6 6

When the bell rang, I was slightly surprised. It felt like barely ten minutes had gone by since I sat down again. Apparently, after everyone had done their performances, Mr. Salvador was just talking to us, giving us tips on playing non-humans and stage presence.

"Good! Everyone come to the front to see your marks on this assignment. Other than that, class is over." Mr. Salvador called. As I was about to go up to the front, I heard Zac call behind me, "Did it work the way you wanted?"

I turned around to see him exiting the booth via the ladder. "Yeah!" I exclaimed. "Thanks for taking the time to do this."

He shrugged. "It was cool to watch. Reminded me of my first year."

"Was it any good?" I asked, knowing the answer. Compared to Blondie, May and I totally killed it, and I was confident that we were the best ones there. I mean, we worked really hard, and it showed.

Zac simply shrugged. "A little underdeveloped. I mean you only really did one action. But in terms of how you executed it, it was great, yeah. Well done."

In my mind, I sputtered. One action? Underdeveloped?! That's what we were supposed to do! Zac clearly didn't realize what Mr. Salvador was looking for, that was all. Smiling superficially, I thanked him. He nodded as he walked out of the auditorium, just as May bounced up to me.

"C'mon," she coaxed with a sweet smile. "I think we should get our marks together." She started to walk towards the stage then turned around. "Since we earned them together."

I couldn't help but smile. I think anything May said sent my head high into the sky and my heart flying with the birds, but this made fireworks go off inside me. She made me happier than I've ever been with just the way she looked right into my eyes, let alone the things like that she said. That's what Nicole didn't understand.

I followed May to the front, pushing past several people who were leaving, to face Mr. Salvador, who had his face buried in his clipboard. May cleared her throat loudly, a bold move in front of a teacher, and faced Mr. Salvador as he looked up.

"Could we please have our marks?" she asked him sweetly.

"Of course." he replied flatly, searching on his clipboard until he found two cue card-sized pieces of paper, and handed them to us. May took them both, and handed one to me. Giddy, I looked at the paper to find a surprise.

73%. We got 73%. I looked to May to find the same disappointment on her face as mine. "Mr. Salvador, this must be a mistake." I told him. "These can't be our marks. Is this another group? We did the one with the tree."

"Yes, I know." he replied.

"Well then… What did we do wrong?" I asked him.

"You didn't really do anything wrong, you just didn't go beyond." He answered me. "73% is average, which was what your performance was. It was a basic action, with no clear plot. There was only one basic movement for each actor, and you went a little under the expected time."

We did the lights and everything, and got this. I was frankly hurt. "But…" I protested.

Mr. Salvador looked at me expectantly. When I added nothing, he shrugged. "Make your next performance really wow me."He gave me a smile, not of kindness, but of challenge. I was still hurt though. I said nothing and walked away.

May hastily added, "Thanks, Mr. Salvador." before turning and following me out of the aud.

"That's just bullshit." I complained as I looked at my sheet again. Mr. Salvador's criticisms, mostly pertaining to how we limited our piece to one action, were written in barely legible handwriting all across the sheet. The only clearly legible part was the 73%, which just pissed me off more. People were passing us left and right, since it was the end of the day and we were standing in the middle of the hallway.

May shrugged. "I thought we did a great job, but I guess we'll need to try harder if we want daddy's approval."

I smirked. "You're not his biggest fan, are you?"

"I just don't like how he thinks he's top shit, and we need to all give 110% all the time." She answered, annoyed. "For what it's worth, you're a great partner."

"Thanks." I replied, smiling warmly.

"Hey, mind if I ask you something? If you're in no rush." She asked me after awkwardly sticking in the same spot in the hallway with me. Right at that moment, I realized I was in a rush. It was Monday! Student Council would be starting their meeting any second now.

"Uh, sure, but can you make it quick? I have a student council meeting to go to."

"Oh…" She started, thinking. "Well, it's not that important, plus I want your full attention when I do ask it. I have choir right now anyways, can we meet up in the main hall after your meeting? Around 3:30?"

"Sure, I'll do that." I said absent-mindedly. "See you then, bye!" I rushed off towards the meeting, wondering what would happen if I were late.

"Bye!" she shyly, yet loudly, called out behind me, fading into the crowd.

***

Luckily for me, I arrived at the meeting just a few seconds before Phil called the whole thing to order. No one seemed to notice, except Nicole of course, who simply cocked one eyebrow at me. Knowing she had a freaky tendency to read my thoughts, I tried my hardest to give her a look which said 'I'll explain later.' She nodded.

"Great, everyone's here." Phil interjected into the buzz of many council members mumbling to each other. "Alright, first item on the agenda is tomorrow's dance. Great job to our advertising team for making everyone know it's tomorrow. How's our dance team for the co-ordination?"

A skinny tall redhead stood up from her seat. "Um, the DJ is booked, he says it's, like, all good on his end. The gym is mostly set up, we just need a couple of volunteers for tomorrow morning to finish."

Phil pointed to a few members of the council in the crowd. "Eli, Nicole, can you spare the time?"

Eli, an uptight British-looking kid in glasses, shrugged and nodded. Nicole chipperly replied, "No problem, Mr. President!"

Phil's gaze lingered on her for just longer than it needed to with a small smile on his lips. "Great, thanks you two. How about admission? Let's get our two newbies on that. Adam, Megan, can you stand at the door and accept the dance tickets?"

I had no clue how to do that, but nodded in blind obedience, then turned to Megan. She had a nervous look on her face, and shrugged.

"Great." Phil nodded. "It's really easy. You just stand at the gates of the school, and students walk up to you and present their ticket. You take it, put it in the bin, and let them in. If they don't have a ticket, you don't let them in. No exceptions, no re-entries."

"Okay." Megan slowly replied. "Could I please go over it with Adam in the hallway? Just to make sure we're all on the same page."

Phil shrugged. "Sure, if that's what you guys need." He pointed out to the hallway. ��Feel free to barge back in whenever you're done, don't feel bad about disturbing us. You shouldn't need to be out there long though, right? I don't want you to miss anything important."

"Right." Megan confirmed, and started to walk out. I got up and started to walk out myself, noting that Nicole was giving me a serious look. In her hand, poised just high enough that I could see, she held up her phone. I nodded at her as I followed Megan outside.

