Prom Date

by G. L. Snodgrass

  PROM DATE

  By G. L. Snodgrass

  Copyright 2014 Gary Snodgrass

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof in any form.

  This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Purple Herb Publishing.

  http://glsnodgrass.blogspot.com/

  Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book may not be reproduced, copied and distributed. If you enjoyed this book, please return to your favorite ebook retailer to discover other works by G.L. Snodgrass. Thank you for your support.

  Other Stories by G.L. Snodgrass

  Worth Saving

  Nothing So Quiet

  Unwritten Rules

  Certain Rules

  A Demon's Nightmare

  For Shelley

  My Lioness

  PROM DATE

  My life was officially over. I wanted to crawl into a hole and pull the earth over me like a blanket. The only thing that stopped me from slitting my wrists was the thought of strangling Danny O’Brian with my bare hands. Who cancels a prom date an hour before the big night?

  My mind flew a thousand miles a minutes to all the terrible things I could do to him. This was supposed to be my big moment. Walking in on Danny O’Brian’s arm would have cancelled out some pretty crummy high school years.

  “Why me!” I yelled as I cried into my pillow. The tears flowed like wine at a wedding. Something else I would probably never get to experience. Why do things like this always happen to me?

  Freshman year I’d been too shy to even think about going. In sophomore year, no one had asked. Flat-chested bean poles like me weren’t asked to fancy things like the prom. In junior year a bunch of us wallflowers were going to go together but I broke my ankle playing volleyball, and I wouldn’t be caught dead at prom walking around on crutches. Only my friend Mary Hopkins even knew I wasn’t there.

  Senior year had been different. I’d come into my own. Blossomed as mom liked to say. Things had gotten all curvy like they were supposed to. They must have started working because I seemed to have caught the eye of the star quarterback and school hunk Danny O’Brian.

  You could have rolled me up and mailed me to Wisconsin when he asked me to the prom. My mouth dropped open and my heart stopped beating. Danny O’Brian was asking me to the prom.

  I’d squeaked out a yes before running all the way home to tell my mom. Then flew over to Mary’s house to tell her. Being the bestest of best friends she had squealed and jumped up and down with me as we totally lost it.

  Life was perfect. Chrissy Thompson, the school bitch and my personal nemesis, would see me walk in with Danny. I know she’d see us because she’d be monitoring everybody. Categorizing what they wore, judging and commenting to her pal gals about what a terrible color this girl wore. Or how sad it was that so-and-so couldn’t find a date. All the time secretly squealing with glee at other people’s misery.

  Of course I told everyone that Danny and I would be going to the prom together. There'd been quite a few shocked expressions and weak congratulations. I'd filed every one of those looks away in my memory box and marked the folder “Pure Glee.”

  You know the feeling of being on top of the world? Of being in that place that everyone else wishes they could be? That was my life for the last month.

  Mom, Mary, and I had spent hours shopping for just the right dress. I couldn’t stop giggling and laughing as we went from store to store. Mom had been patient. Standing to the side, never criticizing but somehow letting me know what worked and what didn’t.

  I finally found the perfect sky blue dress that matched my eyes. Low cut back and spaghetti straps. It fit me perfectly. They wouldn’t even have to alter it. I looked like I was ready to step onto the red carpet at the Oscars. I couldn’t wait to watch Danny’s eyes when he saw me in that dress. I couldn’t wait for Chrissy Thompson to see me. No way was there anything wrong with that dress.

  Instead, no one would ever see it.

  I started to bawl my eyes out again when mom knocked gently coming into my room. “I’m so sorry honey,” she said as she gently rubbed my back.

  “Why Mom? Why always me?” I mumbled through a snotty nose.

  “Oh honey,” she said, rubbing a little harder as if she could push aside my pain and humiliation. “Someday, this won’t seem so important.”

  “Oh mom,” I yelled before throwing myself back onto my pillow.

  She stopped rubbing for a second then said, “Can’t you go by yourself? You can borrow the car.”

