Chapter 7

Prom Night

"Ann, Ann is that you? " Dad asked playfully upon seeing me in my mother's prom dress.

"No dad. It's Josie" I reply smiling

" You look so much like her on that blessed night. " Dad walks up the short flight of stairs to me.

" Princessa, you know she's proud of you wherever she is right? " he asks taking my slender wrist in his large hand.

"I know. "

" Good girl. So, what are you gonna do? "

" Make her proud, Dad. " I reply. This has been our thing since mom died: Dad reminding me of how great I was and how mom expects me to make her proud from the great beyond. I know Dad wants me to be the perfect daughter, he's so scared of making mistakes with my upbringing. I am determined not to let either him or mom down.

"You can really use a date, you know? " Stacey chimes in from the doorway, all dressed up in a black fitted dress and equally dark make-up.

"I can be that date. " Da replies with a tinge of seriousness in his tone.

" Eww, no Mr. Josie's Dad. That sucks. " Stacey replies, her face all screwed up like something died in the room.

"What's it Stacey?  You don't believe I got the moves?  Just so you know I was quite a number on my prom night. " Dad tells us, doing a few dance moves from the nineties.

"Well this ain't your prom night dad. " I chime in.

" Yeah, so you go enjoy your night princessa. Remember Dad loves you. " Dad replies while placing a kiss on my forehead.

*            *             *

DANIEL

Two weeks ago, Mrs. Conrad has put out an ad for chaperones to the prom dance and I had signed it at the last minute, much to her excitement. She thought it was a huge improvement on my mental health: willingness to socialize again, or so she termed it. I let her believe this. I know my reason for deciding to chaperone teenagers I wasn't quite older than. It’s also been two weeks since I ran into Josie Geronimo. I had seen her standing next to that row of lockers and my intention had been to walk away, rather I did the total opposite. The distressed look on her face had been to painful for me to bear and my years of jiggling locks back home in Florida had paid off.

Ever since I saw her that day, my demons have refused to go to sleep. They wanted me to see her again. Letting my finger slide across her palm that day had ignited a strange kind of fire in my blood, I feel the strain in my groins even as I remember the contact. The slight shiver she gave off also confirmed to me that this attraction is mutual.

I look myself over in my black tux with the red bow tie. Why I picked such formal outfit still beats me. Hip hop music is blaring from the speakers installed at almost all angles of the gym. The blue lights gave the building an underwater look. I guess it all looks superb. I can see teenagers huddled at every corner of the room. The dancefloor was also beginning to fill up.

"Where is she? " I ask myself, I am fast losing patience. The hunger to behold her face grows deeper with every passing second.

"Mr. Winchester" I look up at the owner of the voice to find the pretty blonde from the cheer leading team staring down at me. I sigh in disappointment. It is the dark-haired girl I seek, not this blonde who clearly has mischief up her sleeves.

" Miss.... "

"Lizzie, call me Lizzie" she offers batting her lashes at me.

"Ok Miss. Lizzie. Need something? " my impatience is fast rising.

"Wanna dance? " The girl sure has some guts.

" Uhm, no thanks, I would pass " I reply without looking at her. My eyes are roaming around the room.

"Oh okay, " I ignore the hurt look on her face as she walks away.

"Mr. Winchester? " What does she want in God's name. This time, I do not answer.

"Incase Josie doesn't wanna play ball, you can always call me. " she says and walks away. I am shocked beyond my wits. This girl sure has some guts. But is my attraction to her classmate that obvious?

I am still wondering when something catches my eyes. The girl in a red dress besides the one dressed like Lady Gaga. It is the one in the red dress who catches my eyes. The dress seemed to give off it's own kind of light, it was long and seemed to sweep the ground giving it's wearer a superhuman sort of look. Her straight black hair fell sweeps across her shoulders, almost descending down to her waist. The lights play softly on her skin giving it a golden tone. There is only one word on my lips as I stare.

"Goddess" I find myself muttering. At last when she turned, you can only be too sure, it's Josie Geronimo. The very face that was beginning to rule my dreams.

I decide not to stop myself this time. All caution thrown to the wind, I figure it is only normal to live one day at a time. I decide not to worry about hurting her. I do not think about her feelings if she realizes I am the much talked about demon -child who killed his father.  I am standing behind her and the lousy friend.

"Josie" I say softly. My voice is deep and quiet at the same time. I almost can't resist the urge to tear her away from the bunch of teenage boys flocking around her. Anger is quick rising in my chest. In turning, she steps on my toe and almost trips.

"Mr. Winchester. I am sorry. "

" Are you hurt? " I ask. Damn the shoes when that milky skin is at risk of being bruised.

