"Thanks…"
"Don't get your panties in a bunch. You know I'll help you out. By the way, thanks for feeling obligated to sneak a few dances with me. I might just be too busy dancing with my own date, thanks," Corey said, with a twinge of fake hurt in his voice.
"Drama queen. Secrecy was your idea in the first place. Wait, you've already got a date? Since when?"
"Since tomorrow, when I ask someone. As far as the school sees, I'm an extremely hot, extremely single man. It'll be cake to get some random girl to go with me. She might even drop her current date if she has one."
"If it makes you feel better, I was hoping to ditch Abigail as soon as the night started. Are you up for that?"
"Brian!" Corey stammered, in sarcastic disbelief. He quickly dropped the act though, laughing. "I thought that went without saying, sounds good."
Corey turned the music on again, turning the music and bass down so that he could still hear his own voice. Casually, he made his way in front of Brian. "Dancing at a nightclub is really simple. It's not about looking good. It's not about having awesome dance moves."
When the song started, he turned around, his back to Brian. "It's about feeling the music…" he said, placing Brian's hands on his quads, bringing them together. "And it's about feeling your partner," he continued seductively, emphasizing the words by mimicking what a girl might be expected to do, intentionally grinding his ass along Brian's front, keeping the friction going as he was moving to the music.
Corey stopped, gently removing Brian's hands, and turning around, pleased to see that his eyes were glazed, and that he was blushing again, this time from being aroused so easily. "I guess I did my job right. See? It's easy. The only thing you have to do is move to the music, and enjoy the ride. If you ask me, the girl's job is more fun, though."
He went back to his computer, looking through the extensive list. Brian recovered quickly, walking towards Corey to see what he was looking for. "So, basically, it's just sex with clothes on?"
Corey laughed, not entirely surprised by the question. "It doesn't always have to be, but yeah, you catch on quick. I was kind of exaggerating the woman's part too, you don't really have to be such a slut about it, but you can bet that Abigail probably will be."
The pair danced for a few more songs, even trading roles once, much to Corey's amusement and pleasure. It didn't take too much longer before Brian's movements started to get a lot more heated and fluid.
'It's just another way of expressing my love to him,' Brian thought casually, getting lost to the music and his partner. 'As long as I think about it like that, the rest is easy.'
The song ended, and Corey's ears perked up as he heard the unmistakable intro tag to Gasolina. He smirked, and whispered into Brian's ear, "Hey, it's our theme song," earning himself a raised eyebrow from Brian, who was unfamiliar with what the song was about.
"I'll tell you later," Corey said, anticipating that he was likely to earn himself another blush from Brian when he found out. Prom was definitely promising to be memorable this year; that much was for certain.
CHAPTER TEN
"See you guys later," Brian said to the rest of them as he turned around, ready to head off towards his car. Andy had the day off today, so he would be going it alone. Or as alone as one could be when one was expected to not only deal with the customers' problems, but the other employees' as well.
Christine nudged Andy softly, and he snapped to, remembering the plan. "Brian, wait for a sec!"
"Huh?"
"I—um, you and I aren't going to Prom with anyone," Andy stated bluntly, giving looks towards Christine and Garret. "I know you weren't thinking about asking anyone else, and I wasn't either. So, would you like to go with me?"
'Idiot, say something… is he being serious?' Brian thought, blinking back his surprise. He started at Andy blankly for a while, in silence. "Huh?" Was that the best I could come up with?!
"Just as friends," Andy continued, approaching Brian slowly, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Just that, Prom is so much more… fun when you go with someone. And we've gotten so… close," he whispered, emphasizing the word by wrapping his arms lazily around Brian's shoulders.
Brian's features were getting increasingly stressed, not sure how to react to his personal space being violated. 'Shit, he's being serious? Damn it, what do I say, 'I don't swing that way?' What a lame answer… Would saying 'yes' be so bad? I mean, it wouldn't mean anything, and we're just friends, and he went through all that rejection shit not too long ago… Why do I always have to be the bearer of bad news?'
He looked over at Christine and Garret desperately, trying to find an out, and excuse, help, anything, but Garret was infuriatingly opaque as usual, and Christine was giving him a warning look that seemed to say, 'You'd better not hurt him.'
"It's not… you're a great guy, but—I don't, you have to understand, I…" he stammered, at a loss for a soft way to speak his mind. He didn't have much experience with softening his words.
Andy did his best to put on a genuine rejected look, before breaking away and backing up, succumbing to an apparently spontaneous fit of giggles. To Brian's irritation, the other two began to laugh along, all three of them barely able to breathe after a few moments.
"You guys are assholes," Brian muttered, his face darkening. He was smart enough to know when he just got played.
"You… you—haha, you actually fell for it!" Andy choked out between laughs, eventually calming down. "I didn't believe her at first, but Christine said that it would work for sure."
Christine and Andy shared a spirited high-five before Christine came up to Brian, giving him an apologetic hug, which only served to patronize him even more. "Sorry about that, I couldn't resist. But damn, you should have seen the look on your face! Like you were gonna piss yourself or something!"
