lolita | bellerín

gratification

"Be a good baby,
do what I want."
------

Salome was the desire of every boy and the envy of every girl at her school. Oddly enough, she had not even one companion, either. She appeared shy, kind of like the girl next door—ironically, at that.

She focused during class, with the exception of a few daydreams here and there. She kept to herself and ignored any attempt made my any silly teenage boy to win her heart.

Even if she wanted to, she didn't think she really could involve herself with the other kids. Her accent was thick and she spoke quickly; her English was limited and her sentences were never constructed with proper grammar. She made sure, all in all, to stay on the down low. No one would ever suspect that she was the type to date a heartthrob like Hector.

So, when Jason Woodley—the heartthrob of Salome's school—dramatically asked the seventeen year old to their school's winter formal, Salome didn't really have any option other than that of saying yes. Mind you, the two had only talked once during a lab in chemistry, but it was enough for Jason, clearly.

So, now, Salome found herself confessing it all to Hector as they sat across from one another at the dinner table. "A boy asked me out today." She spoke, before biting into a slice of pizza.

Hector let out a quick breath. "What?"

"I said—"

"Well...did you say yes?" Hector felt himself grip onto his second beer of that night as he began to tap his foot, quickly.

Salome nodded. "I didn't really have a choice."

Hector scoffed. "Like hell, you did. You could've said you were gay. Or that you—"

"Hector." Salome felt her face burn. "He asked me in front of the entire school."

"Maybe I should talk to him—"

"You're not my father!" She set her pizza down. "I want to go to the dance. Everyone's going."

"Since when did you care about what everyone else was doing?"

"Since I actually had a chance to be a part of it."

"You want to dance? You can dance. I can take you to a club, and we can dance all you want." Hector grinned a little.

Salome face palmed herself. "Hector, it's just not the same." She muttered, almost sadly.

Hector stared at his girlfriend. He'd never gone to high school, not in the way that she did; there were no dances, or anything social. He couldn't sympathize with her, but he supposed he had an idea of how she was feeling. He sighed and nodded. "Alright, alright." He rose his eyebrows. "If you really want to go, then don't let me stop you."

Salome smiled and stood up, clasping her hands together. "Gracias!" She rushed over to him before easing herself in his lap. "I love you, I love you, I love you." She recited the three words like a mantra in between smothering his face with sweet kisses, causing Hector to beam as he tugged on one of her french braids.

"I can take you to get a dress. When is the dance?"

Salome drew in a breath of happiness. "This Saturday."

Hector licked his lips. "Can you do something for me, though?" His eyes fluttered to Salome's lips before tracing their way back to her eyes.

"Anything." Salome nodded, eagerly.

Hector ran a hand through his hair. "I'll meet you upstairs. I have to take care of something, first."

Salome smiled. "Okay."