Phil's talking was reduced to a faint murmur through the walls as Megan shut the door behind me. I noticed that she was fiddling with her knit sweater, and after, began to readjust her glasses in a frankly adorable way as she tried to find words. I saw how nervous she was, and being able to understand that myself, decided to step in.

"So what did you need to ask?" I asked, trying to sound as kind as possible. "The whole thing is straightforward, right?"

"Um… yeah." She began. "I was just… I was wondering if…" She stammered. She sighed and squeezed her eyes shut. "I was wondering if you'd want to go to the dance with me. You know, since we're going to be working together anyways, it just makes sense, right…?"

My eyebrows shot up. I certainly was not expecting this. For a second, I wondered why Nicole, May and Megan, basically the only three girls I knew, had at least a minor interest in me. I wasn't good looking or confident, nor very interesting…

Taking myself out of the world of my thoughts, I focussed on Megan. Should I go with her? The question repeated in my head. I wanted to go with May, but that looked to be a bleak possibility at this point. In indecisiveness, I looked down to the floor. Megan could see I wasn't answering immediately, and decided to step in.

Boldly grabbing my hand (and being so unsure of her action she actually grabbed a bit too forcefully), she pulled my eyes up from the ground into her own. "You don't have to answer me right away." she said innocently. I only noticed at this point how seductive her big, innocent, brown eyes were. Her face clearly showed a little fright and nervousness, but her eyes were screaming 'kiss me.'

Or maybe they weren't. God, what's wrong with me?

"You can think about it if you want to." She quickly added. "I just thought it would make sense, that's all. It would be cool to know each other better and stuff. Don't you think?"

"It would, yeah." I replied hesitantly. It was now my turn to be nervous. I wanted to go with May, but I could never get the courage to ask her, especially after that incident at her house. But I knew I had to ask Nicole first before choosing anything I would soon regret.

"Just let me know after the meeting, okay?" She asked, and I confidently nodded. She smiled widely, bringing out her gorgeous eyes even more, lightly squeezing my hand. Her touch was just as electric as it was during the speeches, and it made me smile just a bit. She hurried back in to the council room with myself in tow. As I walked back in, Phil kept going, not acknowledging us whatsoever, but as I turned to Matt, he had a knowing look on his face. I then turned to Nicole, who rolled her eyes and held up her phone again.

Oh, right. I took out my phone, making sure Phil couldn't see, and texted her. Megan just asked me out to the dance. I don't think I���m confident enough to ask May. Should I go for it?

A few seconds later, I saw her looking at her phone. She looked up at me, mulling over the idea, then finally gave a slow, unsure nod, followed by a sultry wink. I chuckled to myself as I turned to Matt, who was still looking in my direction, and nodded at him too. He grinned.

***

Phil was a master of talking for too long, but the meeting still ended as expected at the normal time. As everyone started to file out, I caught Megan in the hallway, and lightly touched her shoulder. She whirled around to face me, and noticeably became more shy.

"So I, uh, I think I'll take you up on that offer." I told her, mustering as much courage as I could to do one petty thing.

Her eyes sparkled. "Really?" She asked me. I nodded, and she immediately went in for a hug. She didn't say anything further, but I guess she didn't need to. Getting gradually better at these situations, I hugged her back. She pulled back so our eyes could meet, her arms still wrapped around me, and smiled. "See you tomorrow then." She said happily as she pulled away and walked off, waving at me. I waved back, too focussed on her to notice Matt approach me from behind. He clapped an arm down on my shoulder.

"Good choice, man. My sister's a great girl." He said warmly.

"I bet." I replied.

"Normally I have to give the 'don't be a jerk to her' speech, but I don't think I need to with you." He added. "And I don't make that exception with everyone."

I smiled at him. "I'll be sure to remember that." I said. He nodded and walked off in the same direction as Megan. I was actually feeling pretty good about myself. I got a date to the Halloween dance. Granted, I had no clue what I would wear as a costume, not to mention I couldn't dance to save my life, but otherwise I felt pretty damn good about life.

"Way to go, Squirt, you got a date!" came the voice of Nicole from behind me. She sounded legitimately impressed.

I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess." were the only words that could come out of my mouth.

She stifled a laugh. "And here I was thinking that you couldn't get up the courage to ask anyone. You could move mountains with your word choice, hotshot." she winked at me and started walking down the hallway. "Don't you need a ride?" she tossed over her shoulder.

"Actually, would you mind hanging around for a few minutes?" I asked her. "I was supposed to meet up with someone for something."

She shrugged. "As long as you make it quick." She told me. "Managing the yearbook and school paper takes up more time than you think."

Feeling bolder after she mocked me, I shot back, "Maybe if you spent less time screwing you wouldn't have that problem."

She grinned. "More comments like that and I'll just find other guys to fuck." She threatened humorously. "Now git! Go have your little meeting before I leave without you."

I smiled at her and took off for the main hallway. By the time I was out of Nicole's sight, May was in mine. I waved hello and she cheerfully waved back.

"Hey! Hope you weren't waiting too long." I piped up, glad that Nicole's chat with me gave me an adrenaline boost needed to have a normal conversation with a girl.

"Nope, you're okay." May cheerfully responded.

"So what do you need?" I asked her.

"Well, I was thinking." She began, making it seem like she made a business decision more than anything else. "I've told you before that I'm not really making as many friends as I'd like to, but you've been kind to me. So I figure why not get to know you outside of drama class too?"

"…Are you asking me to be an official friend or something?" I asked.

She chuckled. "No, but I was thinking it would be really cool if we went to the dance tomorrow together! What do you think?"

My heart sank. No it didn't, it got wired up to some C4 and the detonator was placed in my hands. Son of a bitch, there was nothing I wanted more than to break into a grin and say yes right then and there, but I couldn't. I just couldn't do that. I already made the commitment to go with Megan.

Still, at first I couldn't find the place in my heart to say no. My crush, the girl who could make me smile by existing alone, the one girl I truly wanted to be with, to kiss, to dance with, and I had to turn her down. God dammit, I wouldn't get a chance like this again. I blew it. Again.

"Gee, um… May, that's the best offer I've had in a long while, and I truly, truly mean that. But I'm afraid I've already promised Megan Schneider."

