by Logan Byrne
I felt my phone buzz and pulled it out to see Belle asking when I’d be back. I told her we were eating real quick and then I was going to be home. She replied asking me how the tux looked. I told her it was very bright, which wasn’t a lie, and she seemed happy with that. I’d seen her dress, though not on her yet, and I’d say it was fairly close in color. I knew Rose and Kieran, her friends, were going in an almost lime-green ensemble, so at least I didn’t get stuck in that color.
Martin and I didn’t talk too much over our food, instead scarfing it down as quickly as possible before heading back to the car. The air was frigid as howling winds blew through the parking lot and dried out my already cracked lips. I’d been applying lip balm in haste, though it felt more in vain than anything else. I was just lucky I hadn’t gotten many bloody noses yet this season. I always, since I was a kid, got dozens of bloody noses whenever winter approached. The dry, cool air did a number on me, that was for sure.
The warm air started to eventually boil around us as Martin’s car sputtered a bit as we tried to get up a hill toward my neighborhood. He pulled into my driveway, and I caught Belle in her house through the window as she peeked over and saw me get back.
“See you tomorrow,” Martin said as he popped the trunk.
I pulled out my tux before trudging through the thin layer of snow that had built up on the ground since school got out. Just after I kicked off my shoes and took off my coat, the doorbell rang and I could see Belle outside the small window. I opened the door and let her in as she rubbed her hands together and stomped her feet clean of snow.
“There it is,” I said, motioning with my head toward the bag.
She unzipped it, took the tux out, and smiled from ear to ear. I took it that she really liked the color, much to my displeasure.
“Good?” I asked.
“Great!” she said, clapping her hands and squeeing.
She put the tux away and jumped into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck as I lifted her off the ground.
“We’re going to be so cute,” she said, smiling.
“How cute?” I asked.
“SO cute,” she replied, laughing, as I set her down.
“We better be. I’m not wearing coral for nothing,” I said.
“You’ll look great, I know it. You have the perfect skin tone for it,” she said.
I looked in the mirror in our foyer and touched my cheek as I tried to figure out what that meant and why it was a good thing. I didn’t think I’d ever matched anything to my skin tone before.
“Oh, honey, I didn’t hear you come in. Is that your rental?” my mom asked as she came down the stairs.
“Yes, and it looks great!” Belle said.
“Oh wow, yes, it does. It’s going to look great next to your dress,” my mother said to Belle.
“He’s a little on the fence about it,” Belle said.
“Oh, there’s nothing to be on the fence about, Theo. You’ll look as handsome as ever,” she said, leaving to the kitchen.
“So, I have something to ask you,” I said.
“What’s up?” Belle asked.
“Martin wants us to ride to the dance with him and his date. I told him I’d ask you before saying yes or anything,” I said.
“That should be fine. I’d rather carpool than drive ourselves,” she said.
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to do anything that will make you feel weird. I know you don’t really know him all that well,” I said.
“It’s fine! We’ll have a great time,” she said, smiling.
“Good. I’ll let him know,” I said.
“Are we doing dinner beforehand?” she asked.
“I didn’t know we were supposed to,” I said.
“We can just make something here or at my house or whatever. I don’t need to go anywhere,” she said.
“Okay, yeah, that will work. Maybe a light pasta meal? I don’t want to eat so much that I can’t dance with you,” I said.
“Oh, you’re dancing all night with me whether you feel like it or not,” she said playfully.
“Is that a fact?” I asked.
“It’s a fact, all right,” she said.
We didn’t do much else for the night, instead opting to make some frozen pizza and watch a movie on TV. These were some of the happiest nights with Belle, and the best thing was that they were the simplest as well. There was no dressing up or getting ready, no expectations, and we could just be ourselves. I couldn’t think of a more perfect night with the woman I loved.
•••
The morning of the formal came, and I couldn’t have been happier. I looked outside my bedroom window and saw a light dusting of snow, a million little snowflakes falling on the already white ground. I looked across the yard and saw Belle’s blinds still closed. I grabbed my phone and didn’t see a thing from her. She must have still been asleep. She did talk about wanting beauty sleep, even though she was already beautiful.
I stretched a little and went to the bathroom before walking downstairs on the cold wooden floors. I should’ve put on some socks, but I was too lazy to run back upstairs even though I was suffering without them. My mom was reading the paper and sipping some coffee as I walked into the kitchen, almost startling her.
“You’re up awful early,” she said, looking at the clock.
“It’s hard to sleep when you’re this excited. Tonight is going to be the best night of my life—so far at least,” I said.
“Aw, you’re that excited? That’s so cute,” she said, smiling.
“It’s just so crazy to think that a few months ago I was just passing Belle in the hallway or outside and now I’m with her. I still can’t get over it,” I said.
“As you shouldn’t. Once you get over it, you might start to lose interest, and then it all goes downhill from there. Never lose your passion for each other, Theo, and you’ll be just fine,” she said.
“Is that what happened with you and Dad?” I asked.
