Chapter 21: Prom

The following Monday it was back to the grind. We both spent a lot of time explaining to people where we got the tans—let's face it, I don't care how much sunscreen you use, a week in the Caribbean is going to leave you a golden brown—and your friends slightly green.

Greg caught me after last period Monday afternoon, "So what are you two doing for the Prom?"

Prom? OH, SHIT! Something had been rooting around in the back of my head for a couple of weeks and it just kicked me—big time—I hadn't asked Beth! Was I starting to take our relationship for granted? That was going to stop right now!

As we were driving home, I took a detour through a local park and drove around until I found a quiet spot to stop the car.

"What's up, Tommy?" Beth asked.

"I've got to apologize, Beth. I really screwed up."

"What'd you do?"

"It's what I didn't do. I forgot to ask you if you'd go to the Prom with me. I'm sorry," I said as contritely as I could.

"Prom? You want to take me to the Prom?" I heard a little echo of the old Beth in there.

"Don't you want to go?" Now I was confused. I just assumed that everybody who was going with somebody would be there. Had I just put my size twelves in it again—in reverse?

"Tommy, I don't know how to dance! I'd look like a fool!"

Yup, the old Beth was still hiding in a dark corner waiting to pounce. "But you CAN dance, at least you did for the show."

"Well, yeah, but that was stuff for the show. I've never tried just dancing before!"

Time to admit my own shortcomings, "Beth, I can't dance either. Oh, I can shuffle around to the slow stuff, but that's it. But nobody says we have to dance all night. It'll just be a good excuse to get dressed up and spend time with our friends."

"Are you sure?" She sounded like she wanted to be convinced.

"Yes. I don't know about Cindy, but I know Greg can't dance any better than I can and I know they're going."

"Oh, God, I'll have to find a dress and shoes and..." Yup, we were going.

The Friday night of the Prom I drove my freshly washed beater over to Beth's and walked up to the front door. Her dad open the door, "Tommy! Come on in! Beth will be down ... well, I guess when she's ready," he laughed. "By the way, you look pretty good in tux."

"Uh. Thanks," I said as I ran my finger around the inside of my collar. Beth's dad just chuckled.

Then Beth came down the stairs and suddenly there was no one else in the world. She was wearing a white dress with one shoulder bare. The skirt ended just short of her knees and the total effect was breathtaking. "Wow," was all I could whisper.

"Thank you," she replied with the same little grin that I'd first seen that Friday when we'd met.

Beth's mom appeared with her camera for the requisite pictures and then it was time to go. As we got to the front door, Beth's dad held out his hand with a set of keys, "Please don't scratch it. Oh, and try to be back by Sunday afternoon."

I looked at the keys he'd dropped in my hand. On the ring were two keys—a BMW key and a room key.

As we walked out the front door I saw his brand new platinum gray 535i sitting in the driveway—Beth's mom must have snuck it out of the garage while we were talking. "Have fun, kids!" he said as he closed the front door.

"Holy shit," I whispered.

Beth clutched my arm, "I think Dad likes you."

I opened the passenger door for Beth and caught the smell of new leather. I walked around to the driver's side and got in, "Do you know what this is all about?" I dangled the room key.

Beth blushed, "Well, Daddy thought we'd want to extend the prom a bit."

"Do Cindy and Greg know about this? I mean they ARE riding with us, right?"

"Well, Cindy knows about it," Beth giggled. "Oh, by the way, Dad said it's a suite."

This was going to be a hell of a weekend!

We drove over to pick up Greg and he dead-stopped as he came out the door, "Is that Beth's dad's new Beemer?"

"Uh huh."

"Holy shit, Cindy's gonna freak!" Greg said as he got in the backseat. She's not the only one, my friend, I thought to myself as I looked at the extra key dangling from the ignition.

We drove to Cindy's house and waited in the car as Greg went in to get her. Cindy came out in a deep purple strapless dress that looked really good on her short, busty frame. She saw the car and turned to Greg, "You DID get a limo!" He just grinned. As they got to the car I jumped out to open the back door, "M'lady, your chariot awaits!"

"Tommy?" Cindy leaned down and looked in the car, "Beth! Wait! Is this your dad's new car?" Beth nodded. Cindy looked at me, "Wow, Beth's dad must REALLY like you! I mean, a brand new BMW?"

"Well, not brand new—I mean, it's already got 425 miles on it,"—I'd checked the odometer when I first got in.

"Holy shit," Cindy whispered as Greg helped her into the car.

I'd made reservation at one of the nice restaurants in town—you know, the kind that's been around forever and has the best steaks and seafood? As the maitre d' seated us I noticed a lot of tuxes and formal dresses in the room. Obviously we weren't the only ones celebrating tonight.

Greg and I ordered steaks while the girls both opted for trout. The restaurant has its own trout stream winding through the outdoor seating area so the four of us walked out there and I got a couple of pictures of Beth and Cindy netting their dinners. Both girls were flushed with excitement by the time we got back to our table. "I've heard of having to sing for my supper, but that's the first time I've ever had to FISH for it!" Beth exclaimed.

"And I've never seen two more beautiful fishermen, er, ladies," Greg responded.

You'd think that four people who saw each other every day would have a hard time finding something to talk about, but we chatted through our salads and right up to when the waiter brought our meals.

We got to the hotel and let the valet whisk the car away—luckily I remembered to take the room key off the ring first!

We walked into the ballroom and found our table. A lot of our friends were there already and everybody had to say hello. Greg and I headed over to get Cokes for the girls when Jay Stevens walked up, "Tommy, Greg, how you guys doing?"

