Speech and Debate Pt. 10

I didn't often have the opportunity to rescue him, so I took it.

"I don't want him to," I shot to Adam. "I want him to go with her. It...it doesn't matter to me if anyone knows...about...us. I mean, I appreciate your support. But don't blame Daniel. He offered. I want to keep him to myself, as much as I can. If that makes sense."

I stammered through the speech, unsure how to put into words what I needed to convey. With Daniel, it was simpler; I didn't need to use logic or make total sense and he would just...get it. He was Daniel. I'd never tried to verbalize this to someone else. It only served to prove the entire point of what I couldn't express: Daniel and I were something unto ourselves; other people complicated things and screwed with the laws that ruled our relationship.

Adam stared at me for a long moment. From the corner of my eye, I saw Daniel visibly relax.

"Understood," Adam finally said with a nod. "The Limo's here. Hurry it up you two, don't wanna be late."

He turned and left without closing the door behind him.

Daniel's eyes were still wide when he finally turned to me.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Are you?"

He nodded and gestured for me to leave before him. I started to walk out but turned before I left.

"Daniel, can we..." I started. His lips stopped my words and sent my mind into space. When I floated back into my body Daniel was smiling at me.

"I got something for you. I almost forgot," he said. The world was still fuzzy but I think I tried to nod in confirmation that at least I'd heard him speak.

I felt his fingers at my lapel. When I looked I saw that he had pinned a white and red rose boutineer to my lapel. I have no idea where he had gotten it from, but it matched the one that stood out on his own broad chest. Almost perfectly. The one on Daniel's breast was surrounded by small blue blossoms. Mine was surrounded by small red blossoms.

"I get the blue one, because you are wearing blue," he explained. "You get the red to match me wearing red. This way, even though we aren't there together, you get a little bit of me, and I get a little bit of you."

He finished attaching the flower to my coat and straightened it on my shoulders, dusting me off, though I didn't need it. His thumb came to my face and wiped across my cheek. I felt wetness. I hadn't realized I cried.

"I thought you would like that." He kissed me softly. "Okay then. Here we go."

I walked down the stairs like a zombie. At least I assume I did. He could have very well carried me over his shoulder like a caveman, I really don't remember. My brain was elsewhere and my muscles worked on autopilot and the grace of god alone.

The limo was an...experience.

I climbed in still in my half zombie state and Daniel slid in next to me. Tall Paul, Gordon, and Ian sat on the far seat closest to the back and their dates, Amanda, Katy, and Adrienne took up one row along a side wall. Daniel and I sat across from them.

"DAVID!" Tall Paul roared and raised his fists in the air. "Dude, you clean up nice!"

His words slurred. Seemed our Paul was already two sheets to wind. He would have to pace himself or we'd get ourselves thrown out.

Ian and Gordon echoed their own compliments as well; but it was the girls reactions that surprised me the most. They actually turned to me as one, all three heads clearly sizing me up, scanning from the tip of my head to the bottom of my rental shoes. And then in one creepy move straight out of the Stepford Wives, they smiled identical smiles and cocked their head to the left just slightly.

"You do look good," Katy said from the middle.

"Thanks," I replied, unsure if I should be worried that they were going to kidnap me for some nefarious popular girl plot. I felt very "Carrie" all of a sudden.

The drive to pick up Amy, the last of us to join the group, passed with amiable chit chat and whoops of boyish testosterone from the back row.

I waited in the car with the rest of the people as Daniel went inside to retrieve his date. I was suddenly very aware of just how out of place I was without Daniel there. I hadn't realized how much he had become like my armor and shield in the strange land he inhabited. I may know the sights and have a few blossoming friendships, but I was still a visitor in their prestigious world.

Daniel retook his seat next to me on the smallest bench and Amy climbed in after him, a floor length red spaghetti strap couture gown clinging to her tiny frame. Say what you will about the woman, you couldn't deny that she was quite beautiful. Or that her dress most likely cost as much as my car.

The girls parted to make room for their leader without the need for words. Amy didn't even look back before she sat. She fully expected that whoever was in the way of her descending backside would be gone before she had to come into contact with them. And she was correct.

