Beautiful Souls

by Mullanix, Sarah

  I knew that this night was a special teenage milestone and sharing it with Leo, my best friend and boyfriend, just made it that much more meaningful. I was overcome with memories of everything we’d been through together along with the thoughts of what our shared futures may hold.

  Sadness gripped me as I realized that this would be one of our final, spectacular nights together before he left for college in the fall. All of these feelings and thoughts, coupled with my dad’s display of affection and loving protective threats, had left me with my cup overflowing. No wonder all these surfacing emotions had attempted an escape through bottled up tears.

  Emmy’s parents joined mine as they walked us out to the sleek, black limo waiting in my driveway. My mom’s photo snapping and paparazzi tendencies had reached an all-time high at this point.

  “Did you do this?” I questioned Leo about the limo.

  “Guilty as charged, babe.”

  I blushed, but what’s new.

  Emmy and Will were in their own manufactured lover’s world, and the adults stood watching the four of us from enough of a distance away that they couldn’t possibly hear any of our words.

  “How long do you think we’ll have before another Zoey-type makes an appearance in our lives?” I quietly pressed Leo for an answer.

  “Are you worried something will happen tonight?”

  “No…well, maybe. Things have been so good lately, that’s all, and I was just thinking that hell, maybe they’ve been too good.”

  Leo smirked.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” He grinned that ‘oh, so perfect’ crooked grin. “You’re just unbelievably cute is all.” Leo leaned in toward my ear. He didn’t have to bend down much at all since I happened to be wearing almost five-inch stilettos. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me in that dress…and those heels?” Leo very slowly licked his lips. “Remind me to thank Emmy for those later.”

  I gulped down the lump that had just formed in my throat, trying to shake off the warm tingles that Leo’s breath on my neck had just caused. A chain reaction of shivers flooded throughout my body. How was I ever going to get through the entire night with him licking his gorgeous lips and staring at me with that steamy look in his ocean-blue eyes?

  I wanted nothing more than to jump into his arms and wrap my legs around his waist and never stop kissing him until the sun came up. With great difficulty, I kept myself in check due to the number of on-looking parental units still waving us off.

  I focused my brain. “Hey, I can pick out my own clothes, you know.”

  Leo shot me a doubtful glance.

  “Okay, so Emmy did pick out the heels, but I chose the color…and the dress.”

  The limo driver opened the rear door at the approach of our foursome.

  “Well then, remind me to show you my thanks, as well.” Leo bowed to me, allowing ladies first into the back of the black limo.

  Leo and I sat so closely in our seats that I could feel the heat radiating from his turned-on body through the fabric of his tux. My God, he looked so good. Too good. How was I going to make it through the rest of the night if I could barely contain myself by simply sitting next to him in the car, wearing that scrumptious tux and his gorgeous grin. Enough, I told myself.

  “Ready to dance our booties off all night long?” Emmy yelled across the seat, as she blared the music once we were out on the road and on our way downtown.

  “Yeah, dance our asses off,” I corrected her.

  “That’s my Princess Potty-Mouth,” Leo laughed as he caressed my bare knee, moving his way ever-so-slightly up toward my thigh.

  Will and Emmy both laughed.

  Our limo came to a stop outside The Club about fifteen minutes later. I peered from the blackened tint on the windows to see fifty familiar faces waiting to sign in at the ticket booth underneath the giant neon Paramount sign that still jutted out over the sidewalk.

  Our driver left the limo running directly in the middle of Main Street as he opened our door letting us out onto the sidewalk, then he drove off down an alleyway around the corner, presumably, to find a parking place for the evening. So much for inconspicuous, I thought, when all fifty heads turned at our arrival. Emmy ate up the attention, of course, and waved to approximately half of our onlookers.

  Thankfully the wait to sign in was no longer than five minutes and we made our way through the lobby, waited our turn to have our pictures snapped under a black and white balloon arch, then entered the now ballroom/ex-theater.