  “Mom, you don’t get it,” I cried again into the pillow.

  “What about Mary, could you go with her?”

  “Mom,” I said, my voice getting exasperated. “Mary is going with Troy. No way am I tagging along as a third wheel. It’s her special night too.”

  My phone ringing on the bedside table saved her from driving the spike in any deeper. She got up and left me. Looking back with a face narrowed in concern. I know her heart was breaking for me. My mom’s pretty cool like that. You know she cares. I also know that she can be a bit of a lioness at times. Danny O’Brian had better not cross her path or he was going to find himself missing a couple of key assets from between his legs.

  I picked up my phone.

  “I just heard, Oh my god. What a douche.” Mary said before I could even say hello.

  “How is that possible, I only found out a few minutes ago?” I said between sniffles.

  “Danny told John who told his girlfriend Marla. She called Sandy who called me.”

  Great, everyone now knew about my humiliation. I wasn’t even allowed time to wallow in my misery before everyone wanted to stand around and watch.

  “Did he say why?” Mary asked.

  “No in so many words,” I said. “I’m pretty sure it’s because I told him I wouldn’t go to the hotel with him after the dance.”

  “What, he wanted you to go to a hotel?”

  “Yeah, a week ago he told me to make sure and tell my parents that I would be out all night and not to expect me back till the next morning.”

  “What’d you say,” Mary asked.

  “I told him I wasn’t comfortable doing that. We hadn’t known each other long enough. You know the normal excuses. No way was my first time going to be in the Ramada Inn after prom. I mean how cliché can you get?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me,” she said.

  “I don’t know. He didn’t press the matter and I figured it was all over with. The first hint I got that he wasn’t happy about it was the phone call a few minutes ago.”

  “Wow, what a douche.”

  I laughed. Mary is such a good friend. We'd known each other since before kindergarten. Her family lived two doors down and our mothers were best friends. We were closer than sisters. We never fought. Well almost never, and when we did it was almost always my fault.

  “What are you going to do?” She said before pausing a moment. “Do you want to come with Troy and me?”

  I almost accepted. I so desperately wanted to go that I almost ruined my best friend’s prom night. Troy was a nice guy and he’d have tried to make it work. But no way was I doing that to Mary.

  “No that’s okay. Thanks anyway. I’ll just curl up on the couch with a gallon of Haagen-Dazs and think evil thoughts about Danny O’Brian and what I’m going to do to him in the next life. I won’t have an opportunity in this life if my mom ever gets a hold of him.”

  She laughed. That’s the thing about Mary; she’ll laugh like you’re making a joke even when you’re dead serious.

  “Oh my god, I’ve got it,” she yelled into the phone. “Oh this is perfect.
My brother can take you. He’s even got something to wear.”

  My stomach dropped. Mary’s little brother Jimmy was barely sixteen and a pimply-faced sophomore. He was a nice kid but I didn’t know about going to the prom with him. The only thing worse would be showing up alone.

  “I don’t know Mary … I, uh.”

  “No, this is perfect, he’s always liked you and he owes me big time.”

  Great, now I was a mercy date for a sophomore. How bad could it get?

  Mary must have sensed my hesitation because she pulled out the big guns. “I need you there Jenny. No way am I facing Chrissy Thompson alone.”

  “Well, uh …. I.”

  “Great, I’ll have him there in forty-five minutes. We can meet up at the dance and we'll have a great time. You’ll see. Thanks Jenny, you won’t regret it,” she said before quickly hanging up so that I couldn’t change my mind.

  “MOM,” I yelled down the stairs. “Mary’s little brother’s taking me, I need to get ready.” I had forty minutes to get dressed and somehow cover up these blotchy eyes. I looked like a raccoon on crack.

  Mom pulled her normal motherly miracle and got me to look halfway decent. She did something with alternating warm and cold towels to my face and then just the right amount of makeup that even I couldn’t tell I’d spent the afternoon crying enough to fill Lake Ontario.

