Rockin' Romeo and Jammin' Juliet

Phallic Poetry

Chapter 37: Phallic Poetry

((Playlist: Soul Meets Body- Death Cab For Cutie))

They pulled up to the hotel their prom was being held in and made their way inside. Sophie took Jackson's hand in hers. Lys leaned into Jonah and smiled; he pulled away awkwardly, but smiled back. As they crossed into the threshold of the lobby, Maksim suddenly scooped Mikayla off her feet and carried her bridal-style with a wide grin.

"Woah, damn, Maksim!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, swooning.

"It's the least I can do for a beautiful woman," he smiled.

Lilith rolled her eyes and stuck her finger down her throat. Evan tried to throw his arm over her shoulder, but she slapped him away.

Mikayla crossed her legs daintily and leaned back dramatically, getting a few stares from other people as they got their tickets scanned and went inside. Lys turned to Jonah and jokingly said, "Why don't you carry me?"

"I'm not strong enough," he shrugged sheepishly.

Dave poked his head up from behind everyone and called, "Hey, Maksim, come back and carry me in!"

Maksim set Mikayla gently back down on her feet, her bright pink skirts flouncing grandly. "I don't know if I can. No offense, but you are a little-" He gestured vaguely. "-bigger than Mikayla."

"Wait!" Dave snapped his fingers, "That gives me an idea! Come here for a sec."

A few moments later, Dave had swept Maksim up into his arms, handed in his ticket, and sashayed proudly into the dance. Mikayla doubled over in laughter, tears practically in her eyes.

Lys held a hand to her chest, pretending to cry. "Aw, I ship it."

Dave set the exchange student back down by his date with a grandiose bow. "It's been a pleasure, my fine sir."

Maksim smiled. "Maybe 'it's been a pleasure, my fine sir' can be our 'always'."

"Aw, babe," Mikayla squeezed his arm. "You've read The Fault in Our Stars? You're so deep and sensitive."

In the background, Lys shed a single tear and pretended to blow her nose on Jonah's tie; Jonah looked mildly perturbed. Meanwhile, Sophie stood up on her toes and whispered in Jackson's ear. "It looks like your boy Dave is hijacking everyone's date."

"Well, he is kind of cute, in a nerdy, emotionally sensitive way," Jackson whispered back, "But if he hijacks my date, I'm going to have a word with him."

Sophie laughed. As Mikayla and Maksim went off to sample the food, Dave called out. "Save me a dance for later, my love!"

Maksim blew him a kiss, laughing. Lys looked like she was ready to have a stroke. She clutched her chest again. "My heart."

Of course, the kids then ran off to do what everyone does at prom - dance, socialize, and eat lots of free food despite the fact that the just ate a full meal less than an hour before. (As Lys stated, between mouthfuls of her third chocolate chip cookie: "Friday calories don't actually count as calories!"). Everything appeared to be going as planned - Maskim and Mikayla were appropriately clinging to each other, Jonah and Lys kept each other at an arm's length, Dave pulled off the casual 'guy without a date' guise without a hitch, and Evan was already trying to spike the punch by the fifth song of the night.

As for Sophie and Jackson, they had just fallen into each other's arms for a slow dance when the party really started to get interesting.

"You want to hear a secret, Soph?" They stood cheek to cheek.