust vest. I smiled at the mirror. It was a pretty good smile, if I say so myself. I reached into my backpack, sitting on top of the toilet seat, and pulled out my mascara, CurveTM lotion, tweezers, a q-tip, and my favorite flavor of body spray. I leaned close to the mirror, my mouth opening and the mascara wand curling my eyelashes upward and outward, thickening them and making them "illegally long", according to the bottle. I was pleased with the results, which framed my soft green eyes perfectly. I grabbed the tweezers and touched up my eyebrows, making sure they looked okay, getting rid of the occasional stray hair. The q-tip slid its way around my eyes, picking up any stray mascara that may have eluded my notice. The lotion I squeezed into my hands, then smoothed over my face and neck. It smelled great, a clean, fresh out of the shower, manly scent, and kept my skin kissably soft.

I opened wide and slid chapstick onto my lips, rubbing them together to even it out. The bathroom was filled with a fog of body spray, and I opened the door. I stepped out holding my jacket slung over my shoulder, the shiny, black, square-toed shoes making a delicious click against the hard floor. I took a look at my nails, making sure the black polish was spread evenly and smoothly with no chips. Then, I yelled down the hall.

"Is everybody ready? Anything else we have to do? We need to take a couple snapshots and get outta here before we lose our reservation at the restaurant! Everybody's gonna be there to grab a bite to eat before the prom!"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up, we're almost ready. You smell like sex should, by the way. Now c'mere and lemme pin this doohickey on you. Be still or I'll stab you." Sam told me, her hands flipping out my lapel and sliding the white rose boutonnière against it at just the right angle before stabbing two long, pearl tipped pins through the taped stem and into the jacket in a criss-cross fashion to keep it secured. The faint scent of the rose reached my nostrils, barely noticeable through the body spray and lotion.

I snuck another look at the mirror. Black curls spilled over and curled behind my ears, nearly concealing a silver hoop earring in the top of my left ear. I was a vision of sexiness at that moment, I thought, standing at 5'7", probably 8" with the heel of these shoes helping out, and my slender form accentuated by the tuxedo

I had come all the way from Mississippi to come to my best friend Samantha's prom with her. She herself was dressed in blue dress with a white carnation at her hip, matching the white roses, baby's breath, and curled blue ribbons on the corsage I'd bought for her wrist. Our floral accents matched perfectly, as did the light blue vest and dress. We were in for one hell of a night out, it was going to be fun, I just knew it. Well, not really. But it HAD to be fun, I'd spent this much time, effort, and money, it couldn't just suck horribly.

Samantha knew I was gay. She was one of the first people that knew. Now, though, I didn't keep it a secret. I refused to. I didn't want to put up with the secrecy and bullshit and drama, no matter where I was at, be it Mississippi or Tennessee, where I was now. I sighed.

I loved my Sammy-baby, that's for sure, but I found myself wishing I had a real date. I was going to prom with a girl, not a guy. I wanted a guy who would tell me how great I looked, and dance with me, put his hands on my hips during the slow dances, and not be afraid of what other people thought. Those guys were few and far between... so few and far between, in fact, that I'd had yet to meet one. But tonight would be a good night. It HAD to be, remember? Slowly, though, I was losing that positive attitude as Brittany nagged about how the hem of her dress was too low, and Anji, the Taiwanese boy she was going with, smiled at her.

We were all finally ready, though. Corsages, money, tuxes, phones, everything we needed we finally had together. We headed for the car, and Sam slid into the driver's seat with Brittany on the passenger side, and the two of us guys in the back. Well, did I mention that we did pictures before that? You don't wanna know about that part... it was horrible. Eight different cameras, and eighteen of each picture, it seemed like it would never end.

But finally, we were pulling off, with our curfew set at "whenever", so we had the night to ourselves. We drove down the highway, heading for Chili's. We got there, got out, and turned heads left and right. We were all dressed to kill, that's for sure. Well, at least, I knew I was. I made no qualms about letting my shoes make that delicious click across the floor, and made sure my hips had a little more movement to them than usual. So sue me, I was acting just a tad flaming. At least I hadn't developed a lisp yet.

Well, we all had something to eat, of course. Sweet tea, an eight ounce steak, loaded mashed potatoes, and seasonal veggies for myself. It was incredibly great, I loved every bite.

We all got out of there, and hopped back into the car, giggling, laughing, and trying to keep our spirits up. We all felt a little let down. The night hadn't started just the way we wanted, and prom night is a very fragile thing. You'd be surprised what can mess it up for you.

