Lost In The Stereo Sound

Natalie's POV:
We took our seats at our assigned table as the soup was being served. We basically goofed off throughout the entire dinner. The waiters who were assigned to our table must have hated us because we made unusual requests, such as "a dollop of sour cream the size of your testicles", and "cream from your pants". Seeing that I was slightly under the influence, this was hilarious. I doubt it was hilarious on the receiving end.

After dinner was over and we ate our dessert, the band the school had hired started to play and people made their way to the dance floor. Our group decided to pay a visit to the photographer to get some pictures taken. Let's just say the photographer was not pleased with the outcome and begged us to retake them multiple times. Obviously, we declined.

"Want to dance?" Alex asked hesitantly as we made our way back to the ballroom.

"Sure, Gaskarth," I said grabbing his hand and led him to the dance floor.

There was something much different about him than when we had first danced at Jack's party. He seemed nervous and mildly self-conscious about his dancing whereas before he danced like an idiot without a care in the world.

"Relax, Gaskarth," I said hitting his arm. He looked at me with confused eyes. "It's just me."

"I know," he said shaking his head like I was the retard.

"Sure ya do," I said grabbing his hands and making him make strange gestures.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We are going to call up our Prom Court," our class president said as the song the band was playing ended.

"Is Prom Court lame?" I asked Alex. Back home, it was about the stupidest thing and it would be embarrassing to be on it.

"No, it's usually decent," Alex said. "Jack's sister was prom queen once."

"I thought you were going to say Jack was," I said with a laugh.

"The four nominees for Prom Queen are... Kara," the president said gesturing her. She smiled gracefully and made her way up to the stage. "Anne," he said gesturing my best friend from French class... not. Alex shook his head at her. "Lara," he said gesturing Anne's friend. "And last but not least, Natalie!" he said looking straight at me. I just about fell over.

"Natty," Alex said with a huge smile, "that's you!"

I laughed when I saw Kara's face on stage. This had to be a fucking joke.

"For Prom King, the nominees are... Matt," the president said pointing at our friend. "Brad," which ironically was Anne's date. He was on the football team, enough said. "Jay," who was also an athlete on the basketball team. "And... Alex," he said pointing at Gaskarth. He literally burst out laughing as Jack pushing him unwillingly toward the stage.

"Now, it is time for the crowning of the 2006 Prom King and Queen!" the president yelled. Everyone cheered as if they cared. Maybe they did, I had no clue. "For the 2006 Prom King, we have..." the president said looking down at the note card that was handed to him. He made a face of surprise as he opened his mouth to speak. "Alex!" Alex was laughing so hard he could barely breathe and Jack was no better. He walked up to the president, who crowned him and stepped off the stage. "And for the 2006 Prom Queen," the president started, "we have..." Again, he made a face. "Natalie!" Kara squealed and hugged me. I walked over and received a crown and sash to wear.

"Is this not the funniest thing in the world?" I asked Alex as we were getting pictures take of us for the yearbook.

"For real," I agreed.

"A million bucks saying this was all Kara's idea of fun," Alex said.

"Why her?" I asked as the flashes stopped.

"Because she's on student council," he explained.

"Speak of the devil," I said as Kara made her way over to see us.

"What?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

"This was all your doing!" Alex yelled dramatically.

"I know nothing of what you're speaking of," she said as she grabbed Rian's arm and walked away.

Alex and I danced with our group of friends for a long time but soon enough the evening was over and we were all sober and tired. We all climbed into the limo and drove to the hotel on the water where we'd rented a suite for the weekend. It had four bedrooms with ample space to hang out in. It was my part of my dad's I'm-sorry-for-not-coming-to-your-prom gift. Well worth the money. By the time we got there, we were all exhausted except for Alex and I. We weren't hyper, but we weren't on the verge of falling asleep. The bellboy from the Mariott loaded all of our luggage into our room as we checked in. Each couple was given a room key. The rest of our friends went up to sleep.

"What do you want to do?" Alex asked.

"Let's go outside," I said. "It's still nice out."

"Alright," he said grabbing my hand. I didn't pull away like I had before. We walked in comfortable silence back to where he'd taken me weeks ago. We found the bench and took a seat. It was silent except for the lapping of the water against the piers. It was so peaceful.

"Natty?" Alex asked finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" I said looking up at him.

"Can you just tell me that you don't feel anything for me?" Alex said with a pained look on his face.

"No," I said. "That would be lying."

"Then why can't you just let it happen?"Alex said trying to understand my logic. To be honest, I had started to stop believing in it.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Maybe I could."

"Nat, I've never felt the way I do when I'm with you ever. It's so... different," Alex said looking for words to describe his feelings. His voice was shaking slightly and he was playing with this hair. If that didn't scream nervousness, I didn't know what did. I wasn't sure what to say as I continued sitting there next to him. "How can you not want that?"

"It's not that I don't want that, Alex," I started. "I just have never been in a relationship where I haven't gotten hurt and I don't want to waste my time anymore."

"That's not wasting time," Alex said. "It makes you who you are."

"I don't want to be like this," I said. "Do you think I want to sit here and fight all of my feelings because I'm afraid? Do you think I haven't thought about this everyday since I met you?"

I was on the verge of crying and I knew this could not be good. I turned my head away from him and got up to walk back to the hotel.

"Don't go," he said grabbing my arm. I kept pulling and he eventually got up and came around to face me. "I wouldn't hurt you, Natty."

"That's nice of you to say," I said smiling, "but that's not the first time I've heard it."

"Can't you tell that this is something much more powerful?" Alex said. His eyes betrayed his valiant words. He was pleading with me.

"Don't say something you don't mean," I said trying to walk away again.

"I wouldn't," Alex said squeezing my hand.

"Why should I believe you?" I asked sniffling.

"Because I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think something could work out," Alex reasoned. He had a point, but still. I could never just be friends with someone I had loved.

"Promise me," I said looking down at my feet.

"Natty, I promise I'll never intentionally hurt you," Alex said.

He lifted my chin up with his hand and pulled me close to him. He wiped away a stray tear with his thumb and gently pulled my face towards him. Slowly, he kissed me and in that instant I knew he would keep his promise. I had been in a relationship where it was based on sex, and I'd never been kissed the way Alex kissed me ever. He was so gentle and loving. As we pulled away, Alex smiled and grabbed my hand as we walked back over to the hotel. He rubbed his thumb against the back of my palm.

Alex's POV:
All I could think about as we walked back to the hotel was how fragile she really was. I wanted to show her that she could be loved in the right way. I wanted to show her that she didn't have to be afraid to let her emotions rule over her.

"Are you sure?" she asked as we reached the elevator.

"Yes," I said hugging her.

Her small frame nestled perfectly in my arms. Is it too soon to say perfect?