It all probably started the day after my eighteenth birthday, two months before prom. I walked into school stomping on the ground with every step because the night before I had come the closest to finally nailing a girl--and one of the hottest blondes of the year at that--but her fucking brother chose that night to visit his damn parents, meaning that the house she thought was gonna be ours until midnight... wasn't ours until midnight. We weren't even dating, we were barely acquaintances, but there had been some flirting that culminated in her texting me an invitation to her house after eating cake with my parents. Unfortunately, as we barely knew each other, she didn't think it necessary to introduce me to her brother, instead forcing me to climb down the window. I almost died.
In retrospect, maybe I should have asked her to prom? Guess my teenage ego and pride were too bruised to consider it, but let's go on.
So, yeah, there I was, a scowl on my face and only grunting "hi" at the few people who bothered to greet me on my way to first class. As I neared my locker, I saw the blonde bitch, who only looked away and kept walking, giving me a wide berth. I closed my eyes and counted to ten as I kept walking, but when I opened them, the first thing I saw was a flier announcing prom and asking for volunteers. I swear I almost snarled, but instead I only ripped off the thing and threw it on the garbage can of my calculus classroom, before I went to the back of the class--not even looking at anyone already in the room--and slumped onto a chair, placing my arms on the desk and my chin on top of my arms.
It was then that she walked in. Head down, her mop of red hair somewhat covering her freckled face, green eyes frantically looking for a chair far from everyone else. I quickly dismissed her and went back to feeling sorry for myself. I mean, I barely knew who she was back then. I didn't even quite know her full name, but that's not because I was an asshole or anything, she was just one of those people you don't notice, always trying to blend in with the background.
I had already forgotten about her when Tyler Adams, the guy sitting next to me, spoke.
"Hey, Hills, you think Stuart has a date to the prom?"
"Who?" I asked, my mind not really catching up to his words.
"Bethany Stuart, the girl who just walked in," he explained.
I frowned and looked at one of the corners by the window, where she was sitting now. She has always been a slip of a girl, barely even reaches my shoulder, and her mousy attitude certainly didn't help her back then. She wasn't even looking back at me while I checked her out, but still she must have subconsciously felt my eyes because she seemed to shrink into her chair even more while I was looking, she even covered her head with the hoodie she was wearing, and probably would have covered her face too if she could. I chuckled.
I mean, Beth isn't ugly by any means, but she also wasn't the prettiest or hottest girl of the class either. Julia Gomez, the bitchy class president, with her perfectly done up brown curls, baby blue eyes and high cheekbones had her beat in the "pretty" area while Samantha Carmichael, with her hourglass figure and long, toned olive-skinned legs that she liked to show off as a cheerleader had her beat in the "hot" area. But when Beth cleans up, she's stunning; I still remember when I first saw her done up, the night of the prom... But I'm getting ahead of myself.
At that moment, the answer to the question Tyler made was easy to deduce.
"Don't think so, have you ever even seen her talk to anyone?" I asked.
"Not really. You think she'd be up for it?" Tyler asked.
I only shrugged, already losing interest. At least until he stood up suddenly and walked towards her, which piked my curiosity back up. The first thing I noticed when he first talked to her was that she nearly jumped out of the seat. From that point on, it was a losing battle: she couldn't even look at him, and the only times I saw her move her mouth was to give clearly monosyllabic answers.
Tyler didn't resist the awkwardness for long and after only a couple of minutes he came back, at the same time the teacher walked into the classroom.
"So what did she say?" I whispered, leaning towards him.
"She barely said anything, dude. I'm not even sure she understood what I asked," he answered, clearly bewildered at her shyness.
His expression was hilarious, and I laughed out loud, which caused the teacher to yell at me to quiet down. At that moment, I looked at Bethany, and I noticed that she was looking at me, probably because I was laughing next to Tyler. I winked at her then, and that only caused her to blush almost as red as her hair before all but burying her face on her book. I chuckled again and decided to spare the teacher with at least a little bit of my attention.
I didn't give any further thought to Beth until lunch the next day, when by happenstance I was alone and saw her sitting by herself at a corner. Remembering how flustered she had gotten, I decided to have some fun and dropped my tray on her table before sitting down in front of her.
She looked like a deer in the headlights, first gaping at me and then frantically glancing in all directions, probably looking for an escape route.
"Hey!" I said, offering my best smile.
"He... Hey..." She said, clearly giving up on escaping and now looking intently at her half eaten food.
"Bethany, right?" I asked.
She nodded, still with her head down.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Tim," I introduced myself. I thought about extending a hand, but she would probably faint or something if I tried to touch her.
"Hi... Hi, Tim," she mumbled.
"So, how are you?" I asked.
She finally looked up at me, staring as if she hadn't understood the question. Damn, I knew that some girls were shy, but she seemed unable to even talk. I know now that she struggles with social anxiety, but back then I only saw an opportunity: If she was so shy, she might be pushed around easily. If nothing, at least she was unlikely to throw me out the window.
