Prom?

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I was in a predicament: I couldn't walk away from Will because then everyone else could see my face, but I didn't want to stay and give him an explanation either.
"I'm waiting Charlotte." Dammit.
"Ryan and I were goofing around and he punched me by accident." Will narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah right, that kid couldn't hurt a fly." I swallowed. Now was my chance.
"I disagree." Without turning to face the rest of my friends I called,
"Ryan, come here for a sec!" I heard his footsteps and he came to a halt next to me, his blue eyes focusing on tje black and blue area of my cheek.
"No puede saber (He can't know)." Ryan gave me a minuscule nod and asked loudly,
"What?"
"Remember when we were wrestling yesterday?" He nodded, realization glistening in his eyes.
"Course I do. I won." I rolled my eyes. Classic Ryan- making sure he won even in a lie.
"Didn't you give me a solid punch?" He laughed.
"Sure I did. Best one I've done in a while." I glanced up at Will who didn't look totally convinced.
"See?" He shook his head.
"He's a kid Charlotte. I don't believe you." I turned to my brother, making sure my face was still guarded from everyone on the porch.
"Want to do the honors mi amor?" I asked him and he nodded, a smile slowly making its way across his face.
"Yup." With that he turned and socketed Will in the jaw. He cursed loudly as his head snapped to the side and Maria yelled,
"What the hell?!" Will rubbed his jaw in pain, but his eyes twitched with amusement.
"Okay so I was wrong. This guy does have some strength." The two fist bumped, almost like a peace treaty. Then Will gave me a once over and it was like he was scanning my face for lies.
"Okay." He announced, loud enough for everyone to hear, " Guys lets go." I stayed with my back to everyone and listened as they all called out their goodbyes. Ryan stood in front of me and I waited for him to give me the all clear.

"They're gone." I breathed out a sigh of relief. It was a close call, way too close for comfort.

"Thanks buddy." He sighed and ran his hand over his face acting much more mature than his age.

"Anytime sis. But I'm not sure how long you're going to be able to hide it." I shrugged; worry settling in the pit of my stomach.

"Don't worry about me kiddo, I'll figure it out. Meanwhile, let's clean up and check on Jase okay?"
"Okay." We walked up to the porch and stacked the paper plates, making sure not to forget anything before heading inside. Jason was sound asleep and it was past eight so I decided to carry him up to bed.

The light was out and I closed his room door quietly, walking back downstairs to find Ryan finishing his Spanish homework.

"Charlie I don't understand with this says." I read the question and mentally cringed.

"It says how did your parents meet." His eyes turned towards me before he spoke.

"How did they meet?" I sighed and pulled my long hair into a messy bun.

"7th grade history class. Apparently they sat next to each other the entire year and mom wouldn't stop flirting with Dad. He described her as a leech." Ryan laughed and rolled his eyes.

"Sounds spot on." I nodded and smiled, thinking about what it would've been like to see my parents happy.

"Yeah I know right. She didn't let up and finally in junior year Dad decided enough was enough and asked her out to shut her up." My brother took a drink of water and shook his head, still smiling.

"Idiot." I nodded the corners of my mouth turning up.

"Exactly. They stayed together until mom was 27 and dad was 30." Ryan wrote down the answer and didn't press for more information, knowing the rest was a sensitive topic. After a few more moments, I could tell he was bursting to ask another question, so I said chuckling quietly,

"You look like you're constipated Ry. What do you want to know?" He sighed and dropped his pencil, facing me.

"Do you know any other stories of mom and dad? Was their relationship really all bad?" I swallowed, trying to figure out what to say to him.

"Okay here's one. When mom and dad were seniors, they were prepared to go to prom right? But you know mom, she wanted to be asked in the biggest way possible. So as a result, dad tattooed the word prom on his side." Ryan stared at me, his mouth dropped open.
"Seriously?" I nodded, laughing at his expression.

"Yup. She wasn't too pleased, but she said yes."

"What did his parents think?" I rolled my eyes.

"You know Gran and Gramps. They didn't care at all. But Abuelita (grandma) did care." Ryan scrunched his nose up.

"Did she let mom go?"

"Yeah but she made mom and dad drive to and from prom in her minivan."
"Ouch."
"Yup." Ryan shuffled his homework and put it into the folder.

"Carl if I ever think about doing something like that, slap me multiple times." I saluted him.

"Yes sir."

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