Falling For Alaska

Chapter Seventeen: Middle School Dances and Squirrels

Despite my every beg and plead to Sammy to come pick me up, he felt great pleasure at my discomfort and slyly said that he was "preoccupied," though with what, he wouldn't say. Instead, Sammy suggested that I should hang with the hippies and apparently, Alaska who, in his mind, was my "girlfriend."

So, with a gloomy frown, I walked back into the frozen yogurt shop, as if nothing had happened. Luckily, with the commotion of Carter coming, I was able to slip past, especially since all the hippies were crowded around their "hero", listening intently to his every word.

"Officer Carter! Glad you could make it," Alaska instantly greeted, with her classic, fake do-gooder smile. I rolled my eyes, "What is he doing here?"

Really, I knew that I was in no position whatsoever to decide who came (particularly when the same question was asked when I made my entrance), but hey, at least I wasn't a sore to look at.

Alaska frowned, her arms crossed. "Show some respect for your elders, Chase." She peered towards Carter, batting her eyelashes innocently towards him, who seemed to just puff his already-huge chest even further out. "Oh, Alaska, I'd hardly like to consider myself as old, but rather, as one of you youthful teens," he responded, slicking his greasy hair back ina pathetic attempt to seem like a teenager.

I snickered, fighting the urge to throw my head back in laughter. "Yeah, sweetie, but your weight suggests otherwise," I sniggered.

Shooting daggers, Carter said nothing, instead pretending that he never heard anything and proceeded to tell the losers his life story, insisting that the poor kids could learn a thing or two out of his mistakes (the biggest being his existence, naturally). Apparently, today was story time.

Really, I just tuned all of it out, standing as far enough to not be associated with the hippies and the overgrown man telling his sob story. Sorry, but I wasn't going to demote myself to that level.

I think it was about when he started talking about his middle school dance, or what he liked to call, the event that ruined his life (a bit melodramatic really), that I finally perked up a bit.

Apparently, and I couldn't fathom how, he'd scored the second hottest girl in his grade as a date (maybe behind the rolls of fat and that angry Italian moustache  is a slightly more attractive man). Naturally, Carter was pretty stroked, because really, looking like that and getting an attractive girl is pretty much a Christmas miracle.

Yet, poor Carter later found out that the whole thing was a joke, and the whole football team under Sammy's lead, hung Carter from the school's flagpole by his whities, where he'd stayed until the following morning when the janitor found him. Although it really shouldn't have been a surprise, tattle-telling on every single student in the school gave you a lot of enemies and not a whole lot of sympathy.

For me, the middle school dance wasn't bad, per say, although being the wimp I was back then, I'd sweated through my suit and made a complete fool out of myself in front of my date. My date-- a blonde haired, blue eyed girl by the name of Penelope Hairston-- was even in the year above my classmates and I, which really made me seem more cool than I actually was (don't get me wrong, I was cool as a thirteen year old without a fake permit or license could be).

Really, even in eighth grade, I was pretty smooth with girls and stuff, but I was still the wimp I was before, and hell, it wasy first ever dance and really, I was nervous. Even though it was as innocent as a dance could be. High school homecoming was a different story.

Of course, with my luck, Penelope later ditched me halfway through the dance and proceeded to dance with my arch-enemy, and apparently, also her ex-boyfriend who'd broken up with her two weeks ago. I'd gone from the guy who scored the hottest freshman as a date to the guy used as a pawn to get her ex back.