  I slipped on my dress then the absolutely gorgeous heels and closely examined myself in the mirror. Not bad, I thought. Granted, everyone was going to know that Danny O’Brian had dumped me hours before the dance but at least they’d know it wasn’t because of my looks.

  Smiling to myself for the first time that night. My stomach dropped when I thought about Jimmy Hopkins. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosey.

  I was transferring a few things to my clutch purse when mom walked in and said, “I thought you might want to borrow these?” A pair of one carat diamond earrings rested in the palm of her hand. Dad had given them to her on their twentieth anniversary. “They are only a loan; if you lose them you will go ahead of Danny O’Brian on my crap list. Get it?”

  “Oh Mom, their beautiful,” I said fastening the posts. “Are you sure? They are so perfect.”

  “Yes they are,” she said with a huge smile. “Now finish up. Jimmy should be here in a moment.”

  My stomach dropped again. Every time I thought about walking into the room with Jimmy Hopkins, I got a sad feeling. There was nothing wrong with Jimmy, except that he was a two years younger and an inch shorter than me. That and the fact that he had to be forced by his sister to take me. When you added that to the fact of how I had bragged about going with Danny. I felt like such a fool.

  Forcing a smile onto my face I went downstairs to wait. Butterflies kept erupting. I knew there would be some snickering behind hands and probably the occasional rude comment. But I could put up with it for a night. After all, someday this wasn’t going to matter. Yeah keep telling yourself that Jenny, I thought. It might help you make it through the night.

  Jimmy was late of course. Mary had probably had to hit him over the head to get him to go. How did the kid even have a tux? I know for a fact that Mary had told me last week that he wasn’t going. Jesus, please don’t let him show up in a suite. Or worse his dad’s suit? Would Mary do that to me?

  My palms began to sweat. What if he didn’t come? Great, a minute ago I was terrified of walking in with Jimmy Hopkins, and now I was frightened that I was going to get stood up.

  The doorbell rang. Mom rushed to get it while I stood there waiting. She opened the door and my mouth hit the floor.

  Jack Hopkins, Mary’s OLDER brother stood there in a heart stopping full dress Marine uniform. A black tunic and snow white belt. Sky blue pants with a red stripe down the sides. White gloves and three shinny medals on his chest perfected the look. He reminded me of a movie poster of what a manly Marine was supposed to look like. Wide shoulders that tapered down to a narrow waist. My god, he was gorgeous.

  “Jack,” I exclaimed, “I didn’t know you were back!” He was on his second tour in Afghanistan and wasn’t due back for another month.

  “I got back a couple of days ago,” he said stepping into the house. His pristine white hat carried under his arm. He was as straight as an ironing board. His eyes traveled over me and lit up as if he liked what he saw.

  “I asked my family to keep it quiet. I needed a few days to adjust. Mary only agreed if I owed her a huge favor.”

  “Oh my god. You’re taking me to the prom.” I said not even believing my own words.

  “Believe me, this is one of the greatest pay-backs ever. Ms. Carter, will you please allow me to escort you to the prom,” he said with a little bow.

  My heart skipped and all of the butterflies fell from the sky in a dead faint. Mary Hopkins, I am going to owe you for the rest of my life.

  “Yes Jack, I would love to go with you to the prom,” I said slipping my arm into his.

  .o0o.

  Some things in life are better than you expect. Needless to say my prom night was great before I even left the house. But walking in on Corporal Hopkins arm has to be one of the highlights of all time. The only thing better was the look on Chrissy Thompson’s face.

  The End

  Thank you for reading my story. I would love to hear what you thought. Please feel free to email me at GarySnodgrass04@gmail.com or visit my Blog for updates on when my next story will be coming out http://glsnodgrass.blogspot.com/

  Following are the first three chapters of my latest novel CERTAN RULES

  CERTAIN RULES

  Chapter One

  Scott

  There are certain unwritten rules in high school. High on the list, close to the top, is one that says. ‘Thou shalt not have sex with your best friend’s girl’. - A simple rule, understood by all. - Danny Carrs totally ignored it.