"Oh." Her cheerful aura dwindled, something I didn't see often. She still smiled, but it was more for show than anything else. "I didn't know you and her were together."

'She and you,' my inner Nicole piped up. "Oh, we're not." I quickly replied. "We're just both on the council and figured since we're working together it makes sense."

"Ah, I see." she replied with her continued fake cheerfulness, smiling yet looking to the floor every so often.

"Otherwise, I would say yes in a heartbeat. I hate to think that you'll be all alone for the dance tomorrow." I continued.

She smiled at me, and I could tell this one was genuine. "I'll manage." she said softly. "So, um… See you in class tomorrow!"

"Yeah." I replied, clearing my throat. The tension hung thick in the air, but this time it didn't feel nice in any way. "See you then."

We looked at each other for the next ten seconds, everywhere but in the eyes, before May made the first move and slowly started to walk towards her locker. Feeling guilty as all hell, but not responsible, I trudged back to wherever Nicole was standing.

"Ready to go." I mumbled.

She noted my lack of cheerfulness. "Who was your conversation with, a proctologist? What's with the long face?" She asked as we began to walk to her car.

For some reason, I didn't feel like telling her. "Nothing." I simply said.

"Oh, come on, squirt. I know you a little better than that." She said sternly as the car came into view.

"Well, since you're so psychic, why don't you figure it out for yourself?" I asked, half bitterly, half humorously.

"I ain't that good, hotshot. I can't work with what little you've given me. What do I look like, a grade 12?" she winked as she walked around the car and got in.

A few minutes into the car ride, she sighed loudly and spoke. "I suppose I could hang with you for a few hours, but that's it. If you feel like you need to let off a little steam…"

I wasn't sure if she meant just hanging out, or what I thought she really meant, but I didn't care. "Nah, I'm good." I replied.

"You sure?"

"Mhm."

She nodded slowly, taking her eyes to mine for just a few seconds before returning to the road. A few seconds, I felt her hand rubbing my shoulder sympathetically. "I hope whatever it is, it doesn't last. Your face looks more stupid with a frown on it."

I had to give a bit of a chuckle at that comment. Unless she was on the brink of an orgasm, that was Nicole's way of being kind, of showing she cared. And I appreciated it, but it sure didn't fix anything.

***

The Halloween dance was the next night, so I didn't exactly go all out on the costume. One long black sheet and a pair of fake fangs, and poof. Adam Watson was no more, there was only Dracula.

"How does it look?" My dad asked as he popped his head in my room, where I was readying myself in front of the mirror.

"It's not amazing, but I think it looks like Dracula." I answered, looking to make sure the jelled-back hair, which was a challenge (since it was closer to dirty blonde than black, plus longer than average), looked alright.

He looked into the mirror, popping up behind me. "How can you tell?" He asked, pretending to scan the mirror, looking for my reflection.

I rolled my eyes, which dad took as a victory. ��Alright, let's go mobile." He told me. "If you're going to be working at the doors, we'd better make sure you go early."

"Fair." I replied, scanning the mirror one last time to look for anything wrong with how I looked before following him.

"Jeez, with the amount of time you spent in front of the mirror, you'd think you were spending the night dancing with Nicole instead of just collecting tickets." Dad piped up as we left the house.

Would if I could. "Nope." I answered. "Just working. Student council. You wouldn't understand."

He gave a small shrug as we entered the car. "Does this mean I get to mock you for not being in the AV club and choir?"

"You were in choir?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Bass. Only one, actually. There was a lot of stigma involved with being in choir in those days."

Interesting. I never knew my dad was involved in extracurriculars. "I didn't even know they had AV clubs back then. Did schools even have video equipment?"

"It was the 80s, Adam, not the 50s." He replied. "Why else would I keep quoting 80s movies? It's been wired, almost literally, in my head at this point."

"Why'd you take it?" I asked him. "It doesn't sound like it pays well."

"It was practically cultural expectation." he answered me as we left the driveway. "I was a shy nerd when we entered high school. But by the time I left… There wasn't a student in my grade that didn't share my love of the cinema."

"I thought it was genetic." I spoke softly, referring to my shy awkwardness. Dad nodded sympathetically.

"When you enter high school, you don't really know who you are. If you do, you're doing something wrong. Above all, you're going to be finding yourself and coming out of your shell over the next four years." He told me. "If you're anything like I was, you're going to have a hard time talking to people at first, but stick with the right people, and you'll become a social butterfly in no time."

"Thanks, dad." I smiled at him while he kept driving. He kept his eyes on the road.

"Also if you're anything like I was, you're going to find yourself occasionally involved in some serious shit, pardon the language. Never lose your head, and please always do the right thing, if anything like that should happen." He continued. "Not that I think you're the type. I just know how high school is. I lived through it, you know, and still remember it. 'Old man' is a purely figurative title."

"I'll take your words to heart." I said seriously, as he stopped the car at a red light. He turned to me and gave me what he never gave anyone, a small smile. I never really saw this side of dad before, given how years of being alone at school made me content with being alone at home, holed up in my room. Even so far, I was glad I went to the dance. It made me really grateful to have my dad.

***

When I got there, after waving dad goodbye as he drove off, I walked up the school steps to find Megan already waiting there. She waved slightly as she saw me, nervously tapping her one foot on the ground. She wore a one-piece lime green suit, with matching flats and a bit of glitter strewn across her face. Behind her, attached to her back, were a pair of fairy wings and in her hand she held a wand with a green star on the end.

I walked up to her. "You look beautiful." I said, eyeing her costume up and down.

"Thanks." she replied softly. "You don't look so bad yourself."

I smiled, but didn't reply as I just looked at the floor for a few seconds. Looking back up, I looked behind her to see the halls of the school. Phil was inside, dressed (really intricately, may I add) as The Incredible Hulk. He flashed me a thumbs-up when he saw me.

While flashing a thumbs-up back at Phil, I asked Megan, "Has anyone showed up yet?"

"No one who's not on Council." She answered me. I started to wonder if May would show up. I turned her down, but would she still show up? Would it be awkward if she showed up and I had to deal with her ticket? Would she be mad at me?

"I guess it's just the two of us, huh?" Megan asked me softly, taking a step towards me.

