Love's Not A Competition

We danced for what seemed like hours but I’m sure it was only about five songs. Katie had joined us after the second floor and most of the other party goers had joined in as well. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. I looked around us while we danced, counting about just under a hundred people in the ballroom. There were silver and pink decorations hanging around the room while balloons floated around the room slowly. There were tables set on one side of the room while the dance floor sat to the left of that.

“I want a drink,” I said to Brittney.

She nodded and I walked towards the bar which sat near the tables. A hand snaked around my waist and I smiled at Zeke while he pushed his lips against my forehead. I grabbed a drink of water and he led me over to a table. No one else was at the table and he rested his head against my shoulder while I sipped on the water.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered.
“Wait until you see me next weekend at prom,” I smiled.
“I’m looking forward to it.”

I smiled and we sat in silence for a while. He dragged me onto the dance floor when I had finished my drink. We found Brittney, Aidan, Katie, Jesse, Eric and Amy right near the middle of the dancers. We joined them and Zeke grabbed my hand, spinning me around to the music. The band sounded good and they played all sorts of songs as well as their own stuff. I danced with all of my friends but was passed back to Zeke when a slow song came on. He pulled me against him and placed his hands on my waist while I placed mine on his shoulders. We moved slowly to the music, staring into each other’s eyes.

“Was Brittney’s brother hitting on you before?” he asked me.
I raised an eyebrow, wondering if I should really tell him.
“No,” I lied. “He was just being annoying like usual.”
“Are you sure? You can tell me. I’m not going to go hunt him down if he did.”
“Okay, fine,” I sighed. “He was hitting on me. It was pretty disgusting as well.”
“What was he saying?”
“It doesn’t matter.”

Zeke raised an eyebrow but he dropped the subject. The song finished and Zeke dropped his hands. I wondered if he was angry with me but he smiled softly. Harriet walked over and pulled me away from the dancers. She led me through a door that led into a kitchen. Sitting on a stainless steel bench was Brittney’s birthday cake. It was three tiered boxes with pink icing, silver ribbon up the sides that connected to a silver bow sitting on top of the cake. It looked amazing.

“We had to get it custom made,” Harriet told me. “Nothing is too good for my little girl.”

Two ladies that worked at the hotel came over and moved the cake onto a food trolley. Harriet lit the candles and I walked beside them as they pushed the trolley into the ballroom, candles flickering. Harriet signaled the band and they fell quiet. Everyone turned to look at us and Thomas led Brittney towards us. She was beaming brightly and everyone started singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. She blew out the candles and everyone cheered loudly. The two ladies from the hotel started cutting up from the cake and handing it out to people. I took two plates and walked over to where Zeke was standing. I handed him a plate and we went to go find a seat. Katie and Jesse soon joined us along with Eric and Amy.

“This is pretty good,” Eric said.
“You think anything edible is good,” Katie teased.
“Shut up,” Eric grumbled.
“I think it’s good that Eric has a healthy appetite. At least he isn’t stick thin like some anorexic girl,” Amy said, defending him.
Eric met my gaze and I smirked.
“I think you’ve found your perfect woman,” I teased.
“I know, isn’t she great?”

Amy grinned as Eric put his arm around his shoulders. Katie made pretend gagging noises. Brittney and Aidan sat down in the two empty chairs. She smiled at all of us. It seemed like she was having a good time. Zeke held my hand under the table and I looked at him from the corner of my eye. He had started up a conversation with Aidan and wasn’t looking at me but he squeezed my hand. I looked across the table to find Jesse staring at me. I felt the guilt settle in my stomach and knew I would have to tell Zeke about the kiss if I ever wanted to get rid of this guilt that was nagging me. I would do it later though. Now was not the right time. I didn’t know if there ever would be a good time to tell you boyfriend you had kissed another boy but I didn’t think now would be.

I headed to the bathroom after I had finished my slice of cake. I walked into a cubicle and heard the bathroom door open before giggling filled the silent bathroom. I didn’t move and was waiting for them to leave again when I heard them talking. It didn’t sink in until I heard Zeke’s name.

“He is so good looking. I caught him looking at me while he was dancing with that dwarf of a girlfriend,” the first girl said.
I tried to contain my anger as her friend giggled loudly.
“You two would look really good together,” the second girl said.
“I know right. We would be the hottest couple in school. I bet he is an amazing kisser. Boys that look like that are always good kissers.”
“Don’t worry, maybe one day you’ll get to find out. I doubt him and that little girl will last long. Once she sleeps with him, he’ll move on. That’s just the way he is. Once a lady’s man, always a lady’s man,” the second girl said.

I wanted to storm out of the cubicle and hit these two girls. What gave them the right to talk about someone else’s boyfriend like that? He obviously wasn’t interested if he was dating me. The girls soon left and I walked out of my cubicle, not in the mood to party anymore. Zeke could have any girl but he was with me. I looked in the mirror and wondered why. Why was Zeke with me? I shook my head before walking out of the bathroom. I spotted Eric right away and walked over to him. I was trying to hold in my angry tears when I reached him. I tapped him on the shoulder and he looked at me, noticing my clenched fists and held in tears.

“Eric, can you take me home?” I whispered to him.
“Hey Amy, I’m kind of tired. Do you want to head back?” he said to Amy after nodding to me.
“Sure, that sounds fine,” she said.

I quickly hurried over to Brittney and said goodbye, telling her I was getting a headache. I told her Eric was taking me home with Amy. She seemed sad that I was leaving but she didn’t question it. I was silent in the drive home. We had hailed a taxi. Eric was kind enough to pay for the ride. I said thank you before heading up to my dorm room. I pulled off the mask and the dress before slipping into some comfy pajamas. I eyed the bottom bunk before taking a deep breath. I climbed up the ladder to the top bunk and slipped under the covers. I tried not to think about my mixed emotions as I squeezed my eyes shut. The anger seeped out of me slowly. I realized I was foolish to doubt my relationship with Zeke. It still didn’t soften the blow and I tried to push out my emotions as I fell asleep slowly.