Prom Part 2

As we walked to the gym, my brain was flooded with memories of vague shapes and sizes of people I’d only ever seen in the hallways. I was reminded of the fact that I didn’t belong, and Jessica wasn’t exactly wanted there.

We pushed open the doors, and it was just as I’d been envisioning: cool lighting, party decorations, some groups of people loitering around or dancing; like Steffan Queen’s Cary before the blood. I really hoped there wouldn’t be any blood.

“So… what first?” I asked.

“No clue!” she declared. “How about some punch?”

I grit my teeth. “Alright.”

We sauntered over to the table. I set out two of the plastic cups and ladled out some drinks. We sipped at them tepidly.

“So… want to… uh... dance… or something?” I asked.

Jessica shook her head. “Not… yet. But I do want to do the photobooth!”

“More photos?” I moaned.

“God, don’t be a dork,” Jessica teased. “Come on, it will be fun.”

I followed her to the cramped box. Much like the car, Jessica loaded herself inch by inch. When she was as packed away as she wanted, I peaked my head in and found a small space for myself. Both of our tails trailed out from under the curtain.

The first photo was a normal frontal shot. But Jessica was eager to get experimental. “Okay, funny ones, now!”

She swung her head, and her sunflower brushed my hair.

I didn’t know what she was going for, so I opted for a worried smile.

“Oh my god, what if we do one where it looks like I’m about to eat you?” she suggested.

I just laughed. “What?”

“Just play along!” she said, opening her mouth wider than I’d seen before. Her fangs stuck out, sharp and pure like finely forged white knives. I recoiled, unsure if my fear was fake.

After the flash, Jessica retreated. We giggled nervously.

A few more random images later, and we were out of the booth. And then some random pop song started to play.

“I love this one; let’s dance!”

I nodded. I loved dancing—in a very private place.

Jessica slithered to the dance floor. A few people were getting groovy already.

I saw that her idea of dancing was wiggling her body like the sine function. It was extremely endearing; I admired how she could just let go.

I followed suit, my motions starting off subtle, but building up into kicks and punches and twists and turns. I looked absolutely ridiculous, but I had fun.

After the song, Jessica slithered off back to the punch, and I was quick to follow my source of confidence.

There was a familiar face waiting by the table, talking to an unfamiliar one. It was the horse-bird that snubbed Jessica during the lunch period I had invited her over.

Jessica obviously noticed him, but said nothing.

The horse-bird felt inclined to speak, however. His voice was screachy, and he talked like a “bro”. “Oh, Jessica, hey!”

Jessica was stoic. “Hi, Matthew.”

“Hey… uhm. Hey, I was going to say this at school on Monday, but since you’re here, I just wanted to apologize about being a dick since the Apocalypse. I uh… had a bunch of shit happening, and… I have a serious… phobia of snakes. So I just wanted to apologize before you go the rest of your life thinking ‘Matt is a dick’, you know?” he explained at length.

Jessica was shockingly understanding. “Thank you for saying that.”

“Yeah, so, I uh… I guess… you probably don’t want to or anything, but there’s going to be a party after finals, and if you want to go, we’d love to uh… have you there,” he struggled to get out.

“Well, thank you. I’ll… I might go, I’ll see,” Jessica seemed to finalize.

“Yeah… I’ll talk to you later!” he said, walking off to rejoin his posse.

“Cool,” I said, before taking a gulp of my drink; but it was far more bitter than I remembered. I snarled. I tried to ignore it, instead opting to converse with Jessica. “Well that was nice of him.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jessica dismissed.

“I mean, he invited you to the party.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“What? But….”

“They don’t actually want me there. He was just doing that so he doesn’t look like a jerk. He knows I won't go.”

“Ah man, that sucks,” I said wistfully.

“No, it’s alright. Let’s not let it spoil the mood.”

I agreed. I kept going back to the slightly bitter drink. It tasted bad, but in the same way that causing pain soothes itches.

There was a lull in festivities. Jessica talked about her hopes for college. She had failed to get into a single one of her dream schools, but she felt Central was fine enough. It was difficult for me to think that far ahead, and I nodded along with little input.

She told me she wanted to be a doctor. Her father was a bank manager—Sitibank, specifically—and her mother worked at a grocery store. From what I could gather, it seemed like her parents were more excited about medicine than her. It made me feel lucky that my own were so laid back.

She told me that after the Change, she was terrified that her plans had been completely derailed.

"But then," she said, "I saw the Staff of Aesculapius at the hosspital."

I squinted in incomprehension.