The Stepford girls creepy smiles were nothing to the ice cold death glare that Amy gave me. There wasn't even a hint of a smile on her features. She stared at me for a heartbeat and then...I ceased to exist for her. She turned to the girls and started talking about this and that as if I had suddenly gone invisible and she didn't even care to wonder how or why.

Daniel sighed, squeezed my thigh for a second and called to the driver that we were ready to go.

The amount of money allotted for the Varsity Baseball team seemed almost paltry when compared to the vast wealth the PTA moms could raise for Senior Prom. The theme for the dance was "Old Hollywood," and they had gone all out, no expenses spared, no punches pulled. There were small countries who could have run full tilt for a year on what this one night must have cost those women.

Red velvet hung in heavy swaths from all the windows that lined the long walls of the massive ballroom. Crystal and gold chandeliers dripped elegance from the painted and plastered ceiling while brass and gold filigree sparkled on the wallpapered walls. Gold table cloths covered a sea of round tables, each seating ten people at fully laid place settings with white and gold china and more forks than any one person could ever logically need in the course of a given meal. Lilies and lilacs and white roses spilled from vases on all the tables and tall marble plinths spaced regularly around the room. Someone had taken the time, or paid someone else to take the time more likely, to paint the tips of every single flower with gold paint. They had, quite literally, gilded the lilies.

An honest-to-god red carpet, complete with red velvet dividing ropes on brass poles to hold back the paparazzi, lined the path to the photography area where no fewer than six cameras flashed like fireflies, foreshadowing the approaching languid southern summer nights. Projectors mounted to the ceilings showed 1930's and 40's hollywood era Silent Movies against the wall paper all over the wall. Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Veronica Lake, Cary Grant and many more stars from a bygone era stared down at my classmates and I in our finery. I wondered how many of my peers could name any of them, much less the title of a film they had starred in. My hopes were not high for those odds.

When we entered the room, as I tried to acclimate myself to the glitz and glamour of the space itself, our group was ushered into the line to take the obligatory prom photo. My nerves began to show and I had to wipe a sheen of sweat from my brow. My companions were arm in arm with their dates, waiting patiently and adjusting their ties and vests in preparation. While I watched Amy hook her arm around Daniel's elbow, I was suddenly very much alone.

I would be taking this photo solo. It shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did. I was used to being alone after all. I had spent the vast majority of my life to that point as a self prescribed loner. But this was somehow different.

Each of my teammates took their photos, smiling broadly and gripping their waifish dates around the waist as the lights flashed brightly around them.

"Don't you have a date, guy?" The primary photographer asked as I took my place in front of the photo backdrop of Grauman's Chinese Theater, complete with brass stars in the sidewalk.

"No. I'm here alone," I muttered, suddenly embarrassed by the fact. The photographer shrugged, told me where to look and snapped the photo before I even had time to obey. I was still in a flash-blinded daze when he called out: "NEXT!"

"We wanna get one of the team," I heard Daniel say from the far side of the photo area. I saw him disentangling Amy's claws from his arm as he prodded the other three boys to join him in front of backdrop again.

"Alright.," the photographer said with obvious annoyance. Fuck him. This night wasn't about him anyways. He was leaving with a check in his pocket.

"Ian, Gordon, get your asses over here," Daniel barked like a drill sergeant. Those he called obeyed on the double. Paul was already at Daniel's side.

"Get in here David," Paul quipped and motioned me to take a spot in the line up with a jerk of his head.

"You guys go ahead," I tried to dissuade him.

"Get your ass in here, dude," Ian shot back. "Get in the middle."

Ian and Paul made a little space for me to get between them with Daniel and Gordon on my right. I couldn't help but think of the old Sesame Street song: "One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong."

I draped my right arm over Daniel's shoulder and did the same to Paul on my left. I felt Paul's arm on top of my own.

Then I felt Daniel's hand on the small of my back. He pressed firmly and then ever so slowly slid his hand over the curve of my ass, coming to settle on my left ass check with deliberate and constant pressure. My eyes must have widened and I am quite sure I lost any powers of concentration I may have otherwise possessed. I didn't even hear the photographer count down.

A blinding flash of white and we were ushered off the stage yet again.

