Chapter 18

Still Claire’s turn:

“So, uh, are you going to the Prom?” Phil, one of the boys in my study group, asked.

I nodded, and said, “Yep, I’m taking my wife as my date.”

“Save me a dance?”

“Sure, I’ll be happy to dance with you.”

“Thanks!”

It was that time of year — the school was abuzz with talk of the Prom. Everyone was asking everyone else if they were going and, if the person wasn’t known to have a boy or girlfriend, who they were going with.

After talking with Phil, I made up a little sign and propped it on my books in the library:

Yes, I’m taking my wife to the Prom.

The sign got some chuckles, but it also stopped people asking, so I took it with me to the lunch table. When they saw it, both Shelly and Jane made up their own signs saying they were going, but not with whom. I think all of us at the table had a pretty good idea who each of them were going with, but they wouldn’t discuss it.

Trish’s date was her friend with benefits, Tim Stevens, and, of course, Tom and Sean were going together.

We had little in the way of formal wear in our small town, so it seemed that half of the juniors and seniors were gone each weekend leading up to the dance, heading to the bigger cities in the area to get just the right dress/suit. Charley and I didn’t need to, since we planned to wear the dresses we’d worn to the Christmas party. We liked them, they were plenty formal, and we’d already proven that we could dance in them.

There also wasn’t a limo service in town, but a couple of weeks before the dance, an up-and-coming company in Bremerton ran an ad in the local paper. They offered to bring up to ten cars if they got reservations for them. Charley grabbed one right away, big enough for us and the rest of the lunch table crowd. After talking to everyone, she also made reservations for the whole crowd at our favorite restaurant.

The night of the big event, Grandma and Grandpa took the traditional Prom night pictures of the distinctly nontraditional couple. For some of them Charley was snuggled up against my chest, for others she was standing on a stair step which, with her short heels, made her almost as tall as me. We then hopped in the limo, and it made its way around to pick up Tim and Trish, then Tom and Sean. Finally, surprising no one but maybe Tim, we picked up Jane, and her date, Shelly.

At the restaurant, Jane opened up. She laughed when she said, “It’s all because of those darned wedding bouquets.”

Shelly nodded, then said, “Um, I owe you all an apology for what I put you through in January. It really was about that bouquet. When I caught it, I convinced myself that it meant that Jane and I would be together, so when she started seeing Jack, I just fell apart. Before, I’d resigned myself to her eventually finding some guy and going her own way, but this time I’d set my heart on being with her. I hope you understand and can forgive me for not telling you what was wrong then.” We all assured her we understood.

Then Jane got serious. “Claire, I owe you so much. You gave me the key idea that made this happen. Do you remember telling us that you’re not gay, but that you fell in love with Charley, anyway?”

I nodded, but said, “But I’d known for years that I was at least interested in girls, so it wasn’t much of a reach for me.”

“No problem, I understand that we’re different that way,” Jane said. “But my circumstances were different, too. In my case, I already knew I loved Shelly — she’s been my best friend for most of my life. I also knew she wanted us to be more than that, so it all came down to the idea that I’m not gay.

“After I got home from the hospital that first day, my stomach was too tied in knots to eat, so I went straight to bed. I tried for almost an hour to go to sleep, but I was too strung out. Lying there, wide awake, what you said came back to me. As much as I loved Shelly, I already knew I was interested in guys so I’d never seriously thought about being in love with her. Could I fall in love with her, even though I’m not gay?

“Then I thought of how big an ass Jack had been, and about the boys I’d dated before him. I’m not saying all guys are jerks, but I was pretty good at picking them. I remembered Shelly being so supportive when each relationship broke up, though I’d known for a while that she wanted that relationship for herself. It was hard for me to imagine how much she must love me to put up with the pain of watching me try to find the right person, when she was standing beside me all along.

“It wasn’t until I asked myself what I’d do if she wasn’t in my life that I began to understand how much she meant to me. I pictured her finding someone else, falling in love and moving away. It hurt! Then I imagined what I’d feel like if she died.” She paused to blot her eyes with her napkin, and Shelly leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“That’s when I understood how I felt deep down inside. Somewhere along the line I’d fallen in love with my best friend, but I’d been denying it, and putting her through hell, because I wasn’t interested in girls. Remembering what you said helped me understand that I didn’t need to be interested in girls in general to be interested in Shelly. Mom has told me since that she thought it was a foregone conclusion, but it took the shock of imagining her dead to help me realize how much I loved her, and in what way. Once I did, I got out of bed and sank to my knees, but I didn’t pray. I didn’t ask for anything — instead, I made a promise. I promised God that if she lived, I’d never leave her side. It sounds odd to say it, but as soon as I made that promise, my mind began to calm.”

