[As much as I'd like to say otherwise, this story is entirely fictitious. If this offends you or if you are not of legal age to read this story, then please do not read any further. This story contains possibly graphic descriptions of consensual sex and masturbatory fantasies between males. None of this is based on any living person and any similarity to my actual job at a movie theatre is completely coincidental. Really, I mean that.]
Chapter 11 -
The few kids milling around the front of the hotel stopped and stared for a few seconds, unsure of what to think. Craig wrapped his arm around mine and started to lead me up the steps. Despite being a bit nervous I couldn't help but smile, not only because I was thrilled to be at a prom with a boy, but because I was proud of Craig for what he was doing. Halfway up the stairs Craig stopped and squeezed my arm tighter.
"You alright," I asked whispering into his ear. "You want to keep going? Turn back?"
"No, we're going in. I just saw Heath, that's all." Heath is Craig's best friend at school, he's told me a bunch about him. Craig had been hoping to see him later as he was most nervous about him finding out. Craig didn't tell me he was that good looking though. Lots of people can be sexy with a name like Heath though, it's just such a sexy name.
"Hey Craig, who's this?" Craig took a deep breath then turned around.
"Hey Heath, this is my friend Chad," he said as I reached out and shook his hand. He smiled, threw me an odd look, and gave me a firm straight boy handshake.
"You two going stag or something," he asked.
"Uhm...no Heath," Craig said squeezing my arm so hard it felt like he was going to tear it off. "Chad is my date. He's my boyfriend," Craig gulped. I smiled nervously waiting for Heath's reaction. A few people around us who overheard gasped, whispered to each other, and ran inside. Heath's eyes widened a bit for a second, then he looked confused.
"Oh," he remarked. He furrowed his brow before finally realizing what this meant. "Oh!"
"Yeah. That cool," he asked Heath while he shifted eye contact between the two of us.
"Yeah, totally man. It's cool. Whatever is cool, whatever floats your boat," he said reaching out to hug Craig. We were both relieved and the two hugged each other tight, Heath giving Craig a few hard slaps on the back. "I love you man, you know that. Don't worry about it." They separated and Craig grabbed my hand.
"See," he said. "I told you Heath was a decent guy. Even if he doesn't have a date." We all laughed and started back up the stairs to the hotel. Heath had a date, she was just inside with the rest of the girls.
The Biltmore is probably the finest damn hotel I've ever seen. I recognized it from a few movies. The grand staircase, the fountain, the velvety red carpet. It was all so beautiful. The three of us strolled through the halls down to the banquet rooms where the prom was. We could hear muffled hip-hop music coming through the walls and out the open doors. Some other kids were standing around just outside the door, one of the girls pointed when she spotted us and became angry. One of the guys stepped forward as we walked by, puffing out his chest and trying his best to look intimidating.
"We don't let any faggots into this prom," he shouted at us as we walked by. Craig, living up to the advice he gave me earlier, didn't even give him the satisfaction of eye contact. He just smiled, gripped my hand tighter, and walked into ballroom.
"Oh get a fucking life," Heath told him as he trailed behind us.
The ballroom was huge and decadent. There were tables spread out surrounding the dance floor and a large stage dwarfing the DJ spinning records in the center. There was a second floor with some balconies overlooking the floor below, kids were already up there dancing before the dinner started. Craig and I walked up to the check-in table where he turned in his tickets and we got wristbands so we could come in and out. You could hear the wave of whispering as we walked around heading towards the photo guy. A few people smiled at us, most avoided eye contact and would move out of our way as soon as possible.
We stepped in front of the arch of balloons and flower arrangement and handed the guy our photo ticket.
"Where are your dates sons?"
"He is my date," Craig said turning me around and wrapping his arms around me for the classic prom photo pose. I was the woman. I didn't care.
"Oh," the photographer said, unsure of what to say next in fear of not being politically correct. He directed us like any other couple, perfected our pose and got us looking straight into the camera. "Alright, on the count of three say cheese! One...two...three!"
"Faggots," someone screamed from the balcony and the rest of the room laughed. Our smiles were gone and replaced by anger. One of the chaperones was up there and pulled the kid aside. Instead of kicking him out he simply asked him to be quiet. The photographer shook his head and told us to look into the camera again. We smiled as best we could and he snapped a picture. Craig immediately led me away to a table in the corner of the room and sat down.
"You doing alright? Want me to do anything," I asked squeezing his hand.
"Yeah," he said. "Don't go anywhere. Just stay with me all night. I need you," he said looking deep into my eyes like a scared puppy. He was almost ready to tear up.
"I don't doubt it," I said. "I'm not going anywhere, not tonight. Not unless it's with you." We sat there and watched people move around, dancing sporadically. People started picking tables as dinner was due any minute now. Heath and his date, a very gorgeous girl named Jeni, joined us at our table. We made small talk, mostly to try and calm Craig and help him have a good time. All the other kids hooked up, glanced at us every few minutes, and sat down.
No one else joined us at our table. No one would dare. Craig grew angry, so did I.
A catered meal is a catered meal, no matter where you are. At least it seems that way to me so far. Weddings, funerals, parties, proms, all the food tastes the same. I felt like I had eaten that same chicken breast at least ten times already. Of course I had never eaten this chicken breast with a date before, so I didn't bitch. Craig, Heath, Jeni and I talked a joked throughout dinner, having a blast despite the animosity from the room around us.
Eventually this one blonde, ditzy, popular-looking girl came up to our table and feigned interest in us. Craig introduced her as Leslie and she seemed genuinely interested to talk to us. I still had my doubts though. She headed back to her original table as the DJ tapped on the microphone to get everyone's attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you'll find a ballot with your desert plate tonight. So, after you inhale your raspberry cheesecake down you can vote on this year's prom king and queen! Just fill the ballot out and leave it on your table, chaperones will come around to pick it up." He shut the mic off and started up another inane rap song about bitches and ho's and cars and ice and fo-shizzle and whatever. A waiter stopped by our table and handed out some plates; Heath immediately started to fill out the ballot.
"Who are you voting for," Craig asked leaning over and peering at his ballot. Heath quickly covered it up and smiled. "Don't do that, show me," he said as he wrestled his hands from paper. Craig read it and laughed out loud. "You're voting for yourself?"
"Do you see another couple here who's as good-looking and lovely as Jeni and I," he asked while he wrapped his arm around his giggling date. Then Craig wrapped his arm his giggling date.I mean me.
"You're sharing a table with them," he said as we all laughed. Then someone threw a piece of bread at my head.
[More to come. Please send any and all feedback to me at Multiplex84@yahoo.com Also if you would like to be added to my mailing list for new chapters]