Come As You Are Ch. 03

X X X X X

"Michelle! Sadie! Anthony and the girls are here!"

"Thank you, Mother! We're just finishing our makeup!" Sadie was putting on the last of her mascara as Michelle closed the bedroom door. "Alright, alright... what's left? Mascara and lip gloss."

"You sure you don't want my lipstick?" Sadie held up the brass tube with her free hand. "I'm telling you it'll go well with the dress and corsage!"

"It would, but I don't like lipstick! You done with the mascara?"

Sadie stepped around from the mirror on Michelle's wall, handing off the mascara in the process. Michelle took her place in front of the mirror as Sadie hovered over her shoulder, brass tube in hand. With practiced ease she applied the red lipstick, puckering her lips and using one finger to smooth out the edges. After double-checking her outfit, she nodded with satisfaction at her reflection in the mirror.

After finishing with the mascara and lip gloss, Michelle set both containers on the nearby desk and turned around. "Well," she asked, "how do I look?"

"How do you think? Amazing." Michelle's dress was a black beaded number, sleeveless with straps over her shoulders to hold it up. It accentuated Michelle's athletic frame, showing off her shoulders and arms and a hint of her calves between the hem of her dress and her black pumps.

The dark red lipstick Sadie had put on provided a complimenting contrast to her outfit. The sleeveless purple dress was supported by a ring of fabric around her neck. The slit along one leg was just underneath the maximum allowed height set by the school. And the bunched-up fabric, sewn to resemble a flower, perfectly covered the blot of dark ink above the waist that had regulated the formal dress to the clothing rack of Thrifty by Design. The previous owner's loss had been Sadie's gain.

"Thanks. You look pretty fucking good yourself," Michelle smiled. Purses in hand, the two young women left her bedroom and headed downstairs. As they walked down the steps they could hear Michelle's father talking loudly to Gio.

"I'm telling you, next year is Denver's year! We're going to win 50 games!"

"I don't know Mr. Min," Sadie heard Gio reply, "the Western Conference is really tough. The Pickaxes could win 45 games and not even make the playoffs."

"Hah! I would take that bet in a heartbeat young man!"

"I would never bet you," Gio said. "You understand sports better than anyone else I know. You and my friend were the only two people who said the Majestics were going to make the Series last year."

"When you're 21, we're going to go to Pike's and watch at least one Pickaxes' game. Promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that promise... whoa." Sadie couldn't help but grin at Gio's breathless proclamation as she and Michelle stood at the bottom of the staircase. It took Gio a moment to recover his composure. "Hey," he told them. "You two look stunning."

"Thanks," Sadie said with a coy smile. "You clean up pretty nice as well," she said to the young man. There was handsome, there was hot, and there was fuckable. Gio ticked all three checkboxes with ease in his black tuxedo with a matching bow tie.

"Oh sweetie," added Sadie's mom, "you were right about that dress. You're gonna knock them dead." She stood to one side, next to Michelle's mom, both of them with digital cameras in hand.

"You girls look very nice," Mr. Min said. "All of you." Colette gave a little curtsey to Mr. Min while Brenda gave him a simple smile. Brenda was in a black dress that came down to just above her knees along with a pair of black stockings, while Colette had gone with a dark blue dress that complimented her raven's mane.

"Now Gio," Mrs. Min directed, "do the corsage so we can take the pictures and you can get going!" Michelle's mother handed over the container containing the red corsage and matching boutonniere. Michelle slid the boutonniere through a buttonhole on Gio's tuxedo jacket once he had slid the arrangement over her wrist. As Sadie joined them. Mrs. Min motioned to the taller Gio. "You on the inside, Michelle next to you, Sadie, on the outside. Brenda and Colette, on the other side." Mr. Min stood next to his wife, beaming with pride at his daughter and her best friends as Mrs. Min and Miss Bedfords' digital cameras flashed several times. "And now just Gio and Michelle," directed Miss Min, "and now just the girls... and now just Sadie... and now just Colette and Brenda... and done!"

Mrs. Min turned her camera around to allow the young adults to see the photos. "Damn," Sadie whistled, "we look GOOD."

"Speak for yourself," Gio groaned. "I look like an idiot when I smile."

"Are you kidding?" Michelle scoffed. "Your smile is your best feature. Almost every girl I know practically melts when you turn that smile in their direction."

"Ahem."

"I said almost every girl, Dad."

"Still, ahem." Mr. Min's face showed that his comment was meant in jest. "So after prom, you're going to the Ellis' for the party?"