"Pretty good, Jay. How about you?"

"Getting ready to graduate, I think." I'd forgotten that Jay was a year older than the rest of us. "Tommy, I want to apologize for what a jackass I was."

I grinned, "Jay, I was just going to apologize to you for setting you up that day you were suspended! And to thank you again for helping find Beth during the blizzard last winter." We both just stood there and laughed—all bad karma gone.

We got back to our table just as the band lit off on their first number—a little too fast for any of the four of us. We sat and talked, well the girls talked—mainly about who was wearing what—until the first slow number came up. I stood and pulled Beth's chair out as Greg did the same for Cindy. I took Beth in my arms and she snuggled in for a perfect fit and we just swayed to the music, shuffling our feet just enough to move a bit. Looking around I saw a few couples who really knew how to dance but a majority looked like us—just enjoying holding each other.

The rest of the evening was pretty much the same—sit out the fast numbers and snuggle through the slow ones. Greg took Beth out on the floor a couple of times and I enjoyed holding Cindy close as we rubbed together to the music. Jay came over and asked if Beth would share a dance with him, she grinned, "I'd say that's the least I can do for the guy who saved me!" Tony Thomas had a chance to dance with her too. They made a great-looking couple, but I wasn't worried—Tony was engaged already, to a girl he'd been with for as long as I'd known him.

Eventually the evening wore down as couples started drifting off, either for home or a party somewhere else. Speaking of the rest of the evening, I reached into my pocket to make sure the key was still there. Greg looked at our ladies, "Are you ready to go?"

Cindy looked at Beth who looked at me. Greg looked at all of us, "Okay, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing," Cindy told him as she took his arm and we all headed for the elevators instead of the front door. I checked the room number on the key—Top Floor! Obviously, Beth's dad spared no expense on this evening.

When we got to the room I opened the door and stepped back to let our ladies precede us into the room.

"Wow!" was Cindy's first comment. "This place is huge!"

Greg walked in and looked around, "Have I been set up?" Cindy just giggled and nodded.

"Don't feel bad, I didn't know anything about this—or the car—until I picked up Beth tonight." I told him.

We explored the suite—a huge living room and two big bedrooms, each with it's own bathroom, including a Jacuzzi! Beth kicked off her shoes and walked over to a built-in Bose sound system, "I want to dance some more." She turned on the system and found a station plying the kind of music we all liked to shuffle around to.

As Beth melted into my arms, I heard Greg whisper to Cindy, "How long have you known about this?" Cindy just grinned, "Since the day after you asked Tommy about his plans for tonight."

A little later Beth nudged me and motioned to where Greg and Cindy were dancing. Greg was nuzzling Cindy's cleavage which, considering Greg's six-one height to Cindy's five-three, meant he was almost bent double.

"I'm sure glad we don't have that problem," I murmured in Beth's ear.

"Yeah, I don't have any cleavage to nuzzle," she replied with a sigh. I reached between us to prove her wrong. "Is that proper ballroom etiquette?" she grinned.

"Is this a proper ballroom?" I responded, matching her grin.

We danced and talked for a half an hour before Greg stretched and yawned, "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm calling it for tonight."

"Yeah," Cindy faked a yawn. "I'm bushed."

I was a good boy and kept my mouth shut ... at least until we got to our room.

Beth was looking out over the city lights. I stepped up behind her and put my hands on her shoulders, "Did you enjoy yourself tonight?" I whispered in her ear.

"Mmm, I loved tonight," she replied as she leaned back into me.

I started kissing her bare shoulder and slowly worked my way up to her ear. While tracing the outline of her ear with my tongue I reached around her to cradle her breasts in my hands.

"Why, sir!" Beth drawled in her best Scarlett O'Hara voice, "Is that proper?"

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," I Rhett-ed back to her.

She chuckled and I reached back to the zipper on her dress, her chuckle becoming a purr, "What are you doing?"

"Only what I've been thinking of ever since you came down the stairs this evening." I kissed the spot where her shoulder met her neck and felt a shiver run through her body.

I pulled her zipper down until the whole back of the dress was open and I verified she hadn't worn a bra. I slipped the dress off her shoulder and slid it down her body until she could step out of it. Since I had no idea how to hang up a one-armed dress, I just laid it carefully over the back of one of the chairs.

Beth stood before me in just panties, a white garter belt, and stockings, real stockings, no pantyhose. I tried to whistle but I'd misplaced my breath somewhere.

I picked her up and carefully put her on the bed then unclipped her left stocking and rolled it carefully down her leg, caressing as much skin as I could in the process. When I had the left stocking off, I started on the right.

"Hurry, Tommy!" Beth pleaded.

Not tonight I thought to myself. When I had both nylons—or were they silk?—off I reached up and unfastened her garter belt then slowly slid her panties off, kissing my way down her legs as I went.

"Tommmyyy..."

I stood up and just looked at the beauty arrayed before me and marveled again at what a lucky SOB I was. It didn't take me very long to get out of my own finery and then I was lying next to my princess.

I kissed her and felt her tongue frantically dart into my mouth. I pulled back just enough to look into those deep blue eyes.

The next thing I knew I was on my back with Beth hovering over my erection.

She started by just blowing a soft jet of air over the head—already damp in anticipation. When I tried to raise my hips, she backed away ... and just looked at me. Looks like it was time to play nice. As she moved back to me her tongue extended to just touch the tip of my erection. It took all my willpower to keep my hips on the mattress as she started to gently run her tongue around the crown. I heard someone whimper—that couldn't be me! Could it?