I hadn’t talked about my dad all that much and I definitely hadn’t probed my mom about him, but I couldn’t help asking. It just felt right.
“He lost interest in me, but I hadn’t lost interest in him. He sent you a postcard, you know. It’s on the table,” she said.
I walked over and picked it up, seeing a picture of a beach that was slightly ripped and damaged from shipping. I flipped it around, seeing my name and address. The note on the front was short and not so sweet.
I can’t wait to see you soon, Theo. Things have been great here, and I recently got a job at a local resort as the casino manager. Not sure how I lucked into this job, but I’ll take it! Hope all is well. I’ll call soon.
Love,
Dad
I scoffed, wondering how he thought a postcard was enough. It wasn’t that I wanted to talk to him, I didn’t, but he didn’t know that. You’d think he’d want to call his only son and tell him these things himself, but I guess I didn’t exactly know him as well as I’d thought. Whatever. I wasn’t going to let this sorry postcard stop me from having the greatest day and night of my life.
I ripped it up and tossed it in the trash as my mother watched but didn’t say a word. Why, I don’t know, but she didn’t, and I didn’t quite care to talk anyway.
“What time is Belle coming over tonight?” she asked, totally ignoring the postcard.
“She said six. Martin will be here at seven, so I want to make sure I have dinner ready for her,” I said.
“Making her dinner, huh? How sweet,” she said.
“It won’t be much, just some pasta, bread, and salad. It definitely won’t be as great as the meal she made me. Not even close,” I said.
“Well, it’s the thought that counts. I’m sure she’s just happy to spend the night with you and have quality time together,” she said.
“As I am with her,” I replied.
•••
I was in the midst of preparing our meal when my doorbell rang, and the pot of pasta was bo
iling over. My mother was out grocery shopping, so I whispered an expletive and turned down the heat before running toward the door.
“Smells good in here,” Belle said as she walked inside.
“You don’t have to be nice. It’s all going to hell,” I said before running back to the kitchen.
I stirred the pasta a little more before dumping it into the colander and then back in the pot, then put on some sauce and heated it back up a little.
“It doesn’t look all that bad,” she said as she walked into the kitchen.
I looked up at her, getting a good look at her this time, as her coat was off and her dress was fully in view. She looked amazing. I was almost speechless.
“You look …”
“Do I look okay?” she asked.
“Amazing,” I replied, walking over and kissing her softly.
I still got butterflies when we kissed, like it was our first time all over again, and I knew that it was the best sign I could ever have that we were meant to be together forever. I think it’s rare in life to find somebody who you know will still make you nervous at all stages in life. That person you can always count on, and that person who knows you have their back through thick and thin. Those people don’t come along very often, but when they do, you better hold on to them as if your life depends on it. If you let them go, you may never find it again.
“You’re always so sweet to me,” she said.
“It’s hard not to be,” I said.
“Why’s that?”
“You’re the most perfect girl in the world,” I said.
“I hardly think so,” she replied.
“You’re the most perfect girl in my world,” I replied.
Blushing, she bit her lower lip and clasped her hands together, twiddling her thumbs. When she looked up, our eyes locking, I saw it all. I saw our engagement, wedding, kids, old age, and even dying together. It was like the universe, in all its glory, let me see the life we were going to have together in an instant. I couldn’t wait.
I finished up the dinner, and Belle helped me put it on the kitchen table. I poured us some ice water and got a couple of napkins.
“This looks good,” she said as she looked at the spread.
“It’s definitely not as good as your meal, but I tried, and that’s all that matters,” I said.
“You’re right, it is. The taste won’t matter to me at all. The fact that you’d willingly make me dinner and treat me is more than I could ever ask for. It shows a lot about you,” she said.
I twirled some pasta around my fork and put it in my mouth before biting down and realizing something was off. The pasta wasn’t cooked through all the way, and it had a small bite to it. I guess in my haste I didn’t think about how long it had been in the boiling water. You’d think pasta would be one of the easiest things to cook, but you’d also be wrong. At least for me, that is.
“Mm,” Belle said, but the look on her face said otherwise.
“It sucks, you can say it,” I said, putting my fork down.
“Okay, it sucks, but that’s okay! We’ll eat it anyway,” she said.
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to get sick,” I said.
“Theo, it’s just undercooked pasta. It can’t make you sick. It’s just a little hard is all,” she said.
“That’s a nice way of saying that it’ll chip your teeth and tear up your stomach,” I said.
“Yeah,” she replied, with a small chuckle.
I wanted to be upset with myself, but I couldn’t help but crack a smile and laugh a little about the entire situation. Here I was, stressing out over making a perfect dinner for the two of us, instead of just focusing on the experience together. It wasn’t about the food, or what we were drinking or doing. It was just about us being together and enjoying each other’s company. In the end you only have your relationships with people, and we wouldn’t remember this awful meal in a few days. We might, however, remember what we talked about or how we felt in this moment.
“So, how are your feet feeling?” she asked.
