A Prom to Remember(73)
“Isn’t that young?” Kelsey asked, but her voice wasn’t judgmental, just curious. Cora hoped that Madison could hear her tone and not be offended.
“You know, I’ve thought about this, and people act like there’s a magical age where the switch flips and you know your sexuality. But if Cora and Perfect Boyfriend Jamie started liking each other in seventh grade, then why is it so unbelievable that I realized I was into girls around then?”
“I guess the gossip hasn’t made it all the way around,” Cora said, rolling her eyes. “But I broke up with Perfect Boyfriend Jamie.”
Everyone turned to stare at her, except for Jacinta, who she’d confessed this tidbit to in the middle of the parking lot, and Josie and Teagan, who were there when it happened.
“I wondered where he was all night,” Madison said. “Well, my point still stands. And now I need to know why you broke up with him, because I am nosy.”
“We were just different. We wanted different things. We’ve been together for so long I don’t even know what it’s like to not be Cora and Jamie, which is so stupid when you think about it,” Cora said. Then she took a deep breath. “And honestly, lately I’ve been kind of wondering if I was bi. And if I stay with Perfect Boyfriend Jamie forever, I might not get to explore that part of myself.”
Madison’s eyes went wide for a brief second, and then she nodded. “That’s cool.”
“I don’t know if it is or not,” Cora said. “I only started talking about it, and it kind of feels like I’m lying since I’m not sure. I’m still trying to figure it out.”
“You’re questioning,” Kelsey said. “Isn’t that part of what the Q is for in LGBTQ?” She turned to Madison like she was the guru.
“Yeah, queer or questioning,” Madison agreed. “That’s allowed.”
Everyone else in the room nodded and voiced their support of the idea.
“Questioning,” Cora said. “I like that.”
Lizzie
It had been a long night.
A long day.
A long week.
A long year.
But somehow it all led to Lizzie and Cameron in the town park in the middle of the night.
He offered to drive her home as the party wound down, but first they had to walk back to his car at the pizza place, which luckily wasn’t too far from where Jacinta lived. Lizzie wasn’t ready for the night to end yet anyway. She didn’t want the magic to be over before she had inhaled every last bit of it. So that’s what she did as they walked along the path by the pond. She took a picture in her mind of the evening and did her best to document it via all five senses.
“What are you thinking about?” Cameron asked.
“About how we got here.”
“Jacinta,” he said with a grin. “It’s mostly Jacinta’s fault from what I can gather.”
“Thanks, smart-ass,” she said, swatting him in the side.
He grabbed her hand and they continued their walk. Technically the park was closed between dusk and dawn, but they were feeling rebellious.
“It is kind of amazing that we went to school together forever and this is how we ended up,” Lizzie said.
“It’s amazing that we never talked, at all, ever.”
“Life is weird.”
“I was so worried we wouldn’t like each other when we met in real life.”
“Me too,” Lizzie said. “I thought for sure you’d take one look at me and head for the hills.”
“I would never do that,” he said simply. He didn’t ask why she thought he’d head for the hills. She liked him for not asking why.
They paused in the path.
“Thanks for showing up in the end,” Lizzie said as they sat down on a bench near the pond. It was so quiet, like they were the only people in the world.
“Thanks for not being mad.” He chewed his lip for a second, staring out into the pond and then looking back at her. “I guess we really should get out of here before someone calls the cops on us or something.”
Cameron stood and extended his hand to help Lizzie off the bench. Her heart raced even though they’d been holding hands all night. This time it felt different. She looked at Cam’s lips.
The moment was too perfect. The pond, the moonlight, the soft breeze teasing at the back of her neck, it was like everything was telling her to take a chance.
She closed her eyes and leaned in, just brushing her lips to his at first. But then he responded in kind and they kissed.
It was perfect.
Cameron wrapped his arms around her waist, and it felt so good to be close to him. She moved her arms up around his neck and drew him in a little closer.
It was like something out of a dream.
Exactly the way Lizzie had expected prom night to be, if she’d let herself get her hopes up.
She didn’t want it to end. But then Cameron inhaled and pulled back.
“Sorry, I hope that was okay,” he said.
“Okay? Didn’t I start that?” she asked with a grin.
“Guess it was a mutual thing,” he said.
“You should probably take me home before I decide to make out with you all night long,” Lizzie said, grabbing his hand and pulling him in the direction of Main Street and the pizzeria.