Pariah ✔

5 - You And Me

★ ★ ★

Prom night... It was every girl's dream. Although Alesia never had high expectations of it, she had fantasized about it now and then. But now her exams were done, Prom was tomorrow and nobody had asked her. 

Of course no one had asked her. 

She knew they called her scar face behind her back, so who would want to hold her arm on a night like that? 

She didn't have a lot of friends anyway. Actually, Esai was the only one. But he became a very close one, she had to admit that. It was just hard to make friends if you were forced to leave two great guys like Angel and Gilly behind, especially when knowing you would have to say goodbye to your new friends by the end of the year anyway. She was often on the phone with Gilly, but Angel had never been the guy who liked to call. However, next week they would come over to Oakland to celebrate their graduation. It made her chest feel a little lighter. 

A pebble hit the window. Although she knew who had thrown it, she walked over to the wall and looked outside. Below her, on the street, Esai waved at her, his typical smirk adorning his handsome face. 

He could have rang the doorbell too. He could even simply walk in. Yet, he always announced his arrival with this. Whether he was simply fucking lazy or had copied this move from some movie thinking it was cool, she didn't know. 

She wasn't the least surprised that he had shown up in front of her house; he always stopped by unannounced, taking her for a walk or to hang out at the clubhouse. Close to her grandmother's house was an enormous oak where they use to sit and talk. It was her most favorite place in Oakland, perhaps because it was the only thing that felt like hers. 

"I'm curious as hell to your dress tomorrow," Esai smirked, sitting down in the grass with his back against the tree. He lit a smoke. "Never seen you wear one."

"Well you're neither going to see it tomorrow," she answered, rolling her eyes. 

Frowning, he looked aside. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not going."

"Of course you're going!"

A sad sigh rolled over lips. She wrapped her arms around her knees, leaning with her chin on her knees. "No one asked me and I won't go alone."

"Of course no one asked you, the whole school knows you're going to prom with me."

"It's okay, Esai. I don't need pity."

"Pity?" He turned towards her, laying a hand on her knee. She swallowed – getting used to his touches was simply impossible. It made her feel hot all over. For months she was ignoring the effect he had on her mind and body, but the feelings always came back. Hard. "I didn't even think about asking someone else," he said. His eyes met hers, then he suddenly looked away, his cheeks slightly turning red. "I thought it was obvious that we were going together."

Alesia didn't know how to respond. To her, it had been anything but obvious. Esai could get whatever chick he wanted, girls were always giggling and blushing when he walked past them. 

"So you better hurry up and get yourself a pretty dress huh," he said, bumping her knee and giving her a cocky grin. His confidence was back. 

She smiled softly, glad she wasn't the type of girl that would stress over a piece of clothe. 

★ ★ ★

It was a dark green vintage cocktail dress that she was wearing the next night. Because she wanted to feel pretty for one night, she wore a black and golden Venetian eye mask, made of polyester and lace. Of course everyone knew what scar was underneath it and maybe this would only stress her mutilation, but she wanted to pretend that what had happened almost a year ago wasn't affecting her. Not this night.