“Good, why?” I asked inquisitively.
“Because you’re going to be on them for quite a while. I need to make sure you’re still up for it,” she said.
“Oh, I’m up for it, all right. Let’s just hope you can keep up,” I said.
“Honey, I’m a cheerleader. I dance and cheer all the time. If anybody’s going to struggle, it’ll be you,” she said jokingly.
“Then bring it on,” I said.
“Oh yeah?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I replied.
We stuck our tongues out at each other and then instantly started to laugh at ourselves. This girl. She was something else.
A few minutes later, Martin texted me and said he was on his way over. He said that Kara was making him nervous, and that he had nothing at all to say to her and was freaking out about it. I reassured him that he was doing fine and said we’d come out when he got here.
We put away the rest of the food and cleaned up a little, then she freshened up, whatever that meant, and we got into our coats. We stood at the front door for only a minute or two before Martin pulled into my driveway. The snow had picked up and almost blurred out his headlights.
“Ready?” I asked with my hand on the doorknob.
“Let’s do it,” she said
We walked as briskly as possible as the snow fell down and stuck to our hair and our clothes. I opened the passenger door for her and helped her inside before shutting it and running around to my side. I sat down, closed my door quickly, and brushed the melting snowflakes out of my hair so that they wouldn’t mess it up too much.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Great,” Martin said with a crack in his voice.
“It’s nice to see you, Kara,” I said.
She nodded, not saying much from the front seat. Belle looked at me with widened eyes as she buckled her seatbelt.
“Everybody ready?” Martin asked before backing out of the driveway.
He drove slowly as the snow was heavy and limited our ability to see clearly. I hadn’t seen it snow this heavily in a while, and I almost thought about saying that we shouldn’t go any farther. Was going to this formal worth the risk? I didn’t think so.
With the heat blaring and the radio on, we all sat in silence, nobody saying a word, as Belle and I held hands and Kara gazed out her window. The parking lot was full of slow-moving cars as cops directed traffic and helped everybody park. Snowplows went slowly through the parking lot and pushed it the snow away while salting the pavement. The maintenance staff on the sidewalks and entry did the same so that nobody would slip or get too wet.
We found a parking spot and got out. Belle put her head down and walked with her body pushed up against mine as we made our way to the entrance of the school, which was covered inside with rugs and mats to make sure as much water as possible came off our shoes. Ushers were there to take our tickets. I confidently handed them two tickets, and they ripped them and gave us the other halves. I was finally here. I was finally at a school dance.
The music was blaring in the gym, which had its doors open and lights flashing everywhere. It looked more like a nightclub than anything.
I squinted a bit as we walked inside and my eyes tried to adjust. I saw chaperones walking around and checking things out to make sure we were all behaving, but then again, I saw a few couples in full make-out mode like it was their last night on earth. It was almost like watching a nature documentary.
“Do you want to dance?” Belle shouted.
“Sure,” I replied.
We walked onto the dance floor and turned to each other before dancing to the fast music. I had no idea what to do, just kind of moving around, so she grabbed my hands and guided me around a bit so that I wouldn’t look totally foolish.
A few of her friends found us and came up to say hi. The girls talked endlessly, and the guys just kind of stood there and waited for them to finish. None of the othe
r guys seemed that thrilled to be here, either because they’d been to one of these many times before, or they just didn’t think it was all that exciting. I was beginning to feel that way too, as half an hour had passed and I’d done a few minutes of dancing and the rest listening to Belle and her friends complain about their cheer coach, who was over in the corner talking to another teacher.
I told Belle I’d get us some punch and walked over to the table, where luckily a teacher was making sure nobody messed with it. Martin ran up to me and asked for something to drink.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I don’t know what to do,” he said.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“This girl, man, this girl is like a wall. All she wants to do is sit around and watch people. She doesn’t even want to dance or anything,” he said.
Martin had a way of getting worked up about the smallest things, even if he knew they weren’t that big of a deal. One time his order was wrong at a drive-thru and he broke out into a sweat when he thought about how it would affect the rest of his day. He could be suave and cool sometimes, but this wasn’t one of those times.
“Have you asked her to dance?” I asked.
“Yeah, once, near the beginning,” he said.
“And what did she say?” I asked.
“She said maybe later,” he said.
“So that’s a good sign. She’s open to it, but maybe she’s just nervous,” I said.
“Well, she has a funny way of showing it,” he said.
“Just talk to her, get comfortable with each other, and then try it out. Don’t rush it,” I said.
“You better be right on this one,” he said.
He grabbed two cups of punch and went back to his table as I took mine and turned around to see Belle walking toward me.
“Sorry about that. I feel bad that you waited so long,” she said.
“It’s fine. I understand that you’re popular and such,” I said, smiling.
“Oh, stop. I am not,” she said as she took her punch and took a sip.
“And now we’re going to slow it down a bit so you crazy kids can catch your breath. Grab your sweetheart and get on the dance floor to show them you care,” the DJ said over the speakers.