The parking lot was packed. We parked probably a quarter of a mile down the road and strolled slowly since the girls were in heels. I smoked a cigarette on the way, enjoying the menthol after the meal we'd just eaten. I tossed it out about fifty feet from the ramp leading up to the door, and used a bit more of my lotion to make my hands smell more like me, and less like smoke. We walked through a set of police with hand held metal detectors who were trying to avoid any serious problems later in the night, then handed our tickets to the lady at the door, who marked us off the list and let us know that we could step outside, but if we stepped off of the ramp, we weren't allowed to come back in.

But finally, yes, FINALLY, we were actually IN the prom! About damn time, don't you think? People immediately came up to us, people I hadn't met before, and Samantha introduced me to some. A cute, petite girl named Hayley was my first acquaintance, and probably one of my favorite through the night. She was an incredibly sweet girl with a wicked sense of humor. But then, I saw him.

He was dressed in a deep red shirt, tucked under a black vest, with a matching rose pinned to his jacket, and a slightly deeper red tie. The boy wore a hat with a wide brim, black, and if anybody else had tried to pull it off with any other outfit, they might've run the risk of looking silly, but he made it look sexy as hell. He smiled huge, his green eyes lighting up, and walked towards us.

My heart raced. I wanted that boy. I probably looked like an idiot, just staring at him, completely oblivious to conversation around me. But then he hugged my Sammy-baby, and looked at me. Samantha started to speak.

"Peter, this is Brett, Brett, this is my friend Peter." She said. Peter grinned.

"So this is the guy from Mississippi you're always talking about? She's told me a lot about you." He said, at which I arched a carefully prepared eyebrow. "Nothing bad, I promise!" he told me with a chuckle. I held out my hand, which he took immediately. His hands were slightly rough, but not at all unpleasant. I found my tongue.

"Nice to meet you, Peter." Yeah, that was all I could get out at the moment. But I'm sure my smile and the blush in my cheeks told him something more.

"Likewise, Brett." Peter said to me. Suddenly, Hayley, who looked to be of mixed descent, ran up to us.

"Peter! Sammy! Go camping with us!" she yelled in a girly, sing-songy kind of way. I instantly liked her, because she seemed to be the kind of person that one can't help but smile at. Sure, it could get annoying after a while, but she seemed to be a sweet girl.

"Brett, will you go camping with me?!" She giggled out. I just laughed at her, and nodded my head, the loud music pounding in the background. There were tents set up across the back wall, with gauzy walls that were see through, and reminded me of butterfly wings, to go along with the theme. So, she grabbed my hand, and we were all lead into one of the tents.

Peter flopped down on the pillow beside mine, and we all sat in a circle, just laughing and talking. Yeah, we were acting like idiots, but it was our night. We were the ones in charge, and if we wanted to act like idiots and have a good time, it was the perfect night to do it.

I kept noticing Peter looking at me whenever he could, and he always tried to aim his conversation at me. I was getting serious vibes from this guy, and I wanted him so bad it was unreal. I still had my redneck phobia, though, since I didn't know the people I was around, and didn't know if they were cool or not. But, somehow, Peter managed to work his hand over to mine, and lace his fingers between my own.

She dreams she's dancing, around and around without any cares and her very first true love was holding her hand, and the soft wind was blowing her hair....

"That's my song!" Peter yelled, jumping up. A slow, sad country song had begun to play. I had to admit, it was very pretty, very sad, and the words were beautiful, even though I'm not a country fan. I decided then and there to just take a risk.

"Peter, dance with me?" I asked him, my heart pounding in my chest. His eyes went wide, and he laughed, then blushed, and finally replied.

"Sure, c'mon." he told me. We stepped onto the dance floor, jackets left in the tent, with my periwinkle stardust vest, and his black and deep red vest pressing against each other. He put his hands on my hips, and I put my hands on his shoulders, my right thumb lightly brushing his neck every so often. Sure, we got some strange looks. Well, a lot of strange looks, really.

"Samantha said you really like me, but you don't think I like you." He said into my ear as we swayed with the music. I blushed; embarrassed that he knew I liked him. I knew I shouldn't have told Samantha that, but oh well. I just kept dancing for a few seconds, and looked down, then back up to his eyes. Then, he said something else.

"But you're wrong." I heard him say. And then, in the middle of the dance floor, with my hands on his shoulders, his hands on my hips, he kissed me. He kissed me long, deep, and tenderly. My eyes went wide at first, then slowly closed as the shock went away. As we ended our kiss, we were met with a girl who had appeared out of nowhere beside us with a camera.

"No, don't stop! I wanted a picture!" She said, giggling, and looking as if she was ready to just jump off the walls. Peter laughed, and I grinned and shrugged, looking at him.

"What the hell!" Peter said, then leaned in and let his hands rest on my neck, and we kissed again as the camera snapped a picture of us.