Andy sighed, put off that Brian wasn't lightening up. "You should have known that I would never actually ask you to put yourself through the same shit that I have to go through around this school. Come on…" he said, his arms wide open for a hug, "you know you still love me."
Brian grudgingly accepted the bear hug, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You guys still suck."
--
"Andy, what do you think of this one?" Christine asked, emerging from the changing room wearing a flowing red dress. She huffed, noticing that neither Brian or Andy were even looking in her direction, both attempting to amuse themselves with their cell phones. "Andy!"
"What-huh? Oh, next dress, gotcha," he said distantly, pausing the game before giving her his undivided attention. "Do you want me to be honest, or do you actually like that dress?"
"UGH!" She yelled, storming back into the dressing room. "Fine, I'll try another one!"
Brian shook his head, his eyes never leaving his cell phone. "Damn it, dude, you should have just said you loved the dress. This is like, what, the eighth one? We've been here forever."
"I can't lie like that. Plus, if you look past the fury and the yelling, she's just really excited that she has a friend who's actually willing to offer a valid opinion. She's just taking advantage of a useful thing."
"So why do I have to be here?"
"I didn't think it would take this long. We still have to rent tuxes when she's done. You can go on ahead, though."
"I'll stick with you for this one. No one deserves to have to deal with a frustrated Christine alone."
As if on cue, Christine walked out again, looking expectantly at Andy.
"Damn…" both of them said.
"Thanks, guys," Christine said, winking. "That's what I said when I saw me, too."
--
Christine had to blink back her surprise when they finally made it to the men's formalwear store. She had fully expected that the pair would retaliate by making her wait, but once his turn came, Andy flew through their selection, not even asking Christine once for an opinion. Not that she had one to offer, Andy clearly knew his stuff.
"Would you like me to g
o over the terms of the lease?" The saleswoman asked, clearly surprised that the process went as smoothly as it did. She barely said anything, Andy simply asked her for catalogues or pointed to samples to match and try on.
"No, thanks, I can read them from my receipt, you've been so gracious already, I couldn't ask you to do anything more," Andy replied, smiling warmly. "So when can I expect to pick it up?"
"You're a charming young man, aren't you? We'll call you, but you can expect it to be here in around two weeks," she said, swiping his card through the machine. "You've got quite a magic touch when it comes to formalwear, you know. There isn't a man who comes in here who isn't at least somewhat lost. Who's the lucky girl?"
"Girl?" Andy asked, honestly caught off guard. He laughed though, he'd gotten too used to everyone knowing his sexuality, but it wasn't like he was wearing a huge sign over his head for the world to see. "Sorry to disappoint you, ma'am, but my date's this fine, strapping young man right here."
"What?" Brian blurted out, ready to not make a fool of himself this time. "He's not serious; don't listen to a word he says."
Seeing the saleswoman raise her eyebrow, Andy waved off Brian's comment. "He'll come around eventually."
She shrugged, handing Andy his receipts before coming back around to help Brian out. His session consisted of looking indecisively through the catalogues, his self-consciousness pricking at his side whenever either Christine or Andy would snicker.
"Okay guys, I get it, I have no idea what I'm doing. Would you like to help?"
"Now that you mention it…" Andy said, excited to put his eye for style to good use. With his help, or rather, with Andy doing all the deciding for him, Brian was holding his own receipts in no time, the trio more than ready to leave.
"That was actually pretty painless," Christine commented, pretty impressed with their tux selections. "It's totally awesome to have a gay best friend! I've totally been missing out for all these years!"
Andy grinned at the compliment, always happy to be appreciated. The two of them were too happy that the chore of picking Prom outfits was done to notice Brian visibly bristle from Christine's casual comment.
'What was that about?' Brian thought, shrugging it off. 'Maybe it's because she doesn't know about Brian. Or maybe I'm more jealous than I realize…'
--
The eight of them, Brian, Corey, Dallas, and James with their respective dates met in the Towers estate to take some pictures before heading out in Corey's limousine. Brian and Abigail put on a good show for everyone, so much so that it scared Corey how two people who hated each other as much as they did could act like a perfect couple that well. For the umpteenth time, Debbie and Alana got back together with Dallas and James, both of them squealing with delight when their ex-boyfriends showed some rare vulnerability by asking them to Prom.
'What a dysfunctional group, we're all a bunch of fakers,' Corey quipped to himself, remaining slightly aloof from his own impromptu date to mingle with the remainder of his Prom group. He put an arm around his date's waist as he helped her into the limo. 'She may be the only one here who isn't full of shit.'
--
"Oh, wow, it's amazing…" Brian said in awe, seeing the decorated ballroom, swathed in the dim light, the sides of the hall adorned with tables stocked full of refreshments, surrounded by sweating students shouting to be heard over the music.
Christine was hastily dragged by Garret right to the edge of the dance floor, her flowing white gown flapping around her matching heels. "Heel, Garret! Let's get a table first, I need somewhere to put my purse, and you're still wearing your jacket. We've got all the time in the world."
In no time at all, the six returned to the edge of the dance floor, Garret lavishing Christine with attention, making sure that the world knew who the prettiest girl on floor was.
"How long were you going to keep from me that you could dance, too?" She asked breathily, knowing that he was doing most of the work to make her look good.