How right I was, but I'm getting ahead of myself again.
"I'm fi... fine," she stuttered.
"Good!" I said, with another beaming smile. "So... are you going to the prom?"
She blushed and looked back down, clearly remembering the awkward ordeal of the day before.
"Probably not..." She said at last.
"Why's that?"
"I don't have a date... And it's on my birthday, so my parents will probably celebrate with me... Or something," she whispered.
"Your birthday is the day of the prom?" I asked, my eyebrows shooting up. "Lucky you! How many?"
"Eighteen..." She said.
"So you become an adult the day of the prom and still you won't go? That's bullshit!" I exclaimed, smiling at her gaping face. "You have to go."
"But... I don't have a..." She started.
"Yes, you do," I stated. "You're coming with me."
She blushed furiously once more, but nodded once before looking down. She smiled then, a tiny smile. Even while dying of shyness, she has the best smile, a smile that no other girl in the class could beat.
There wasn't much conversation after that, if nothing because she could barely talk. And when I say after that, I mean the rest of the year after that. I tried to suggest going out or just hanging out with my friends, but she always froze and looked for excuses. Nevertheless, she was always clear in that she was still up for prom.
The night of the prom, I decided to go the extra mile and took out all I had in my small savings account. With it, I rented a limo, and was happy to see that I still had some extra money, which I would probably spend on booze for Julia's after party; she had invited probably half the class. I also bought a condom, though I hoped I would have to buy more later.
The limo stopped near her house and I went out, holding the corsage and the flowers. I found myself feeling a bit nervous and thought about drinking some from the flask I had hidden, but decided better of it; her father would probably have flipped out on me if he noticed alcohol breath. Her mother, looking like an older Bethany, answered and looked me up and down, and I blushed despite myself.
"Well, would you look at that, Betty got herself a catch!" She said while her husband walked in from the living room.
I made small talk with them while we waited. Her dad is actually nicer than I expected back then, and even then we were already getting along because he mentioned something about the true crime documentary he was watching and I shared how I liked the subject too.
The conversation stopped when she walked down. Damn she looked gorgeous, she had styled her hair in ringlets, which framed her round face and highlighted her thin lips and green eyes. Her dress wasn't particularly detailed or expensive-looking, but it was a shade of green that also accentuated her eyes. She looked like a princess, and sometimes she still wears that dress--even for no occasion--at my insistence.
She noticed my gawking at her, for she blushed and looked down.
"How do I look?" She asked, barely above a whisper.
"Gorgeous," I choked out. Her parents smiled at me.
"You look handsome too," she stuttered back, still looking down.
"Thanks," I said, still looking her up and down. I quickly snapped out of it, though. "Oh right, these are for your birthday."
I handed her the flowers and she picked them with trembling hands, before smelling them. "Thank you."
"Is that for her too?" Her mother asked, helping me out.
"Fu... Sorry, sorry. I mean, yes!" I exclaimed, my voice a little too high, and took her hand. She blushed even more, but still allowed me to put the corsage on her. "Anyway, I have a limo outside so we should probably..."
"Wait, let me take a picture!" Her mother said, already taking out her phone, while her father offered to put the flowers in water.
Timidly, like everything she does, Beth stood next to me while I put a hand on the small of her back and I immediately noticed her body going stiff, though she kept smiling for her mother. I ignored it, and hoped that she would loosen up during the night.
Boy was I wrong.
On the way to the prom, I kept trying to make conversation, much like I did at school, but she remained closed up. By the time we made it to the venue that the organizers had rented, I was getting a little annoyed. I mean, I was used to her shyness, but I really thought that she would be different at prom.
And so the night progressed and my annoyance grew. In my defense, I tried to get her to join in a few conversations, but it proved impossible; the worst part was, the few times we danced or she actually talked to me, it made me feel even more attracted to her, I reveled in how beautiful she looked... which in turn made me even more annoyed at her walls. It wasn't long before I was drinking and joking around with my friends, barely paying any attention to her anymore. She still followed me around all night, acting like a temptation that was becoming increasingly difficult to actually indulge in. Now I know that she was just afraid of being left alone and having to talk to anybody else; she thought I was her shield.
Boy was she wrong.
Still, the moron part of me still hoped that she was just being a goody two shoes for the sake of the school and that she would at least drink during the after party at Gomez's house. On that part, I was right: when we arrived she finally accepted a drink, but she drank so slowly that, two hours later, she was just finishing her second.
By that time, I was already pretty drunk, and seeing most of the couples around making out, I was also pretty horny. Still, I was lucid enough to know that she wouldn't make out in front of other people so I asked Tyler, who was then with his hand up Monica Teller's dress, if I could borrow his car.
After getting the keys, I stumbled towards Beth, who was standing awkwardly a few feet away from me, trying to look at anywhere except the horny couples.
"Hey," I slurred.
