Lend Me Your Heart

Eighteen

“Yo, princess!” I heard someone call from behind me. I turned my head back to see Jake walking towards me with his usual crew in back of him. He smirked and threw his arm around my shoulders, like he always did when he saw me now that he knew what my name was (even though he very rarely used it).

“Where’s your boy at?” he asked, his mouth dangerously close to my ear.

“You mean Joey?” I asked, inching my head away from his.

“No, I mean your boyfriend. Zach.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.

“Good to know,” he said, winking at me. “Anyway. Remember that time you didn’t feel well and couldn’t come to that college party with me?”

I sighed and nodded, having a feeling where he might be going with this.

“I found a way you could make it up to me,” he said. “Prom?”

I swear I threw up a little in my mouth. Ever since I met Jake, I started to regret every second I ever spent talking to him, because each time I did, I felt like I was loosing brain cells. “Uh…” I choked, my face flushing. “I-um…I…I’ll have to think about it.”

“What do you mean ‘think about it’? You’re single. I’m single. I like you. You like me,” he started. Wrong, I thought, I don’t like you at all.

“Come on baby cakes. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to go to prom with me. Not every girl is so lucky,” he said with an evil grin. “Besides, it’s my last one and I want to go with a girl as memorable as you, Layne.”

I sighed, rolling my eyes once before smirking at him. Plus, I couldn’t embarrass him in front of his friends. He obviously brought them as witnesses to make me feel more uncomfortable if I thought about saying no. I mean, at least he was attempting to be cute, right?

“Fine,” I said. “But only because it’s your senior prom and nobody else asked me.”

Not even Zach. Not even the goddamn love of my life.

“Sweet!” Jake said, fist-pounding his friends’ knuckles.

Suddenly, I felt a hand whack my butt. I gasped, blushing a deep red while Jake laughed hysterically, walking away from me in satisfaction.

“Thanks a lot, princess!” he called, continuing to laugh. I mentally slapped myself. What did I just do?

“You guys are going to prom together?” I beamed, looking from Joey back to Sarah.

They both nodded, blushing slightly. I’d grown apart from my original friend group, but we still sat together at lunch. We just hung out less and whenever I had a conversation with either Matt, Casey, or Sarah it was always pretty awkward.

On the bright side, though, I was starting to get back into my original routine; I wasn’t as depressed. I’d finally convinced myself that Zach didn’t want me or love me anymore. He was going to college and I needed to get over him. I buried my love for him deep inside myself and ignored the pain long enough to start feeling like my old self again, and I think that helped with my friendships.

Casey and Matt would be going to prom as well, even though Casey was just a sophomore, because prom was for seniors as well and juniors and it didn’t matter what grades their dates were in.

“Um, Layne, if you don’t mind me asking…” Casey started, “Are you going?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, feeling a little self-conscious. “Jake asked me.”