I reach up to take it and I see that it’s Roland.
“Thank you,” I say.
“Rough night?” he says. “I’ve been looking for you.”
He smells like a distillery.
“I just needed some air.” I don’t invite him to sit, and yet he does.
A little too close.
“Roland, I—”
“Listen,” he interrupts. “I know you have a thing for Weston Ford.”
“What? No I don’t.”
“Come on. It’s all over your face whenever you see him. Just let it go, OK?”
I glance around for the quickest exit. Maybe I can push him into the fountain if he gets too close. There’s a little Cupid pissing water, and I’d love to see it pissing all over Roland right now.
“It’s none of your business.”
“I thought we were friends,” he says, slurring his words.
“We’re chummy acquaintances at this point. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we’re friends, Roland.”
He laughs and scoots in closer to me. “That’s good because I’ve had my eye on you all year and I’m planning on being more than friends.”
I scoot away from him. A goldfish splashes in the koi pond nearby.
“Roland, I think you’ve got the wrong idea about me. I thought we decided we were just doing this as a group hang?”
“Yeah, but it’s prom night…”
He leans in for a kiss, and I feel his warm whiskey breath on my cheek. “No.”
He jerks back as if I’ve bitten him. “No? You’re telling me no?”
“Correct. I don’t feel things for you, Roland.”
He doesn’t back away. In fact, he gets closer. “Ridley told me you’r
e a virgin.” His voice is in my ear. “That’s so fucking hot. See how hot you make me?” He grabs my hand and places it on his lap.
I am livid. I’m so angry I could nearly start crying all over again.
I jerk my hand away but his grip remains around my wrist.
“Let me go.” More people are traipsing around the garden, and I can hear people making out not far away.
“You can’t expect me to be a sad sack on prom night. You can’t expect me to be celibate just because Ridley broke up with me.”
I wrench my wrist free and try to stand up as I sneer, “Get the fuck away from me. I don’t belong to you.”
“You’re my prom date, Addie.” He pulls me back to him. I lose my footing and land in his lap. He regains his grip around my wrists and it hurts. I yelp.
“Not anymore.”