Lost in my own world of thoughts of May, I absent-mindedly replied, "Yeah, I guess." I didn't notice her look down again and take a step back. As my mind became clear again, people were starting to show up.

Once people started to show up, for about fifteen minutes straight people were steadily arriving, and Megan and I didn't really have an opportunity to talk or take nay kind of break. After those fifteen minutes though, barely anybody new was showing up and after we were at the doors for a total of twenty-two minutes, a grade 12 poked his head through the doors. I recognized him as Eli from yesterday. He was dressed as the Matt Smith rendition of Doctor Who.

"Hey! Phil wanted me to tell you guys that you're free to join the dance now. I'll be hanging around the doors at the coat rack anyway, so I can make sure the doors are guarded." he said. I was really expecting his voice to be British, and it almost frustrated me to hear that it wasn't.

"Okay, thanks." Megan smiled at him. He nodded and went back inside. She turned to me. "Do you wanna dance, Adam?"

"Uh, sure!" I answered her. I wish May had asked me that, I thought to myself as we entered the school. She grabbed my hand and led me through the halls, right up to the gymnasium doors. Right as we stepped inside, I was instantly overwhelmed.

People were everywhere. Most of them were in costumes, all of them were moving in one way or another, and you barely had any room to breathe. Everyone was touching someone or other in some way or another, and I'm sure some people were taking advantage of this fact. There was grinding and vaguely sexual activity everywhere. I guess not a lot has changed since grade 8.

Megan led me through the sea of people and once we found a place that wasn't packed like a sardine can, we began dancing. Well, I use the term 'dancing' loosely – I have no sense of rhythm, and the social awkwardness I lugged around with me like a ball and chain wasn't doing me any favors. Still, I tried to dance with her, and eventually we settled on what teenagers usually constitute as 'dancing' – bopping up and down.

This continued for a good few minutes until I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I didn't recognize it immediately, but it begged for me to take a closer look. I looked over to my left and immediately felt a sharp pain.

It was May, dressed like what looked to be some kind of cat. I guess when I wasn't paying attention, she gave her ticket to Megan. It angered me slightly that she didn't even bother to say hi, but that didn't anger me nearly as much as how she was dancing with another guy. His face was hidden and I couldn't make out who it was, but I didn't care. I felt betrayed, as absurd as that sounds. She just went to the dance with someone else, like I didn��t matter.

I couldn't bear to look at them, but my eyes lingered. Their bodies were pressed too closely together, and her beautiful hazel eyes were clearly locked on him, someone so undeserving of those beautiful eyes.

When I managed to tear my gaze away from them, my thoughts returned to myself. Whoever this guy was, he had beaten me. He had won. Hell, who was I kidding? He was probably easily better looking and more confident. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to assume that. May probably deserved someone like that anyways. Definitely not someone like me. I was dirt. No, I was lower than dirt. I was Adam god damn Watson.

Anger, disappointment, pity and every other emotion found in the dictionary of angst filled me. Not even able to communicate further with Megan, I sprang for the exit to the gym, looking for a bit of time to myself. Megan, of course, followed me with every step, no doubt confused as hell.

Even exiting the gym wasn't enough. There were still people in the school, and I wanted to completely be alone with my thoughts. I marched straight towards the exit, before Eli stopped me.

"Once you leave, you can't come back in. No exceptions, even if you're council." he told me. I gave him my most convincing smile of understanding, and barged past him out the doors. Megan still diligently followed. After a while, I spotted a patch of grass near the school's entrance and plopped down on it, sighing angrily. Megan sat down hesitantly next to me.

"What's wrong?" I heard her ask timidly, but I couldn't find the energy to answer. I noticed I was still wearing my stupid fangs and cape, and without hesitation, took them off and stuffed them in my pockets.

"Did I do something wrong?" There was something new in her voice: Fear. I didn't want her to be upset, so I answered.

"No, you didn't." I said, with a little less empathy than I would have liked. "Just overwhelmed. Dances and crowds and stuff."

"Oh, okay." She answered, before continuing in a more quiet voice. "I actually kinda prefer it out here. You know, no dancing, no other people… Just the two of us."

"Yeah." I answered absent-mindedly. I don't get it. What went wrong? Why would May just go with someone else like that if she already asked me? Was she that non-committed?

"You know, I was going to tell you something, but I think it's actually better to tell you here than at the dance." Megan continued to speak, her voice getting even softer than it was, as impossible as I thought that was.

"Oh yeah?" I asked her, not paying attention, wishing she'd stop talking. It wasn't that I didn't like her company, I just wanted to be alone. Why couldn't she see that? Maybe I shouldn't have said yes. No, scratch that. I definitely should not have said yes.

"So I know we don't know each other that well, and we've barely said anything to each other, but you're really cute." she said timidly. "And I like how you're reserved and proper… Most guys are too confident and talk-y… It kind of overwhelms me."

"Mhm." I replied, not paying attention. God dammit, I wish I had the confidence most guys have. I wish I could talk more easily. Then I could have asked May out to the dance earlier… And everything would be better. Being shy and reserved was just a complete curse. It did me no favors.

"I… I like you, Adam. Like… like like." Megan continued.

Aaaaaand my brain went click. Shit, how long was Megan talking? How the hell did we get to this topic?! Oh, god damn it, I was not ready to deal with this, especially right now.

Okay, don't panic. What do I say?? I've never had to turn anyone down before. It honestly felt kind of weird, yet kind of… nice, as awful as that sounds. At least someone liked me for myself, even though they weren't the right one… I breathed in and out a few times before beginning.

"Gee, Megan… That's really sweet, and I appreciate that. Really, I do. But I'm just starting grade 9, and so are you. I don't know if I'm really ready for a committed relationship like that right now. You know, with emotions and stuff. I don't want to end up hurting you. You're a great girl though, and you'll make a guy really happy someday."

Was a word I said genuine? I had no freaking clue. I just needed some time alone to my thoughts, and figured this was enough to let her down easily. I mean, girls like it when you respect their feelings, right? I couldn't imagine that NOT being true, and when I looked at Megan, she wasn't crying or anything. She wasn't happy either, but she still smiled.

"I understand, Adam. Thanks for being so honest with me." She said, continuing her smile. "And I hope you feel ready soon. I… I wanna make you happy. Not some guy, you."