  Another rule even higher on the list says: ‘Thou shalt not beat the crap out of the star quarterback two days before the play-off game.’ I sort of ignored that one. I figured it made us even. Needless to say, the jerks at school didn’t see it my way.

  They thought they were going to get to me with the silent treatment. The ice cold stares and turned backs were nothing. They hadn’t grown up with my grandfather. Their weak attempts didn’t get to me. What killed me, a bone deep death, was the laughter and snickering behind me wherever I went.

  Scott James, The largest guy on campus, star left tackle, destined for the front line of Nebraska University was a cuckold. Couldn’t keep a woman satisfied so she had to go somewhere else.

  “Steroids man, it kills it.” A high pitched freshman voice whispered.

  A stupid sophomore girl fresh from P.E. laughed and said. “You know I heard they used him for the model when they made Shrek, only they had to tone it down for the movie, it scared all the kids.”

  “I hear he’s so dumb he didn’t know how,” was heard repeatedly.

  The fact that she hadn’t ever let me try made it worse.

  I’d caught best bud, Danny Carrs and the love of my life, Miss Gina Woods, in his room the previous afternoon. She had her legs strait up in the air with Danny between them, pumping away like a locomotive going uphill. There are some sights that burn their way into your brain and you’ll never get ‘em out.

  I’d come to Danny’s to borrow a chemistry book; the world knew he’d never need it. The boy hadn’t cracked a book in the nine years I knew him. He had his head banging music going full bore and never heard me knock. I stepped in, the room smelt like old socks and Ben Gay ointment. Gina screamed, Danny cursed, jumped up, and held out his hands as if to say, ‘it’s not what you think man’.

  Unfortunately it was exactly what I thought man, I saw red and swung.

  I’ve got to give him credit, he didn’t stay down. Not a very a smart move. But then Danny wasn’t a renowned genius.

  He’s your typical Greek god. – Brown curly hair and green eyes, six-one, hundred eighty. I’m more your Norse variety wi
th black hair and the beginning of a straggly red beard. I had him by three inches and seventy pounds; All of it pure muscle from a lifetime of slinging hay bales and four years of banging into fellow giants on the gridiron. Danny on the other hand made Justin Beiber look like an ugly slug.

  He jumped up and threw a quick jab. His fist hit me square in the jaw and I heard the bones in his hand crack with a sickening snap. The boy had never learned how to throw a punch. I’d been doing his fighting for him since fourth grade, both on and off the football field. But he tried. I smiled and returned the favor with a left to the eye and a right to the ribs. He crumbled like a sack of potatoes dropped from the roof.

  And with that the red rage left me to be replaced by a deep burning hurt. How could they do this to me? What did I do? I hadn’t felt this kind of gut wrenching loss since my parents were killed seven years earlier.

  Gina knelt on the bed in all her naked glory, hiding behind a too small pillow. This was not how I anticipated seeing her naked for the first time. Long black hair messed up in the ultimate bed head and white porcelain skin that looked purer than a fresh January snow.

  Her head swiveled back and forth between Danny and me as if watching a tennis match. Her mouth open in shock and her eyes clouded in confusion. Slowly awareness started to return and her eyes turned to fire. She screamed and jumped off the bed to cradle Danny’s head in her lap. “What have you done you giant oaf?” she yelled as if everything was my fault. She forgot about me and returned to brushing the hair from his eyes.

  I so wanted to come back with a witty retort, a small pithy saying that would put her in her place. Something that would go down in history as the smartest thing a guy in my situation ever said. If not that, at least something to take away the pain. Or better, something to hurt her as much as she’d hurt me.

  I had nothing. Nada. I stood there, my knuckles screaming, gob smacked with realty. No nothing. I never had anything when it came to talking to girls. Maybe this is why I ended up in situations like this.