"Yes sir," Gio said. "I promise to have your..."

"As long as you don't drink and drive and don't do anything stupid... any of you," Mr. Min said, the merriment gone from him as he pointed a stern finger at the group. "As long as you don't do anything stupid, Michelle is allowed to stay out as long as she wants. Now, everyone, go have fun! And seriously, don't worry about a curfew! Be young and enjoy yourselves!"

"What he said." Sadie's mom looked at the four girls as well as Gio. "Have fun, but be smart, OK? We'll see you when we see you."

Sadie nodded her appreciation. "So what are your plans for tonight?"

"I'm meeting your uncle down at the VFW for a couple of drinks," Mrs. Bedford said.

"And we will be doing what every married couple does when all of their children are out of the house," Mrs. Min answered. "Order a pizza and get some sleep!"

Amidst the laughter, Michelle took charge and headed for the front door. As Sadie moved to follow her, a gentle hand took her by the wrist. She turned to see her mom smiling at her sadly. "Your Dad would be so proud of you," she said with a slight tremor in her voice. "And I'm proud of you too. You made it this far without getting knocked up or setting yourself on fire."

"Mom," Sadie exclaimed softly. "Don't say that. The night's still young."

A soft kiss on the forehead was her mom's reply. "Have fun," she told her daughter, "and have a kickass prom night."

X X X X X

"What's up?" Michelle asked as Gio tucked his cell phone back into his tuxedo jacket.

"Just Garrett checking in. Wanted to make sure I'm having a good time."

"Are you?"

In response to Michelle's question, Gio leaned back in his chair and spread his arms wide. With a big smile, he took in the entire gymnasium with a grand motion. "Dinner was great, the music's on point, I'm enjoying the company, people are out on the floor dancing, and the rest of the night looks promising. Yeah, I'm having a great time."

"Do you miss not having Garrett and Vienna here?" inquired Colette.

"Yeah," he conceded, "but we all knew for a long time that they were going to skip prom. Vienna's had no interest in going since freshman year, and Garrett never brought it up at all." Gio waved a hand at the throng of students on the dance floor behind him. "My boy's not exactly good when it comes to this kind of scene."

"Is there anything Scarecrow's good at?" Michelle sniffed.

"You've seen him shred a black diamond," Gio offered.

"I've seen him bomber one. He was just as likely to hit a tree as he was a mogul."

"You want to know what he's good at?" Gio glanced around before leaning forward from his seat. He stage whispered across the table, speaking with a conspirtal tone even though anyone walking by could have easily heard. "Pool. I have an uncle who... let's just say he's with a certain outfit in Chicago. He never says word one about what he does for a living, even though we all know what he does. When he came out for my sister's baptism a few years ago, he sat next to Garrett during dinner. Next thing I know, those two are in the basement shooting pool, and Garrett's cleaning his clock. My uncle hustled pool on the North Side growing up and he's getting shown a thing or two. By the time the night was over he was trying to convince Garrett to go to Chicago and work for him."

"Didn't Garrett also take up swimming?" Brenda said. "He mentioned it to me when... during History class."

Gio nodded in confirmation. "Like a fish to water. Ever since the blizzard, he's been at the Y six days a week like clockwork."

Sadie turned to Michelle. "And you said Garrett had no ambition. Exercising regularly takes a hell of a lot of ambition. You've said so yourself."

"I've said it takes discipline," she countered, "not ambition." Michelle looked around the gymnasium before pointing towards a table near the stage. "I hate using him as an example, but take Danny." The athlete was laughing along with several other members of the basketball team. "500 shots every single day? That's discipline. Doing so because it gives him a better chance to play pro basketball? That's ambition."

As Danny, Tyler Hammond, and their colleagues joked with one another, Sadie noticed that there was only one young woman sitting at the table with them. Anne Jackson had gone with a simple black dress and curled her black hair. She sat next to Danny, smiling politely at the students around here. Before Sadie turned away, however, she caught Anne looking towards the dance floor, where Amy Yates, Mandy Breckenridge, and the rest of the basketball team's dates stood in a loose circle, laughing as they danced. It looked to Sadie like Anne wanted to join them if the wistful expression on her face was any indication.

"Isn't wanting to be healthy ambitious enough?" Colette held up three fingers. She ticked each one down as she spoke. "Ever since seventh grade I've gone to therapy twice a month, take Lexapro every day, and write in my journal once a week. All so this..." Colette tapped her temple with one finger. "...works as it should."