The moment was over all too soon, though, as people really started to notice us and what we were doing. All of a sudden, my brain caught up with the raging inferno that was currently my libido, and immediately quenched it.

"What am I thinking!?" I thought to myself. "I don't even know all these people, and I just kissed a GUY in front of them! What happens if there's some crazy motherfucker out here somewhere?" I wasn't really worried about myself. I had friends with me, nobody was gonna mess with me. But what would happen to Peter when I left? I had to go back to Mississippi the next day.

That brought on another sobering train of thought. I had to go back to Mississippi the next day... even if this did turn into anything, I'd have to turn right back around and go to my personal hell the next day. So, all in all, this was just a fucked up moment in my head, ya know? And, all these thoughts, though it's taken about a minute for me to put it all into words that would fit on this page, flashed through my head at light speed, in less than a second. It was more in a general sort of "WHAT DO I DO!?" sense, than articulated ideas.

So, pretty soon, I was picking up my jacket, and waving Samantha over, who was still busy gawking and wondering what was going on. Britney was busy attacking any of the rednecks who had a disdainful expression on their face. I've never heard anyone use that sort of language on so many people at once.

Once again, my brain was in overdrive. Should I leave? Is it like, kosher to be here? Pretty soon, though, Samantha had calmed me down, and her and Britney, along with a little help from Hayley, picture girl, and another girl who had run up to tell me how cool I was.

So, basically, I just chilled out. Hayley walked me over to the table on the edge of the floor to grab some punch. Somehow, I just don't think we wanted to leave any of our group by themselves after that had happened. Better safe than sorry, you know.

I grabbed a glass of punch and drained it as Peter walked up. I refilled my little glass as he grabbed one, and we stood in a sort of circle, just talking about things in general.

Hayley was busy reassuring me that I should just not worry about ‘em. A steady stream of "fuck, motherfucker, goddamn pussy ass redneck bastards..." etc. came from Britney's incensed mouth.

"What, too scared to dance with me now that the rednecks have come out to play?" Peter asked me. I acted shocked for a moment, then narrowed my eyes at him. If he wanted to play, I could play.

"Hey sexy lady!" I yelled out. A girl I'd talked to earlier was standing by the punch bowl. Her name was Jessie, but ever since I'd met her, I called her sexy lady. She sidled over to me, making her way through the crowd. I offered her a cup, already filled by the fountain of punch behind me.

"Dance with me!" I had to holler to be heard. She nodded, drained the tiny cup, then took my hand, and we went for the dance floor, headed for Peter. Peter smiled and danced his way in front of my sexy lady, while I was dancing behind her with my hands on her hips. We made Jessie into a sandwich that any girl would die to be a part of.

Peter's eyes caught mine, glittering with the light that was being flung from the DJ's setup, and he took his hat off.

"Here! Don't lose it!" he said, as he placed the hat on my head. Now, being VERY curly-haired, I don't usually do hats, but this was a special occasion. Besides, the hat looked damn good on me.

So there we were, both dancing with Jenny, both of us having a great time. Samantha was off to the side with Britney, dancing around and giggling, though I had no idea what about.

All of a sudden, the DJ's voice rang out, letting everyone know it was ten to twelve o'clock. At midnight, the prom would end. I grabbed Peter's hand, and he laced his fingers in mine. We made sure we could get in touch with each other in the future.

After that was done, Peter kissed me one last time, my teeth catching his bottom lip as he pulled away. Then it was all over. Prom was over. Done.

We strolled up the sidewalk to the parking lot toward Samantha's car. I was spinning in circles, dancing, jumping, giggling, and generally acting like an idiot. I kept thinking about what might happen next.

Sadly, though, next was the next day, when I went home to Mississippi. School was back, and passed slowly. The summer months were coming quickly though, and before I knew it, I'd taken final exams, and was out for summer. I had lots of things to do over the summer, but I would have a nice little break before I'd have to start on things for camps and such.

The idea struck me, and I thought it was a good one at the time. I would go back to Tennessee, to see Samantha, my bestest buddy, and Peter, who had asked me out over the phone, and I had said yes. You have to understand my situation. I lived in Mississippi, you know, the most religious state in the whole of the US, and I hated being alone. And, this boy seemed to really, truly like me, and want to be with me.

You'll see, though, how sometimes things don't work out the way you think they will. Well, most of the time they don't work out the way you think they will.

I headed back to Tennessee, passing the ride by talking to Destiny, and playing around on my computer. We stopped at a rest stop for everyone to take a little nap, since they were all tired, and it was about two in the morning. I was wired with excitement, so I hopped out of the car to run up the path to the restroom.

