Chapter 10

The two weeks before Homecoming flew past. The "in" crowd mostly ignored us. At least they did until lunch Homecoming Friday.

The ten of us were eating and chatting when Candy Lewis and Lisa Carver stopped across from me, behind Missy. "I don't know how you and Missy got tickets to the dance tomorrow, John, but if I were you, I wouldn't show up," Lisa hinted.

I didn't get a chance to even open my mouth. Mary Jo Mason looked around the table. "Did you hear something, Amy Sue? It kind of sounded like air blowing through someone's ears."

"I think I did," Amy Sue said, barely stifling her giggle.

Lisa's jaw clenched. "At least I keep my thighs closed unlike some people around here."

"I seem to recall that someone was very proud of her splits," Missy chimed in.

I looked around. The lunchroom was silent, watching to see if another catfight would break out.

Candy frowned. "We don't need sluts at our dance," Lisa said.

"Oh, so you aren't going either, Lisa?" Mary Jo asked sweetly.

"I'm not the one that fucked half the football team, you fucking skank whore!"

Mary Jo didn't even blink. "I know, dear; they told me that you didn't know how, and that they had to fuck you."

I was convinced that the cat fight was about to commence when Betty Lou jumped in. "I think you're just afraid of the competition, Lisa. You wouldn't be homecoming queen if there was anyone else on the ballot," Betty Lou taunted.

"We'll see about that," Lisa replied. "Peter and I are going to be the best looking couple at the dance."

"P-p-peter Hawkins is a b-b-boil on a pig's ass," Carly Marks said, placing her tray on the table next to Mary Jo, "and g-g-given how often he's on your ass, I g-g-guess that makes you the pig!"

"Don't you start on me, retard," Lisa snarled, spinning on Carly.

I'd had enough. Picking on Carly for speech impediment was the last straw. "That was uncalled for, Lisa," I said as I stood. The rest of the table stood with me. "I used to believe that you were a nice person, but I guess I was wrong."

I smiled at Carly and turned away from Lisa, heading for the exit. A smattering of applause broke out as we walked out of the cafeteria.

I turned to Carly. "Be careful, Carly. We appreciate you standing with us, but you have a few more years to go at this school."

"I'll be fine, John," she said with confidence. "I know who the good guys are. I'll see you at the dance tomorrow." She spun and headed off to class.

"Wow, she's something," Missy said. I nodded.

"All of the people I eat lunch with, are, Missy." Behind Missy, I saw Mary Jo roll her eyes at me before heading off.

"Well, not all of us, maybe." Missy said, looking down. "I haven't been all that nice to a lot of those people."

"Well, that may have been true in the past, Missy, but the girl who said some of those mean things isn't the girl I asked to go to the dance with me." I lifted her head. "I told you before; you've changed a lot the last month or so, and I really like the person you've become. All the people at that table are special, including you, and I'm very much looking forward to going to the dance with you tomorrow night."

Missy looked up at me, her eyes filled with both doubt and hope. "Thanks, John," she said softly.

"You're welcome, Missy. We'd better get to class, now, though, or we'll be late. We can talk more later if you'd like."

The guys arrived late Saturday afternoon without their dates. Jesse was perturbed. The team had lost a homecoming game for the first time in over ten years. I didn't go to the game, but Bobby was there and he said the team didn't look much like a team. Jesse agreed with him. "Boardman and Hawkins tried to blame the loss on Wally and me. Apparently we weren't opening up holes big enough for Junior to run through."

"Boardman had no room to talk," Bobby replied. "He missed that easy tackle on the guy who scored the winning touchdown for Parkside."

Jess shrugged, "Well, all I know is that it seems as if half the team is pissed off at the other half," he said, "and we aren't going to win many football games with that going on".

Talk about the game and the team continued until the girls arrived twenty minutes later. Missy had arranged for all the girls to go get their hair and fingernails done before dinner, and they all looked great. Everyone came to our house in their jeans; deciding that none of them wanted to chance spilling food on their dresses, the girls had decided to dress after dinner. After the girls had talked to us, the guys had decided to do the same thing. Bobby and I had taken care of getting corsages for the girls, and they were keeping cool in the refrigerator. Tracey had treated our dinner like it was one of her catered affairs, and she had the house wonderfully decorated in our school colors, green and gold.