  The ballroom consisted of black and white checkerboard-style floor tiles, a stage raised from the floor at the far end of the room where the D.J. had already set up and begun pumping thumping music through the speakers as his stage lights danced along to the beat of the songs. Round restaurant-style tables were set up along both sides of the room, and from the incredibly high ceiling dangled an expansive antique-brass chandelier, dripping with reflective crystals. There was also a balcony jutting out over our heads, placed just opposite of the stage.

  A few of our less reserved peers were already gyrating out on the dance floor. I instinctively shied away, and Leo must have read my body language because a second later I was being steered toward an empty table in the corner.

  Alone, in a dark corner, with Leo. Twinkle lights danced all around us, and our hormone-driven bodies had already begun to fog our minds. The way my body was reacting to his, made it so hard to believe that only six short months ago I had wondered if I could see Leo as anything more than just my best friend. What a difference a few months had made in both our lives.

  Leo’s eyes lingered over my dress, then moved down my legs toward the blood-red stilettos barely hidden beneath the draping tablecloth. He cocked his head to one side, obviously contemplating his thoughts and next move.

  “That look is very distracting, you know,” I said, still attempting to keep my hands on my own lap and my nervous toe tapping to a minimum.

  “Oh, I’m definitely not the distraction here,” Leo smirked, as he lazily leaned against the back of his chair and rested his arm along the table’s edge. His fingers dangled off the side mere centimeters above my knee, sending heat waves through my body.

  Leo’s gaze slid over me once more, and I couldn’t help but bite my bottom lip as the electricity spread between us like wildfire. A quivering ache grew inside me and I dropped my knee to distance my skin from his fingertips, needing a moment of relief from the building tension. A slight touch at this exact moment would cause a riot of things to run over my skin and throughout my body; a kiss would surely ensue total pandemonium.

  Leo’s thoughts must have been along the same lines as my own, because after he had brushed a stray lock of hair from my eyes that had mistakenly fallen and disrupted our sight line, he quickly stood and placed his hand out before me.

  “Ms. Olson, would you care to dance?”

  Lord have mercy; that face, this gesture, that tux --- this may end badly.

  I nodded and took his proffered hand. “Of course, Mr. McMyllin.”

  The D.J. had just put on a slow song, and Leo led me onto the dance floor which was sparkling in the reflective shine from the crystal chandelier.

  The gyrating of a hundred sweaty, hormonal teenagers slowed, morphing into a gentle swaying motion that felt almost dream-like. Leo found an opening in the center of the dance floor and twirled me one full spin, the skirt of my dress fanning out fluidly and following my every move, before he pulled me in toward his chest.

  Our bodies locked. They fit together perfectly. He began to move the two of us together, gently and patiently, along with the feel and rhythm of the music. Our eyes locked, syncing our souls together as one. We no longer swayed alongside each other as two people pressed together in an embrace. We moved as one.

  Leo dropped his head and lightly brushed the hair away from my neck. His nose nuzzled my ear, then I felt his lips smoothly caress along the length of my neck. A quick, hurried breath shot warm muggy air down m
y throat as every sensation in my body felt heightened by the simply touch of his soft lips.

  “I love you,” came from my parted lips before I’d even realized that the words had left my brain, escaping from my mouth.

  He smiled that gorgeous crooked grin. “Ditto, babe.”

  The rest of the evening was magical. It was truly a night played out from one of my best dreams. We talked, danced, ate, danced, rested, danced, kissed, then danced some more. We danced our asses off all night long.

  Prom was the best night of my life --- so far.

  Chapter 17.

  Diversion

  di-ver-sion

  /di’verZHen/

  Noun

  1. An instance of turning something aside from

  it’s course.

  2. An activity that diverts the mind from tedious

  or serious concerns; a recreation or pastime.

  After-Prom had gone off without a hitch. It had always remained a mystery to the student body each year, planned and pulled off by the Parent’s Club. This year, Monte Carlo night was delivered directly to the Sycamore High School gymnasium.