"You never asked."
Brian and Andy left the couple alone, mostly awkwardly trying to dance alone to the beat of the music, amusing themselves by watching the mismatch of Helga and Lee dance together. Brian nudged Andy, gesturing back over at Garret.
"He can dance too?" He asked, slightly irritated that he was consistently being outclassed in every way by this man. "He looks like a pro."
Andy rolled his eyes, not even bothering to look, knowing what he would see. "He used to dance a lot of different styles when he was younger, then he learned that he could sing, and he liked that a lot better, apparently."
The song shifted, and all of a sudden, Christine realized that their group was no longer amongst them. She looked around, and guided Garret through the pulsing crowd, a sheen of sweat on their faces from the amplified heat of the surrounding bodies. She didn't miss the awkward time that Andy and Brian were having, and whispered a suggestion in Andy's ear that he seemed to take to almost too well.
'How do I know this is going to be bad for me…?' Brian thought, and almost on cue, Andy pushed himself directly in front of him, hands suddenly on Brian's hips forcing him to move with Andy to the music. There was an unmistakable smirk on Andy's lips, filled with a sudden confidence that came from nowhere while he was moving with someone else to music, even if it was barely consensual.
The other two couples were dancing around them as to somewhat shelter them from prying eyes.
'Win-win,' Christine thought. 'Andy gets to have some fun, and Brian's squirming in his skin right now.'
--
Corey whistled to himself as he worked a beeline around the dance floor, sure that he had long lost his date when he took her outside under the pretense of getting a little more 'intimate.' After all, what girl in their right mind could refuse an offer like that from him?
Just as he expected, the remaining six members of his Prom group were in the very center of the floor, Abigail Sinclair earning her reputation in Corey's mind as the biggest slut on the dance floor. Abigail's back was against Brian, but even if she was facing him, she was probably far too involved dancing to notice the bored and exasperated look on Brian's face.
Brian beamed when he saw his knight in shining armor come to rescue him, letting go of Abigail's body entirely. If she paid any heed, she wasn't showing it. Corey shook his head, and tapped Abigail gently on the shoulder. To his irritation, she was ignoring him. Against his better judgment that a scene was not the best thing to be making, he gently shoved her, just hard enough for her to lose her balance and fall softly on her behind.
The action caught the rest of his Prom group's attention, along with any other dancers in the immediate area. In any normal scenario, all hell would have broken loose, but any protests from Abigail were drowned out by the blaring music. Whatever she had to say caught painfully in her throat when Brian took a position in front of Corey, their foreheads almost touching as they danced fluidly to the song.
Abigail helped herself up, still too embarrassed from being pushed aside from her date to process what was going on. Dallas, James, and their dates were laughing at the scene, simply assuming that Corey was dancing with Brian to mock and humiliate Abigail. It was common knowledge that there was bad blood between the Corey and Abigail. As far as the school was concerned, it was only a matter of time before their apparent ceasefire came to a violent end.
No one seemed to notice that Corey and Brian stopped caring what everyone else thought, at least for this single sweet night.
--
"Are you okay with this?" Christine asked Garret. He nodded carefully, knowing that he really had no say in the matter, and that she would get her way regardless of what he thought or felt.
Apprehensively, the pair separated, and approached Brian and Andy respectively, both of which had by now returned to moving awkwardly alone to the music.
"Would you like to dance with me?" They asked, earning themselves mirroring looks of surprise from Brian and Andy. They both obliged, having a f
eeling that this was Christine's doing.
Brian and Andy appreciated having partners now to enjoy themselves with, and as long as the music was fast enough, the bass deep enough, they could pretend to not know who they were dancing with. Brian could pretend that he wasn't dancing with someone who forgot about him completely, Andy could pretend that this was the first time he's danced with Garret.
But the music shifted again, and to their terror, a slow song started, couples across the floor coming closer together, arms locking around shoulders and waists. Without much enthusiasm, the two new pairs did the same. Neither Christine nor Brian could bring themselves to make eye contact as they shifted slowly back and forth to the beat. Even Garret was cowed enough to look sheepish, Andy barely able to contain a dehumanizing glare as they moved to the music. Their bodies were close, but they were as far apart as strangers.
Across the floor, to the center, the slow song made everything painfully obvious to Abigail. When the beat settled down, she saw their faces, almost touching at this point, their bodies as close as possible without restricting their movement. They were at it way too long to be doing it out of spite for her. Even though she was barely a foot away from them, staring angrily in their direction, they clearly were in their own world.
The damning moment came when Brian settled his arms lower, against Corey's butt instinctively. Corey in turn readjusted his arms further across Brian's shoulders, pulling them close enough that their faces were against each other, their eyes staring deeply in the other's as they rode out the remainder of the song in each other's arms.
Dallas, James, Debbie, and Alana couldn't help but notice at this point, stopping what they were doing to see what was going on with them. Abigail was fuming, the dots connecting in her head. Their hickeys all those months back, they gave them to each other. She came to Corey to ask for help to figure out who Brian was cheating on her with, no wonder he never had anything to say. The school's heroes were gay for each other.
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