WITHOUT YOU ||Vmin ff

CHAPTER 6

I doubt if the evening could have been much worse, if you want to know the truth. Most of my friends kept their distance, and jimin didn't have many friends to begin with, so we spent most of our time alone. Even worse, it turned out that my presence wasn't even required anymore. They'd changed the rule owing to the fact that taemin couldn't get a date, and that left me feeling pretty miserable about the whole thing as soon as I found out about it. But because of what his father had said to me, I couldn't exactly take him home early, now, could I? And more than that, he was really having a good time; even I could see that. He loved the decoration I'd helped put up, he loved the music, he loved everything about the dance. To be honest, I was depressed for at least the first hour, though he didn't seem to notice.

       Jimin had to be home by eleven o'clock, an hour before the dance ended, which made it somewhat easier for me to handle. Once the music started we hit the floor, and it turned out that he was a pretty good dancer, considering it was his first time and all. He followed my lead pretty well through about a dozen songs, and after that we headed to the tables and had what a resembled an ordinary conversation.

   So things weren't too terrible at first and really no worse than i had expected. It wasn't until Jennie and kai showed up that everything really went sour.

  They showed up a few minutes after we arrived. He was wearing that stupid t-shirt. Jennie hung all over him right from the beginning of the dance, and it didn't take a genius to realize she'd had a few drinks before she got there. Her dress was really flashy.

Well, good old Kai spiked the punch bow, and a few more people started getting tipsy. By the time the teachers found out, most of the punch was already gone and people were getting that glassy look in their eyes. When I saw Jennie gobble up her second glass of punch, I knew i should keep my eye on her. Even though she'd dumped me, i didn't want anything bad happen to her. She was the first girl I'd ever kiss, and even though our teeth clanked together so hard the first time we tried it that I saw stars and had to take aspirin when I got home, I still had feelings for her.

   So there I was sitting with jimin, barely listening anything watching Jennie out of the corner of my eyes, when Kai spotted me looking at her. In one frenzied motion he grabbed Jennie around the waist and dragged her over the table, giving me one of those looks, the one that "means business." You know the one I'm talking about.

"Are you staring aty girl?" He asked, already tensing up.

"No."

"Yeah, he, was" Jennie said, kind of slurring out the words. "He was staring at me. This is my old boyfriend, the one i told you about."

His eyes turned into little slits, just like Mr. Park were prone to do. I guess i have this effect on lots of people.

So you're the one," he said, sneering.

Now, I'm not much of a fighter. The only real fight I was ever in was in third grade, and i pretty much lost that one when I started to cry even before the guy punched me. Usually i didn't have much trouble staying away from things like this because of my passive nature, and besides, no one messed with me when Jungkook was around. But Jungkook was off with yoongi somewhere.

"I wasn't staring," I said finally, "and i don't know what she told you, but i doubt if it was true."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you calling Jennie a liar?" He sneered.

Oops.

I think he would have hit me right there, but jimin suddenly worked his way into the situation.
      "Don't I know you?" He said cheerfully, looking right at him. Sometimes jimin seemed oblivious of situation that were happening right in front of him.

"Wait yes, i do. You work in the garage downtown. And your grandma lives out on my way to home."

"How do you know all that? What he'd do, tell you about me too?"

"No," jimin said, "don't be silly." He laughed to himself. Only jimin could find humour at a time like this. "I saw your picture in your grandma's house. I was walking by, she needed some help bringing in the groceries.

Kai was looking at jimin as though he has cornstalks growing out of her eyes.

  Meanwhile jimin was fanning herself with his hand." Well, we were just sitting down to take breather from all that dancing.

"Thanks," i mumbled sheepishly, realizing that jimin jimin! Was the one who'd saved me from grave bodily harm.

Jimin looked at me strangely. "For what?" He asked, and when I didn't exactly spell it out for him.

It turns out that it wasn't the last we saw Kai and Jennie that evening. The two glasses of punch had really done Jennie in, and she threw up all over the ladies rest room. Kai, being the classy guy he was, left when he heard her retching. Sort of slinking out the way he came in, and that was the last I saw of him. Jimin was the one who found Jennie in the bathroom, and it was obvious that Jennie was not doing too well. The only option was to clean her up and take her home before the teachers found out about it. Getting drunk was a big deal, and she'd looking at suspension, maybe even expulsion, if she got caught.

Jimin, bless his heart, didn't want that to happen anymore than I did, though i would have thought otherwise if you'd asked me beforehand, owing to the fact that Jennie was a minor and in violation of the law. Jimin probably took one look at Jennie and thought "wounded critters" or something like that and took immediate charge of the situation. I went off and located Jungkook and he agreed to stand guard at the bathroom door while jimin and I went in to tidy it up. Jennie had done marvelous job, i tell you. The puke was everywhere except the toilet. The walls, the floors, the sinks even on the ceiling, though don't ask me how she did that. So there I was perched on all fours, cleaning up puke at the homecoming dance in my best suit, which was exactly what I had wanted to avoid at first place. And jimin, my date, was on all fours, too, doing exactly the same thing.

I could practically hear taemin laughing a squeaky, maniacal laugh somewhere in the distance.

We ended up sneaking out the back door of the gym, keeping Jennie stable by walking on the either side of her. She kept asking where Kai was, but jimin told her not to worry. I doubt if she even knew who was speaking. We loaded Jennie into the backseat of my car, where she passed out immediately, although not before she'd vomited once more on the floor of the car. The smell was awful that we had to roll down the window to keep from gagging, and the drive to Jennie house seemed extra long. Her mother answered the door, took one look at her daughter, and bought her inside without so much as a word of thanks. I think she was embarrassed, and we really didn't have much to say to her anyway. The situation pretty much spoke fir itself.

By the time we dropped her off it was ten forty five, and we drove straight back to jimin's. I was really worried when we got there because of the way he looked and smelled, and I said a silent prayer hoping that mr. Park wasn't awake. Oh, he'd probably listen to jimin if he was one who told him about it but had the sinking feeling and he'd find a way blame me anyway.

So I walked him to the door, and we stood outside. Jimin crossed his arms and smiled a little, looking just as if he'd come in form an evening stroll where he'd contemplated the beauty of the world.

"Please don't tell your father about this," i said

"I won't," he said. He kept on smiling when he finally turned my way. "I had a good time tonight thank you for taking me to the dance. "

Here he was, covered in puke, actually thanking me for the evening. Park jimin could really drive a guy crazy sometimes.