The dance itself began in earnest. I found place at a large round table and took a seat to survey the spectacle. It wasn't long before Gordon and Paul were obviously tipsy. The chaperones must have been willfully ignoring their intoxication because it was not hard to spot them with their bright silver flasks. They were not even attempting to be subtle.

"Come and dance, little dude!" Paul slurred to me on one of his semi-drunken twirls around the floor. "At least take a swig."

He held out his flask to me in shaky fingers, eyes drooping and begin to glaze.

"Trust me, Pauly," I began," You are going to need that alcohol more than me. It's a disinfectant after all. And you are here with Katy."

That seemed to confuse him a bit, my witticism flying over his drunken head. He shrugged, took another long swig from the flask, and wandered back into the pulsing crowd of dancers.

"Mind if I take a seat?" came a deep voice at my shoulder.

I looked up and stared directly into the smiling face of Coach B. He looked extremely handsome in his classic black tuxedo. No few of the single female teachers would be vying for his attention this evening, to be sure.

"Of course."

Coach settled himself into a seat next to mine and we watched the dancers for a moment. I saw Daniel and Amy twirl by at one point.

"He's certainly something, isn't he?" Coach B asked quietly.

"Mmhmm," I replied, not even realizing that he could have meant any one of the boys arrayed in front of me. I had eyes only for Daniel.

"You've been good for him."

That got my attention.

I turned to look at him and did my best to hide the disbelief that must have painted my features. I felt the blood drain from my skin and I tried to come up with something, anything, to say that might change the subject. Coach B rescued me before I could speak.

"Don't look so stunned, David. It's not like you can exactly hide it all that well. And not every old man like me is some bigoted ass hole. I had my share of wild times at your age, believe you me."

"You did?" I couldn't think of anything else to say. I know it was a vapid response, but I just felt the need to keep him talking.

"Of course. Nothing like what you and Daniel have, not from the little I've seen anyways."

"What exactly gave us away?" I asked, genuinely curious. He had made it clear that denial was out of the question at this point. Coach B knew and Coach B didn't care. A few weeks ago I would have been trembling in a pool of my own urine at the thought of the mere possibility of this interaction, but I was strangely calm now that it was happening.

"I saw you two in the shower that first morning. And I forgot my bag one evening and accidentally caught the tail end of something in Daniel's jeep. I had to run like the god damned wind to get back to my office when Daniel saw me. I didn't want to freak him out too bad, so I just waited till the coast was clear."

"That was YOU!?" I squeaked. Several people turned towards me, so I lowered my voice. "Daniel's been going crazy for days trying to figure out who it was. He thought he was losing his marbles and he imagined the whole thing."

"I didn't mean to scare you guys, just didn't want to interrupt is all."

My face flushed and I looked down.

"Hey. None of that, okay? It's very obvious that you two care for each other. Don't be ashamed of that."

"I'm not."

I looked up and found Daniel looking towards me. He noticed Coach B seated next to me and his face grew concerned. I smiled at him warmly, more warmly than was probably necessary. Amy's face glowered at me from over Daniel's shoulder and I swallowed hard.

"Good," Coach B finished. "I just thought you should know, is all. You've been a huge help to the team and I wanted you to know you are appreciated for that and for everything else." His big hand clasped down on my shoulder as he rose from the chair. I had to fight back the lump rising in my throat and the tears that had suddenly come unbidden to my eyes.

"Thank you, Coach."

"You should dance with him," he said. "I'd pay to see the faces of some of these Soccer Moms if you did."

He smiled broadly and walked back to the his spot on the far wall, leaving me to process our conversation in stunned silence.

An hour or so later, after being pulled into a few group dances with the team, I was contentedly munching on some of the food the Prom committee had provided. It felt strange to eat carrot stick and ranch dressing off of gold lined plates, but that was what there was. Full dinner was available as well, but I couldn't have eaten much. Thankfully I didn't or it would have made a spectacular reappearance when Amy slithered into the empty seat beside me.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" She asked.

Her eyes sparkled in the dim light and I was reminded of the serpent in the Garden. Her voice was nice, but I didn't trust her as far as I could throw her.

"So far, yes. You?"

