41: Prom

We started playing basketball at noon. In a way it felt weird to have us six guys playing three-on-three and not have Whitney with us. But, of course, Whitney was with Candace—I mean Elaine—Rachel, Cassie, Denise, and Sugar. We were getting pretty used to Elaine's new name. On Monday after her name change we'd made the tour of both our lunch table and the drama table.

"Guys, I'd like you all to meet my girlfriend and new sister, Elaine Frost. I know it sounds like incest, but we're trying to keep that in the family." Our group took it pretty well, laughed, and promised to try to remember. The drama kids had a hoot with it. They all knew she was going to change her name, but she hadn't told anyone what it would be.

"Well, I think it's great that you chose such a respectable name," Mercedes said. "It will really keep your stage career separate from the work Candy Jones does on a pole." Elaine was prepared for Mercedes and dished things right back. I went back over to the group table and let them verbally wale away at each other. It was still easy to slip up and call her Candace, though.

My dad showed up about two o'clock and watched us play for half an hour. That's when Lionel's mom arrived and ordered us all to get in the cars so we could get cleaned up for the evening's festivities. Josh and Doug went with Lionel. Geoff and Carl came home with me. We were sent through the shower and told to get dressed. I couldn't believe how nervous I was. Crap! It was just a date and I liked Donna a lot. I'd be with Lionel and Lamar and Elaine and Renee, too. It wasn't like it was any big deal, but when Mom started tying my bowtie for me I felt like I was getting married or something. Geoff and Carl came downstairs and shrugged into their sport coats. They looked good, but heck, they weren't even wearing ties.

The parents did it up proud. Mom and Dad, Rev. and Mrs. Gordon, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Trane and Mrs. Carver had decided they were treating the whole dating group to dinner at the Studebaker Center. It was the dining room of a country club that the Jones family was members of. I'd always thought a country club was a place where people played golf, but this place was more like an estate or something with gardens and lots of different places to hold events. Like weddings and stuff. God! Why did I have to think of that?

All the girls were waiting for us except our dates and their princesses. They were all wearing dresses or skirts. Even Whitney and Liz. You hardly ever saw either of them in a dress. In fact, I couldn't remember when I'd seen Whitney in a dress. The only ones missing were Jennifer and Courtney. Jennifer was with her dad in Indy to have a second Mothers' Day with her stepmom and Courtney had gone with her. The other twenty of us, plus Lamar, were ready to party.

"Nice legs, Whitney," I said, giving her a nudge. "Love to see more of them."

"Sweet talker," Whitney said. "You'll see as much as I can show at the pool. I don't know why you'd be interested in these sticks when we've got all these cute girls in short skirts around."

"Don't you ever think your sticks aren't just as cute as all the others," I said. "I mean, look at Cassie. She hasn't grown in any direction since seventh grade. Her sticks are a lot skinnier than yours, and just as cute." Whitney laughed.

"Let's not forget Liz," she said. "Sticks you are intimately familiar with."

"Whitney!"

"In a good way. She practically has to wear suspenders to keep her skirt or jeans from falling down because she has no butt."

"Oh yeah, she does."

"You know what I mean," Whitney giggled. "Look, they're coming." I looked in the direction Whitney was pointing in time to see Rhonda and Donna come through the dining room door. Holy shit! My mind vaguely registered that Rhonda was wearing the same dress she wore for Easter, but I couldn't take my eyes off Donna. Everyone applauded as I approached to take her hand and flashes went off from half a dozen cameras.

I offered her the orchid corsage and she held out her left wrist. It was a damned good thing we chose a wrist corsage. I didn't dare even think about trying to pin a corsage to what there was of the top of her strapless dress. The wrist I put the flower on was connected to a long beautiful arm. Donna's hair was done in a braid that wrapped around her head like a crown. That left her long elegant neck entirely exposed—right down to where it met her bare shoulders. And then the skin kept going, interrupted only by a thin gold chain with a small pendant holding a green stone. All the way down to the slope of her breasts where the soft green dress seemed to reflect the brilliance of her eyes with little sparkles all through the fabric.

I lifted my face to give her a little kiss on the cheek and saw the small green stones in her studs. Yeah. Lifted my face. Donna and I were about the same height, but she wore heels that elevated her mouth to about my eye-level.

"My lady of the greenwood," I said softly. "You are so beautiful, Donna. You wear green, but all the other girls will turn green with envy. May I escort you to your seat?" We moved aside just in time to see Elaine come through the door escorted by Denise. What a contrast between the two girls. Denise was a good couple inches taller than Elaine and her black skin contrasted with Elaine's pale freckled skin. Elaine had chosen a turquoise cocktail length dress that showed off her legs from above the knee down. She was wearing impossibly high spiked heels so that when Lionel took her hand she looked like she was only a foot shorter than him. Framed between the two dark-skinned friends, Elaine positively glowed. Her red hair hung in ringlets around her face. Lots of pictures were being taken and Lionel escorted Elaine over to stand beside Donna and me. We didn't have time to say anything because Brenda and Renee were coming through the door. They made no effort to create a contrast. Both were blonde and about five-five. They looked like sisters. Renee wore a royal blue long dress with one shoulder bare. It was cinched tight right below her boobs and just hung in volumes below. That was going to look great on the dance floor. She'd let her chin-length blonde hair just kind of go wild and looked like Melanie Griffith standing next to a nearly seven-foot tall Lamar.

