Past
“Okay, everyone scooch closer. I can’t get you all in the frame,” Parker’s mom said. She was trying to snap a few photos of the ten of us before we headed out to junior prom. We squeezed as close together as we possibly could without wrinkling our dresses. “Nobody move and everyone smile. Wait. Sutton, honey, why don’t you switch places with the young man next to you.” She meant Joey. “There. Now you all look proportionate.” She looked through her camera a million times before taking about fifty photos.
“Okay, Mom. That’s enough,” Parker said. She stepped out of the line and motioned for us to leave.
“I feel like I’m in a really bad episode of The O.C. with rich, snooty parents,” Hayley whispered on our way out to the limos.
“Yeah, her mom is fake and mean.” I scowled.
“It’s like she knew you wanted to be near her daughter and she put a stop to it. Clam jam.” Hayley made a screeching sound and threw her hands up as though something blew up.
I shushed her. “It’s not like that.” But it made me laugh. We were going as a group, but she was hoping to hook up with Zay, the only guy in our group who wasn’t into sports. He was in a garage band and was terrible, but Hayley went to all their concerts anyway. Whenever I wasn’t at practice, she dragged me too. I was fine with that because I just wanted to make sure she was safe.
“I want to be famous and have limos cart me everywhere.” Hayley opened every compartment and bounced from bench to bench. It was obviously her first time in a limo.
“Me, too. I’m going to play in the NFL,” Joey said.
“Same.” Max high-fived him.
“Me, too,” I said. Everyone looked at me. I was expecting them to fall into fits of laughter, but every single person supported me. Even Zay.
“If anybody can do it, it’s you, Sutton,” Zay said.
Hayley squeezed my knee. “You’re totally going to make it. I just know it.”
“Even if I have to cheer,” I said. That’s when everyone laughed. Tonight, wasn’t about serious stuff like our futures. It was about having fun and letting loose. One of the seniors was having a party that we were for sure going to. When we pulled up to the hotel, we had the limo drivers take photos of us and as I hoped, Parker worked her way over to me.
“You look amazing tonight, Sutton. And really tall,” Parker said.
I didn’t know how to react to her compliment. I was so nervous around her. “Thank you. I love your dress. It fits you perfectly.”
She wore a red dress that hit at her knees and flared out a bit at her waist. I thought she looked amazing, but I figured her parents probably flipped out.
“Thank you. It’s a rather bold dress, but how many times will we go to prom?” she asked. She wasn’t wrong. She leaned closer to me. I wasn’t prepared to see a hint of cleavage, but there it was. The dress clung to her like silk. Parker looked like an adult, not like a seventeen-year-old.
“Maybe one more time,” I said. I was hopeful that next year I would be with somebody special—like her.
“Let’s head inside before people start leaving. I want the world to know we were here,” Joey said, interrupting our moment. He linked arms with us and escorted the group into the foyer. The line to get photos was long and I didn’t feel like standing in it. I ditched the group and slipped into the ballroom. The decorations and twinkling lights made me smile. It seemed like a fairy tale. My dad gave me a head nod and turned the other way to give me privacy.
“Sutton, over here.” Two cheerleaders dressed in floor-length, tight sequined dresses waved me over.
“What’s going on?” I asked Missy and Amberlynn.
“Did you hear about Sam’s party?”
I nodded. “I think we’re all going later.”
“Missy’s parents got us some Smirnoff Ice and I have beer stashed in the back of my car.”
I wasn’t sure what they wanted or why they waved me over. I wasn’t going to drink. The last thing I needed was to get caught with a beer or worse, be drunk around Parker and make a fool of myself. She’d been asked by several people who she was interested in, but nobody got a clear answer. Until I knew, I didn’t want to make a pass at her and make her uncomfortable.
“So, what’s going on with Parker?” Amberlynn asked.
I cocked my head as if I didn’t understand the question. My heart sped up and my palms were instantly sweaty. What did they know? “What do you mean?”
“Who is she into? She’s flirted with a few of the guys, but Andrew wants to know if he had the green light to ask her out and you’re close to her.”
That was news to me. Andrew was the captain of the soccer team. He was kind of a jerk. At the beginning of the year, I overheard him say something negative about girls in sports and got in his face. He laughed it off until my linemen showed up behind me.
“I don’t know if she’d be into somebody like him,” I said.
“Why?”
They were baiting me, but I didn’t care. “He’s a jerk about women athletes, including cheerleaders.”
Missy made an exaggerated point to look around before asking me the obvious question. “Who are you here with? Did you finally agree to go out with Katie?”
“No, I’m just here with friends. They’re in line for photos.” After an awkward pause, I excused myself. “I should probably go.”
Missy gave me a half-smile. “We’ll see you at the party.”
