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If anyone were to ask, in her defence, Sally would say that she had not meant to drink so much.
She knew, of course, that the punch had liquor mixed in it, and she had seen Alicia being taken away over it, but she drank it anyways. It was only meant to be a little booze to make her forget what a miserable night this one had been for her self-esteem. Somehow, four hours in, the girl had ended up on the field outside of the gym, staring up at the sky and watching the grey clouds pass through the moonlight.
Admittedly, drinking so much of it was not her best idea. The three bottles of beer she had with the cheerleaders after the principal took the punch away were not her best idea, either. Considering that she had never drunk alcohol before, she would say she is taking like a champ.
Well, on the other hand, earlier that night, all she wanted was to get home and cry her eyes out. Now, she is more concerned with trying not to vomit, which was a win in her book.
Sally sat up quickly, too quickly, causing her head to spin. She just giggled as she rolled her head around, spotting a blond-headed figure not too far away from where she was standing.
“Sam!” She yelled happily as she stood up, albeit clumsily. “Over here!”
The girl watched with unusual interest as his head snapped in her direction and he awkwardly made his way over to her.
“Sally? Is that you?” Sam questioned as he got closer to her, confused as to why she would be standing alone in the grass.
When he was just a step away, he had to practically catch her as she hugged him, since it was more of a situation where she trips over her own feet.
“Are you drunk?” He asks, finding a little bit of humour in the situation.
“Yep!” She giggled against his chest, finding the popping of the letter p quite funny that night. “The cheerleaders put vodka in the punch, but shhh! That’s a secret! Celebrations were happening, Sam, and we have to have fun! Else we grow up to be sad and bitter and boring.”
“Yes, yes. It seems like you’ve had all the fun.” Sam drawled, moving so his arm around her waist as he tried to lead her back inside the school, preferably to the hands of one of her friends.
Who were her friends again? The blond boy only knew of Alicia, but he thinks that it would be fine either way. She would be easy enough to find, if it came to be.
“No!” Sally protested, moving out of his arms and plopping down onto the grass once again. “I want to stay here. Look! It’s so pretty.”
The sky was a milky blue with soft white clouds passing by and the grass was decorated with an array of coloured flowers. The lights of the suburban hellscape where they lived glistened against the dark, and it was, indeed, quite a sight.
The boy, not wanting to put up a fight, just laughed as he sat down next to her in the wet ground.
Sally had known Sam since freshman year, as he was part of the small popular posse that Alicia had gathered in her first semester. They had not gotten along too great, though, as she found him obnoxious and self-centred, while he took on the cause of the cheerleading girls of their group, that resented the “outsider”.
Things began to change when, in sophomore year, the football player was only a bad grade away from losing his spot on the team. The girl took pity on him and tutored him day and night for weeks, being instrumental in raising his GPA to a comfortable level. He appreciated the help immensely, and he recognized how stupid he was being, and so their relationship improved significantly.
Over the semesters, that friendship developed into its own pace, and eventually bloomed into a bit of a crush inside the girl’s heart. It was easy to deal with most of the time, even with his endless rotating array of girlfriends, all of which made glaring at her almost into an art. Still, having a crush on the guy who only saw her as a friend, and a circumstantial one at that, had its difficult moments.
He liked her too, though. Of course, he did. How could he not? She is smart, beautiful, kind. The list really went on. He struggled with his crush on her, knowing his father would not approve of a serious relationship with any girl at all, least of which someone who was not some sort of athlete.
“They don’t understand what you have to sacrifice, son.” The man had said once, when he was impairing the virtues of promiscuity. “You can’t compromise, and you can’t be distracted. Hooking up is fine, but dating is just a waste of our time.”
To be fair, maybe, once upon a time, Sam would have never contemplated a relationship with anyone but a very hot cheerleader, but he really liked this girl and wanted to try his hand in dating seriously. Sally is patient and kind with him, perhaps she would not be too demanding on his strained time. Perhaps she would even help him, encourage him, as his interest in football wanes.
He had spoken to his coach about it many times, knowing that he was perhaps one of the few people who would not either mock him or tell his father. The older man hardly offered any advice, claiming he did not involve himself with schoolboy crushes, but he had told his student to do what he wanted, not what his father expected. He told him he would regret it if he did not at least take a chance on it.
That conversation had been exactly what Sam had needed and he came up with a plan to ask her out. It was not overly complicated.
In fact, it was actually a bit of a cliché when it comes to the Gordon Dating Experience. He would invite her to a game, would showboat his greatest attribute for a night, and then he was just going to invite her to go with him to a movie or the mall. Having a meal, walking around a little and then at the end of it, if things went well, he was going to ask her to be his girlfriend.
It is a great plan. Just as long as he had the balls of actually following through with it.
