Kinship (revised)

Chapter 6: Purple Skittles

I laughed as I hopped into my crappy blue Honda Sedan. I'd always pictured myself arriving to Prom in a limo or something of the sort. But here I was, in hundreds of dollars of clothes, driving my Grandpa's car.

Karen rode with Jake, so I was all alone. They'd asked if I'd like to ride with them, but i turned it down. I couldn't imagine how awkward it'd be riding in the back while hey make kissy faces at each other.

I flipped the radio station to something that I preferred and sang along until I arrived at the school parking lot. I'd never been a big fan of these types of dances. I always had high hopes that someone would notice me and I'd have one of those Cinderella-type nights. Of course that never happened, and usually resulted in me coming home to binge on ice cream.

I hopped out of my car and headed to the theater next to the school where they held the dance. My feet already began to hurt as I finally opened the door and saw the mass of people and lights. Semi-appropriate songs streamed the room and teens crowded around the middle. I wandered my way around, searching for Karen and Jake. I found them dancing and immediately made my way to the punch bowl.

Right then and there I knew it was going to be a long lonely night. I am a strong feminist individual, I reminded myself as I grabbed a cup of punch. I took a sip and immediately regretted it. No it wasn't spiked, but it sure as hell wasn't punch. I poked around to find a half empty jug of vitamin water. The "punch" was just colored vitamin water. A fit of laughter came over me as I realized this.

"Screw Michelle Obama." I laughed to myself, throwing the cup away.

"What's so funny?" Someone asked, and I turned to find Quinn.

"The punch is colored vitamin water." I replied in complete seriousness, causing him to laugh.

"Yet they have a giant bowl of skittles next to it." He chuckled grabbing a few of the skittles himself.

We both just sat their in a moment of silence. Looking at the ecstatic teens around us. For once, I didn't have a problem not being one of them.

"You know, the worst part of these dances is the music. Everything they play is absolute crap." He sighed, against the table, picking out purple skittles.

"Pretty much." I sigh as I begin the dig through the skittles myself.

"I don't know about you, but I think Prom is one giant cliche." He sighs casually dropping the other colors back in the bowl.

"It usually just leads to disappointment." I added, as I picked out the green skittles.

"Green?" He commented, raising an eyebrow at the skittle choice.

"Greens the best. Citrus with a bit of sourness." I smirked, chewing on a few green skittles.

"No, it's purple. Grape, and it reminds me of Dr. Pepper." He argued stealing a few from my own palm.

"Well, I can't be friends with someone who likes purple." I sighed, turning my back to him.

"And I can't be friends with someone who's loves Green." He sighed also turning his back.

I let out a laugh turning towards him again, but he still had his back to me. That's when I realized, I liked Quinn. It washed over me so quickly, that for a minute I zoned out.

"Annnnnnn? Ann? Annnnn?" Quinn repeated waving a hand in front of my face.

"Hrrm?" I questioned snapping out of my daydreaming.

"We were debating the superior skittle color and you just zoned out completely. Are you okay?" He asked, raising his eyebrow again.

"Yeah, yeah, just thinking" I replied, giving him a little smile.