A loud voice from the alley beside me caught my attention, and I saw a girl in a pink dress trying to practically climb on top of a boy standing next to her. The boy moved, distancing himself, and I saw a flash of gray.
Ben?
“Ginger, don’t. I’m here with someone else.”
His words confirmed that it was him, and I tried to shrink back into the shadows. If I could see them, they could probably see me. And I didn’t want that.
“But don’t you want to?” her drunken voice slurred. “I’ve been waiting all night for you. Come ’ere. Just give me a li’l kiss …”
“Ginger. I’m serious. I said-”
I moved out of the shadows then. “Ben?” I called. “Ben, I was looking for you. You promised me the next dance.” I walked over to him, and the girl, Ginger, was practically falling out of her dress. Her hair and makeup looked awful. I had a brief twinge of compassion for her.
“He’s mine, bish,” she said, moving clumsily toward me and trying to stand up straight. “Go fine your own man somewhere else, ho.”
Compassion? Gone.
Ben gently moved her to the side. “She’s right, Ginger. Are you going to be okay out here?”
“You’re leaving me? Leaving all of this?” She looked outraged, but still managed to flounce her hair. “Fine. Whatevs. Bye.”
Turning to totter clumsily back to the front door, she left Ben and me standing there. I managed to wait a whole thirty seconds before bursting out into laughter.
“You know how to pick ’em, Ben.” I said. “Another ex?”
“Regretfully,” he replied. “Ready for another dance?”
“If you can handle all of this,” I said with a snort of laughter.
We went back inside, where the DJ was announcing that the next song was “for the ladies.” I turned to Ben. “You ready for another dance, sexay man?” He brushed imaginary dust off the collar of his suit, and did a silly move with his hands.
“I was born ready.”
I took his outstretched hand and followed him to a clearing on the dance floor. Ben put his arms around my waist, and I hugged his neck. A slow intro had already begun to play, and the space around us quickly filled in with the crush of eager bodies.
I laid my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. Ben was a good guy, a really good guy, but he wasn’t the one for me. And we both knew it.
I lifted my head after a couple seconds of moving back and forth, and stared up at him. “You know, you really are a great person, Ben,” I said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that, but you are.”
He looked down. “Thanks, Abbey. You’re pretty great too.”
“I’m really glad I had the chance to get to know you better,” I said. “And for the record, I think that you and Kristen would have made a great couple. I wish you could have had that.”
“Me too,” he said softly, and I laid my head back down on his shoulder.
We were almost to the end of the song when a sudden melancholy filled me. Sorrow, clear and striking, came over me, and it wasn’t just the slow music or the soft lyrics.
Somehow I knew that this was the last time I’d see Ben.
I slowed my movements, and came to a halt, moving my hands from his neck to his arms. “Ben,” I said urgently, “I want you to have the best of everything. Everything that life has to offer. The best school, the best job, the best house, the best wife, the best kids, the best family … Make yourself happy, okay?”
He glanced down. I was gripping the sleeves of his suit. “Okay, Abbey. But isn’t it a bit early for this? I mean, graduation isn’t for another six months.”
“I know. But I just want … Just be happy. I just want you to be happy.”
He gave me a strange look. “Let’s save the well wishes for-”
A teary-eyed Beth suddenly pushed her way through the crowd and interrupted us. Immediately I came to a halt and reached out a hand for her. “What’s wrong?” I asked over the noise. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“It’s Grant. I never should have brought him!”
I pulled her over to the side of the dance floor, and Ben followed us.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Something with Grant,” I yelled over the music. Thinking it would be a bit quieter away from the main stage, I left Ben behind and dragged Beth over to a table. I put my arms around her as she tried to stop crying. Her shoulders shook pitifully.
“What happened, sweetie?” I said. “Can you tell me?”
“He’s an asshole,” she said. “He was making out with this drunk girl outside. I went to go find you, and found him instead.” She burst into sobs again. “I never should have picked him over Lewis!”
Ben came over just in time to hear the last part. “I’ll go find him,” he said, his tone menacing.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Beth said suddenly. Pushing herself away from me, she stood up straight and fixed her hair. “I don’t need him. I’m going to call Lewis.”
Before I had a chance to stop her, she was pulling out her phone from her bag. She turned away from me, and I could hear her talking. A minute later she turned back and snapped her phone shut. “Great. Lewis can’t come. He’s home with his sick little brother and can’t leave him.”
She looked so miserable that I wanted to do whatever I could to make it all better. I glanced over at Ben. “Can you call the limo company?”
“Yeah, sure.” He pulled out his phone. “On it.”
After ten minutes of waiting, Ben finally talked to someone and made arrangements for the limo driver to come back early.
“We’ll all head out now,” I said. Then I looked at Ben. “Unless you want to stay?”
“I can’t let you guys leave your senior prom early because of me,” Beth protested. “I’ll be fine. I can just get a ride back on my own.”
I shared a glance with Ben. “I’ll go with her,” he said automatically.
Beth started to protest again, but I wouldn’t let her.
“At least you stay, then, Abbey,” she said, “so Ben can come back and you guys can have fun.”
“No. I-”
“Please?” She looked heartbroken, and I couldn’t help but give in.
“Okay. Fine. Whatever.”
“Okay, good.” She wiped the tears off her face.
Ben’s phone vibrated, and he looked down at it. “That’s the limo company. They’re here.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked Beth again.
“I’m a little embarrassed, but I’m fine,” she said. “You stay here. Have a good time.” She gave me a hard look, then suddenly hugged me. “Take care of yourself, Abbey,” she said quietly. “Okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” I pulled back from her. It was a strange thing for her to say, but she was already turning toward Ben. “Ready?”
He held out his arm, and she took it.
“Try not to take advantage of her tonight, okay, Ben?” I said with a smile, watching them go. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“I’ll be an absolute gentleman,” Ben called back, with a roguish wink. “See you in an hour.”
Beth waved at me, and they disappeared through the doors.
I was still on the dance floor when the next song came on. Within seconds My Chemical Romance’s “The Ghost of You” was playing.
I stood there, the bass growing louder, the beat growing harder. The lyrics were haunting, and they echoed in my ears as my eyes closed. The song took over, and I found myself swaying in time to the music as I sang along. “At the end of the world, or the last thing I see … You are, never coming home, never coming home … Never coming home, never coming home.”