She chuckled then, in a quieter voice, she went on. “My mind might have calmed, but it wasn’t ready for me to go to sleep yet. It began playing a video for me, of the times I’d seen Shelly naked and the times we’d snuggled up together in bed. Maybe it was a final test of my commitment, after all, I’m not gay, and I didn’t get turned on when I was living through those things. Whatever the reason, the memories did turn me on. She was in the hospital, in intensive care, fighting off a life-threatening infection, and I ended up jilling off to memories of her. Uh, it’s probably TMI, but I’ve done it every night we couldn’t be together since.”

Everyone else at the table laughed for a moment. Shelly took that time to turn Jane’s face toward her and give her a real kiss. Then she told her side of the story.

“When she first came in that Saturday, after they let me have visitors, she said she had something important to talk to me about, and asked Dad to give us a few minutes. When we were alone, she told me she’d come to realize that she loved me, forever, and that she never wanted to leave my side. Then she kissed me!

“You have to understand, I was still pretty muzzy, and here Jane was saying the words I’d longed to hear for years. I wasn’t sure it was real or if my mind was playing tricks on me. I had so many things I wanted to ask, and all I managed to say was, ‘But’. She shushed me and explained. When she mentioned jilling off to memories of me, I managed to smile and tell her I’d been doing that to memories of her for a long time. Then I told her I loved her, too, and that I’d never leave her.”

She turned and kissed Jane again, before going on. “Then she said she wanted to make a splash when we announced our relationship — she didn’t want there to be any doubt in anyone’s mind about who she loved and wanted to be with. Like I said, I wasn’t at my best. My mind had wandered off to a happy place, where I was picturing us holding each other close while dancing. So out of the blue, I asked her if she’d go to the Prom with me. She said that would be perfect, that we’d let everyone know then.

“I don’t think we could have pulled it off if we didn’t already spend so much time together. Our parents know, so we didn’t need to be out in the public eye to be girlfriends. We also managed to get away a couple of times. For example, instead of going to Seattle to look for dresses, we went to Bellevue Square. There we could be young lovers, instead of just friends. It was wonderful.”

“Leaving us as the token straight couple,” Trish said with a chuckle.

“Oh, there’ll be plenty of straight couples there tonight,” Tom said. “In fact, I only know of a two other gay couples and one other lesbian couple.

“I don’t know if anyone else had figured it out, ladies, but the rest of us at the lunch table had a pretty good idea you’d be coming tonight as a couple. No one’s seen Jane with any boys since she broke up with Jack, and neither of you would say who your dates were.” They grinned, and Shelly shrugged to acknowledge the point.

I thought it was very cute when each couple ordered a single dessert, and we fed each other alternating bites. Their tiramisu is too much for one person, anyway.

From the restaurant, the limo took us the long way around, skirting the bay, before going to the hall the school rented for the event. Tom and Sean got out first, followed by Charley and me, then Trish and Tim. Finally, Jane and Shelly stepped out, getting gasps from a few of the kids. They both smiled, then they shared a steamy kiss, and we all went inside.

Charley and I danced our feet off — we probably didn’t sit out four songs in all the time we were there. We danced together, we each danced with everyone we’d come with. I danced with each of the guys and two of the girls from my study sessions. I even danced with a couple of the cheerleaders who were there with their boyfriends. When they played the same song I’d danced to with Jim in December, I grabbed Shelly and did my little fancy dance with her, getting stares from other students and a stern look from one of the chaperones.

Then Jane topped the surprise of their coming as a couple in a big way! Charley told me later that she saw her talking to the sound and light people, but I missed it, so I was caught off guard, along with everyone else, when Jane held Shelly on the floor after a dance, and they were hit by a spotlight.

Jane went to one knee with a ring in her hand, and said, “Shelly Reinhold, it took me a long time to understand my own heart, but I do now. I love you with all of my being. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

Shelly’s reaction showed she wasn’t expecting it, but she got with the program right away. “Oh, Jane! I love you so much. Of course, I’ll marry you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

She hauled Jane up to her feet and started kissing her face as the band struck up an older song. I’d heard it before. It was nice and all that, but it didn’t mean much to me. On the other hand, as soon as Charley heard it she smiled, then began gently laughing along with several others who were watching.

No one intruded on Jane and Shelly’s dance — we all just stood and watched them move around the floor in each other’s arms. When they came off the floor, though, we mobbed them. Then Principal Wells walked up.

Jane beamed at him. “Hi, Grandpa!”

He smiled at her and said, “Congratulations, Jane. Congratulations to you, too, Shelly. I know that you’ve been in love with Jane for years, and I’m thrilled that she finally understands that she feels the same about you.”

We continued to dance and have fun for a little while, but it was probably less than half an hour later that we all agreed the public portion of the evening was coming to a close, so we called the limo to come pick us up.