Sally rested her head on his shoulder, sitting so she is pressed against him. He looked down at her and smiled.
He really wanted her to be his. Since those cramming nights, as she sucked on a liquorice for energy, laying backwards on her bed, he had known he liked her that way. All this time between then and now only confirmed his desire, it had only strengthened it, and now he does not care for hooking up anymore.
“What were you doing anyway?” The girl asked, closing her eyes as she rested against him.
“I came with Felicity, but she had to leave early. My dad doesn’t expect me home until morning, so I was just walking around. Killing time before sneaking back into my room.” He explained, his voice neutral about the whole thing, despite how upset he felt. “What about you?”
Sally scoffed. “Do you really want to know?”
“I asked.” The blond provides, cheekily.
“You did ask. Fine, then. I was supposed to come with Jack.” She revealed, embarrassed.
His face contorted into a grimace. “Jack? I didn’t see him around.”
“Neither did I.” The girl chuckled bitterly. “He was a no-show.”
Sam almost jumped to his feet in rage. Jack stood her up? Jack?! He is not sure whether he screams or punches something. The audacity of that moron.
He tried to calm himself down and said, “I’m sorry for that. He’s a dickhead.”
“Oh, it’s fine. I don’t care for him. I only said yes because I didn’t want to come alone, and my mom said I shouldn’t skip it.” Sally responded, sincerely ambivalent about the whole ordeal. “It’s just that…”
“It’s just that…?” The boy echoes, motioning for her to go on.
“Well… The girls insinuated that he didn’t show because I was boring. They’re just being nasty, as usual, but I don’t know…” The girl sighed. “I work so hard, and I have all these interests, but I wonder how much it’s too much. I’m lost and confused, and I’m going with the flow. I fear the day I crash against the shore.”
“Don’t talk shit, Sally. That’s not who you are.” The blond football quarterback countered. “You’re not too much, you’re great, and if there’s someone that I can trust that will manage to not fail, it’s you. You just need some time, y’know? It’s all going to be fine.”
“I guess.” She sighed once again. “How about you? What are you going to do after school?”
“Play football, I guess.” Sam responded, rather bitterly.
“Besides that, of course.” She prodded.
“Dunno. I’m playing my way into a scholarship, I’m going to play for whatever school have me, get a degree in whatever and then find a job with it.” He explained, emotionlessly. “I don’t really care for any of that.”
“You are surprisingly good with marine biology, you know? And you’re so charismatic, people love to hear you speak.” She mumbled. “You should do something with it, I think. Work at the aquarium, maybe teach? You were good at teaching the younger kids.”
Sally giggles at the memories of Sam surrounded by a cluster of middle school varsity football players. Coach Stone Head had asked of the older players to come and talk to the kids, explain how school sports work in high school and beyond, and her friend was the only one that took the assignment seriously. In turn, the little ones were hung to his every word.
“It’s something I could see myself doing, but my dad would prefer if I came to work for the family business.” He told her.
The mention of the detestable man is enough for cause her to sit up and roll her eyes.
“Mr. Gordon is a dick.” She slurred drunkenly.
It caused Sam to roll his eyes fondly, the adoring smile never leaving his lovelorn expression. He had heard this speech many times, all different topics coming to the same conclusion of ‘Mr. Gordon is a dick’. If it were anyone else tarnishing his father’s reputation, he would have argued but with her the only thing he could say was…
“God, I really want to kiss you.”
It shocks himself as he did.
“Wait, insulting your dad was all it took? I do that all the time!” Sally pouted causing his eyes to widen.
Did she like him too then?
He risked everything he had built with her as he leaned forward. Thankfully, he did not have to worry for too long, as she leaned forward and met him halfway, pressing their lips together. It was so much more than both of them had imagined.
The boy’s hand came up to cup her cheek as one of hers found its way into his tousled hair.
“Well, that wasn’t how I’d planned to confess, I’ll admit.” Sam laughed breathlessly as he rested his forehead on hers after the two of them had pulled away.
“You had planned this?” Sally asked, a smile on her face as she continued to play with his hair.
“I was going to take you for a bite to eat at the mall, and then ask you to be my girlfriend.” His smile turned sheepish and his pale face coloured slightly.
“Well, in that case, yes to the date and yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.” She told him before pulling him into another kiss.
“You’re drunk. What are the chances of you remembering this?” He asked, chasing her lips after he had.
“I think I sobered up when the guy I liked admitted he likes me too.” She said causing both of them to laugh.
Sam smiled widely, enough to hurt his own cheeks. “Then I’ll pick you up at seven. You can pick the movie, but none of that girly shit. I’ll call in the afternoon to remind you.”
“OK, but I’m so picking the girliest think they have on.” Sally gave him a kiss to seal the deal.