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***The Promposal***
While the night after Prom was part of the plot of Second Down, the actual festivities weren’t important to the story. That kind of felt like getting robbed. (Punny)
This entire short story necessarily takes place their senior year of high school at Ironville.
1 Waiting Game
Eva
“I don’t wantto do Powder Puff! I’m tired of getting tackled by the defense because you and the other coaches couldn’t teach the O line to hold! The juniors are going to maul me!” I flop down on the pile of pillows. Instantly, the mouth-watering scent of Rob surrounds me. If I could live in his bed, I absolutely would. Even when he’s annoying me, an indescribable magnetism keeps me firmly imprisoned though he never intentionally incarcerated me in the first place.
I never want to be free of him.
He continues to open and close his desk drawers at random, completely ignoring my hissy fit. “I promised Alex I’d help him pull this off, and you promised you’d help me help him, so you’re coming.”
His harsh words sting, but more than that, they pique my suspicions. Rob isn’t really the alpha-male type off the football field. Not even when something’s bothering him. “Why are you so nervous about this? It’s not like it’s your Promposal.”
“Because if I don’t help him nail this, he’ll make my—and by extension your—life a living hell.” Rob slams his top dresser drawer closed and runs a hand through his hair. “Goddammit, where did I put those markers?”
Well, if he had bothered to tell me what he was looking for, I could have helped him sooner. I feel around on the comforter until my fingers brush over the plastic case, then hold up the object of his search. “Here.”
“Oh, thank God. I thought I left them at the store.” He swipes the package from my hand, then tears it open, settling down on his carpet in front of a pile of poster boards.
It’s a comical sight. This big, six foot five, muscular quarterback sits cross-legged on the floor, hunched over as he frantically scrawls across the surface of the paper like this is the most important craft he’s ever made.
I sprawl out on my stomach to watch him work, my head hanging over the foot of the bed. With each minute that ticks by, irritation replaces my amusement.
Not only am I hours away from being physically abused on the gridiron, but I’m still waiting for my Promposal. Why is my boyfriend doing his best friend’s dirty work when he hasn’t even so much as hinted at going to Prom with me?
Throughout school, guys have been pulling out all the stops to get the girl they want to go with them. Not a day goes by where some grand scene isn’t made in the hallways, or in the middle of class, or the student parking lot, or…
The dance is in six weeks.
Finding the perfect dress, shoes, and accessories takes time. Not to mention scheduling hair and nail appointments when everyone else in the region will be flocking to salons during the next few weeks. Without fair warning, I can’t make any plans.
Is his dad causing more trouble that I don’t know about? I thought he finally caved and gave up on keeping Rob and me apart. What if he changed his mind again? What if I’m only in Gary Falls’s house in secret? He travels all the time for work, so maybe Rob and his mom keep my visits clandestine for a very good reason. What if they’re conspiring together even now to try to find a way for Rob and me to go to Prom together without his dad knowing? What if…?
My internal escalating panic is interrupted when Rob holds up the first poster board. “This looks lame. Do you think it needs glitter? Girls love sparkly stuff, right?”
It’s almost laughable the way this football player seems to need coaching on every aspect of the female mind. “Did Alex tell you to bedazzle it?”
Rob turns to face me, an expression of absolute confusion painted across his features. “Be-what?”
“Make it sparkly.”
He continues to gape at me for several more seconds. “Uh, no. He just said to make it look good enough that she wouldn’t want to decline. Considering what you told me about the big three play, I’m thinking some glitter couldn’t hurt.”
I cock my head to the side, genuinely trying to figure out why Rob is so invested in Alex’s Promposal success. “If I ask you a question, will you give me a truthful answer?”
His eyes narrow in suspicion. Smart man. “That…depends on what, exactly, you ask me.”
It’s no secret Rob doesn’t want me to know anything about the time I’ve forgotten. I’ve managed to glean small snippets of information about the events leading up to my attack, but those have been gained either by complete accident or under duress.
In all fairness, I’m still not entirely sure how much I want to know.
I gesture with my finger between the two of us. Might as well lay it on the line. I brace myself for his expected rebuff, then spit out what’s bothering me. “Are we going to Prom?”
Rob’s eyes widen and his nostrils flare slightly. It’s the unmistakable look of a cornered animal, unsure whether to cower or to attack in self-defense. He sputters a few times before finally settling on, “Of course. Why would you even ask me that?”
