Never Always Sometimes - Adi Alsaid Page 0,90

and elbows. My two favorite flavors.”

Gretchen laughed, grabbing their linked hands and playfully hitting

his side with their combined fist. She was wearing a flowery perfume

that masked the smell of honey, but he could still taste it when he

kissed her. Sunlight danced on the leaves of nearby trees and Dave

thought, That’s what this feels like.

Screw the gymnasium; this was California.

The prom committee had rented these huge roll-out carpets and

spread them out over the football field. Concert-worthy speakers were

set up at every twenty yards. A wobbly stage took over the entirety of

an end zone, and when Dave and Gretchen arrived, bands were still

unloading their equipment from their parents’ vans. A few teachers

in suits were gathered in a circle beneath the CONGRATS SLO SENIORS!

DAVE & JULIA 301

banner that hung by the bleachers. They drank coffee and chatted, not

yet concerned about being vigilant. The drinks table was lined with

sodas and bottles of water, and no one really seemed to care about the

lack of spikeable punch since the Kapoors were hosting an after-party.

“No chocolate fountains in sight,” Dave said, snapping his fingers in

an “aww-shucks” kind of way.

“Good. I was thinking about it and I’m terrified of ants. Being

covered in chocolate would attract ants, and that does not seem like a

fun idea.”

“How are you afraid of ants?”

“I just can’t trust anything that has eyes too small to look into. I

don’t know what they’re thinking. They could be plotting my demise

and I’d have no idea.”

“You’re adorable.”

“Don’t patronize me, ants are a legitimate thing to be afraid of. All

those legs. Have you seen an up-close picture of one? That’s the stuff

of nightmares.”

Still holding on to her hand, Dave swung her close to him. She

didn’t like being too touchy in public, so he kept himself from hugging

her and just stood as close to her as was surreptitiously possible, happy to be close enough that he could stand with his side pressed lightly

against hers. He reached for one of the blond tresses that spilled down

her temple like something falling in slow motion. “How do you feel

about picnics?”

“Dave, you’re going to give me a panic attack.”

302 NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES

“Did you say a ‘picnic attack’?”

Gretchen burst into laughter, smacking him playfully across the

chest and then leaning in for a quick peck on the lips. They each

grabbed a bottle of water and took a seat along the rows of fold-out

chairs that had been positioned in a rectangle around the stage, with

plenty of room left in the middle for the wooden dance floor.

They watched the prom fill up. Dr. Hill came by the stage and

announced a few official rules, which had been repeated over and

over again on the PA system: no alcohol, no inappropriate dancing,

no letting chickens run loose in the crowd (an SLO tradition). Then

he wished everyone a good time, and the first band took the stage, a

group of sophomores that played electro-pop covers of classic rock

songs. Gretchen’s friends joined the two of them off to the side of

the stage. They’d started warming up to him again recently, and Dave

was thankful for the second chance, happy to prove to them that he

wouldn’t hurt Gretchen again. Soon enough the dance floor started

to fill up. Dave didn’t feel at all like dancing, and he was thrilled when Gretchen didn’t push him to.

Instead he watched the stars come out. It felt silly, a bit too much like someone having an end-of-high-school epiphany, some big life lesson

washing over him. Except it wasn’t really like that. He looked at the

stars with a simple delight, the same way he looked out at everyone on

the dance floor, or at the people standing along its perimeter: couples

holding hands, friends getting emotional or behaving like they would

any other night.

DAVE & JULIA 303

He spotted Julia walking out onto the field. She wasn’t in prom

attire at all, just jeans and a T-shirt, her hair a brighter shade of pink than he remembered it. No shoes. He hadn’t expected her to come at

all. She scanned the crowd a little, probably looking for some source

of amusement. Dave imagined that if he was nearby, she’d crack some

joke, funnier than anything he could come up with. He watched her

cross the crowd toward the drink table, read her lips as she mouthed,

Where the hell are the real drinks? He felt a momentary pang of longing to be at her side, but then it passed. Gretchen was chatting with Vince, but Dave could tell she’d noticed Julia coming in, too. She’d tensed up

a little, the way she did when Julia said hi at school, those handful of times when they