Classic prom L

Smoke infiltrated the air as flames met Terry’s messily rolled cigarette, desperately thrown together with shaking hands. The loose structure had all-too-expensive tobacco daring to spill over the Calix concrete. “Shit!” He hissed under his breath, fingers still trembling as he attempted to further secure the paper.  

Bland pop music raged from the illuminated building in which Terry leaned against, balloons and confetti being whisked away from the open hall doors and dusting the streets. Even outside, he could still feel the lingering warmth of awkward teenagers flailing around in some semblance of dancing sticking to him. What a waste of his dad’s cologne, for this shitty excuse of a party— where the only liquor was the pitifully weak, spiked punch, and the only people having fun were couples who could find dark corners to makeout within. Unfortunately, there are only so many corners, and Terry didn’t have enough energy to plaster on a fake-smile and charm some girl into helping him find a different blind spot. So, instead, he was outside. 

He pressed his cigarette to his lips, drawing an inhale, and instantly, the tension tightly wound beneath his shoulders eased. 

He locked his breath in his throat, allowing his lungs to singe. It was only for a moment, feeling the burn trickle into his chest, aching. Aching. Always, aching. 

Either way, he sighed, some of the weight lifting from his body as he watched the smoke evaporate into the misty night sky.

Kado would be upset if he knew, Terry can’t help but note absentmindedly. The idea doesn’t deter him from taking another puff, because, it’s simply an observation. 

Though, he can’t help also bitterly noting; He’s too busy with Kyuwa to notice, anyways. 

This time, he lets his head fall limp and gently thump into the wall behind him when he exhales. It hurt, a little. 

Terry didn’t like to be jealous, it was an ugly, and stupid emotion that made him act even stupider. Last thing he needed was to knock Kyuwa out on prom night of all nights, for no reason at that. Or- 

Almost no reason. 

“Fucking hell…” Terry muttered, craning his head just to knock it back into the wall a moment later; like that would help him clear his mind in some way. He sucked air in through his teeth, closing his eyes and focusing on the throbbing pain in the back of his scalp. If he was lucky, he’d split his head open and wouldn’t need to go back into the hall anytime soon; he wouldn’t have to see Kado’s perfect, smiling face directed at someone else.

Suddenly, Terrence’s cigarette was nicked from between his fingers. 

“Don’t be stingy, man. You’re not the only one suffering in there.” 

He opened his eyes to see Sumiye. She took a drag from the cigarette, sighing with relief whilst smoke poured from her lips. She was wearing a red dress, adorned with heart patterns at the hem.

“You look nice.” He said simply, then lifting his hand and lazily motioning with two fingers in her direction. “Give me my shit back.” 

Sumiye snorted at the abruptness, taking clear notice of Terrence’s mood. 

“No pleasantries, tear bear? I’m but a lady, after all.” She exclaimed, still smugly holding the cigarette between her index and middle finger. When she made no moves to give it back, Terry returned the earlier favour by snatching it out of her hand. 

“I said you looked nice, didn’t I?” He rolled his eyes. 

“Stating the obvious isn’t a pleasantry, bozo! Get a clue.” Terry only grunted in response, looking adrift and far away. And for Sumiye, that was simply no good. 

“What’s crawled up your ass?” She inquired, poking him in the arm, squishing around the fabric of his shirt beneath her finger. “You couldn’t get yourself a prom date?”

Terry’s brows knitted together and he shrugged. “Something like that.” He had an unfamiliarly cold air to him, unlike his general bustling charisma. He didn’t usually like to let people see him this way, but he couldn’t bring himself to care Infront of Sumiye. 

The girl hadn’t said anything in response, only staring. She examined Terry’s face with squinted eyes, picking him apart under a mental microscope. 

Finally, with a longing and bored sigh, she pushed herself away from the concrete wall. 

Terry briefly wondered if she was leaving the dance for good when she began to walk off, that was until she stopped dead in her tracks; he didn’t see it so much as hear her heels dig into the ground and turn around. 

"Hey," Her voice caught Terry’s attention and he looked away from his cigarette. "This party fucking blows." She said, sparing a glance toward the prom hall. Terry followed her eyes, he too, looking back at the entrance doors. His stomach churned with dread, and he couldn’t do much aside huff a bitter laugh. “No shit.” He affirmed. With one hand, Sumiye pushed her glasses from the bridge of her nose, to sit nicely atop her head, and her other hand pulled a set of car keys from her pocket. "So, you wanna throw a cooler one?"