I'll Be Your Hero

With my best friends, Savana, Kylie, and Leesa, I walked into the lunchroom of the school cafeteria, talking about prom. We sat at a table. I pushed my lunch around on the tray in front of me as they talked about who they were going with; Savana with John, Kylie with Pat, Leesa with Kennedy. “So who are you going with, Lizzie?” Kylie asked, pulling me out of my trance.

I looked up to their wondering eyes. “I… Erm… I don’t know.” I shrugged and looked back down at my tray. Somebody sat next to me and I looked over to see Nick.

“Hey, Lizz,” he said grinning. I wondered to myself why he dyed his hair while I waited for him to continue with whatever he needed to say. “Will you go to prom with me?”

“I…” Leesa and Kylie both nodded and Savana was off in her own little world. “Sure?”

“Great! I’ll pick you up at…”

“Kylie’s house at seven, okay?” He nodded before he got up and left. Garrett replaced Nick’s spot a minute later.

“Fuck! Sorry, I just got out of Geometry,” he said quickly. He shuttered. “You guys don’t mind if I steal Lizz, right?” I raised an eyebrow.

Savana waved me away. “Take her. I wanted to steal her yoohoo anyway.” I rolled my eyes and handed her my bottle of Yoohoo before I got up and went with Garrett. I followed him to his car—it was routine to ditch our last couple of classes. I threw my backpack in the back of his messy car and got in the passenger’s seat.

“So what are we doing today, Nickelsen?” I asked with a grin. “Movies, milkshakes, or video games?”

He chuckled. “Milkshakes and video games.” He started the car and we sat in silence for a minute. “Lizz… Are you going to the dance with anyone?”

“Nick?”

“Santino? Why?”

I shrugged. “He asked me. Prom is tomorrow.” I shrugged again. “I didn’t get any better offers…”

“Oh,” he mumbled. He turned the radio on loud enough that neither of us would even bother to talk before he put the car in drive and we left the school parking lot.

After two hours of sitting through and complaining about Leesa doing my hair, and Kylie doing my makeup, they finally let me see myself in a mirror. “Wow,” I mumbled.

“You’re a babe!” Savana squealed. “If I were dude or lesbian, I’d totally pick you.” I stared at her for a minute before I started laughing. The thing you had to know about Savana was she thought faster than she could speak.

I laughed, “You don’t look that bad, yourself, Vannabear!” I hugged my short, redheaded friend then looked down at her Converse clad feet. “Are you sure you don’t want to wear heels? I mean, John is a lot taller than you… And you’re pretty damn short…”

“Yeah, Savana,” Leesa agreed. “It’s just one night!”

“Are you guys NUTS?” Savana shouted. “I’d trip and fall and die! But on the bright side, I can kick anyone that gets on my last nerve tonight.” A smirk settled on her pink lips. “And did you have to cake so much makeup on me, Kylie? I feel like a god damn Barbie doll!”

Kylie rolled her eyes. “If you weren’t such a tomboy…” She trailed off, eyeing Savana as she wiggled around in her purple dress. She turned to me. “And as for you, little missy…”

“I’m not little!” I whined. “I’m wearing heels today, for fuck’s sake! I’m currently like five foot eight! Maybe!”

Leesa patted my shoulder. “It’s okay, hun. I’m short too.”

My bottom lip jutted out in a small pout as Kylie’s mom called up the stairs, saying the guys were here. “Oh shit! What do I do? What do I do?” I paced back and forth.

“Follow our example,” Kylie said, leaving the room. Leesa followed.

I eyed Savana. “I’m not going first!”

“You also aren’t wearing heels. You go first.” She glared at me but went and I followed behind her. My heart sunk to my stomach when I didn’t see Nick. Everybody was standing next to their dates and I was out of place completely.

“Don’t worry,” Kennedy said. “I’m sure he just got lost or something. He’ll probably be here in a couple minutes or something.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I… um, yeah. He probably got lost…”

“Pictures!” Kylie’s mom called. Savana ran over and grabbed my arm, pushing me on John’s left side. I waited patiently as Kylie’s mom took pictures of everybody together, then the girls, followed by the guys. “Couples, now.” I stepped away, plopping on the couch with a dejected expression.