I couldn't even hear her anymore, but could tell she was finished her sentence, so I turned and smiled at her, still fuming at May on the inside. Shit. How could she do this to me? I needed to turn to a trusted friend, someone who's helped me through this kind of stuff. I took my phone out of my pocket and texted Nicole immediately.

Hey, you leaving soon? I could use a ride. I got used to being more bold with her. Normally, I could never ask someone for a ride, let alone ask like that, let alone in the middle of a dance. But I was more comfortable around her than anyone else, and that's exactly what I needed right now.

Almost instantly she replied. Thought you'd never ask. Meet me in the car, at the back entrance.

I smiled internally. Thanks, Nicole. Feigning shock at my phone, I blurted out, "Oh crap!" I looked at Megan. "Um, sorry, my dad's here. Mind if we cut this a bit short?"

Megan smiled weakly. "It's fine. It's not like I can go back inside anyway, so we might as well."

Oh, right. We couldn't go back inside. I looked again at Megan, who continued her weak smile. I felt legitimately bad for her, and decided to do something about it. "Well, hey… I enjoyed our time together tonight. Do you have a cell phone?"

Instantly, her smile turned genuine. "Yeah, I do." she replied, suddenly really happy. We exchanged numbers, and I gave her a smile.

"Text me! You seem like a really sweet girl, and I would like to get to know you better." The smile she gave me was so genuine that it made me feel slightly better, even though what I said was basically a sweet nothing.

***

As I arrived at Nicole's car, she was already in the driver's seat, wearing a surprisingly well-made Medusa costume. "How was your first high school dance, squirt?" She asked me.

"It was okay, but… I got overwhelmed easily. You know, the crowds and all."

She nodded. "That's why I was ready to go at the drop of a hat."

"Phil didn't mind?" I asked her.

"Phil? Are you kidding? I've got him wrapped around my finger. He's putty in my hands." She turned to me and winked. "So no, he didn't mind. Now, should we get going or do you have other plans?"

"Actually, could we hang out for a bit? I kinda wanna let off some steam." I told her.

She grinned, taking my comment more sexually than I meant it. "Knew it. Even on Halloween? Damn, hotshot, you're quite the horndog. Maybe I should get you into one of those Sex Addict Anonymous meetings."

Of course she would take it that way. But it didn't matter. Before we did anything like that, I'd get a chance to talk to her, and she would make it better. Like she always did.

***

"Hi mommy, hi daddy!" Nicole cheerfully called as she came through the door. "How was the neighborhood?"

"Oh, just a few showed up this year!" Nicole's mom called, her voice getting nearer. "I think all the neighborhood kids are getting too old for Hallowe- Oh." Her cheerful tone dropped immediately when she saw me. She glanced towards upstairs, then back at me, folding her arms. "Don't tell me, let me guess."

"You guessed right." Nicole all-too-cheerfully answered.

"It's nice to see you, Mrs. Baker." I said, trying to make my image as welcome as possible in this household.

"Adam." She flatly answered, her smile painted on her face only as a warning.

I turned to Mr. Baker, who was, as usual, at the kitchen table reading his Dickens book. "Mr. Baker, good to see you, sir."

"Adam." He answered gruffly.

"Well, now that we've gotten the formalities out of the way…" Nicole trailed off as she dragged me upstairs. It must have looked odd, since I was no longer in any real costume, fangs and cape in my pocket, but with my hair slicked back, being led up the stairs by Medusa past her disapproving parents, but hey, that's high school for you.

She shut the door behind her and began to take off her snake headdress, seeing no problem with breaking it as it came off. Frankly, it was a shame – it looked like she spent a lot of time making it.

"So, you need to let off some steam, huh, hotshot?" she asked me seductively, not stopping at taking off her effects. Her bare chest was already greeting me by the time I opened my mouth.

I was about to protest, but as soon as I saw her big, beautiful breasts, I was instantly hypnotized. I flew forward and connected my mouth to her left nipple, wasting no time on foreplay as I hungrily sucked away.

"Ooh… That's more steam than I thought." Nicole sighed, falling back onto the bed with me on top of her. She reached down and undid her pants as I continued my sucking. My other hand reached down and pulled her pants down so my fingers could have easier access to her engorged clit.

"Mmmm, that's the spot." she moaned. "You're getting really good at this, squirt." Keeping my thumb on her clit, the rest of my hand dipped down so my fingers could have access to her love tunnel. With my thumb still rubbing in circles, my middle finger slowly travelled into her hole – slowly at first, but as I got to the first knuckle, the rest of the finger went in with determination and power.

"Ooooh…" Nicole moaned. ���Another… one… Add another one."

Not one to disappoint, I added my index finger to my already soaked middle finger. Was she ever not wet? I wondered to myself. I tossed the thought aside as I began plunging both fingers into her again and again, keeping up my thumb's rotations.

"Yesssss…" she hissed, clearly pleased. While I kept up this action with my hand, I moved my mouth from her one tit to the other, wanting to give them equal attention. I played with her nipple with my tongue, whilst sucking away at the same time, something I came to find she really enjoyed. Before long, her hips were involuntarily moving and her breaths became shorter and shorter.

"That's good, Adam… Reeeeall good… Keep going…" she panted, really into it at this point. I never saw her this quick to get close before, but I saw the telltale signs and as I always do, doubled my efforts. Before long her hands were cradling my head as I sucked away, then mashing my head right into her chest as she emitted a high-pitched shriek.

After her shriek was over, she remained in the same position for a few seconds, still with my head mashed into her boob. I couldn't breathe, but I didn't dare move, in fear of making her any less satisfied with my performance. Before long, luckily just before I would have begun to black out, she released my head.

"Aaaaaah." She moaned in satisfaction. "That was fantastic." she told me, her eyes sparkling. I flopped off of her and breathed heavily she she started to speak again, more softly this time. "I…"

I waited for a few seconds. "You… what?" I finally asked her.

"I need to return the favor." She answered me, putting emphasis on the 'I.' She hopped up on the bed, kicking off her pants from their drooped position in the process. She crawled over to me on her hands and knees as sexily as she could, and lowered her face to my pants. Expertly, she used only her teeth and tongue to unbutton and unzip my pants. I would have asked her how in the hell she did that, but of course the response would only be 'grade 11.'