  When the sun had finally begun to rise at five o’clock in the morning, most of us had been depleted of any and all energy. All Prom-goers loaded a Charter bus headed directly for Kings & Queens Amusement Park just across the Indiana/Ohio border.

  Leo and I snuggled up together in two empty seats, then slept at least half of our four-hour ride. Will and Emmy sat across the isle, Will snoring noisily most of the way.

  Halfway through I became restless. I needed this time, this closeness --- I needed Leo, but something was still bothering me.

  Leo’s eyes squinted open into tiny slits, just enough for me to see the ocean-blue of his eyes glowing from underneath his dark lashes.

  “You okay, babe?” he asked sleepily.

  “Yeah,” I answered, but I couldn’t hide my sadness.

  “That sounded convincing,” Leo added sarcastically.

  I let out a little laugh. “I didn’t think you’d buy that.”

  My last remark seemed to jolt him into consciousness, and he readjusted his ball cap, sitting up a bit straighter in his seat.

  “What’s up?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Meaning?”

  I let out a sigh. “Meaning…I don’t really want to talk about it.” Jeez, Leo really did know me well.

  “Come on, babe, you can tell me or ask me anything. You know that.”

  I let out another sigh. “It’s just that…I’m going to really miss this next year. I’m gonna miss you, and us, and all the time we spend together. I’ll miss you so much. How am I supposed to do…” I paused, glancing around the bus at all of our sleeping peers to make sure not one of them were conscious enough to eavesdrop. Feeling satisfied by the level of snores and heavy breathing, I continued, “You know, do everything we do. How am I supposed to do any of it alone?”

  “I’m not going anywhere, Becca.”

  “Yes you are. You’re leaving this fall.”

  “No, I’m not.” Leo grinned.

  “Yes,” I argued, thoroughly confused. “You’re leaving for college…this fall, remember? Hello, your football scholarship?”

  “Actually, Bec, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”

  “About what?” I inquired nervously.

  “There’s been a change of plans.”

  “What?” I whispered.

  My heart lurched in my chest, the beat quickening. What was Leo saying? Was he still going away to college in the fall? He had to. I wanted him to stay here with me so desperately, but he had to go. He couldn’t give up his scholarship. I couldn’t allow him to stay for me, if that was in fact what he was planning to do. That’s it, I decided. I wouldn’t let it happen --- I couldn’t.

  Leo moving away would utterly break my heart, but I couldn’t be selfish. Not now, and not about this. I had to let him go. I loved him, and after all isn’t that what we are supposed to do with the ones we love? Set them free in hopes that one day, if they love us enough in return, they’ll come back?

  I fought back the tears swelling and stinging my eyes. “What are you saying, Leo?”

  He sat up even straighter. “I’m not going to I.U. this fall,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  “No, Leo, you have to go. As much as I need you to be here…” “Shhh.” Leo ran his warm fingers along my cheek, attempting to brush away my worries. “It’s okay. Everything has already been settled. I missed way too much school this year, you know with my mom’s death and everything, and I’m not going to be able to graduate. I didn’t earn enough credits.”

  “You could go to summer school,” I blurted out. I couldn’t believe that I had taken up a stance that would ultimately push Leo away from me, but I had to fight for what was right --- right for Leo.

  Leo shook his head, “Even if I wanted to make up the credits in summer school, which I don’t, I couldn’t get my scholarship back.” “You lost your scholarship?” Tears filled my eyes and a few escaped, running down my cheeks.

  Leo wiped the tears away with a gentle swipe of his thumb, keeping my cheek cupped in the palm of his hand as he kissed me lightly on my pouting lips. “It’s fine, Becca, really. It’ll be better this way. Please, don’t cry.”

  “But everything you’ve worked for…gone…because of her. You lost your mom because of that, that bitch. And now this?” I sobbed. “It’s not fair, Leo.”