Tracey had set the dining room table for ten, but Jesse glanced at the table and nudged me when he arrived. "Shouldn't there be eleven places, Robinson?"

I looked at Jesse and smiled. "Now that is an excellent suggestion, my friend."

Tracey looked up from the stove as Jesse and I walked into the kitchen. "What's wrong, John? Did you guys devour the Hors d'oeuvres already?"

"Nope, there's still lots of food out there. It's the table; you're one place short, Trace."

"What? I thought there were five couples?"

"There are. You forgot to lay out a place setting for yourself, though."

"No, I didn't, John. It's your party. I'm just the caterer."

Jesse frowned. "You aren't just the caterer, Tracey Robinson." He nodded to me and I grabbed another place setting from the cupboards. "You were planning to eat here in the kitchen, right?"

Tracey nodded.

"Well, we've got a new plan," I said. "Bring that chair, Jesse."

We were all sitting back, sated by the wonderful dessert that had capped a delicious meal when Jesse looked at me and nodded. I banged my spoon against my glass. Everyone turned to look at me.

I stood. "Tracey, you outdid yourself. That was without a doubt the best dinner I've had in a long while. Thank you."

Everyone chimed in their agreement and appreciation. After a few moments, Jesse banged on his glass and the room got silent again. Bobby stood up and left the room.

When he came back, he was carrying a large bouquet of Tracey's favorite flower, Yellow Roses.

"You went to all this trouble for us, Tracey, and we wanted to get you something to show our appreciation," Bobby said as he handed the flowers to her.

Kenny stood and walked over to her when Bobby sat down. He handed her a gift card for her favorite kitchen supply place. "Also, since you wouldn't let us pay you for dinner, we got you this too."

"You guys are too much," Tracey sniffed. "Thank you. It really was my pleasure. And now even more so."

Missy smiled at Jesse, Bobby, Kenny, Willie and me. "You guys are a class act," she said. I smiled back, but the other guys just looked uncomfortable with the compliment. We were all saved a response, however, when Missy noticed the time. "Show time, girls," she said pushing her chair back.

All five girls headed back toward the guest bedroom, and Jesse and I started grabbing the dessert dishes. Kenny, Bobby and Willie joined us.

"Hey, you guys don't have to do that," Tracey protested. "I've been well and truly paid. Clean up is part of my job."

"Maybe, but no one said we couldn't make it easier," Willie said, smiling.

"Besides," Jesse added, "The girls won't be ready for an hour. It will take us twenty minutes tops to dress."

Tracey threw up her hands. "Okay, you win," She laughed. "Thank you for the help."

I hugged Tracey. "Thank you, Sis. Dinner was perfect."

We were all laughing and joking as we helped Tracey put away leftovers and rinse off the dishes. Thirty minutes later, Tracey chased us out of her kitchen to dress. She had a smile on her face, though.

We parked our three vehicles together and headed into the gym as a group. Before we left, we all checked to make sure we had our tickets. The girls looked like movie stars in their dresses. I couldn't keep my eyes off Missy for any length of time. The soft blue of her gown dipped just enough in front to draw my eyes to the shadow between her breasts. My heart was racing as she placed her hand on my elbow and allowed me to escort her into the gym.

"We got your back, Robinson," Jesse whispered as he and Mary Jo stepped in behind us.

We weren't late by any means, but we weren't the first ones there either. The gym got real quiet when Missy and I stepped in. I looked over at her and smiled. She nodded and we walked to the dance floor. The band was ready to start the next song by the time we reached the middle of the gym. They launched into a Frank Sinatra number that I knew.

Missy smiled as we turned toward each other. I held out my hand and she placed hers into it. I put my other hand on her shoulder blade and we began to waltz.

After a moment, she closed the distance between us. "Wow, you can dance too?"

I nodded.

"Really dance?"

"Mom insisted."

"Then let's show them how it's done, John. Don't hold back. I can follow if you lead."

I smiled. I wasn't kidding. Mom insisted so I had taken two years of dance lessons at Madame Weygrand's studio in Mountain Vista. Tracey and I had danced last night to make sure I remembered the lessons.

Before long, I was whirling Missy around the dance floor. I knew I wasn't Fred Astaire, but I was pretty sure I could dance better than most of my classmates. It was the perfect way to show off my beautiful partner.