Our Love

by Sheena Binkley

  "You know what Derrick, I held my tongue all this time, but you really are an asshole."

  "Stop it! You all can kill each other later for all I care. I'm going to look for him," I said as I started to walk towards the rental car.

  "How are you going to do that if we all rode together?" Derrick asked. "Besides, we have to go to my prom."

  "I don't have to do anything Derrick. Either you come with me, or you'll be walking to your prom."

  Ashley and Chris sighed as they followed me to the rental car. I looked at Derrick as he stood there with a mean look on his face.

  "Are you coming or not?"

  Derrick rolled his eyes as he started to walk.

  "Fine,"

  As we all climbed into the back seat, I looked at the night sky as the driver started to pull out of the parking lot.

  "Whatever Michael is doing, please keep him safe," I prayed as the car pulled into the street.

  33. Charlie

  After looking for Michael for thirty minutes, we decided to give up. We'd looked everywhere; from Willis Park to Chester's. Chris even looked at some places that Michael and he hung out at, but he wasn't there either. As the car pulled into Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown, I took a deep breath and sighed. I know I should be a little happy because we're now at Parker's prom, but I'm not. I don't feel like putting on a glamorous face and pretending to be happy when I'm not. Derrick looked at me and smiled.

  "I know you're upset because you didn't find Michael, but believe me, Michael is a strong dude. He'll be just fine."

  I looked at Derrick and hopped out of the car.

  Ashley grabbed my arm as I was about to walk past her.

  "I don't want to hear it," I said.

  "I'm not going to lecture you Char. I just want to apologize for what I said earlier. I didn't mean to get upset with you like that."

  I looked at Ashley and nodded my head. "I know Ash."

  Ashley could tell that I was still worried about Michael. She put an arm around me and gave me a quick hug.

  "Michael will be okay. For all we know he could be at home watching TV and stuffing his face with Cheetos. So don't worry."

  As Chris went up to Ashley and took her hand, Derrick came up to me and flashed his thousand watt smile. I rolled my eyes and turned to stare at the floral centerpiece in the grand lobby.

  I don't know why I believed that Derrick changed. He was still the complete moron that I broke up with that day in September. The only person that would ever be in Derrick's life was Derrick.

  As he tried to put his arm around me, I quickly pulled his arm away as if it was on fire. Derrick looked at me with a surprised look on his face.

  "What's wrong?"

  I shot him an evil look that made him rethink the question.

  "How can you ask me that?""Because I'm concerned, that's why."

  I started to laugh at Derrick's statement.

  "Take a good look in the mirror, because frankly the only person you're concerned about is you."

  "That's not true Charlie and you know it."

  "Are you concerned for Michael who is basically AWOL? Were you concerned when you were all up in Theresa's stuff when you had her back against the lockers in the girls' locker room?"

  Several people who were standing in the lobby started to look at us as my voice started to rise even more.

  "Why are you bringing this up?"

  "Because it need to be brought up!" I exclaimed.

  Derrick grabbed my arm and pulled me over to a more secluded area in the back of the lobby.

  "Get your hands off me!" I yelled as I jerked my arm from Derrick.

  "Why are you so postal now? What did I do?"

  "I can't do this anymore Derrick. I can't make you happy anymore."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "I'm talking about us. I have tried over and over again to accept you back into my life, but it seems like every time I do, I still get kicked in the butt for doing it."

  "What are you trying to say? That you made a mistake by us becoming friends again?"

  "Maybe I have," I said softly.

  Derrick nodded his head at the statement as he turned his back on me.

  "I'm sorry Derrick," I said as I watched Derrick walked away from me.

  A tear started to fall down my cheek as I leaned against the wall for support. I don't know how things got the way they were, but what was supposed to have been the greatest night of my life turned into a night I want to immediately forget.

  Michael

  Joyriding in a stretch Hummer limo is pretty exciting. I had some trouble steering the wheel as I made sharp turns, but overall, it was a comfortable ride. As I drove around Houston, I had to clear my mind from all the negativity that I've faced earlier tonight. After all that happened to me in these past few months, I decided to make a vow to myself that from now on, I would steer clear from any woman that graced my path. I would not, and I repeat, would not let another woman disrupt me from what's important in life; and that's graduating Belmont and moving out of Houston for good.

  I couldn't believe I let myself get so deep into loving someone who's countlessly dumped on me over and over again. But tonight would be the last time she'll hurt me. As I quickly maneuvered the car from a deep pothole, I looked over at the passenger seat and noticed the bottle of scotch I had purchased at Al's Liquor Store. The guy working inside the store was too focused on the porn he was watching on the TV behind the counter to even ask for ID. So I decided to buy what I could before the fool even realized it. As I was about to guzzle down a bottle of scotch, I made a sharp turn into a parking lot that was unfamiliar to me. After driving for so long, a break was indeed in order.

  I slowly climbed out of the limo, and could feel several eyes trained in my direction as I wobbled my way towards the building. To my surprise, I realized that I was at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which was where Parker was having their prom. As I stepped closer to the gold revolving doors, I started to feel sick to my stomach. Of all places, I don't know why I picked here. Instead of listening to my mind and turning around, I decided to lose all dignity and walked inside the hotel.

