LOVE and SECRETS

A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

She walked over and took the necklace from him. "Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?" She hung it back up.

"Do you ever wear it?"

"The clasp is broken. It won't open anymore. So that's why I have it here." She looked at the floor. "Or I would wear it every day," she whispered.

He smiled at her comment. "Do you remember the day I gave it to you?" he asked, hoping she remembered it just as clearly as he did.

Do I remember? God yes. I like to imagine it ended drastically different from how it really happened. A girl can dream, right?

Her cheeks flushed. She looked up, and her eyes met his. "I do."

He stepped closer to her. "All of it?" he asked. 

She could feel her heart pounding against her chest. He tucked her hair behind her ear. Feeling his fingertips drag across her cheekbone made her knees weak and her core twitch. 

"After I put the necklace on before Annie called my name remember what we were going to do?" His voice was low and breathy. "Because I haven't forgotten."

He slowly leaned in and went to cradle her face. She quickly turned her head. "Y- you know I should really get back to my... I was... taking notes." She stepped back and picked her earbuds off the bed. 

JESUS F'IN CHRIST!  He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled back into his ponytail.

The silence and the tension in the room were equally uncomfortable. It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room, and a 100*

"What are you listening to? That song you were singing when I came in seemed pretty racy," he asked, filling the silence. "What are you listening to now?"

He took one of the buds and put it in his ear. He smiled. "Oh my God. This is like the school slow dance anthem. Remember?"

She put the other one in. Steve Perry was singing about being forever yours, Faithfully.

"I mean every dance. Sometimes, even twice in one night! Homecomings, Heart Hops, Spring formal, proms. I will say this: it is timeless. You know what I mean?"

She sat down on the edge of her bed. "I really wouldn't know. I never went to any of the dances. I guess I'll have to take your word for it. I'm sure Annie knows what you mean. She went to every dance. Even ones at other schools. She went to four homecomings one year."

He sat down beside her. "You didn't go to any of them? At all? I find that hard to believe."

"I was asked to Senior Prom." She picked up a bear and started to play with it's arms. "I ended up not going." 

"Did something happen?" he asked. The pain in her eyes was killing him. He would have taken her to every dance if she would have let him.

"I really don't want to talk about it. It's really embarrassing." Her voice was quiet.

He put his hand on hers. The butterflies came back. This time to both of them. "You can tell me. I won't judge you." Bodhi interlaced their fingers.

"Let's just say someone better came along." She felt the lump growing in her throat.

He looked confused and taken aback. "What does that mean?"

"I was asked because the person actually wanted to go with Andromeda. But she was going with someone else. I was like the dollar store version of her. But when she called off her date and was free, the guy who was going to take me ended up being able to go with her. It's okay. I understood. And she and Tommy make a cute couple."