More Than This(5)

I can’t help but laugh, “That pretty much covers it.” I sniff.

“I’m Jake, by the way.” He nudges my side with his elbow. He’s looking straight ahead, not at me. He’s taken his dress shirt off. The beer obviously ruined it. I don’t even know what my dress looks like, I never got the chance to check. I look down at the satin material.

“Mikayla,” I say to the dress.

“Yeah, I figured that.”

We sit in silence for a few moments, then he clears his throat. It might be a nervous habit, I don’t know. He clears it again, causing me to look to my left at his profile. He senses my gaze and turns to look at me.

It’s the first time I see him properly and he’s extremely handsome, not boyishly, more rugged and manly. Like he could grow 5 inches of facial hair in one night. He smiles at me then quickly looks away.

I was staring. Shit.

“So…” he starts, “you’re all dressed up and nowhere to go, huh?” Where is that accent from?

“Yeah, I guess so. Hey… um, where are you from?” I have to know.

He’s confused for a second, “Oh, my accent, huh? Yeah, um, it’s Australian, but I’m actually from here. It’s a long story.”

“Okay.”

“So…” he starts again. He rubs his hand through the hair on the back of his head, little curls of dark brown, almost black form at the bottom of his hair line. His hair has a kink in it that can only be caused by wearing a baseball cap anytime he’s not sleeping or dressed in formal wear, it’s long enough that the ends would curl over the edges of his cap. “You heading to senior prom?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I sigh. “I mean, yeah, I was. I don’t think I could handle going anymore.”

“To yours, or any?”

Huh? What was he saying?

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t really processed everything, y’know?”

“Okay… well…” he clears his throat again. “I mean, you can come to mine. I have a spare ticket and it would be a shame to waste that amazing dress. You look beautiful, by the way.” His eyes dart to mine quickly, then look back down. James didn’t even comment on the way I looked. “I swear I’m not a psycho,” he continues, “and we have the limo for the whole night so you can just leave when you want, if you hate it I mean, or me, if you hate me,” he lets out a single laugh. “God, you must think I’m crazy, and my mate Logan, spilling his beer on you…” He shakes his head, “Shit, I’m sorry, by the way. He’s kind of a dick.” He hasn’t stopped rambling and I let him. “Look, I just don’t think you should let bad people dictate what should be a good time. Come hang out with me and my friends… It’ll at least take your mind off things for a little bit. I just think that maybe-"

“Okay,” I cut him off.

“Huh?”

“Okay,” I say again. I look into his deep blue eyes and he smiles, a panty dropping smile that most girls would swoon over. Too bad I’m not most girls.

“Okay,” he confirms with a nod. “So… I’ll just let the guys know what’s happen-"

“Yo, Jake. What the hell man? You’ve been in here for ages, I was about to-" Logan stops in his tracks when he sees us, how were sitting, and probably the state of my face.

“Give us a minute?” Jake says to Logan.

“Yeah man, sure, of course.” Logan starts backing away from us.

“So… I should probably go tell them what’s up. I mean, they won’t mind you coming along but they’ll probably want to know why. I can lie to them if you want, but I don’t think they’d care either way, so it’s up to you, what you want me to tell them.”

“It’s okay,” I smile at him. “You can tell them the truth. I’m just gonna go freshen up and then I’ll be right out, okay?”

“Sure.” But it comes out more like… shaw. It’s the accent.





***





Ten minutes in the restroom to freshen up and I’m almost back to normal. I hope ten minutes is enough time for all his friends to ask whatever they need to. I just don’t want to ruin their night, but I don’t want to down play what happened here either. I can’t believe I’m doing this, with a stranger, but right now, I think it’s what I need.

I check my phone, it’s been blowing up with calls and messages from James. None from Megan, not one. Two from my parents and a text from them asking if I’m okay, and that James has called there a few times. I text them back to tell them everything’s fine, and I’ll see them at home later tonight and explain everything then.