This is based on / inspired by a conversation that I recently had with the boyfriend. And I was listening to Weezer and The Strokes with some Ben Folds thrown in there while I wrote this. We'll see what happens.

Oh! And the title is courtesy of Bailey.

PROM PLEASE

They were juniors when it happened.

Well, he should have been a sophomore but she preferred to leave the logistics out. He was smart so he was a junior now. Never mind the fact that he was fifteen. He was a junior.

And they were at lunch. They were junior buddies consuming their lunch time sustenance in close proximity to one another. And best friends. That was it.

"Nita," he said. He was leaning his chair back again. She'd told him to stop doing that at least a gatrillion times.

"Kit, stop that."

He just grinned that infectious grin at her.

"Will you go to prom with me?"

"What now?"

"Prom, you know, the dancy thing." He made a truly horrific pantomime of the tango to aid her thought process.

Nita shook her head to clear it. One minute she was munching her chicken salad-licous sammich and the next she, Nita Callahan, had a date to prom.

Granted it was just Kit.

"I thought we had a date with the couch, old chick flicks, and some ice-cream."

Nita grinned as the two air-born legs of Kit's chair made contact with the ketchup stained linoleum faster than anything she had ever seen.

"Nita, we don't talk about the chick flick thing."

"I'm sorry. I forgot." And she really had too.

"It's fine. And I figured you're a girl. I'm a guy. Neither of us have dates. And we're going to be together anyway, so why not be together at prom. You know, story for the grandkids and such." The chair legs returned to their floating state.

Nita thought about it.

Going to prom with Kit? Hmm.

She'd never really considered it before. Not just prom, but anything "more than friend-ish" involving Kit.

Nita Callahan, the junior, arrived at a conclusion.

"Why the hell not?"

"Awesome. Now give me a bite."

Nita sighed and handed over the rest of her sandwich. She fought the little trill in her stomach.

I'm going to prom.

Granted, it was just with Kit. Her stomach didn't care.

Or maybe it did, and that's why it was flipping out.

Nita shrugged it off and attributed it to indigestion.

--

He bought her a corsage.

That shouldn't make her feel so bubbly and girly. After all, she had gone to prom last year and Joey Carsella had done the same thing for her. She had just tried to help him get it on as speedily as possible to get his rough, dry hand off of hers while making her prettiest smile for the pictures.

Nita couldn't get her eyes off of Kit's sun tanned hands. The way the moved so fluidly and swiftly while he slipped the band around her wrist and her stomach flipped over again as he squeezed her hand once more, just for good measure.

Nobody in the prom group they were in had told her to smile yet.

Maybe that's because she already was. And that didn't scare her near as much as it should have.

--

Nita felt a smile of gratitude force its way onto her face as he held the door for her. Joey had done that as well, only he'd given her that wolfish 'See me? Huh? I'm being chivalrous' sort of grin that made her feel like she was supposed to be grateful, but she just couldn't muster up the feeling. The way Kit did it seemed natural, his only smile was the friendly one that he gave her every time he held the door and she passed through. He always held it, he wasn't trying to be something he wasn't and that made Nita happier than it should.

It was when her face heated up and a warm bubble of gratitude replaced the restless butterflies in her stomach that Nita thought that just maybe she had gotten in over her head.

He had given her his jacket to stop her shivers as they waited by the door for a table.

She was okay with that.

--

When they arrived in the school's commons, Nita had to wonder if The One had messed up and had given Kit a double shot of Life during his creation. How one boy had that much exuberance for everything was unbelievable.

"Wow Nita, look at the streamers! And the balloons!"

Nita laughed and allowed herself to be led to a table with a big soccer ball balloon.

"That one Nita, lets sit at that one!"

Her and the group of mutual friends she had come with spent most of the dance sitting and talking. They caught up on each other's lives and Nita was positive that her mascara had made tracks down her nose as she laughed until she was doubled over crying. But that usually happened anyway when she was around Kit. He was explaining how SUVs were the downfall of mankind.

The tinkling melody of a slower song came pouring out of the gym. Immediately, Caroline and her boyfriend stood up and ran off to dance. Daniel and his girlfriend weren't long to follow.

Nita glanced up at Kit to see his dark eyes surveying her with a forever waiting sense of curiosity that confused her to no end. The unspoken question hung in the air between them like a cloud in the sky.

"What?" Her voice was defensive.

That look of everlasting patience was still there. "Do you wanna dance?"

This time the flutter in her stomach traveled all the way up her throat and formed itself into a smile. One that was much shyer than Nita could have hoped for.

"Yeah. That would be good."

Kit smiled, but it was a peculiar one. She had seen it before. There was something more behind it.

She decided not to think about it. She allowed him to take her hand and let herself fit between his chest and the arm he had placed around her.

It was good.

--

Nita was amazed at how easy it was to be with him. Dancing with Joey Carsella was weird, he held her at a distance and wouldn't quite meet her eye. Kit held her close, like he really wanted her there, and smiled as they talked quietly and swayed. He looked her in the eyes.

The subject of Joey Carsella inevitably came up in conversation.

"I never could figure out what was going on with you two. But I didn't like him."

Nita laughed. "I know you didn't. And whatever it was, it's over."

The odd patient and waiting look was still there. It had been, nearly as long as she could remember. She was ready to find out what it was.

"Kit, why do you--"

But he had leaned down and touched his lips easily to the corner of hers. It was a very Kit sort of kiss. Unexpected but surprisingly nice. Everything turned out okay with him.

The waiting was gone, replaced with worry. "I'm sorry. What were you going to say?"

Nita found herself smiling. "Nothing." She searched his face for the expression, but came up missing. "It's not there anymore."

Kit laughed softly and she could smell the spices from the spaghetti he had for dinner on his breath. She could hear the girls next to her whispering about that Nita kissing that Kit, the varsity soccer playing should be sophomore boy.

Kit brushed her bangs off to the side.

"Can I--"

Nita felt herself laughing and her stomach flipping and the ease in the way her arms positioned themselves around his neck.

"Yeah."

Her middle finger found itself pointing towards the sky, facing the other girls.

He was a junior. Her best junior buddy.

Only they'd be doing more at lunch than sharing a chicken salad-licious sandwich.

I love chicken salad. Only without the chicken. And with lots of apples in it.

Review please? I'm a little rusty, I'd like some feedback.