The Lunacy Fringe

By the time graduation and senior prom loomed over us, my dad was convinced Pacific would sign the band. They hadn't made an official offer yet, but there had been calls and meetings up the wazoo.

I'd been accepted to three different schools. But I chose to stay close to home in California. Pacific offered me a scholarship, and Paul D'Angelo thought it was the best school for me.

I was terrified.

And excited. But mostly terrified.

We'd all been accepted to different schools. Despite Felix's fears, he'd gotten accepted too. But I could tell he didn't have his heart in it. He wanted to go into music, and I knew the second Pacific offered him a contract, he'd have his soul signed over in a heartbeat.

Regardless of how it turned out, we were all going to be apart no matter what. And I knew, without a doubt, that Felix and I just weren't going to last.

We never talked about the months we were apart. For the most part, he acted like it never happened. Whenever people asked, he'd tell them we'd been together a year. It felt like it. Like we'd known each other forever and had been in love just as long. But at the same time, it felt like it was coming to an end. And we barely got enough time together.

Billie woke me up at the crack of dawn again for prom. After an excruciatingly long day of beauty rituals and dye jobs, I walked downstairs in my prom dress to meet my dad. He was standing in the living room, looking up at me with tears in his eyes. He was very obviously trying to keep me from noticing.

"Wow," he said when I got to the landing. I nervously smoothed out my green dress. My hair was curled and a little more on the orange side of red now.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," I said.

"You just look—grown-up."

"I—thank you? I don't know?" He smiled.

"You look lovely. As always. I just—I feel like I'm not ready to let you go just yet. Feels like only yesterday I was teaching you how to ride a bike. And now you're a whole woman. About to graduate and take on the world."

"Aw, Dad." I reached out to take his hand, and he squeezed it. "Tomorrow, we can go out for old times' sake. A good kid-friendly place. I'll even play in the playground for a bit."

"Sounds like a date."

"Maybe that kid's pizza parlor for dinner. The one with the talking rat."

"Nah, that's where we're having your graduation party." I laughed and looked down at my dress again.

"You don't think it's too green, do you? I thought it would be safe since red isn't my natural color, but they went too orange, and now I feel like an upside-down carrot."

"Just a little bit like an upside-down carrot." The doorbell rang, and I moved to answer it, but he put his hand up to stop me. "No, no. That's my job."

Felix was standing on the front steps in a black suit with a green tie. We'd both agreed against the corsage thing this year since we didn't really see the point of it, and the whole thing was awkward. But he still brought me a flower. Which he booped on my nose when my dad let him in.

"You look beautiful," he said. I blushed and took the flower, a white jasmine.

"You look beautiful too."

"Gross," my dad said. We both turned back to him. "Alright, you know the rules. Home before—I don't really care. Just before the sun comes up, alright?"

"Sounds reasonable," Felix agreed. My dad waved us off and went to return to the couch. He acted like he didn't care, but I could see he was still worked up. "My mom wants us to take pictures again."

"I figured as much." He held out his arm for me to take. So I said goodbye to my dad and followed him outside. "Do I look okay?"

"God, Ruby. You're stunning."

"My dad thinks I look like an upside-down carrot."

"Prettiest carrot I've ever seen." I smiled and nudged him with my shoulder.

"Just checking."

His mom took a bunch of pictures of us in the backyard again. It didn't feel as awkward as the year before. We'd grown so much, grown comfortable with each other. And even Claire was laughing along with us as we goofed off in the garden. I was going to miss this. I wasn't sure what would happen between us, but I wanted to savor this feeling forever.

The phone rang while we were posing. So Claire stepped back inside to get it. Felix and I messed around while she was gone. But then she came back out and told me it was for me. I had no idea who would be calling me on their phone. We all went back inside, and I listened to Felix complaining about his mom adjusting his tie while I went to the phone.

"Hello?"

"You better not ditch me like your brother!" It was Crystal. I groaned.