  “Bec, listen to me. I know that a lot of what we deal with because of who we are…what we were born into…it’s not fair. You’re right about that. But no matter what has happened, or whatever will happen, I wouldn’t take any of it back.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “This is our destiny and I wouldn’t change anything even if I could. My mom wouldn’t want me to. She wouldn’t want either of us risking our lives or safety by second guessing our actions and decisions. I’ve come to terms with that now, and I’m ready to get on with my life…our lives.”

  My tears slowed. “This wasn’t your plan.”

  “No, it wasn’t, but it’s my plan now. Maybe this is how it’s supposed to be.”

  “How what is supposed to be?”

  “We get to spend our senior years together now, train each other, better each other, fight our battles together, and celebrate our victories together…and now we can cheat off each other on our tests, too.” Leo winked.

  I giggled, wiping my runny nose. “You mean you’ll cheat off me.”

  “Like I said,” he smirked. “We’ll have the summer to spend together now instead of me spending it two hours away at football camp. We’ll be able to spend our final year of high school together then head off for college next year together, too. You see? Everything is working out, and whatever doesn’t fit then we’ll take it as it comes and make it work. We’ll figure it all out as we go. We’ll make it work, Bec. Everything is fine now, really. We have each other.” Leo intertwined my fingers with his, letting our hands rest in my lap.

  “We have each other,” I repeated. “Always and forever.”

  “Forever and ever, babe.”

  The bus pulled into the amusement park’s parking lot about an hour later. I couldn’t sleep any more after our talk, so I’d spent the rest of our trip reading the book I had thrown into my bag yesterday as an afterthought when packing my After-Prom bag.

  Leo had spent the same remaining hour writing messages such as: NERD, BOOKWORM, GEEK, and I LOVE U with his finger on the foggy window next to his seat, then magically transferred the messages from the window onto the pages of my book. Each time I’d turned a page, a new message had been waiting for me.

  I paid Leo back for the ‘NERD’ remarks with punches to his arm and with a kiss for the ‘I LOVE U’.

  The bus stopped in it’s parking place, still a great distance from the main gates of the park. The engine turning off awakened most of the passengers from their slumber, and we all filtered out of
the bus, single-file, into the bright, streaming rays of morning sunshine.

  Thankfully, we had lucked out with the weather this weekend. Temperatures during the month of April in Indiana and Ohio could range anywhere from a freezing thirty-degree day with snow --- not quite normal but not at all rare --- to eighty degrees without a single cloud in the sky.

  We had gotten lucky today with a balmy, breezy eighty-two degree day; perfect because the park had just opened up their water slides the previous weekend. When the sun was at it’s highest and hottest, we’d be hitting the waterslides for sure.

  Leo and I met up with Emmy and Will just past the entrance in front of the elongated pool of fountains. A park worker, holding a very large obtrusive camera, pushed the four of us together in front of the fountain pool, snapped our photo before any of us had even known what was happening, handed us a card to go view our souvenir at the photo booth, then moved on to another unsuspecting group of visitors before the four of us had even processed what had just happened.

  My creepy-factor senses had begun tingling the back of my neck, almost as if we were all being watched. I chalked it up to the so-called photographer taking me by surprise. I decided to ignore the feeling, letting go of the sensation crawling up the back of my neck, and concentrated on sharing a great day with Leo, Emmy, and Will.

  The four of us stalked off toward The Monster, Will still half asleep.

  The Monster was one of the world’s longest wooden rollercoasters, and it had always been our tradition to ride it first before the line reached a two-hour wait. We made our way through, and approximately thirty to forty minutes later we had finally moved up to the front. Hitting this ride first thing in the morning had definitely paid off, at least when it came to our wait time.

  While Emmy chattered on lively, filling the air with more than enough words to compensate for the rest of us, Leo and I remained relatively quiet.

  “Something doesn’t feel right,” I spoke closely to Leo, as to not be overheard. Just as planned, the rumble of the incoming rollercoaster had muffled my words.