" No, I am fine. " she replies and looks down at my hand on her shoulder. I held her to stop the fall and still hadn't withdrawn my hand.

"You look.... Stunning in that dress. " I paused for lack of words. There are no words to capture the beauty before me.

Someone whistles in the background. It's the hippie friend. I had forgotten I was in the midst of teens I was supposed to be watching.

"Come. " I say, dragging her away at the same time. I do not need her to say 'Yes' before I take her away. It's in her eyes. Just then, I remember no girl would go to prom without a date. I stop in my tracks. My heart is pounding in my chest so hard that I hear it in my ears.

" Are you with a guy? "

"What? " my question catches her by surprise.

" Your prom date. Where's he? "

" Oh that, I do not have one. " She replies. I heave a sigh of relief. Finally, I get to have her for the night, all to myself.

I don't care if I am being a jerk tonight. I don't care if I am going to regret this evening by morning. I never knew I had a streak of Alpha male in me. God, I have never experienced this feeling of possession so strongly over any woman before. Here I was, being so clingy to a teenage girl.

"Good" I say

"Wanna dance? " I catch the surprised look in her eyes at my question. I am being too fast for her to keep up, I know but I do not care.

"What? " she asks

" I mean.... that dress is so pretty. " I am groping for sensible words.

"Thanks. It was my mother's. " She replies with a smile.

"Really? "

"Yeah "

"We shouldn't waste it then, there's good music too tonight. Let's dance. "

There's doubt in her eyes at the sensibility of this. I know it's silly but I need this one night.

"I am no great dancer. "

"I ain't either. Let's give it our worst shot" I am at my convincing best tonight.

"What's the worst thing that could happen? " I ask jokingly

" Me stepping on your toes. " She replies making jest of how she almost tripped from earlier.

"That's fair" I say laughingly too as I slip my hand behind her back. It's a fast country music playing. I can remember the tone from my childhood days in Florida but the words seem to elude me at this moment. I am carried away, dancing with Josie. True to her words, she did step on my toes a few times but we both laugh over it and keep dancing.

For the first time in a long while, I do not hear voices in my head. All I can hear is Josie's laughter and mine. Her body touching mine makes me want to caress that perfect shade of brown beneath my palm. The weight in my groins grow heavier. I shift from foot to door to hide this. I do not want to scare her off just yet.

"Hey Josie, "

"Yeah? " She's looking up at me with those perfect dark eyes.

"Wanna go out for a bit? " I suddenly need some air.

" Sure, why not? " she does not hesitate this time.

Outside, it's cold. Dusk had fallen and temperatures had dropped. Josie rubs her palm over her shoulders. She's clearly cold in that sleeveless dress. I take off my tux jacket and place it over her shoulder.

"Thank you. " She says

"Keep warm while we are outside. Seems mom's dress won't do out here. " I say and she giggles like a little girl.

" Yeah, it was her prom dress. Dad says it made him fall in love with her. "

"Really? " I say while raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah. It's a lucky princess dress. "

I can't help but laugh at this. Seems Josie has a lot of beliefs in magical powers.

"Don't tell me you believe in unicorns too? " She catches the joke and laughs too.

"Aww, yeah. Unicorns are super cool. I always imagined having one as a little girl. Dad says I am a princess, you see, all princesses own a unicorn and a tiara. "

Josie sounds so much like a Daddy's girl. I don't know what to make of this, considering I killed my supposed father.

" Where's mom? " I ask impulsively. It's safer than doing the dad talk.

"Mom died when I was ten. Then we moved down here." Josie replies flatly and tugs something off her dress.

"You are not from here? " I am truly surprised.

"No. Utah. We are from Utah. "

"Wow. " I say

"I can hardly remember anything about home though. " The look in her eyes is distant and somewhat pained.

"Where are you from, Daniel? " She asks. It's a harmless question, but one I would rather not talk about. She used my first name for the first time too. It further ignites the fire in my blood.

" From down south Florida. " My reply is flat.

"Really?  I heard Mr. Jeremy Huntington, our previous History teacher moved down there. " This is deep waters I would rather not tread. She s ignorant of this though.

"Where do you live here, Daniel? "

My voice catches in my throat. My discomfort is nearly visible by now. I do not want to answer yet I have to. I do not want to lie to her too.

"I stay at my uncle's. It's a family property. " I am thankful she doesn't probe further for a certain address. I do not want to scare her off.

The Judds singing "Young love" reaches us from the gym. I do not know if it's the melody of the song or the yearning in the singer’s voice, but I find myself desperately wanting this girl to be in love with me. They say music really does affect the atmosphere. I am convinced of the wisdom in that saying at this moment. Only one thing makes sense to me at this moment and I am determined to do it before the Judds stop singing