"Ugh. Hold on." I turned back around. "We got a problem."

"Oh no. what now?" he asked, adjusting his own tie now.

"Quinn ditched Crystal. She wants pictures.

"Son of a…."

"Hey," Claire warned.

"Sorry. Tell her to give us ten minutes."

"We're on our way."

"Thank you!" she replied. Then she hung up.

I promised Crystal we'd sneak pictures of Quinn and Billie for her. After she let us go, we took Claire's car and drove to the reception hall.

"I can't believe you ditched our mother, you asshat!" I said, smacking Quinn upside the head when we found them.

"I hate pictures, alright?" he retorted.

"I can't believe you let him." I turned on Billie.

"I didn't have a choice. He picked me up at my house, and when my mom went to get the camera, he dragged me out the door." I reached into my bag for the camera Crystal gave me and snapped one before he could stop me.

"Ugh. Seriously, Ruby?" I grinned.

"I want copies," Billie said.

"Of course," I promised her.

We went to find a table to sit down and hang out with our friends. I remembered the year before when I'd still been uncertain about where I belonged. I'd sat there with Felix feeling shy and awkward. We'd already become friends, but I felt like an outsider. I didn't have the same history with them. But now I couldn't picture my life without them. We laughed and danced, and I never wanted the night to end.

Billie and I ran off to dance after the boys left to find drinks or something. We were hysterical when they found us, keeled over and giggling at our awful dancing. We could barely breathe, and I fell into Felix's arms just to stay upright.

"Sometimes I worry that they like each other more than us," Quinn remarked.

"Oh, they definitely do," Felix admitted.

"Aw," I told him, patting his cheeks. "Only a little."

"Quinn, dance with me!" Billie decided. She took his hands and dragged him off, leaving Felix and me alone at the edge of the dance floor. I looked up at him and smiled.

"I don't want to dance." His eyebrows rose.

"I didn't ask."

"No, but you were thinking it. I just really suck at dancing."

"You were just dancing with Billie when I came up."

"I think what you mean to say is that I was moving in the general vicinity of Billie when you came up."

"Something like that. It's okay if you suck at it. But what should we do if we can't dance?"

"We can stand here and stare at each other affectionately." He smiled.

"We could. But it might be a little creepy, don't you think? Besides—we need to dance at least once."

"Maybe if the right song comes on."

"I already put in a request with the DJ." I took his hand.

"Of course you did."

We headed back out onto the dancefloor when the song finally came on. He led me into the dance, and I held him close, but then I saw a look come over his eyes. Like he was there physically but somewhere far away in his mind.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked him.

"Penguins," he said. That wasn't what I expected.

"Why penguins?"

"Remember that night when you went with me to get beer, and I got you the snow globe?"

"That was the night of the accident." He nodded.

"Yeah, but—before then. You told me that penguins mate for life, right?"

"Yeah. I remember."

"Did you know that they sing when they're looking for their mates? They look for the penguin whose song they like the most. That's how they choose each other. That and I think rocks are somehow involved, but I got hung up on the song thing, so I can't remember for sure."

"You've been doing your homework."

"I think they're my favorite animals."

"Did I have anything to do with this choice?" He smiled again.

"Of course you did."

"What was your favorite animal before you met me?" He had to think about this for a moment.

"I don't know. Dogs, maybe."

"That doesn't count."

"Dogs are nice. They're sweet. When they're stupid, they're friendly. And they're loyal. There's no such thing as a bad dog. Just bad people."

"Okay. Well, what animal intrigues you the most?"

"Penguins."

"Besides them." He thought about it again.

"I don't know. Bees," he decided. I was dumbstruck. Again.

"Bees?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" He shrugged.

"I just think they're neat." I shook my head and rested it on his chest. "I was just thinking," he started, "that I like your song." I took a deep breath. Was it silly to be so moved by a random penguin fact?

"I like your song too," I admitted.