Never Always Sometimes - Adi Alsaid Page 0,91

stood by making small talk. Gretchen had admitted

to jealousy, but she’d insisted that she didn’t want Dave and Julia to

stop being friends because of her. If it hadn’t been for Julia, the two of them might not be together at all.

Dave looked back up at the sky again and at the floodlights pointed

down at the football field, casting everyone in an unflattering pale glow, blocking out all but the brightest stars. Music filled the night, coupled with the sound of hundreds of people talking and laughing, living their

young lives in tired, unoriginal, and completely unimaginable ways.

Dave tapped Julia on the shoulder. “May I have this dance?”

Julia turned around, her brow furrowed. Then she saw who it was

and relaxed into her usual deadpan. “Dude, I am about to throw up

on you.”

304 NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES

“Wouldn’t be the first time. I didn’t know you were going to be here.”

Julia shrugged. “Figured I’d stop by and check it out. Skipping prom

because it’s lame is kind of a high school cliché.”

Dave smiled at her. “Would a hug be weird?”

“Don’t be an idiot,” she said, stepping close and pulling him in. They

squeezed each other tightly and briefly, letting go at the same time. “By the way, have you seen Marroney around? It’s embarrassing to be here

without my date.”

“I think he went to go make the hotel reservations.”

“I hope he’s getting the honeymoon suite like I asked.”

Dave laughed and picked at the label on his water bottle. “I never

thanked you for talking to Gretchen.”

Julia bit her lip and looked away. He could see her toes digging into

the carpet. The band finished a song and awkwardly transitioned into

the next one, false-starting a few times before the drummer counted

up to four and got them going on a slower cut, one where the electric

violinist could finally be heard over the other instruments. “You’re

welcome,” Julia finally said, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. “You would have done the same for me.” She quarter-turned to face the

stage so Dave could barely see her profile. “If Marroney had seen us,

that is.”

He thought he saw tears welling up in Julia’s eyes, but then she

turned away, grabbing a bottle of water from the table. She opened it,

then held it up in the air between them, as if she were toasting a glass of champagne. “To the fire in our hearts,” she said with a smile.

DAVE & JULIA 305

They watched the rest of the song play out, Dave turning every

now and then to look at Gretchen, to reassure her with a smile and

a wave. Then Leslie Winters, the class president, came onstage. She

was wearing a baby-blue tuxedo, her hair molded into a fauxhawk and

dyed to match her outfit. Dave and Julia exchanged a look and shook

their heads in silent recognition of the fiasco in Julia’s bathroom. Julia’s hair was in a simple ponytail, with those two strands looped around

her ears the way they always were. “Did you dye your hair again?”

Julia actually blushed. “Shit, you noticed.”

“Did Debbie survive this time?”

“I went to a salon.” She took another sip from her water, clearly

trying to be casual. But she must have noticed Dave gawking at her.

“What, I’m not allowed to embrace a cliché or two? I like it, okay?

Gimme a break before I pop your collar.”

Leslie grabbed the mic. “Another round of applause for the band

with the name that is officially too inappropriate to say at a school-

sponsored event!” She waited for the crowd’s lukewarm cheers to die

down, then pulled an envelope out of her tuxedo pocket. “Now the

moment you’ve all been waiting for.” She slid her finger down the

envelope’s closure to tear it open. “Not really. We’re all waiting for the after-party and to receive our diplomas next weekend and be done

with high school forever. But about six people are quite excited about

the contents of this envelope, so I’ll get to it.” She rummaged through

the envelope for the paper inside.

Leslie announced the prom queen and a wave of whoops and cheers

306 NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES

moved through the audience. The Miss America song started playing

through the speakers, Dave couldn’t tell if it was ironically or not. Dave kept his eyes focused in Gretchen’s direction, like someone staring at

the sky waiting for meteors. Then Leslie said, “. . . and your prom king is . . .” and Julia tapped him on the shoulder and whispered into his ear,

“If you don’t win it was all such a waste.”

“James Everett!”

“You were robbed!” Julia yelled.

“Tonight, I’m going to weep like a jock whose glory days are over.”

“You and me both,” Julia said. James Everett