The sky seemed so perfect. It was a beautiful night, and the breeze blew tiny wisps of my hair around my eyes. I dug in my pocket, finding a five dollar bill, and stuck it into a change machine, hearing the clink of quarters pouring out in return. I purchased a diet Dr. Pepper, along with a chocolate bar, and went to a picnic table just a few feet away from where the car was parked. Everyone else was asleep, and I didn't want to wake them up, so I just sat there, drank my drink, and ate my chocolate.

I was so happy. I kept thinking about how Peter really wanted to see me, and I wanted to see him, and we would be happy, and this time, just this once, things were really going my way! The night seemed so great, so beautiful, so perfect.

We arrived at Samantha's house around noon the next day. Immediately, she had to go to work, and Destiny hung around with me until that night, when she had to go into work as well. They both worked in restaurants, so the hours they worked were scheduled differently according to the people who would be working, so there were no set hours for them to work. That kind of got on my nerves, but I thought of it as something that wouldn't be too annoying, just a bit of an obstacle for our fun.

The days passed slowly, with me calling Peter once every day. I didn't dare push my luck and call him more than that. After about four or five days, I finally got the chance to see him. I went to McDonald's, where he works, right as he got off of work with Destiny and Samantha, who finally didn't have to work that day. I caught him before he left, and asked him about going swimming with us at a creek Destiny knew.

"Sure, I can come, but you guys will have to ride by my house and ask my foster parents." He told me. I thought that was a little strange, but figured it would just make things easier for him, and shrugged it off. I smiled at him since I couldn't kiss him in front of his foster dad, and Destiny and I made our way back to the car where Samantha was waiting.

We hopped in and let Samantha in on what went on.

"Okay, so we'll go there, but his parents are gonna have to drop him off at the creek since he can't ride with anybody ‘cept them cuz of that insurance business." She told me. I furrowed my eyebrows, and made a comment about that being strange. A lot of things were strange about this boy... but I really liked him, and he really liked me... right?

I'll admit, though, I didn't really know much about him. As I waited in the car as Samantha went in his house to ask his foster parents (it would look weird for his boyfriend to come in, I think), I thought about what I did know about him. His name was Peter Collins, his favorite color was pink, and he just turned sixteen. Not much, right? But I also knew he was a good kisser, and treated me very sweetly.

We finally got out to the creek, and went out to the water's edge. I saw Peter hop out of a tan SUV, and immediately my heart leapt into my throat. That's not the only thing that leapt when I noticed he was shirtless, showing off his tan, smooth chest, but we're not going there, are we?

Five minutes later I sputtered and gasped as Peter shoved me into the ice-cold water of the lake. It came directly from a stream in the Tennessee mountains so it really was ice-cold. I came up with mixed thoughts, but shrugged it off, and pulled off my shirt.

About an hour passed with Peter acting nothing like he ever had before. He was a complete asshole. He threw my shirt into the lake, knowing I can't swim well. He flirted outrageously with another guy right in front of me. The list goes on and on.

"I don't like this boy, Bretty." Destiny said to me, looking seriously as she used her nickname for me. Tears sprang to my eyes from the humiliation and disappointment of having one of my best friends dislike my boyfriend, and Destiny wrapped me in a quick hug.

I went back to Samantha's house tired, sad, and having a miniature breakdown. Where's Xanax when you need it? Later that night, my sister called my cell, and I ranted to her about how everything happened. I cried, sobbed my heart out, and couldn't catch my breath for nearly two hours. Peter had embarrassed me beyond all reason, and the day which I thought held so much promise held only the ruin of my teen-dream relationship.

So, I collected my broken pieces and called Peter. We broke up, and I spent the rest of the time with Destiny and Samantha.

"I'm really sorry it didn't work out, Brett. I still love you!" Sam said, hugging me tight. Destiny grabbed on and hugged me, too.

"I love you guys, too. I think it was just a bad idea with me and Peter." I said.

"Brett, I didn't really want to hook him up with you. I didn't think you guys would get along, but you seemed so happy about it, and I know you've never really dated. I just thought it would be a nice experience for you... I'm sorry." Sam told me. I smiled back at her.

"I really did have fun at prom. Next time, remind me not to call back the guy I made out with at the party, Sammybaby. In fact, try and pour enough liquor down my throat to make me not remember him at all... yeah, that'd work!" I said as the greyhound pulled up, and I walked into the station.

All in all, a sad experience. But I wouldn't give up that kiss on prom night for anything, even if it was tainted by the rest of the story. I guess I should have shut up about halfway through, huh? Well, then it wouldn't be real life, only wishes and dreams. Real life is tasting the bittersweet and loving it. I love it, and cherish that memory.