Bully Story

The Dance, Part 2

Gwen had gotten a little ways into the mass of teenagers when she started to feel weird. The colors of the lights flashing in the gym seemed a little more blurry than before, which confused her. Luckily, it didn't bother her too much and she felt really happy. She moved with the people around her, but didn't have much of a sense of direction. What was she doing again? Oh yeah, looking for Pete. She took a few determined steps before a hand landed on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Hey, girl. Good to see you here," a voice said. Gwen stumbled in place, then turned to see Ricky there.

"Oh, hey, Ricky!" she giggled. Normally she would be a little nervous around him, but now she felt sociable and excited. "What are you supposed to be?"

He looked down out his outfit. "Myself, I guess," he laughed.

She laughed, too. A lot. "That's funny. Know what I am?"

"A pretty little kitten?" he grinned at her, stroking her cheek with the backs of his fingers.

"Close, but no," she laughed, putting his hand down. She clumsily pulled her ascot over her nose. "I'm a cat burglar! See?"

"Clever," he laughed. "Say, I bet the boys would love to see your costume. Wanna come with me?"

"Sure! I think I was doing something, but I forget what it was. Let's go," she rambled. He smiled and took her hand, leading her through the sea of bodies. The bass felt louder than before, and it was beginning to hurt her head. Ricky's hand was really warm. Speaking of warm, she felt really hot. Weird. They came to a group of people dressed similarly to Ricky, all leather jackets and cigarettes in the corner of the gym. Gwen frowned. She didn't like smoking.

"Hey, guys," Ricky said, pulling Gwen beside him. "This is Gwen. Ain't she cute?"

"Oh, is this the girl you've been talking about?" one of them asked.

"Sure is."

Gwen's head throbbed a little. She tried to focus on the guy talking to her, but he wouldn't stay still long enough for her to get a read on him.

"Oh! Who is this sweet little thing?" a girl asked. Gwen shook her head, trying to focus. The girl's image slowly became more coherent, her brown bob bouncing in the flashing lights. Gwen couldn't really tell, but she imagined that the girl was really pretty.

"Wow, you look really pretty," Gwen announced shyly.

"Aww! She is just the cutest little morsel," the girl said, hugging Gwen. It was a surprise, to be sure, but Gwen was happy to be so appreciated in this new group of people. "I'm Lola, honey. Trust me, Ricky'll treat you real good. Won't you?"

"Sure thing," he answered, tossing an arm around her shoulder. "Gwen, this fella here is Lucky. He's got a smart mouth, but he's an alright guy."

"That's more or less true," Lucky laughed, taking a sip from his drink. Gwen giggled, too. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Seems like your girl's already ahead of the game."

Ricky stopped, concerned. "Hey, kid," he turned her to face him. "How many of those things did you have?"

"Oh, I don't know," she giggled, trying and failing to take a step back. "Maybe three or four. They tasted kinda weird. Probably had pineapple in 'em."

"Dang," he laughed, relaxing. "You're tougher than you look, girlie."

"Well, sure," she said, wobbling in his grip. "I put up with you in shop class all the time."