Page 21 of The Fall

I slipped it on her wrist as she admired the flower. “Dean, it’s beautiful, really, but I can’t take another girls corsage. She picked up the packaging from the porch and slid the flower back in, handing it back to me.

“Girl’s daydream about this night, Dean. That poor girl waiting on you probably has a thousand scenarios of how this night will go. She’s probably checked her appearance a million times and is looking out her window, waiting for your arrival.”

“I thought you were going with Reiner.”

“I changed my mind. I was kind of holding out for something better.” I didn’t miss it, and she didn’t let me.

“Dallas—”

“Go, you’ll be late. You look…really good.” She walked inside and shut the door, turning off the porch light.

I cursed my damn gentleman’s vow as I walked down her steps. What I thought was selflessness had turned into pure stupidity.

Prom was a complete blur, and unfortunately for my date, I was distracted. I saw relief in her eyes when I took her home at midnight.

A few weeks before graduation, I showed up to Reiner’s third party in a month with Daisy Tipton on my arm. Dallas was on the porch. She stood up to greet me and immediately lost her balance and flew forward. I let go of Daisy and caught Dallas quickly, getting a strong whiff of her poison and establishing the cause of her sudden immobility.

“Whoa, buddy, you’ve been hitting the sauce hard,” I noted, immediately on edge. How long had she been drinking out here?

“Dean, you know I don’t like Daisy. Don’t screw her. Ew, not her.” My eyes widened, and I had to stifle a laugh as Daisy spewed her venom.

“I can hear you, bitch,” she snapped in warning.

“Oh, you can hear me?” She hiccupped as she took a step out of my arms, her body swaying and her attention toward Daisy. “Hear this. I would rather be a bitch than passed-around like you are.”

Daisy didn’t hesitate before landing a hard slap on the side of Dallas’s face. Dallas smiled spitefully as if to say ‘thank you,’ her hand going up to cup her reddening cheek. She had purposefully just started a fight.

My spitfire was drunk, and things were about to get nasty.

I reached for Dallas just as she lunged for Daisy.

“Daisy, we’re done,” I said simply, turning my head toward her as I held Dallas back, who was flailing her arms desperately trying to get her shot at Daisy.

Daisy looked at me incredulously. “You don’t mean that!”

“No, I do. We are done,” I said, turning away from her and wrapping Dallas in my embrace, trapping her arms around her and carrying her to the side of the house. Once she stopped fighting me, I cupped her red cheek and grinned at her.

“Okay, you want to explain what just happened back there?”

“No,” she said, looking up at me as I tried to gently thumb away the burn in her cheek. For the first time in months, I saw it, the longing. My chest cracked in recognition.

“Dean, why won’t you kiss me?” she asked as she leaned into my hand, her eyes raw and searching mine.

“Dally, you are my best friend,” I offered weakly.

“You don’t like me?”

“I love you, Dally,” I said without thinking. I gave her the truth.

“You do?” I saw the hope in her eyes and then saw it pass away with my following words.

“You are like family to me.”

“Oh.” After a beat, I saw a wave of pure determination cross her face as she eyed me with sudden disgust. “You know they call you the Spanish slut?” she said as she scorned me with her alcohol-filled honesty. “One girl could neeeever be enough for you.” Pain tore through my chest at that statement. She had done her job well. I was ashamed.

“But that doesn’t bother you, right?” she scoffed. I stood silently, letting her have her way. I deserved every bit of it. All I wanted to do was to rid her of the look of contempt and replace it with what I’d grown used to. There was no sign of it. I was suddenly desperate for her laugh, her smile, anything but the look she was giving me. It was filled with so much resentment and, even more than that, defeat. I cringed physically as I took a step toward her. Doing the only thing I deemed safe, I pulled a Ricky Ricardo and started mumbling furiously in Spanish.

“Tú eres suficiente para mí, mi loquita. Si supieras lo mucho que quisiera besarte en este momento. Si supieras cuánto tiempo paso pensando en ti.” Si supieraís cuanto tiempo me la paso pensando en ti.”

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