"Discipline is sticking to that regimen. Ambition is what you decide to do with that jury-rigged brain of yours," Michelle teased gently. "I still think you should be a lawyer. You've always been the one to get us out of trouble."

"And you're the school valedictorian," chuckled Colette.

"But I'm not clever or quick-witted like you." Michelle lightly kissed Colette on the forehead before telling Brenda, "Sorry for kissing your date."

Brenda waved a hand. "That's OK. She already told me she wasn't putting out tonight."

X X X X X

"And your King and Queen for this year's Emerald Pines Senior Prom are... Danny Eastman and Anne Jackson!"

The applause from the student body at Doctor Johnson's announcement varied from wild to just south of polite. On the stage, Tyler turned and gave his best friend a high five while Mandy Breckenridge gave a congratulatory nod to Anne Jackson. The recently anointed Prom Queen was wearing the biggest smile Sadie had ever seen on her classmate's face, one that grew even wider as a beaming Danny kissed her on the cheek. It was a sharp contrast to the forced grin of Amy Yates who stood on the other side of Danny. While Brian Virgil clapped with sincerity, Amy's palms barely touched one another as she watched Doctor Johnson hand a pair of gaudy plastic crowns to the star athlete.

"Raise your hand if you're surprised," Michelle groused.

Sadie shrugged. "The fix was in since day one. Mandy wasn't too happy about it, but I guess she knew which way the wind was blowing. Amy, though? In ten years she is still going to be pissed she didn't win." She pointed to Gio. "And still pissed she didn't go with you."

"I don't think she expected me to say 'no' when she asked me." Gio shrugged. "The way she was looking at me she already had me measured out for a tux, but Michelle was my first choice all along. I wanted to come to prom with my teammate and one of my closest friends more than anyone else. She's smart, funny, and great to hang out with. I didn't ask her to prom because she's attractive. I mean!" It was Gio's turn to blush as Michelle raised an eyebrow to her co-captain. "I'm not saying you're not attractive! You've got a great body and a killer smile, I was just saying it's not your looks that made me ask you... aw, man." Gio put his face in his hands, missing Michelle's stern expression as she barely managed to hold back her laughter. "Alright," he said sheepishly as he stood up from his chair, "I'm going to get a drink of water. Maybe find a shovel so I can dig my way out of this hole."

"Don't be too long," Michelle called after him as he headed for the door. "As soon as they start playing music I'm hitting the dance floor, with or without you!" Gio raised his hand in acknowledgment before moving out of earshot.

"Is it just me," Sadie asked Michelle, "or is Gio hotter when he's flustered?"

"It's because he never loses his cool. Other guys get upset or angry. Gio stutters and blushes." There was a look of longing on Michelle's face as she watched Gio step out of the gym. "He's going to make a girl stupidly happy someday."

"You sure you're not going to make a play for him tonight?"

"Even if I wanted to, I can't. Aunt Flo's in town, remember? I feel like I'm in a tampon commercial every time I shake my hips on the dance floor." Sadie guffawed loudly, causing several people at the adjoining table to look over at her. "And what about you?" Michelle countered. "Anyone you're on the prowl for?"

Sadie's brown curls bounced as she shook her head. "Tonight, it's the dancing and the camaraderie. Later tonight it'll be the dancing, the camaraderie, and the drinking."

Michelle picked up her water to toast her friend. "Amen to that."

"And now," Doctor Johnson called out over her microphone, "it's time for the King and Queen to have their dance." A makeshift spotlight shined from the rafters of the gym as Danny took Anne by the hand and led her down the steps to the gym floor. "Let Me Love You" by Mario began to play as Danny took Anne in his arms. She closed her eyes and, with a smile on her face, she pressed her cheek against Danny's broad chest while the prom king wore the proud, cocky look of an 18-year old on top of the world.

As the song played, someone dropped onto the chair next to Sadie. "Guess we should have taken longer in the bathroom," Brenda said to Sadie as Colette joined them. Both young women sported fresh coats of makeup on their faces. The platinum blonde put her chin in her hand, sighing as she watched her ex-boyfriend dance with the girl he had cheated on her with. "I know what you're going to say," she told her friends. "Yes, part of me wishes I was out there with that plastic crown on my head dancing with Danny, but now I know it would have been under false pretenses. And look how happy Anne is," she added. "After all the crap her parents put her through, she's getting something of a happy ending. That's got to count for something."

