Glory Days

Chapter 31: Prom... Now What?

-Rylee-

Prom was a dream, a wonderful dream. I had so much fun with my friends, but especially with Henry. At first, I was nervous, but when we arrived at the Wilton Knoll Inn, all my worries went away. The theme was 'Masquerade Nights', so I found a golden mask that matched my dress.

The following Monday, I skip eating lunch in the cafeteria and head over to Mr. G's office. His door is open, so peak my head in and see him sitting at his desk, eating his lunch.

"Hey Mr. G, could I eat lunch in your office today?" I ask him. Recently I've been eating lunch with Mr. G and talking about just random stuff in life.

"Yes of course! How was prom?" He asks as I sit across from him.

"It was great. I had so much fun." I say and smile.

"See, I told you it would be fun." He says and smiles back.

"I know, I know. I just worry sometimes."

"Don't we all." He says and chuckles. "So, how was it with Henry?"

"I had so much fun with him all night, and the slow dance... that was nice." I say.

"That's nice." He says. We eat some of our lunch quietly. "You're not trying to hide from him, are you?"

"What?" I ask him, confused.

"Well, have you seen him since Prom?"

"No? It was on Friday, and it's Monday." I say. "And I don't have any morning classes with him either."

"Oh, right." He says and takes a bite of his sandwich. "So, is there anything else you want to talk about.?"

"Um... so say I like him." I say. Mr. G smiles when I say this.

"You are hiding."

"Maybe." I say sheepishly.

"Well, I could see that you two were a little more than friends. I mean, you could tutor anyone, but with the amount of dedication you gave Henry to help pull up his grades." Mr. G. says.

"Yeah." I say.

"So, why are you hiding from him?" Mr. G. asks. I think for a second while eating. Why am I hiding from him right now?

"I guess I'm scared. What if he doesn't like me like I like him? How much do I like him? What if he likes me, but doesn't do anything?"

"Rylee, these are the what if's that don't matter. What do you do when you think too many what if's?"

"Tell them no, these are not real thoughts." I say, remembering what my therapist said when I first started my sessions. Mr. G said his sister also had what if thoughts that he helped her through.

"Right. So how about we see what happens today and see what his thoughts are. But don't over think anything. You can even come to me afterschool to think things through, if you want." He says and smiles.

"Ok. So, I should just act... normal?"

"Yes, just act normal, but knowing that prom happened." Mr. G says as the lunch bell rings. "Alright, time for you to get to your drum, we have work to do!"

I smile and pick up my things, then walk to the back of the room and put my stuff down. I pull out my music and set up the timpani for 'Variations On America' (Arr. Ives). I look over at the snare, which Henry is setting up. His music falls off the stand as he looks of his drumsticks.

"Need some help?" I ask him, walking over to the snare.

"Uh, yeah that would be nice." He says, picking up the music on the floor. I kneel down on the floor and help him pick up the music and his missing drum stick. He looks up and smiles. "Oh, hey I didn't realize it was you. Thank you."

"No problem!" I say. We stand up at the same time, our eyes lock onto each other. "Here's your music." I say, still looking at him.

"Thanks." He says, still looking down at me.

"Hey Rye, where were you during lunch?" Lily asks, making me look away from Henry's gorgeous eyes.

"Uh, Mr. G's office. Why?" I ask her. She smirks at me.

"Mhm, sure." She says, looking back and forth between Henry and I.

"No really, you can ask him. I meant to tell you but I just kinda wandered into his office, you know?" I say. Lily looks at me like she's trying to tell if I'm saying the truth, then gives Henry the same look. He shrugs, very confused.

"Ok, just let us know next time." She says.

"Of course." I say. Lily smiles and walks to her seat.

"What was that about?" Henry asks.

"Oh, you know, just protective friend things." I say and shrug. They have a good reason to be protective though...

"Ah. So you ate lunch with Mr. G?" He asks.

"Oh, yeah. Sometimes I do and talk about random things. They say it's good for me to have an adult other than a parent to talk to about... you know." I say.

"Ah, that's great." Henry says.

"Trumpets, are you ready for the second movement?" Mr. G asks.

"Well, off to the timpani I go." I say.

"I'll come visit you, if Cori allows it." Henry says and smirks. I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, he most likely won't." I say and walk back to the timpani.

--

After we finish playing, I pack up the timpani when I notice Henry looking at me, smiling.

"Need some help?" Henry asks as I put the cover on one of them.

"Yeah, that would be great." I say. He helps me finish packing the timpani then asks,

"Hey, do you want to go somewhere quiet?"

"Yeah." I say, not knowing why. I follow him over to the Drumline box fort that was never thrown away, and we quiet walk behind the cardboard walls. He looks down at me and smiles.

"This is where I told you that I would always protect you." He says, smiling. I smile back and nod. "Rylee, I really like you, a lot."

I start to blush. "I really like you too." I whisper back.

"Rylee, will you go out with me?" He asks.

"Yes!" I say excitedly.

--

On the bus I sit next to Emme, smiling from ear to ear.

"Well someone's excited." She says.

"So, I have some news." I say. Emme nods. "Henry asked me out!"

"Oh my gosh no way! That's great!" Emme says.

"I know. I was so worried after prom that something, or nothing would happen. But he just asked me, in the band room, in our special spot." I say, smiling.

"Wow, that's really great Rylee." Emme says.

"Yeah." I say, smiling.