Colorless

Lily

"Y'all ready?" Bennie yelled over his shoulder to his friends.

"Hell yeah!" Jimmy yelled back. His arm thrown over Mae's shoulder. The few other boys and their dates all cheered along.  Bennie looked down at me before snaking his arm around my waist.

"And you, babycakes?" He asked.

"Mhmm." I hummed with a small nod, but I had been dreading this dance all day.

Even though the dance lessons from Johnny were helpful, I still knew that once I stepped foot on that floor I was going to embarrass myself.

I also didn't want to see Johnny. Ever since our kiss I'd been dodging him left and right.  It just didn't make sense for me to be so infatuated with this white boy. Just seeing him made me feel like we were magnets that were attracting one another. And I couldn't get the feeling of his lips against mine off my mind.

Bennie smiled and leaned down and kissed my cheek,  "You look good, girl. . .  . I thought you was gonna wear something a little more tight, though."

"Oh. . . My brother got it for me. You don't like it?" I muttered as I snapped out of my thoughts and looked down at my dress.

He shrugged," You still look nice."

I looked over at his light orange suit and let out a small chuckle, "You look nice, too."

He smirked and looked behind him at his friends. "Hey. We gonna catch up to y'all in a minute. I got to give my girl her present." He shouted.

The boys all nodded and pulled their dates along with them down the rode.

"Present?" I asked.

"Yeah. . . I got something for you." He grabbed my hand and pulled us over to the side of the dirt rode.

"I really don't want a present, Bennie. We already late--" I was interrupted by Bennie pressing me up against a tree and smashing his dry lips against mine. His hands running up and down my sides.

I pushed him away from me and quickly wiped my mouth, "I don't want-- I don't like-- We gotta take it slow, Bennie."

He shook his head and rubbed his chin before looking up to me with frustration, "Take it slow? Lily, That's what we been doing! I thought you wanted to be my girl."

I slowly shook my head, "No. I-I don't. I just wanna be friends."

"Friends?" he asked in disbelief.

I nodded, "I just don't like you like that, Bennie."

"Who do you like then?!"

"I-I-- Nobody." I lied.

He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes on me, "Tonight, you my girl."

"Bennie, we--"

He took a menacing step towards me, "You understand?"

I looked as he towered over me, his hands balled into fists, and his nostrils flared before I swallowed hard and nodded.

Seeing him like that, reminded me of my daddy.

The fear of being hurt was the only thing keeping me from running back home. 

He stared at me and shook his head before roughly grabbing my hand and pulling me along with him. 

When we finally caught up to the group,  they were already at the school courtyard.

"Y'all ain't have to wait on us. Go on in. " Bennie shouted. 

They all ventured into the school expect Jimmy and Mae.