Well, we finally all got settled and had dinner, careful not to spill anything on our formal clothes. Our girlfriends, boyfriends, and parents, and Elaine's brother Cam were all around us and there was music piped into the private dining room. It looked like all the other members of our group were going to get to dance for a while after dinner, too. That was cool. Of course, moms and dads just had to get as many pictures of us as they could. I wondered if it was even going to be necessary to buy the prom portrait we were supposed to have taken at the school. That would save twenty bucks. Of course, everyone wanted to see us dance before we left, so we got to try out our skill before we got to the prom. I tried to be very respectful, but my hand felt like it was either going to be on Donna's bare shoulders and back or on her butt. And the little squish I felt when she moved against me was very soft, like she wasn't wearing anything under that dress. Rose and Renee had both had—what did they call them?—shelf bras on when I took them to dances. This didn't feel like it had the same ... substantial support.

"Brian, I give you explicit permission to touch me while we are dancing in any way that is appropriate for the dance. That includes my bare back and shoulders and probably later, if we aren't where people will see us, you can even touch my butt a little. I give you permission to kiss me when we're in private. My only restriction is that you please not touch me sexually, including touching my breasts or ... you know ... between my legs. I'm asking you to agree to this now and to not go any further, even if later I say it's okay. Can we do that, Brian?" We'd talked a little about this before, and I knew that Donna didn't want our date to get carried away, but this was the first time she'd made her choices into explicit permissions. It was kind of a relief because I still had little twinges just being out with Rhonda's sister.

"Donna, you have my word that I will abide by what you have asked and I give you the same explicit permission. I'm very much looking forward to holding you in my arms and kissing you, but we won't do any sexual touching. Thank you for letting me be your date to the prom."

The limo arrived at the club at exactly seven o'clock and a guy held the door for us. We got kisses on the cheek from all the girlfriends. The guys shook our hands and kissed our dates. Then we got in the back of the limo. Thank God no one threw rice at us! We drove around for an hour and then pulled up in front of the school. We weren't the only limo. We had to wait in line as others pulled up to the door and couples emerged.

We had a great time. The school gym had been decorated to match the theme of "Cruising into the Future." It was very nautical and there was a lot of shrimp on the food bar. The punch was served in plastic cups with little umbrellas and fruit in it. We got our picture taken in front of a big backdrop that showed a cruise ship and a tropical island behind us. We walked around and talked to people we knew, usually in the company of Lionel and Elaine. We knew a lot more of the same people than we knew of Lamar and Renee's friends.

But mostly, we danced. There were some wild songs and we got pretty crazy, but by ten the tempo had started to slow down and there was a lot more dancing in each other's arms. Of course, that's exactly when Lamar came by.

"Time to go cruising in the limo," he said. "Let's go, guys."

"Uh ... Lamar, I didn't mention this, but Donna and I want to stay and dance some more. The prom goes till one and the limo just doesn't have that much appeal. We parked Donna's car here earlier today."

"Really? Don't you want that stretch beneath your feet?"

"You and Lionel are the only ones that need all the room in the back of that thing. It must be nice to ride in something that fits your stature," I laughed. Elaine had been whispering in Lionel's ear and he nodded and smiled.

"Uh ... Donna, we don't want to intrude, but would it be okay if Lionel and I caught a ride back to my car with you? We don't want to leave the party, either."

"Of course," Donna answered quickly.

"That means Renee and me are going to have the whole back of that Lincoln to ourselves?" Lamar asked. "Uh, sweetheart, is that okay with you?"

"You still agree to the rules?" she asked.

"You know I do. You all have my pledge on that. But an hour of just the two of us making out in privacy does have its appeal." Renee grinned at him.

"It does, at that."

Renee and Lamar left the four of us and I don't think we left the dance floor for more than refilling our drinks until the music stopped playing at twelve-forty-five. The last half hour had been romantic soft and slow music and Donna had pressed close to me. We'd forgotten all about the nice formal dancing we were doing at the club and she had both arms wrapped around my neck reaching my lips for little kisses as I held her in an embrace that only counted as dancing because we kept shuffling our feet. The music finally stopped and I noticed that just about everyone in the gym was kissing. There were only about half as many as there were at the beginning of the night. Donna pulled away from me and pulled up on the front of her dress a little to make sure things were secure. Even that little movement brought my attention back to those soft cushions.

Lionel and Elaine crammed themselves into the back of Donna's car using the same method I'd used with Whitney in the back of Elaine's car. This time, it was Lionel spread out across the back of the seat and Elaine pretty much lying on top of him. I don't think they bothered with seatbelts, but the moaning and kissing in the back seat was distracting to say the least. Donna had the car started by the time I got around to the passenger side and I noticed that she'd hiked her dress up above her knees so she wouldn't get it messed up in the pedals. She'd switched out of her heels and into tennis shoes while Elaine and Lionel were getting themselves into the back. I guess I kind of stared. I mean bare legs that have been covered all night? Crap! Donna reached over and took my left hand and guided it to her leg. It wasn't like it was way up on her leg—just a little above the knee.

"That will keep my dress from falling down and getting tangled in the pedals," she whispered. It was really a lot more intimate than I expected our date to get. Her leg was so soft and I could feel the muscles tense and relax as she stepped on the gas or moved to the brake. We got our passengers to Elaine's house where originally the limo was going to drop them. I got out so they could unfold out of the back seat. Elaine sort of fell into my arms with her heels in one hand.