I had no choice but to head back out to the photo staging area. I pushed on the door as Parker was pulling it open and bumped into her. “Oh! I’m so sorry.” I grabbed her hand to keep her from stumbling back.
“I was just coming to get you. We’re almost up for photos.”
“And I was headed your way for that very thing.”
She nodded in the direction of the ballroom. “What’s it like in there?”
I shrugged. “Lots of pretty people dressed up standing around and waiting for Sam’s party to start.”
“Are we all going?”
“I feel like we have to. I’m not going to drink though.”
“I’m staying at Shannon’s tonight. I’m sure she’ll want to close the party down,” she said.
“Well, if you need to leave early, let me know.” I smiled and clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering.
“You’ll rescue me. That’s sweet.” She smiled.
I felt heat rush over my skin. Either I was crushing hard and imagining it, or she was into me. “That’s what friends do.” It was a dumb thing to say but I was nervous.
“Sutton! Parker! Get in here,” Max yelled. He waved us over and ten of us crammed into a prom photo that I knew I would keep forever. Parker was pressed against me. Her body heat gave me chills. When the photographer snapped the photo, I felt like she was my date even though we were both whisked away in different directions as soon as the photo was done.
We danced for an hour or so before Shannon wanted to head to Sam’s. The limo stopped in front of a house that had at least a dozen cars in the driveway and on the street. Loud music was coming from the house. Our driver stopped and said he would park a block over.
Hayley dragged me into Sam’s saying that if I stood around waiting for the second limo to arrive, I would look desperate. I was the high school quarterback and the quarterback didn’t wait for anyone. She assured me Parker would find me and she wasn’t wrong. Five minutes after we went inside, Parker found us in the kitchen. She smiled at us and accepted a hard lemonade from Sam when she walked into the kitchen.
“Here’s where everyone ended up,” she said. She took a sip and grimaced but hid it well. I was studying her too hard to miss. She had freshened her makeup and let her hair down. I didn’t care that I was staring until I felt the sharp elbow jab from Hayley. She leaned over and scowled. I smiled and shrugged. She gave me an eye roll and a sigh. I shook my head.
“What’s going on over there?” Parker asked. She wasn’t clueless, but I don’t think she was ready for the truth either.
“Nothing.” I gave her what I thought was my sexiest grin, but it fell quickly when Andrew slid up behind Parker and put his arm around her shoulder. I swallowed hard and looked away.
“Looks like prom was a hit.” He made a production of looking Parker up and down appreciatively. She leaned away from him. I wanted to punch him.
“Gross. Don’t be creepy, Andrew,” Hayley said. It was obvious Parker was uncomfortable. “You should ask people before you paw them.” She pulled Parker away and tucked her safely between us. Parker’s arm brushed mine and chill bumps raced along my skin.
“Parker doesn’t mind. I always put my arm around her.” He took a long pull from his longneck. His eyes never left her.
“Parker’s too nice to tell you to fuck off,” Hayley said.
Zay walked into the kitchen and brushed his long bangs out of his face with his slender fingers. He wasn’t a big guy, but he was tall and scrappy. “What’s going on here?”
Andrew laughed. “Nothing. Just girls being girls. I’ll see you later, Parker.”
Hayley made a gagging noise when he left the kitchen. She turned to Parker. “Tell me you’re not into him.”
Parker looked alarmed. “No. He’s too…” She paused trying to find the right word.
“Predatory?” Hayley suggested.
“Gross?” I added. We all laughed knowing we were on the same page. “Don’t worry, Parker, we’ll make sure you aren’t alone with him.”
“Thanks.” She took another drink and hissed.
“You know, it’s okay not to drink if you don’t want to.” I held up my red Solo Cup. “It’s ice water. I put it in a cup so nobody questions me.”
Parker put her hard lemonade on the counter and took a sip from my cup. “This tastes so good.”
I grabbed another cup, added ice cubes, and turned on the filter on the sink. “Would you like your own?”
She held up my cup and took another sip. Her tongue darted out to catch a small drop of water on her upper lip. I was mesmerized. “No, I’m good with this one if you don’t mind.”
Hayley, standing behind her, gaped at me and quickly pushed Zay out of the kitchen. “We’ll catch you later.”
When it was just the two of us, Parker turned to face me. “What did you think about prom?”
We had danced as a group and every time I got close to Parker, she got pulled in a different direction. It was as if something was purposely pulling us apart. Hayley joked that Parker’s parents were probably watching us the whole time on hidden cameras and I was convinced she was right after three failed attempts of trying to dance with her. “I’m glad we’re here and not there.”
Parker tilted her head at me. “Why?”
It was now or never. It was just the two of us standing in the kitchen. I leaned my hip up against the counter and before I got lost in her blue eyes and tight body, I said, “Because I finally get you all to myself.”