“Oh, this?” the girl pulled on her skirt to display the material, “I just dug it out of my closet. You know how these high school parties are; I say never waste a good dress on a mediocre party.”
“Don’t you like this party?” Val asked.
The girl shrugged, “It’s okay, if you’re into that sort of thing. Me, I prefer more—formal events.”
“Oh, cool. Yeah, I get that—sometimes high schoolers can be so immature.”
“I completely agree,” the girl nodded sagely, “You’d think, with the wealth most of these children have access to, they could afford a little more—class. Speaking of which—“ she looked at Val’s shorts pointedly, “If those shorts were any smaller, they wouldn’t even qualify. Why on earth did you think wearing them here was a good idea?”
Val scowled, “I wore what I wanted to; I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”
The girl smiled serenely, “I very much doubt that.” Her haughty manner riled Val, but she controlled her anger.
“I have to go outside for a second,” Val said, excusing herself and walking to the edge of the room, where she could be alone. At some point in her conversation with the girl in the blue-dress, Keenan had wandered off; Val decided she didn’t care, since his absence afforded her the opportunity to be completely alone.
Val hardly had a moment to enjoy the time alone when Porter approached, “Can I talk to you?”
“That depends,” Val replied harshly, “What do you want to talk about?”
“I wanted to apologize,” Porter said, “You know, I didn’t mean any of those things I said on Thursday.”
“Uh huh,” Val shot him a cold look, “Whatever.”
“No, I mean it. I felt really bad right after—I never wanted to make you cry!” Porter sighed, “Truth is, I realize now how stupid and desperate I was being, trying to get Avery back.”
Val allowed her expression to soften a little, “Yeah, I didn’t even understand why you wanted her back in the first place.”
“I don’t know either, anymore. It was just one of those times where I was so certain which path I was supposed to take, and then all of a sudden—“ Porter shook his head, “All of a sudden, I was a total asshole to the sweetest girl I’ve ever met.” He cupped Val’s cheek.
“You mean me?”
“Of course,” Porter laughed, “Who else would I be talking about?”
“I dunno. I just—“
Porter cut her off, “I know you like me too, Val.”
Looking into Porter’s blue eyes, she couldn’t deny it, “I did. But, you really hurt me.”
“I would never hurt you,” Porter frowned, “At least, I’ll never hurt you again.”
“You promise?”
“I promise. Listen, you wanna get some fresh air?”
That sounds like a good idea, “Yeah, sure.”
Porter took Val’s hand and led the way into Alex’s large driveway, “Here, let’s go to my car.” Val sat down on the hood of the cherry red mustang. “There, now isn’t that better?” Porter said.
The air wasn’t helping, Val realized when she looked at Porter. “It’s getting dark,” she commented awkwardly.
“Yeah, it is,” Porter agreed. “I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me for all the crap I said.”
“I forgive you. I guess I’ve said my share of stupid things in the past, too”
Porter grinned; his unique, lopsided grin made Val laugh. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
“I dunno, I just—the way you smile is—“
“The way I smile is funny?”
“No! No, that’s not what I’m saying.” Val thought she saw someone moving toward them, but Porter was so close that his frame took up the majority of her field of vision.
“That’s ok, you have a right to say that after everything I said,” Porter brushed her hair back, “Val, I wanna do something, but I’m not sure if you want me to—“
Val was almost certain what he was going to ask, “I want you to.”
Without warning, Porter pressed his lips against hers; Val let the moment last as long as it could, until a cry of, “What the fuck?” brought her back to reality.
Porter turned around, and Val could see behind him—Keenan was literally shaking with anger. “That’s. My. Girlfriend.” He cocked back a fist.
Porter laughed, holding up his hands in a “don’t shoot” expression, “Come on little bro. What, you’re gonna hit me? You’d be on the concrete in a second.” He seemed calm; Keenan didn’t seem calm, he seemed murderous. Val rushed to place herself between the pair, but had to sidestep around Porter before she could.
“You son of a bitch!” Keenan yelled, “The one good thing in my life!” Val felt ice in her veins as the meaning of the words hit her; she managed to get between Keenan and his brother. As out of the moment as she was, Val only vaguely noticed the fast-moving object approaching her face, until Keenan’s fist struck her just below the eyebrow. Val fell to the ground; she didn’t scream or make a sound, even though her eye started throbbing as if someone had taken a fork to it.
“Ohmygod!” Keenan’s eyes were as wide as saucers, “Val, I swear I didn’t—I was trying to hit—oh my god, are you okay?”
Porter’ face contorted with rage; “Get away from her now,” he ordered quietly. Tears came to Val’s eyes as the adrenaline of the moment gradually wore off, bringing with it the full pain of being punched in the face.
“Val,” Porter held out an arm to help her up; Val took it. “Val, are you alright?” She nodded weakly. “Here, I’ll—I’ll take you home.”
“Ok,” Val replied; she clambered into Porter’s car.
“I can’t believe he did that,” Porter said angrily as he turned the ignition, “Hitting a girl is—is—and hitting you,” he shook his head, “I almost tore him apart.”
Val grimaced, “I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Me too.” Porter switched on the radio; a song was playing that Val had never heard before:
I can feel her breath as she’s sleeping next to me,
Sharing pillows and cold feet.
“Do you want to go the hospital?” Porter asked, She can feel my heart, fell asleep to its beat.
“No, I’m—“ Val sighed, “Well I’m not fine, but maybe I will be soon.” If only I could be in that bed again. If only it were me instead of him.
Porter nodded, “I know what you mean.” Does he watch your favorite movies? Does he hold you when you cry? Does he let you tell him all your favorite parts when you’ve seen it a million times?
Val sighed; Keenan’s face, like a dying animal, kept replaying through her mind. Does he sing to all your music while you dance to Purple Rain? Does he do all these things, like I used to?
Unable to take the song anymore, Val reached up and turned off the radio.
“What? Why’d you turn the music off?” Porter asked as he rounded the final turn leading to Val’s house.
Val shrugged, “I just—didn’t want to listen to it anymore.”
Porter slowed to a halt in Val’s driveway, “I know that’s not the way any of us would have wanted it to work out, but—“ he sighed, “—at least I have you now.”
“At least you have me,” Val agreed; she leaned across the car and kissed Porter for the briefest moment. When she returned to her seat, he followed, placing a hand against Val’s head and closing the distance between their mouths. Val once again found herself lost in the kiss, but this time there was no one to break it—they just maintained the embrace, Val didn’t know for how long. After a blissful eternity, Porter fell back into the driver’s seat; Val looked out the window, noticing the stars had come out.
“What are you thinking about?” Porter asked.
“I dunno, just—where do we go from here?”
Mary Williams, How to Be a Perfect Girl
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