“You know, the stick with the snake you see on ambulances and stuff?”

I could just barely recall the symbol she was talking about. I silently mouthed “Oh,” the almost prophetic nature of it dawning on me. “Sometimes, I almost feel like… everyone has a reason for becoming what they did,” I said profoundly.

Jessica chuckled. “I kind of know what you mean. But then I think, ‘why the hell did Noel become a succubusss’?”

I sneered, shaking my head, “You wish you knew, didn’t you?”

“Oh, do you know ssssomething?” she hissed, inviting an answer.

“I dunno, maybe the universe is trying to tell me I need to…” I hushed, “...do that kinda stuff.”

“What kinda ssstuff?”

“You know… succubus stuff,” I said, my red skin hiding my blush.

Jessica leaned in, “You mean sssex?” she whispered, her tongue protruding from her lips.

I nodded devilishly.

She pulled away and we stared at each other for a long time. But her mood shifted suddenly. “Did the punch tasste weird?”

“A little… bitter,” I recalled, my glass empty.

“Oh my god, did someone spike it?” Jessica said, getting a moment of clarity.

I did a double take. “Who would do that?”

Jessica shook her head. “I don’t know, those idiots. I thought it was just my sssnake taste,” she stopped. “Gah! I can’t stop the stupid hiss.”

“I think it’s cute,” I said, before wanting to die.

Jessica was uncharacteristically shy. “Uh… thanksss… but….”

“Sorry,” I said, my own senses almost back. “Weird thing… I-I said something weird, uh… forget that… or don’t… I-I mean… sorry?”

“It’s okay. Let’s just sssstay away from the punch.”

We were mostly silent for the next half hour or so, hoping that the effects would wear off before we destroyed ourselves with words.

And then they announced the last dance: a slow dance. Jessica looked at me expectantly.

I bared my teeth. “I really don’t know… how to… dance with a partner….”

“Neither do I, Dude, I’m a snake,” she reminded me.

I enjoyed her frankness, but sometimes it was too much. I rolled my eyes.

She rolled hers in return. “Come on, no one’s going to care. We’re all freaks.”

I sighed, following her to the dance floor. The music was already playing.

Much like the photo on her front lawn, she snuck her tail up my back and over my shoulder. I placed my hands on opposite sides of her body, just above her “dress”, slightly offsetting them from one another.

I smiled.

We swayed back and forth. I felt so stupid it wrapped around from embarassing to comedic.

I took a step back with the song, but ended up stepping on her tail. She yelped quietly, and I profusely apologized.

I did it again, repeating the process.

I did it a third time.

“Okay, let’s stop this,” Jessica commanded, giddy.

I was glad that she was in good spirits, but I was still sorry for maiming her.

We decided to simply leave prom.

I could tell I was starting to reach sobriety. Being drunk was a strange thing; my inhibitions had taken a back seat, and it was both terrifying and liberating.

Instead of waiting for the car, we walked home. It was short, and I didn’t want to be tortured with another conversationg between her and my father.

“Thanks,” she said, the alcohol having apparently left her as well. “I think I’m going to remember tonight for a long time.”

I agreed. I also had fun, as shocking as it was to me. "You're welcome," I said, looking her in the eye. She looked nice, and it wasn't the alcohol talking.

My mind thought back to the conversation with Gabi. Perhaps there was still some liquid courage lurking in my veins after all, because I was ready. "Hey uh… can I ask you something kind of… awkward?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Do you like me… like… more than a friend?"

"Oh… I… don't… think so," she ventured.

"Phew!" I declared. "That would have been super awkward."

She stopped her slithering. I could see the glint of her eyes under the moonlight. "Do you, Noel?"

"I don't know," I replied honestly.

"What do you mean?"

"I feel… very… happy when I'm around you," I struggled to think of the words, "But I feel that way about a lot of people. I just don't know what being in love is supposed to feel like."

"Oh," she said, before pausing to contemplate. "Well, I think you'll know when you do."

I shrugged. "Yeah. I guess so."

We continued walking, a silence falling on us.

I broke it. "Thanks for being cool about it."

"Snakes are cool, right?"

I belted, probably waking up half the neighborhood. "I can't believe you remember that, god."

I had offered to walk her to her house, and she agreed, though she joked that I probably needed it more than her. I scoffed. Being called feminine went from painful to unfunny.

When we got to her house, just before I was about to wave her goodbye, I had one last thing to say. “Oh, by the way….”

“Yeah?”

“The flower. I-I really like it. I… think you should wear it more often.”

“I’ll do that.”