She pulled my pants down to reveal my erect cock, which she hungrily took into her mouth without so much as a pause. She spoke not a word as she got down to business, swirling her tongue around the head of my dick as she sucked her way down the shaft, using one hand to stroke the base. I went from zero to eighty in a single second, as I found myself gasping to deal with the new sensation.

She noticed and giggled, the vibration of her giggle only adding to the sensations I was feeling. I opened my eyes to look down my stomach to see her, eyes locked on mine, sucking down my dick like there was no tomorrow. Judging by the way her right shoulder was moving, she was fingering herself too, which would explain the moaning that came a little after. Despite this, she wouldn't take her beautiful blue eyes off of mine, and taking it as a challenge, I stared back deeply into her. I saw lust in her eyes, but also some kind of content feeling as well. She looked sexy as hell sucking me off, but also managed to pull off looking beautiful at the same time.

She took her mouth off of my dick for a few seconds, jacking it off as if she wanted to start a fire as she breathed heavily. She looked back into my eyes and smiled naughtily. "Do you like this, Adam?" she asked in May's voice. "I just love your huge cock."

That killed it for me. "Don't use that fucking voice." I told her harshly as I rolled over, away from her.

She had a look of pure shock on her face for only a millisecond before she managed to suppress it by grinning. "Whoa, new development!" She said to no one in particular. "What's the scoop, squirt?"

"Nothing." I snapped. "I just don't want you using her voice. Just use your own."

"Adam, face me." She ordered. I complied, but only because I wouldn't dare face her angry. "What' up?" She asked me gravely.

I exhaled, realizing there was no way out of this without telling all, and let loose the whole story. May's meeting with me on Monday, how Megan confessed she liked me, and how I saw May dancing close to someone else at the dance. Not once did Nicole interrupt me, or view me with condescension in her eyes. She just listened, and even just by telling her the story, I felt better.

"Okay…" she said slowly once I told her the whole story. "Well, first off, it's good that you let Megan know how you feel. Even if that whole speech just sounded like a bunch of kind bullshit." She winked at me and I blushed. I swear, this girl could read minds. "I also hope she had a ride home too. Next time, check. She still could be waiting out there for her mom and dad now." Shit, I hadn't even thought about that…

"Secondly, you should have told me right when May asked you. I thought you trusted me more than that."

"I trust you. I just didn't want to talk about it with anyone." I protested.

"Alright, whatever. Just… Know that I'm here to help you, you tool." She smiled slightly, and I returned the smile.

"Thirdly… You don't own May. You turned her down, remember, and she still wanted to go. If you really like her and want to make her happy, then you'll accept that not everything she do will be with you, and you're going to end up jealous. If you can't accept that, then you don't really love her. You just want to have her."

She was right. Despite me trying to convince myself I wasn't, I was completely objectifying May. I valued our time together over her happiness.

Noting my silence, she continued. "You may have feelings for the ditz, but if you can't handle that especially when you turn her down, she may want to go for someone else, then try to spend as little time with her as possible. At least until you can get your feelings under control and enjoy her for her, not for your potential girlfriend. Or fuck buddy. She may not even like you as more than a friend in the future, even when she's single. And if you truly care for her, then you'll accept that. If you can't accept it, maybe it's for the best that you're not with her."

It was blow after blow to my ego, but when I looked up at her sheepishly, she still had no condescension on her face. All she was doing was looking deeply into my eyes, smiling slightly. With her completely naked and me half-naked, I went in to hug her. "Thanks, Nicole." I told her.

She chuckled softly. "You're welcome, Adam." she said quietly, still hugging me back. We loosened our tight embrace just enough to look each other straight in the eyes, as we went in at the same time for a kiss. She melted into my arms as our lips parted and our tongues wrestled. Our eyes closed as we pulled each other in tighter, enjoying the taste of each other's mouths, but also feeling the warmth of each other, the beating of our hearts together in unison, the bond we shared.

We broke away and just stared into each others' eyes for a bit, before reluctantly letting go fully. "Want me to finish you off?" Nicole asked.

I shook my head. "Nah." I answered. I looked for more to add, but I couldn't find the words.

Nicole laughed softly. "Yeah, I find it difficult to fuck after I get all sentimental too." She winked at me, and feeling a hell of a lot better, I winked back. I bent over to pull my pants back up and button them back up, and of course by the time I looked back at Nicole, she was fully clothed, laying down, casually checking her phone. It was even more impressive this time, considering it wasn't even the same outfit she changed out of.

"Seriously, how do you get changed so fast?" I asked her, still doing up the zipper on my pants.

"Seriously, grade 11." She shot back, looking up at me with a determined small smile. She got up and hugged me again. "So are you gonna stay?"

"Nah, I just want some time to think to myself if that's okay." I answered, hugging her back.

She sunk into my arms, clearly in disappointment. "I understand." she said nonetheless. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked, looking up into my eyes.

I smiled. "Definitely." she smiled back and let go off me, waving me off as I exited her room and went down the stairs.

"Glass of water?" Mrs. Baker asked with just a hint of malice to her voice as I entered the kitchen.

I sighed. "Yes, I'm having sex with your daughter." Where the hell did that come from?! Clearly I could be more bold than I thought.

Mrs. Baker just gave me a bit of a scowl. "You're not anything special, you know. I've met a dozen young boys just like you. She��s just being a rebellious teenager. I don't know what we did to deserve it, but she just enjoys causing us pain." She turned away from me and walked back to the table, mumbling to herself, "I just did something wrong when I raised her."

"Even if I'm not special, I'm just glad to know her. I was upset when I came over, and even without the sex, just by listening to my problems and comforting me, she made me feel better. She's a good listener."

Mrs. Baker let a small smile slip. "She gets it from me." She informed me.

Bingo. That's what I was waiting for. All of the anger at May didn't die out inside me, but it was about to switch targets. I was angry at hell for how Nicole's parents treated her, and whether I even wanted to or not, tonight I would let them have it. Plus, with the way I bonded with my dad earlier, there was no way I was going to allow Nicole not to have the same thing. With a sudden surge of adrenaline, I began my bold retaliation.

"Yeah, she seems to get a curious amount from you. How old are you, Mrs. Baker? Because may I say, you look awfully young. How old were you when you had Nicole? You couldn't have been older than 20. It's very interesting that you condemn Nicole for doing what teens crave, when you yourself were undeniably indulgent of the same forbidden fruit."