“Oh,” Savana mumbled. “Lizz, you can be in our picture.” She gave a smile.

“No, that’s fine,” I said, shrugging it off.

Kylie’s mom left when she’d finished taking pictures, disappearing to another room of the house. Savana sat on my left and hugged me. “We’ll wait for you if you want.”

“Yeah,” John agreed. “I mean, we’ll also all probably kick Nick’s ass for you if he doesn’t show up.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a fake smile. “I’ll meet you guys there.”

Leesa cocked an eyebrow; she could see through my act. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Positive. Go have fun.”

Kylie eyed me suspiciously; the guys were obviously clueless. “Lizz,” she started.

I cut her off quickly. “Really, guys. I’ll be there soon. I promise!”

“Okay,” Savana mumbled before she got up. They all waved before they filed out the door.

“Fuck my life,” I mumbled, picking up my clutch from the coffee table. I pulled my phone out. No missed calls or unread texts. “Well, that’s just great!” I fell over and grabbed a pillow, putting it under my head—Leesa would probably kill me if I messed up the bouncy curls she’d worked so hard on, but at this point in time, I could’ve cared less.

Kylie’s mom came out and watched me as I stared at the clock on the wall. This had to be the slowest five minutes of my life. “Is there anything I can get for you?”

I shrugged. “Not unless you can make my date magically appear.”

She had a thoughtful look on her face. “Not quite… But I can at least make your stay fun.” She smiled as she went over to the stereo and put in a mix CD that Kylie had probably made.

“I’m gonna make a sandwich,” I mumbled to myself, getting up and going into the kitchen as “He Wasn’t” by Avril Lavigne started playing.

I stared at it for a couple minutes after I was done. “What… what are you doing?” I turned at the voice of Kylie’s mother.

“I don’t think I’m hungry,” I mumbled, embarrassed.

She laughed. “Then why did you make a sandwich?”

“Do you want it?” I didn’t wait for the answer, but instead, I walked around her and went to sit in the living room again. I grabbed the TV control, turned on the television, and found the control for the Xbox360, deciding I might as well do something that wasn’t entirely boring until he got here.

I glared at the clock as I came down with my backpack of clothing slung over my shoulder; it had been close to forty minutes. “Why does my life suck?” I whined as the doorbell rang. I pouted as I got up and walked over, grabbing the door handle and pulling the door open, smacking myself in the forehead in the process.

“Shit! Are you okay?” I rubbed my forehead before I looked at Garrett.

“What are you doing here?” I squeaked out, completely embarrassed.

He smiled. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to take you to prom.”

I started to slowly shake my head. “I was going home, Gare; I gave up on prom.” His large hands landed on my shoulders and he looked me in the eye.

“You did not drag me to every store in town to not wear that dress,” he stated in a firm tone. “You worked your ass off to get enough money for that dress.”

“So?” It was nearly pointless to argue with him, but that never stopped me.

“So I’m taking you to prom. I’m not going to let you miss it just because some asshole stood you up.” He grinned as I sighed in defeat.

“Pictures!” Kylie’s mom called as she ran around the corner.

“Again?” I whined as she nodded. I turned and faced the camera and Garrett put his hands on my hips, standing behind me. Once Kylie’s mom was satisfied, we quickly left.

--

Savana hugged me. “You’re finally here!” she squealed. “With… Garrett?” She eyed him suspiciously. I quickly dropped his hand and blushed. She finally smiled. “I can’t believe you two are finally together!” She clapped her hands together before she ran off.

I turned to Garrett. “You know,” I started. “You didn’t have to do this.” He grabbed my hand and led me out to the dance floor as “You and Me” by Lifehouse started playing. His hands were on my hips and mine were on his shoulders as we swayed from side to side.

“I wanted to,” he said softly, leaning slightly closer.

“Oh,” I mumbled as his eyes caught mine; I subconsciously leaned closer. I could feel his warm breath on my lips moments before he kissed me. His lips were warm on mine and I could feel a smile on his lips before he pulled away.

“Lizz, will you be my girlfriend?” I had liked him for far too long to say no. Butterflies filled my stomach as I managed to squeak out a yes before he kissed me again.