"Fuck that," Michelle snarled. "That silver lining's got a major touch of gray to it. She knew she was helping Danny cheat on you. Why should she get to have the awesome prom night?"

"Hey, sheath the claws." Brenda gestured towards Danny and Anne while they danced. "If I had gone to prom with Danny, odds are Gio wouldn't have asked you to be his date, Sadie would have gotten strong-armed into going with someone from the basketball team, and Colette... I don't know, some other guy from the basketball team. Gio would have ended up with Amy Yates running a full-court press on him, and instead of dancing with you three at the afterprom, I'd be in an upstairs bedroom having mediocre sex. I haven't forgiven Anne, but I'll be happy for her. Right now, there's no place I'd rather be than sitting here with you guys, especially my kickass prom date."

Colette squeezed Brenda's hand. "I'm glad things shook out this way too, although I agree with Michelle. I wish you hadn't gotten burned for all this to happen."

"It wasn't all bad." Brenda took a sip of water. "There was an... unexpected benefit from breaking up with Danny..."

Before Brenda could explain her statement, she fell quiet. Danny was looking directly at her, still holding Anne in his arms as the song wrapped up. A frown creased Brenda's face as Danny gave her an arrogant smirk. He reached up and casually adjusted the crown atop his head, tapping the gaudy plastic headpiece with one finger.

A weary sigh escaped from Brenda, but then Sadie leaned in front of her. Blocking her friend's view of her ex-boyfriend, she gently shook her head back and forth before extending her middle finger while also holding her thumb out to one side. She thrust her arm forward in Danny's direction, venomously smiling all the while. The arrogant smirk turned into a heated glare before Danny turned away from Sadie, his eyes lingering on her until the last moment.

"You gave Danny the middle finger AND the thumb on my behalf," said Brenda. "I feel honored."

As "Let Me Love You" gave way to the substantially more uptempo "Naturally" by Selena Gomez, Michelle was already out of her seat. "No more Danny talk. It's time to fucking dance."

Brenda hesitated, but Colette grabbed her by both arms. "Come on," she told her date, leaning backward to assist in pulling her from her seat. "No wallflowers tonight."

The four young women joined the flow of classmates flooding onto the dance floor. They formed a loose square, carving out their territory as they began to move with the music. Michelle quickly found the rhythm. Her athletic frame, sculpted by years of varsity-level skiing, danced with easy grace, every part of her body smoothly contributing to her movements. Brenda preferred staying in place. Her feet barely moved. Instead, she danced with her hips and shoulders, moving them in gentle circles. Colette displayed a more positive attitude. A wide smile sat on her face as she also kept stationary while laughing, clapping, and snapping her fingers in time with the song.

Where Michelle exuded poise and grace, Sadie was more primal. She gave herself over to the song, a willing follower to the music that dictated her movements. Her hips swayed from side to side as she held her arms high above her head. A smile crossed her face as the world slowly faded away, replaced by dancing, music, and her three best friends.

When her brief reverie was interrupted, it was by a resonant male voice. "You should look into belly dancing," Gio said with a bright smile as he brushed past her. "You already have the basics down!"

"Careful Gio," she called out after him. "Flattery will get you everywhere!"

The girls continued to dance through the next several songs, with Sadie dropping her hips a little further and adding a hint of sashay to her gyrations. After several high-tempo songs, the next one was a slow jam that Sadie didn't recognize. The mood on the dance floor quickly shifted. Some students made their way back to their seats, primarily couples who had settled for their third-or-fourth choice for a date. A few warmly embraced, their bodies pressed against each other. The rest adopted the standard "male hands on hips, female hands on shoulders" style of dance, including Gio and Michelle and perhaps most surprisingly, Colette and Brenda. Brenda looked surprised when Colette set her hands on her hips, but a quiet word from Colette brought about a smile. They began to dance, moving in a slow circle around each other, ignoring the stares of several couples surrounding them.

For a brief moment, Sadie considered slow dancing with herself. Instead, she turned to head back to their table. A drink of water sounded pretty good about now...

"What's wrong, Sadie? Slow dancing not horizontal enough for you?"

Sadie stopped in her tracks at the casually thrown insult. She looked up towards the gymnasium's ceiling with an annoyed sigh before turning towards a smirking Amy Yates. The queen bee was dancing chest-to-chest with Brian Virgil. Brian was giving Sadie an apologetic look while Amy followed up on her insult. "I'm pretty sure the supply closet's unlocked if you're looking for someplace to do the vertical mambo."