Blandview High Musical

79. Unholy

"Prom night is coming soon! Make sure you buy your tickets in advance!" Anna shouted. She was sitting at a table with Courtney. There was a cash box between the two of them, flanked by flyers for prom night. Tommy and I walked up to the table. They were selling in the cafeteria, so there was a lot of noise. Courtney wouldn't make eye contact with me. "How much are the tickets?" I asked Anna. "Oh, I'm almost certain you and that greasy trailer trash cannot afford prom tickets." She was. "My money's just as good as anyone's." Tommy said. I placed my hand on his chest. "Don't get her started." I said. "Keep your dog on a tighter leash, Demofonte." She said. Other people had walked up behind us. I rolled my lips together. "See? There's no need for that kind of language." I said. "Why not? God, you are all such white trash." "Says the stupid bitch that's dating Terror Billy." "You shut your fucking mouth." She said.

"What the hell is going on over here?" Jade asked walking up. She was with Donnie. The stick of a Blow Pop was stuck between her lips. "Take your skanky friend and get lost, Tondre." Anna said. "Where is Mrs. Whittle? I'd rather do business with her." "She's not here right now." Anna pressed. "What's twenty-five times six?" Jade asked, shuffling through her wallet. "It's one fifty." Donnie answered. She pulled the money from her wallet. "Let's just get this over with." She said, offering Anna the money. "You're just showing off." Courtney took the money from her, putting it in the box. She reached under the table, feeling around for the ticket box. "It will always be a thorn in your side that my parents have always had more money than yours, won't it?" Jade asked. "You two are perfect for each other." She said to Jade and Donnie. Courtney had the tickets in her hand. She handed them to Jade. She took the tickets from Courtney and plucked two out. "Here." She said to me. "Oh, I—" "Spare me the pay my own way bullshit, Gilly." She said. I smiled, taking the ticket from her. "I hope you know you're the only person to peer pressure me into ANYTHING." I said. "I doubt that." She said.

She handed one to Tommy. "Dress nicely." "As opposed to normally?" He questioned. "Better than normally." She added. "One's mine isn't it?" Donnie asked, looming against her shoulder. She offered him one. "Thank you." He said, taking it from between her fingers. "I'll be right back." He said, shoving it in his pocket and turning around to walk away. "Did the two of you finally kiss and make up?" I asked. "I wouldn't call it that. But we did decide that since both of us equally care for the other...we should stop trying to fight it." Jade said. I smiled. "That sounds like a good idea." I said. "Has anyone seen Damien and Caylie?" Jade asked. "I'm not sure where they are. They've been super elusive." I said as we walked to the table. Just then, Joe walked in with several of his friends. Tommy looked up to meet his eye sight. Joe just turned and walked the other way, ignoring him.

"Do you want me to go say something?" Jade asked, noticing the interaction, or lack thereof. "No. He made his choice. I might as well just let it go and get on with my life." "He only did it because he's trying to appease his parents." I said. "I know..." Tommy responded. Joe wasn't paying attention as he navigated through the people and smashed right into Donnie. "Hey, watch where you're walking." Donnie said. "Just get out of my way." Joe snapped. Donnie scoffed. "What are you so pissed off about?" Donnie asked. "I said move." Joe repeated. Donnie stepped to the side and Joe passed him. It was true that Joe's parents had given him an ultimatum of either go ahead and be gay but find a different place to live. Or the choice behind door number 2: be normal until the school year is over, but once you go to college and carve that life for yourself, don't come back here. In the long run, the outcome would still be the same. He wouldn't be welcome back into the family unless he came home with a good paying job and a girlfriend who he had been dating for a few years to prove he wasn't a "homo". And of course, desperate to continue the relationship with his parents and to keep peace at home, Joe took door number 2. It meant sacrificing his friendship and budding relationship with Tommy. It was hard to pretend like he didn't care about it ending or even still care about Tommy. He didn't even know how to tell Tommy the TRUTH. Instead he just started ignoring him and began erasing him from his life. Tommy had called and called until finally he got frustrated and left Joe a very angry voicemail. It sounded something like this: