Prom Night - First Time

Hide and seek

I squeezed my eyes tight as I hopped in his car. He was driving his mom's Toyota highlander, and it was just going to be us in the car.
Why was I so nervous? I had hung out with him plenty times before, but tonight was prom, and my stomach turned at the idea of dancing with him in front of our friends. The idea of touching him, holding his hand...
"Hey Maggie, are you ready?" Leo asked me, holding the door open.
We were headed to his house to get ready for the night. This car ride might be the only time we would have to be alone for a little bit. Leo and I were just friends, but his mom and my mom put a lot of pressure on us to go to prom together. His mom didn't want him to go without a date, and, my mom said I couldn't say no.

He wasn't bad looking, and we got along well. My mom told me he had nice eyes, and once she said that, I couldn't stop looking at them to see if she was right. They were hard to find, he kept a mop of messy hair on top of his head. It wasn't my favorite.

The car ride to his house was quiet. What were we supposed to talk about?
We had grown up together and virtually knew everything about one another. Our moms went to college together and got pregnant at the same time. After a little while, my family moved to another state, so we only saw Leo's family on holidays.
The car hummed along the country roads. I could see his jaw tighten. The silence was killing me, and my mind was racing thinking about having to touch him, pose next to him for pictures and the inevitable slow dance. I had to get my mind off of these thoughts.

"Have you been to this restaurant?" I asked as we passed by one of the few landmarks on the country roads.
"I don't think so," he said, quietly.

Ugh. Was it going to be this awkward the entire night? I kept having to keep my eyes from darting toward his. Were they green like my mom said?

We arrived at his house and went our separate ways to get ready. He was much taller than me — over 6 foot — and looked much different from the last time I saw him. He started running track, I guess, so lost all this weight. I didn't notice much, but my mom had mentioned it.

His sister — Savannah, one of my best friends — helped me get ready. I was wearing a short, pink flowy dress that fit me just right and made me feel like a fairy. I had just cut my bangs and loved how they looked when my hair was curled.

"So what do you think about having to go to prom with my little brother?" She giggled as she held my hair in the curling iron.
"Yeah, it's going to be the worst," I quipped back at her.
I chuckled at her, and saw her face fall a little. Maybe that was too harsh.
"I'm kidding. I'm sure we will have fun. He's a great guy," I said.
She let my hair loose and revealed a perfect ringlet. I never curled my hair like this.
"I'm glad you're here. apparently Amanda Brown has been talking about you coming,"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, apparently she was like, 'I can't believe this girl is driving all the way from North Carolina to go to this guy's prom.' She thinks you have a crush on him or something."
My cheeks flushed. Oh no.
"Well, I don't. You know my mom would be devastated if I didn't come."
Savannah pulled back and looked at me in the mirror.
"I'm not saying you have a crush, I'm just saying she said that. Don't worry about what she says. She's crazy."
"Yeah, okay," I shrugged. My throat was tight and I felt sick. Do people really think I have a crush on Leo? That's ridiculous. I couldn't have them thinking about us like that. We were best friends. That's too weird, our parents changed our diapers together and bathed us together.

We went to the gardens by the local community college to take pictures. We all rode together in the same car. I made sure to press myself to the side door as much as possible, to get as far away from him as possible. I didn't want Savannah to think I actually liked him or anything.

"Hey, look at this," he showed me on his phone. It was some deep-fried science meme — "Two men walk into a bar. One orders H2o, the other says, I'll have H20 too. The second man died." I giggled. He seemed pleased that his nerdy joke made me laugh.