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Valarie went wide-eyed at my choice of words but then we both grinned widely at each other.
The rest of the day was spent in a mood that I could only describe as giddy. I was giddy, and it was likely going to be embarrassing in a day or two if anyone brought it up, but I couldn’t help it. Everything was working out with Graham in a way that I could barely believe was real. Now we were going to go to the Winter Ball together, rectifying a fifteen-year-old resentment I had held on to up until now.
As a senior in high school, I had waited for someone, anyone, to ask me to the dance. When no one did, I simply went by myself, ostensibly coming as the third wheel to Tessa’s and Kat’s dates. I refused to feel bad about myself or my situation the whole night and told everyone I talked to that I was enjoying my night going stag.
It was a lie. I’d hated it, and I’d hated the judgmental looks from the girls who never had problems getting dates or the guys who I was sure would have eventually been desperate enough to ask me and never did. Some of them even went stag themselves.
Even as a chaperone, going with Graham would satisfy a little part of myself that always wanted to walk in with a cute boy on my arm. The fact that I was getting Graham Miller as that cute boy was, well, icing on the cake. The creamiest and most delicious kind of icing one could get.
The more time we spent together, the more it was difficult to keep from mauling him on the couch one night. He was being extremely careful, not wanting to move too quickly, and instead building up the tension between us so thick that I could barely stand it. My feelings for him were so deep that every time I opened my mouth to speak to him, I wanted to shout how much I was falling for him. Again.
Then there was the matter of how he was with Owen. Owen loved him. They had taken to each other like there had never been time they weren’t together, and I was getting the suspicion that Owen preferred Graham over me half the time. We would tuck him in almost every night now, Graham reading a bedtime story while I stroked his hair until he was fast asleep. When he woke up in the mornings, one of his first questions would inevitably be if Graham was there, only because on a couple of occasions, the two of us had fallen asleep on the couch together, and he was.
As the next few days passed, the giddy feeling didn’t lessen. In fact, it got stronger. Each day that passed was only building my excitement because we finally got to slowly build up a relationship rather than only seeing each other once every five years. I dropped by one of the small vintage shops that had popped up on Broad Street to buy a dress for the occasion. Graham and I had discovered a mutual love of old Noir detective movies, and I wanted nothing in the world more than to sweep into the ball with a big, elegant red dress and lace coming down from the hat to cover my eyes.
When the big day approached, I spent most of the daytime at home, playing with Owen and reminding him every so often that neither Graham nor I would be home to tuck him in that night. His grandmother was coming over, and they would be spending the evening breaking all the rules he normally lived by, including late-night movies and ice cream.
He didn’t seem too upset.
Mom got there around three, and I disappeared upstairs to finish getting dressed. Mom was incredibly indulgent of her grandson when she got the rare sleepover evening with him, and this was no different. She arrived with a Happy Meal and a board game for them to play while I got ready. When I came out, hours later, I noticed someone else had arrived.
Graham was on the couch, Owen cuddled up under his arm. They each had action figures in their hands, deep in the fantasy play of some sort of game. I watched them for a while, not wanting to interrupt before Graham noticed that I was standing at the top of the stairs. He smiled and stood, kissing Owen’s head as he got up. Owen looked up as well, and when he saw me, his eyes went wide.
“Mama, you look beautiful,” he said.
My heart clenched as I came down the stairs and Graham held his hand out for me to take. He was in a sleek black and gray suit, his jacket lying across the chair of the dining room table. He grinned as I got to the bottom of the steps.
“He’s right,” he said. “You look amazing.”
He leaned in to press a kiss to my cheeks, and I turned to Owen, who was now running up to me. He wrapped his little arms around my legs.
“Goodnight, Mama. Goodnight, Daddy. I love you. Bye.”
It melted me and made me laugh at the same time. We had been dismissed. His Grandma time had begun. Already, he was heading to the kitchen where she was making a frozen pizza and there were promises of root beer.
“Shall we?” Graham asked.
We arrived at the ball a little early, so we were there before the students came filing in. Many of the other teachers and parents who volunteered were put on various duties, but the second Principal Runnels saw us together, I think it clicked. He knew something was going on and that the students’ virtuousness while they danced wasn’t the top priority for either of us.
For our parts, we tried to keep an eye on them as we joined them on the floor and broke up a few of the more intensely inappropriate dancers. But the longer we were there, the less we paid attention to anyone but each other. We both knew we needed to leave early but didn’t know how exactly we would accomplish it.
We had waited long enough. It was time.
Tonight was our night.
“It’s getting late,” Principal Runnels said as he passed us around midnight. “I think we have things covered if you two want to skip out.”
“Are you sure?” Graham asked. “We can stay.”
“No,” he said, smiling. “You have helped us out tremendously on short notice. Please, enjoy the rest of your night. Both of you.”
“Thank you, Dustin,” I said, using his first name for the first time in years. “I appreciate it. We appreciate it.”
“Go on, get out of here,” he said as Graham took my hand.
I giggled as we escaped into the cold night air and broke for his car. A few other students were out there, either heading to their own cars or trying to find a place to make out themselves. We got to the car, and he opened the door for me before jumping himself and revving the engine.
Graham booked it for his place, and before we even opened the door, our lips were crashing into each other’s. As the door slammed shut behind him, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and our tongues slid inside to tangle with the others. His hands reached behind me and began unbuttoning my dress, and I kicked off my heels.
