Just be there

Casey

The day of my prom, or "prom round 2" as Izzie calls it, I awoke suddenly very early in the morning.

As the sleep starts to clear from my mind, I realize that Izzie is tossing and turning violently in her sleep. I reach out and gently wrap her in my arms, and rub her back lightly with one hand. She settles quickly, and sleeps peacefully.

Izzie has nightmares sometimes, I'm not sure what about. Her shitty excuse for a childhood probably offers many sources of inspiration for her bad dreams. She always settles quickly if I rub her back gently. I am glad that I'm able to do something to soothe her. I kiss her forehead and fall back to sleep.
____

That evening Izzie and I get dressed again in our prom outfits. They are the same outfits from last week, because two prom outfits would have been super expensive.

Even though I've seen her in this dress before, I still take a moment to admire how her dress hugs her curves. "Hottie alert" I say grinning at her while we wait for Sharice to get here.

"It's not going to be awkward for you to share a limo with your ex?" Izzie says while we wait. Lately, Evan and Sharice have been hanging out a lot as friends. Sharice had asked me last week if I minded if she took Evan to the prom. The honest answer was no, I want them both to be happy.

"I mean, I've moved on, and I'm kind of hoping Evan has too. I know Sharice says they are just friends, but I think they would be good together." I say shrugging.

Finally, the limo we will be sharing with them shows up. Izzie and I slide into the one of the seats, while Evan and Sharice are sitting together on another of the seats.

"Hey! You both look so hot!" Sharice says brightly as we get in. "Hey." Evan says more simply, a friendly smile on his face in greeting.

"Hey! I love your dress Sharice! You look so gorgeous." Izzie says with a smile. Things were a little rocky between them initially, but they have both moved past it. Sharice grins and thanks Izzie. Sharice is wearing a bubblegum pink dress, that covers only one shoulder, and hugs her hips. Evan is wearing a black suit with a matching bubblegum pink tie.

We make the relatively short ride to Newton exchanging light conversation.
____

The prom is already going strong when we get there, the music is loud, and the gym is filled with teenagers swaying to a soft beat. At the tables littered throughout the gym, there are various conversations going on.

Sharice and I lead the way over to a large table where most of the track team is seated with their dates. The four of us join the conversation as we sit. "Lynn already spiked the punch" one of my teammates whispers to me, gesturing towards a girl across the gym who was known as a bit of a troublemaker this year.

I drag Izzie to the dance floor when I hear a slower song from Coldplay come on. She wraps her arms around my neck, I put my hands at her waist and we sway. Under the oddly colored lights, I watch as the colors play out across the dark canvas of her irises. "You're so beautiful Iz" I say, and watch a contented smile spread across her face. "You are too Casey" She says, her eyes filled with affection as she looks up at me. We sway together until the song ends.

We go to fetch a cup each of the aforementioned spiked punch, and sip it as we walk back to our table, holding hands with our non-cup occupied hands.

As we approach the table, I realize that Emma and her date have joined the rest of the track team at our table. I ignore the twinge of annoyance and decide to just ignore her.

Izzie occasionally glares in Emma's direction, but otherwise ignores her as well. Throughout the night Izzie and I get up to dance to most of the slow songs, usually grabbing a cup of punch when we are done.