Mrs. Baker's eyebrows shot up to meet her hairline. For the first time, I saw Mr. Baker putting down his book.

Nevertheless, I continued. "If she's sleeping around, there's very few ways a parent could consider that 'punishment,' and I think we both know the kind that applies here. If you're worried for her, how about you tell her that, instead of antagonizing her?"

Mr. Baker got up from his seat to stand by his wife, who was now struggling to hold back a single tear. She still didn't give up her tight-lipped expression, though.

"Boy, you're not in your place to say anything about this family." Mr. Baker started. "And you're going to apologize right now."

Standing my ground, I replied, "Let me know anything of what I just is false and I will apologize. I'll take it all back. Just give me the word."

"No, that's not how this works." Mr. Baker commanded with a low voice, taking another step towards me. "We're not going to do anything. You're just going to apologize. Right. Now."

On the inside, I was on the verge of another panic attack, but I couldn't give up now. "I'm sorry, Mr. Baker. But I won't stand back and let you continue to treat Nicole this way, just because you misunderstand her."

Mr. Baker's eyes flickered with a hint of rage, before he took another menacing step towards me. "I warned you." he growled.

"Duncan." came Mrs. Baker's commanding voice. Mr. Baker hesitantly took a few steps back and rejoined his wife, still looking me dead in the eye. They both were.

"Adam, remember that you've known her for a few weeks. We're her parents. This is more complicated than you think it is." Mrs. Baker told me. She was still upset, but I was glad the conversation was going somewhere.

"Just speaking as a friend of hers, I don't think she has the capacity to punish you as you two describe. I just think you misunderstand each other. And if you approached her with the topic with a friendly disposition, you might make better progress than to label yourself the victim immediately. I'm sure if you told her this, she'll offer the same courtesy." I replied coolly.

"And what makes you so sure?" Mrs. Baker asked me, her face noticeably softening.

"Because while you might not see eye to eye, I've seen the immense amount of compassion Nicole has, and that's not something you can find in everyone." I replied. "And if you're fair to her, she is wonderful person to talk to about your problems, even if they're with her." I paused before adding, "I imagine she had to get that from somewhere too." And smiled knowingly at both of her parents.

Without giving any hint of a smile, I saw a small nod from Mrs. Baker. "Very well. I'll try to talk to her, but this does not let her off the hook in any way. This doesn't excuse you from those comments you made earlier either."

Realizing my place, I nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry for how I spoke to you after the hospitality you both have shown me. It was uncalled for and disrespectful."

Mrs. Baker sighed. "I will give you this, it wasn't untrue." She said nothing more though, and both parents had their gaze fixed on me. I took this as my time to leave.

As I nearly exited the kitchen, Mrs. Baker added, "I don't regret having her, or either of my other two kids, in any way. It's just that it was difficult to raise them. I just want them to be the best kids they can be, to not make the same mistakes. I love them, but love has to be tough sometimes."

I nodded respectfully, and noted the book on the table. "I guess parenthood is the best of times and the worst of times, huh?"

Internally, I laughed at my own cheesiness, but it got a solemn nod from Mr. Baker. I took that as a victory and exited the house.

As soon as I was outside, I was reduced to a mess of coughing, wheezing, and trying to breathe normally again. That was, as stupid as this sounds, the bravest thing I had ever done, and being as spineless as I was, it took a real toll on me. But still, once I recovered and started to walk towards my own house, I had a spring in my step. I sincerely hope this meant that Nicole and her parents would have a more understanding, caring relationship as a result of this conversation. God knows that given how sweet and empathetic Nicole was, she definitely deserved the same love from her parents. Or someone.

Chapter Five

Eventfulness, as my father had predicted, usually just ended up meaning trouble for me, so I was glad to find out that after a very event-filled October, November went by as eventlessly as it could. Thanks to Nicole's talk with me, there was no bad tension whenever I was around May, which was good since drama class necessitated that you need to be ready to act with anyone at the drop of a hat without any tension being present.

Megan and I began texting, more frequently than with Nicole or with May. Then again, that was mostly her doing, with her usually starting the conversation and keeping it going. She made no effort to hide her crush on me, and I needed to be careful not to be rude, but also to not lead her on.

As for Nicole and I, we did what we did best, and most often. Telling each other secrets, screwing, and playing video games, with her naturally beating me every time we tried anything remotely close to competitive. If ever I needed a reason for why I didn't play video games, she was gracious enough to give me that reason. She never talked to me about any talks her parents had with her, though, which made me wonder if all of my courage on Halloween night was in vain. Her parents seemed sincere when they said they would talk to her.

As December rolled around, I got to be better friends with Carson, which was cool. While he was really confident, he wasn't above being friendly, you just had to know him well enough. In early December, on the first weekend, I got to hang out with him for the first time at his place. Dad drove me, and he didn't say anything to the effect, but I got the impression that we was glad to find out I was hanging out with more than just girls.

"Hey, buddy! C'mon in." Carson welcomed me as I entered the house. It wasn't late enough into December that the snow was sticking, but I still had to wear clunky boots that I was all too glad to be rid of.

"What's up?" He asked me as he led me into the living room, then plopped down on one of the couches. I joined him, falling down on the adjacent couch.

"Not a lot." I answered him. "Just finished that y-intercept thing we were given on Thursday."

He buried his face in his hands. "Aw, shit." he said aloud. "That was a thing."

I laughed as his dad rounded the corner. "Oh, hi!" he remarked to Carson. "I didn't know you'd be having company."

"Oh yeah, sorry." Carson said as he stood up. "Dad, this is Adam Watson. He's in my math class. Adam, George Carter, my dad."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Carter." I said as I stood up and shook his hand. Well, I say 'shook his hand,' but the exchange was more like him just grabbing my hand and crushing it.

"Mr. Carter is my father." He said cheerfully. "Call me George."

I nodded and sat back down as his dad began to putz around the kitchen. "Is your mom home?" I asked Carson.

Carson shifted in his seat. "Uh, my parents are kinda…" He began, and trailed off, mashing his index fingers together, expecting me to finish for myself.

