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A prom was occurring inside a ballroom whose building resided on the grounds resting inside Seattle.
Two teenagers danced slowly amongst the other couples. It was a peaceful moment amongst the chaos that plagued their lives. Susan Silver wore a dark teal dress that appeared a little more green than teal, and her hair fell past her shoulders. The accessories she bore matched her dress like her necklace and corsage, but her boots were separate from the equation. She wore what appeared to be brown combat boots, while Chris found himself wearing dress shoes. He dressed up to the best of his ability, which consisted of what he could afford, and tried to match her the best she could as well. This special occasion also led him to tidy up his long, curly hair by the means of a hairbrush.
Susan smiled up at him. "I'm glad to have you here with me.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Chris reciprocated a grin.
She looked deeply into his eyes. “Even if the world asked you to be somewhere else?”
Chris shakes his head yes as the lights slowly change automatically. The two continued to sway and move at the same pace as the other attendees. Susan didn’t want to leave this position for all eternity. Susan rested her head on his chest as they continued to dance, and his calm heartbeat echoed her heart and mind. They had a bond like no other. He would never ask her to change just for his desires, nor would she. It started as a friendship when he was a new student at the nearby middle school. She offered to be his friend because she knew he didn’t have any there, and it had blossomed from that moment on. It had lasted for years. People around them had been a part of many relationships from the time they met until now, but it had stayed the same.
It was an evolutionary stillness. Sure, they’d had their ups and downs, but they remained together. All she wanted was him, and all he wanted was her. Their romantic feelings for each other had been going on for years, but it was only recently that they decided to start dating. Susan couldn’t imagine being with another person even though she knew things had started getting a little rocky from him. “Things are going good for us.”
Another smile enters the parameter of his face. “I hope they never end, my starshine.”
Starshine was her favorite nickname he gave her. Out of the countless ones he played around with her, it was the one that stuck. “Well, as long as we’re together, I promise to make your life full of fun, love, and joy.”
Susan blushed as the lights changed once again to a brighter shade of red, but her expression changed to a point that caused Chris great concern. “I worry that the two of us will hit a brick wall one day and never recover.”
Chris covered her mouth in a ray so as not to smudge her lipstick. “Don’t think like that.”
“It’s better to think ahead so that if it were to happen we wouldn’t be hurt as bad and-”
“Shhh…” The music changes to a different song. This one consisted of a faster pace, and the subject was of love that lasted forever. “There will be time for us to think of the multiple routes our relationship could travel down, but for now, let us quietly dance and think of nothing more.”
Just then, Chris’ friend Andy comes up to the couple in an urgent manner. “Chris, you have to come with me, like, right now.”
Chris turned his head away from Susan and towards Andy. “What for?”
“It’s about Layne.”
His face became full of worry and her completely let go of Susan. “Oh god. Is he okay?”
“Yeah, he’s fine, don’t worry. They’re taking him to the hospital.”
Chris got closer to Andy. “We need to leave right now and drive over there.”
Susan stepped between them. “Andy said he’s fine, Chris.”
“Layne needs me and Andy to be there for him.”
A growing flood of emotion is starting to overcome Susan. “Can’t we visit him after Prom?”
“He needs me there, now!”
Susan spoke in an annoyed manner. “It was supposed to be just us tonight. You promised you’d stay here with me the entire time tonight and then hang out afterward.”
Chris turned back to her. “As long as you don’t drink, you can drive yourself home or to the hospital afterward.”
“So you’re just going to leave me here alone?”
Chris was now irritated. “Layne is a priority of mine right now!”
“What about me?’ She decided to call him out. “We were supposed to be enjoying this, and you’re abandoning me for our friend who, might I add, is FINE , but just needs a little medical attention!” She looked down at her shoes and back at him. The tone in her voice turned from irritation to sincerity. “We haven’t been here long. Could you please stay? We can visit him in the hospital afterwards for a little bit, and then spend some time together.”
The words from her mouth had set him off towards a path of anger. “You know, if I knew this would’ve been the attitude you would’ve had tonight in the event of something like this happening, then I wouldn’t have agreed to come with you.”
“C’mon Chris.” Susan was injured by his words. “We made plans in advance. We spent money on our outfits and tickets. We promised we’d stay the whole time and make the most of the tickets that we had to save up for. Please just stay here with me. I don’t want to be alone.”
Chris’ eyes began to burn holes into her heart. “He’s my friend, Susan.”
“I’m your girlfriend, Christopher.”
Chris scoffs. “You know I’ll make it up to you.”
“I want you to stay.” Susan was practically begging him at this point. “Please.”
Chris decides to leave with Andy to visit Layne in the hospital. No words were spoken by him before then.
Susan was alone at prom. There were no people who felt interested in keeping her company no matter how hard she tried.
After an hour she decided to go home but failed to get her car to start running. Susan’s mother had to come pick her up. A thousand thoughts ran through her head. She ultimately decided that she wasted money on the Prom dress and the hair salon visit. Everything was a waste in the end.
All she wanted was to share her love with Chris, and to be loved by him the way she saw her relatives and few friends be loved by their partners. Susan continued to have the sense of being a burden to him grow within her during their relationship, but she stuck around because she loved him and wanted to believe that it was the bad things happening in his life that were causing him to act this way. She’d known and loved him for so long that there wasn’t another person she wanted to be with.
It was a relationship whose love was expressed differently by both parties.