  "What's he doing here?" someone asked when I stumbled into the lobby.

  I gave her a disturbed look as I walked past the hostess table.

  "Sir, do you have a ticket?" asked the woman.

  "Does it look like I go to this crummy school?" I asked in a slurred voice.

  "Sir, if you don't have a ticket, you need to turn around now," a man said as he came up to the table.

  "I don't have to do a damn thing!" I said in a loud tone as I went inside the ballroom.

  As the two were about to come after me, I was already inside looking around. My eyes went straight over to Chris and Ashley as they were standing by each other in a loving embrace. My mind started to wander to the time when Charlie and I was all lovey-dovey. No matter how upset I could be at Charlie sometimes, I could stare into her pretty brown eyes and I forget what I was upset about. I turned away from the happy couple so they wouldn't see me; but I was too late. Chris spotted me first as he came over to me with his arms stretch out.

  "Where the hell you been, man? We've been looking all over town for you!"

  I looked at Chris and sighed.

  "Thanks "Dad", but as you can see, I'm fine," I said in a smart tone.

  "You're drunk, Michael."

  "How did you guess that?"

  "Come on, I'll take you home," Chris said as he tried to take my hand.

  "You're not taking me anywhere," I said as I jerked my hand away from Chris.

  "I can't believe you drove here drunk. You could have got into an accident on the way here."

  "Spare me the lecture, Chris. I think I had enough lectures in my lifetime."

  "Well add this one to your list. What is going on with you? Do you want your life to end before it even starts?"

  "Leave me alone, Chris."

  While Chris and I were arguing, a loud feedbac
k from the microphone on stage made everyone, including us, jump.

  "Hello. Is everyone having fun tonight?" the man asked on stage.

  The crowd started to scream and clap their appreciation to the man in front of them.

  "Now I would like to announce this years' prom king and queen."

  The crowd started to become even more excited as they waited for the man on stage to announce the honors. I looked at Chris and rolled my eyes. As long as I didn't see Marberry's face, I'd be fine.

  As the man, who I assumed was Parker's principal, pulled out two gold sealed envelopes, he looked at the crowd with a happy expression.

  "I'll first announce the prom king," he said as he slowly opened the envelope. From the crowd's reaction, they were losing patience and wanted him to get on with it.

  "And that honor goes to no other than Derrick Marberry!" he exclaimed."Of course," I mumbled as I turned my head away from the stage.

  "You didn't answer my question, Mike. What possessed you to come here drunk?" Chris asked in an angry tone.

  As I tried to block Chris out of my mind, I looked over and saw Charlie sitting at a nearby table with Ashley. I wanted to walk over to her and tell her how miserable she made me feel tonight, when the microphone made another screeching noise, causing everyone to jump again.

  "We at Parker High decided to make a new tradition that will be pass on for years to come. We decided for the king and queen to have the royal dance with their perspective dates. Now if everyone can give room for the king and queen to have their dance."

  As the prom queen walked on to the dance floor with her date, Derrick looked around the room frantically looking for Charlie. I watched as Derrick walked over to the table where Charlie was sitting and extended his hand out to her. She looked at him angrily while he tried to get her to dance with him. After a second, she sighed and took Derrick's hand. I shook my head at the scene. For a second, I thought Charlie would forget Derrick and let him suffer, but of course, she went back to him in a pitiful manner to save his ego.

  Ashley looked at the two and then she looked over at Chris and me. She got up from the table and walked over to us.

  "What are you doing here?" she asked as she watched Charlie and Derrick dancing.

  "To be honest, I don't know," I said as I started to walk out of the ballroom. As I went to the door, I suddenly turned around and went back in. I came here for a reason.

  "Michael, what are you doing?" Chris asked.

  I blocked Chris out of my way as I was walking into the crowd. While practically pushing anyone who was in my way, I finally made it to the center of the dance floor. I looked at the two lovebirds dancing as if they didn't have a care in the world.

  Charlie looked up and noticed that I was standing by her. With a stunned expression, she quickly released herself from Derrick's embrace and looked at me.

  "Oh don't keep me from your royal dance. If I didn't know any better, it looks like you were enjoying it."

  "We have been looking everywhere for you. What made you decide to come here?" Charlie asked in a scared tone.

  "I don't know Charlie. I guess I decided to come for various reasons. Maybe I came to see how Parker really party, which in my opinion is lame, compared to Belmont. Or maybe I came to see the famous couple of Parker, Charlie Perry and Derrick Marberry, in action."

  "You're drunk, Michael," Derrick said.

  "Step off jerk! You already stole my girlfriend, what more you want!"

  "Michael, you're embarrassing yourself. Let's go so we can talk," Charlie said.

  "Talk about what! You said all you had to say on the terrace; now it's my turn to speak!"

  I went up to the stage in a jealous rage. I noticed Parker's principal was talking to the man who was at the hostess table earlier. I knew he was about to call security, but I wasn't leaving until I said my peace. As I was going to the microphone, the principal angrily came up to me.