"Oh, it's a lovely night." She gestured around the room to the decorations. "The PTA really outdid themselves this year."

"Mmhmm." I replied. My guard was up and I was ready for the axe to descend at any moment.

"Have you seen Daniel?" She asked sweetly. "I can't find him anywhere."

"Have you checked the bathroom?"

"I'm sure he'll find me at some point," she sighed, as if it was minor annoyance that her date wasn't at her side. "Gives us a chance to chat."

Her long red painted nails rested on my forearm and she gripped me tightly. I felt ice begin to run in my veins and my heartbeat was suddenly rushing in my ears.

"You certainly have had quite a year. You just came out of no where. No one knew your name and then, poof, you arrived. Like magic."

Her fingers dug a little deeper into my arm. Maybe there was a way to salvage this conversation yet. She was wading into dangerous waters, close to subjects that I didn't want to broach with her, here or anywhere for that matter.

"I'm still just me, I guess," I said with a shrug. Maybe humility would throw her off.

No such luck. Her eyes narrowed and she moved her face closer to my own and lowered her voice.

"Cut the bull shit, you little faggot," she hissed through clenched white teeth.

"Amy, please," I started, "name-calling isn't..."

"Fuck you and your whining, princess. Everyone knows why you joined the baseball team. We all talk about it. You're just there to check out all the hot popular guys in the showers so you can jerk off at home. It's fucking disgusting is what it is. You may have them all fooled, but the rest of the school knows you're nothing but a gross little pervert trying to have his way with the popular guys. It's never. Going. To. Happen. You understand? Not in a million fucking years. No one wants anything to do with a nasty little fag like you. Okay?"

If I hadn't been wearing a suit, her nails would have been drawing blood.

To say that her tirade had no effect on me would be a bald faced lie. I felt each word like a whip to my soul. My mind screamed that her words weren't true. The team enjoyed my company, the liked me as a person. But she shattered my only just emerging confidence with practiced ease. She read my reactions like a book and new just which words landed and with what efficacy.

"I asked you if you understand me, fag," she hissed again, her fingers clutching my arm so hard that I felt my bone shift beneath her grip.

I tried to speak but no words came out. To my complete and utter humiliation, I felt a tear leak from my eye and burn a path down my bloodless face.

"Jesus," Amy snorted a derisive laugh. "The faggot is crying. Whatever. Waste your time trying to be popular if you want. School is over in three weeks anyway. Do you think any of your new 'friends' are going to even speak to you again once we graduate? Don't fucking plan on it. No one wants you around, fag. Got that? No one. Not me, not the team, not Daniel. Get it through your thick skull and leave everyone alone. Just go back to your little faggot hole you crawled out of and ..."

"Amy."

The voice that called her name and blessedly drew her ice cold eyes from the tears that betrayed me was colder than Amy could ever hope to be. I recognized it as Daniel's immediately, though the violence that permeated that single syllable frightened me.

"You will apologize to him, Amy. Right. Fucking. Now."

It wasn't a request. Amy stood and her finger finally lost their grip on my arm. It shames a little to say that I immediately pulled it to my stomach and soothed the soreness.

"What?" Amy snapped, her eyes flashing over my head.

Daniel stepped from behind me and placed himself directly in her path, essentially shielding me from her with his own body. He'd come up behind me, as if in answer to my silent prayers and now he stood as my champion before this monster who sought to do me harm.

"You heard me. Apologize to him. Now."

"I will do no such thing," Amy snapped.

"You will and you will do it now. You understand me? I heard what you just called him. Say you are sorry."

"No."

Daniel stared at her for a moment. For the space of a few heartbeats I was genuinely terrified that he might punch her square in the face. His fingers were curled into tight fists at his side and shook with the effort to control his rage. When he spoke, it was with controlled and deliberate volume and speed, though his voice trembled with the difficulty of the task.

"I hope you have your cell phone in your tiny little purse. You should call your parents. Now. Because you aren't riding home with me."

For the first time, I registered a look of actual shock on Amy's pristine features.

"But...,"she stuttered, looking around to see if anyone had noticed what had just happened. Only a few eyes had started to turn in our direction, but I caught sight of Ian and Gordon making their way through the crowd and headed in our direction.