The After-Prom Revelation

After the senior prom, everyone was confessing to their crushes.

Everyone expected me to go after Liam, to corner him and make him be with me. But after the crowd thinned out, I was nowhere to be found. Little did he know, in the deserted classroom, I was straddling his best friend's lap, a blush creeping up my neck.

“I’m right here, you don’t have to look at the pictures anymore,” I managed to say.

Cole looked down at my deliberately short dress, the hem hiked up way past my fingertips. His jaw tightened. "Riley, you should get off me now. You still have a chance.”

01

The after-prom party was a blur. Nearly everyone was drunk. Usually shy girls were working up the courage to spill their feelings to their crushes, fueled by liquid courage.

A friend nudged me. “Riley, you gonna confess to Liam?”

He was completely surrounded. Girls were handing him letters, small gifts, all trying to get a moment of his time. He thanked them politely, but turned each one of them down. Even when Chloe, the head cheerleader, swayed up to him, a confession in her eyes, everyone got worked up.

My friend gave me a worried look. I just smiled, and quietly slipped out.

No sooner had I left, than Liam rejected Chloe.

“Dude, even the head cheerleader? What are you waiting for?”

“Some kind of goddess?”

“Or, has Riley totally freaked you out and now you’re just done with girls?”

“Speaking of Riley, where is she? She was just here eating with us a few minutes ago.”

“Heard she was getting her prom dress altered. Bet she’s planning to take down our boy Liam tonight!”

Liam leaned against the window, nursing his beer. He snorted. “As if she has a chance.”

“Riley’s hot, man. You sure you’re not even a little bit into her?”

“Yeah, those legs, long and killer.”

“And she has this cute face. When she smiles, it gets to me, man.”

"If it gets to you, go hook up with her tonight, dude.”

Liam’s voice went cold. He glanced at my empty seat, then left the room.

02

Turning eighteen, turning into adults, a lot of couples, or almost couples, knew what was up. Rumors were the local motels were booked solid. Some of the bolder girls had even slipped room keys to their crushes. Everyone had been holding back so long; tonight was the night to go wild.

If I was the Riley from before, I would be all over Liam right now.

I stood at the curb, hailing a cab.

A text message popped up on my phone.

It was from Liam: “Chloe just confessed to me. You think I should say yes?”

I realized the last time we had texted was two months ago. He never responded to my last message. After that, I never tried again. If I wasn’t reaching out, he wasn't either.

Him messaging me tonight felt weird.

I didn't reply, just closed the app.

As I walked through the school gates, the texts started flooding in. All screenshots of Liam and Chloe’s social media announcement.

I clicked through a photo of them, Liam’s arm wrapped tightly around her. I didn't feel a thing. Three months ago, I had found out ...