"Oh, sorry." I said. He waved it off like it was no big deal, but obviously didn't want to talk about it any longer. "So what do you wanna do?" I asked, trying to shift the topic.

He shrugged, and eyed something on the couch, reaching to hold it up. It was an Xbox controller.

Son of a bitch, I was the only one who didn't play video games in the whole county, wasn't I? I sighed, shaking my head, but gave in.

"What, don't like gaming?" Carson asked me.

"I dunno. I only play with one person, and she beats me every time." I said. As soon as it registered that I said 'she', Carson broke into a grin.

"You get beat by a girl? Oh buddy, that's rough. I need to teach you how to play, so you can kick her ass."

I grinned back. "I'm cool with learning." Carson tossed me a controller and booted up his console.

"Still," he added, "It's pretty sweet that you could find a girlfriend that'll play video games with you."

"Oh, she's not my girlfriend." I protested. He shot me a sly smile.

"Oh, so you two just fuck, huh? I hear that. That's my go-to option with girls too."

I wanted to protest, but realized I couldn't. That's what Nicole and I do, I reasoned with myself. I didn't want to straight-up lie to a new friend, so I kept my mouth shut as Carson continued.

"I mean, as long as you're not hurting anyone, and the girl knows it's just sex, it can't do any harm. Just don't go too far, you'll end up like my cousin."

"What does your cousin do?" I asked, basically just to kill time, as Carson booted up a shooter game.

"He likes to take girls out and use them. He's not above cheating or anything like that either. Like, I'm cool with just having sex with girls, but there's a line, and you need to respect them too."

I nodded. "Does he go to our school?"

"Who, Craig? Oh, hell no. He'd get ground to a pulp by the goody two-shoes students of our school. They wouldn't stand what he does for a second. Nah, he lives a few states over, like most of my family. He's actually kind of a sad story. Like, he's a jerk and all, but no one ever shows him any sympathy or tries to know his good side or anything. I haven't heard from him in a while, but I feel like once he gets a solid friend, he'll clean up his act. He could totally be a good guy, but doesn't know how, you get me?"

I nodded again as Carson continued. "Point is, don't be a jerk. It's the rules I live by. I mean, if you get offended by something I do that isn't mean, sucks to be you for being oversensitive, but, like, my definition of a jerk."

If Carson was anything, it was self-defined. He appeared to never get affected by the world around him. That was probably the source of his confidence.

"Well, do you have any flings right now?" I asked, half curiosity, half keeping the conversation going. He paused the game and looked at me for a second, apparently in thought.

"Nah… Actually, I was thinking that maybe it's time to buckle down. Y'know, make the commitment. See if relationships are all they're cracked up to be."

"Oh yeah?" I asked him.

He nodded. "But I can't just go looking for relationships. You do that, and you end up a sap. Between flings, I started hanging out with this one girl, and she seems pretty cool. we haven't fucked or anything, but… I dunno. It's kinda different with her. It's cool to just hang around her, rather than just meet and fuck. So I asked her out."

"Dude, way to go!" I said, congratulating him. "Who is it, do I know her?"

"I dunno. I mean, she's not in any of my classes, so I dunno if you know her. May Stevens."

Oh, fuck. You have got to be kidding me. A knot the size of Texas began to form in my stomach. May? Really? When did he even get the chance to meet her?

"Yeah, I know May." I said, trying as hard as I could to have my voice not reflect my jealousy. "I didn't know you knew her."

"Yeah, it's the weirdest thing." Carson answered with enthusiasm. "I didn't even know she existed before the Halloween dance. But there she was, all alone in the hallway yet gorgeous as fuck. So I asked her to dance, and boom! Suddenly we're hanging out, and we find out we have a lot in common. So I asked her out, and she said yes. You ask me, it's in the bag."

If I thought the knot in my stomach was big before, it was huge now. Carson was the one who danced with May at the dance. Carson was the one who she was hanging out with now, not me. It's true, I wasn't as good-looking as Carson, not nearly as confident, but… But my feelings were so much truer. It wasn't fair, dammit! It just wasn't fair! She was about to kiss me, for God's sake. How could she drop me so easily, like I was nothing, and start hanging out with another guy like that?

He noted my silence and asked, "What about you? You still just boning the girl or have you got your eye on someone?"

I really didn't want to hear his voice right about now. "I'm not boning anyone." I said firmly.

"Aw, buddy." He said, with genuine sympathy. I suddenly hated how he called me buddy. I suddenly hated the sound of his voice. I wanted to go home. This was ten times worse than the Halloween dance. True, I didn't own May, but at the same time I also wasn't aware I meant just that little to her. I wanted to throw up.

Turning my anger towards the game, I resolved to annihilate Carson, which is just what I did. Despite barely knowing the controls for the game, I managed to kill his character in a duel match over and over. At first he was taking it easy on me, since I was a beginner, but before long he realized how badly he was losing and stepped up his game. Nevertheless, by the time the timed duel game was over, I had won by a ludicrous amount, something like 11-4.

"Dude…" he began, genuinely shocked. "Where the hell did that come from?" I shrugged. "I think you got something here, buddy! Maybe you can kick that girl's ass, you'll just have to play this game with her." He laughed, and despite not really wanting to, I joined in laughing with him.

"Well, that was fun. Hey, you like Marvel movies?" he asked, standing up with a lot of energy, moving upstairs. He added, "I swear, I have the biggest collection on the planet."

Ugh. I hated to admit this to myself. I genuinely hated to. Carson was a nice guy. He won fair and square, and try as I might to find traits to make him an asshole in my mind, he was a good friend. The only thing that changed was he had a date with May. I could just try to make him seem like a jerk, make May try to break up with him, but then I'd be no better than that Craig guy he was talking about.

I needed to follow Nicole's advice, and shake it off. So May liked him. Maybe she won't like him forever, and if she does, I just need to be happy for her. Carson was a good catch, and I had to respect her decisions. For now, though, I had to get her out of my mind, and focus on my time hanging out with Carson.

Regaining my thought, I yelled up the stairs, "You could even say the biggest Marvel movie collection in the… universe."

His head popped up from behind the staircase banister. "Heyo!" He called with a smile on his face, then quickly disappeared again. I followed him up the stairs. I didn't even really like Marvel movies, but hey, I thought I didn't like video games either.