  "You need to leave, now!"

  "I don't think so. Last time I checked this is a public hotel, so you need to step off!"

  I grabbed the microphone from the stand, causing me to slightly bump into the principal.

  After that stunt, he waved his hand toward the back to call for security.

  "Take a good look at the two to your right. Don't they look happy together?" I said in a drunken state.

  "See these two may be Parker's power couple, but that girl right there was my girlfriend. Doesn't she look ravishing tonight people?"

  The crowd looked at me with crazy looks on their faces.

  "Turns out she isn't even supposed to be at this prom. She was banned from this school, so if I can't be here, neither can she."

  Charlie put her hand over her face while Derrick came up to me and grabbed the microphone from me.

  "What the hell is your problem man? If it's with me, then so be it. But don't drag Charlie in this."

  "Go to hell Marberry. You know, guys like you make me sick. You think you can do whatever the hell you want; but I got news for you; you're nothing to me."

  Derrick was about to hit me with his fist when Chris pulled him away from me. "Let's go Michael, before you make a bigger ass out of yourself."

  "I'm not going anywhere," I said as I went over to Charlie.

  I looked at her and sighed.

  Charlie looked at me with a speechless look. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't.

  "Speechless Char? That's the first considering all you said tonight. You know it amazes me that you can still stand here and act like nothing ever happened. If it wasn't for you, my life would be perfect. I would be going through my senior year without any worries or problems. But no, you had to sashay your ass into my life and make it a living hell! Maybe my mom was right about you. You're nothing but a cheap ass whore!"

  Charlie looked at me and forcibly slapped my left cheek. She pushed past me as she walked into the crowd and toward the door. As security finally showed up, I looked at the stunned faces around me and turned toward the door. I think my work here was done.

  Charlie

  I can't believe Michael said those words to me! After all we'd been through, that was what he thought of me? A cheap whore! While running from the ballroom, I tripped and fell in the lobby, causing even more embarrassment to myself. While people, who used to be my classmates, where pointing and laughing at me, I felt completely alone. As I just lay on the hard wooden floor, I started to recap the evening's events. The hateful looks and mean stares people were giving me while I was in the ballroom. Several people even wondered why I was at Parker's prom. As I was walking towards the refreshment table for the fifth time that night, two girls, who saw me standing beside them, were talking as if I wasn't even present.

  "Why is she back here?" the first girl asked while sipping on her punch.

  "I guess she decided to slum since she thinks she so high and mighty now," the other girl said while looking at me.

  I rolled my eyes and walked away. People can talk all they want about me, no one from Parker knew what happened at Belmont, so they needed to shut up. But as I was sitting on the cold wooden floor, I realized that it didn't matter if people from Parker knew what went down between Michael and me; people were going to talk whether the accusations are true or false, so there was nothing I could do about the gossip. When I looked up, I noticed a hand stretched out toward me. I looked at the person's face and realized that it was Eva who was trying to help me up. I looked at Eva with a surprised look on my face.

  "Don't act surprised. I just can't look at you any longer on the floor."

  I smiled and took Eva's hand. As she pulled me up, Eva gave me a smile.

  "You know you didn't have to help me," I said.

  Eva laughed. "You're welcome. Next time I'll leave you sitting on the floor while people point and stare at you."

  I laughed. "I'm serious Eva. Why you helped me up?"

  "Because I hate to see my friend suffering,"

  I looked at Eva. All this t
ime and she still thinks we are friends.

  "I know you probably don't think of us as friends anymore, but I do. We have been friends since we were four. I can't imagine us not being able to talk every day or help each other out when we have a problem. Char, I know I messed up by not telling you about Michael and me, but at the time, I thought that by keeping that night a secret, I would be protecting you."

  "I understand your theory E, but I would have respected you more if you would have been honest with me from the start instead of lying. You knew that Michael and I were together, but you decided to leave your one-night stand in the past."

  "Because that's where it should be. Char, what happened between Michael and I was just one night, that's all. We both were in a vulnerable place at that time, and even though it was just for a few hours, we both felt it was something to take our minds off of what was bothering us. We didn't know we were going to see each other again after that night; that's why I was shocked when I found out you were dating Michael."

  "Did you ever have feelings for him?" I asked softly.

  "At first I did. I thought something was going to develop between us after that night, but it didn't. Michael went back to Danielle and I went back to Kevin. The feelings I had for him did resurface when I saw him with you, but I realized that nothing could have happened between us. When I saw you two together, I saw the love you two had. The way Michael looks at you is beautiful. It had that look in his eye that showed that you captured his heart and soul."

  "Really?" I asked.

  "Anybody could see that. Especially Danielle; that's why she didn't like you, because believe me, I don't think Michael ever looked at her the way he looks at you."

  A tear started to roll down my cheek as I walked away from Eva. Eva went over to me and put an arm around me.

  "I know things haven't been good between you two, but don't stop fighting for him. We all made mistakes, but I know in time, things will get better between you two. For all we know, you two could get married and have two or three kids running around the place."

  I started to laugh at Eva's remark. It's good to hear Eva speaking about what could be in store for Michael and me.