When we stepped into the gym, we were both completely amazed. It was jam packed with people. I had no clue how I was going to find my friends in this place. Not that we were necessarily hanging out, but to say hello and introduce Taylor since we would all be sitting at a dinner table together which meant we’d be having conversations at some point along the way. We made a round or two and I said hi to a few of my classmates. The girls would stop and we gushed over dresses and how pretty everyone looked, Taylor would throw out compliments here and there, and I’d introduce him so he could shake hands with dates and jump into a few conversations. Eventually we found my group of friends and joined them to say hi and hang out a bit before we all left for the main event. Again, I introduced Taylor (just by his first name, well, technically middle), knowing that some of them, the girls especially, knew EXACTLY who he was, so my heart was in my throat waiting for responses or looks of pure shock. To my surprise, the biggest reactions were simply “wow” or an “oh my gosh, you’re, you’re…”, but nothing more than that. No one mocked him for his old hair, or his song from when he was just fourteen years old, the high pitched voice, or any of the mockery I thought would present itself if anyone DID find out the truth. Not many people in my school were fans of his sort of music, so after MMMBop disappeared, so did Hanson to them, which was good for us, tonight at least. I let out a sigh of relief when everyone welcomed him into our group without hesitation, yet still felt his fingers rubbing gentle circles over the small of my back to silently let me know that we were in the clear. I loved knowing that he ALWAYS had his hands on me. It made me feel special, loved, and wanted. There were questions among our gang of course, and I did get reprimanded for never saying anything all these years about him, but thankfully, he picked up the ball on that one and just explained how important it was that we keep our relationship as quiet and as normal as possible. He explained how he never wanted anyone hounding or bothering me, and using those eyes and that smile of his, he was able to convince everyone to keep this to us so we could just enjoy our night and not have any of this wind up on the internet, in magazines, or anything. His number one objective was to keep me safe. My friends nodded their heads enthusiastically in agreement and swore to our privacy wishes before we were able to continue on normally for the rest of the night, both of us feeling a lot lighter without needing to say anything. Since we were telling secrets, I did pull some of my girlfriends aside to finally show them my ring that I usually kept spun around on my finger so the diamonds were safe in my palm from questioning or prying eyes. They shrieked and asked a million questions about when, how, what were we planning, any dates, was I sure, we were so young, all the usual. I laughed it off and shrugged saying we just weren’t set in anything yet but yes we were sure and told them how amazing he’s been to me since the beginning. They still didn’t know every little detail the way our families, or Liz and Josh did, but finally, they knew enough that I didn’t have to make up stories or stutter over myself making excuses to go be with Taylor and not them when plans were made, and I had a few other people to talk about “boy troubles” with. Our whole group of about ten hung out together until both Juniors and Seniors, dates, and supervising faculty were called to move out to our assigned buses. Taylor strolled over from the guys he became talkative with to where I was standing with the girls and put his hand on my shoulder.
“Ladies, mind if I steal my date? I think yours are all looking for you too. Time for prom” he smirked at all of them before looking at me with so much love in his eyes, I literally almost fainted. I could tell some of my friends had the dreamy looks in their eyes, and my heart fluttered at just how much I loved this man. My friends weren’t even some of the fans that I knew were in the school but his charisma and whole demeanor in person had them completely smitten and acting slightly star-struck. They nodded their approval yet remained speechless as he moved his arm to drape around my waist and lead me out to the buses.
“So, take a deep breath. Everyone loves you and I’m pretty sure we’re in the clear” I laughed as we stood in a line waiting to board.
“Yeah we’re okay. You’re friends seem nice, I trust them. Even if they hate me and my band, I can’t see them doing anything to hurt you. If they do, or if someone else does, we’ll find a way to take care of it, but it may not even happen. I think we did perfectly” he bent to kiss my cheek and his breath on my face tickled. I giggled but wrapped myself around him instead of pulling away.
“Thank you for being amazing, and thank you for today” I sighed into his jacket.
“You’re welcome, but I really didn’t do anything. I just didn’t want you to miss this, even if it isn’t a huge deal in the scheme of things. I’m glad I threw you off and made you so sure that I didn’t want to go though. That was fun and it made it so much easier to plan things for you”
“I’m sure it did. I’ll get you back one of these days, I promise”
“Mmm.. I hope you will..” I looked up at him only to come in contact with a far away half-lidded gaze before he looked down to my level and winked at me and licked his lips.
“Alright horny Hanson, let’s slow our roll okay? Let’s make it through the dance at least”
“I can’t make any promises. Especially with you in that dress” he whispered so that no one could hear what we were discussing. He moved to kiss my neck a couple more times, biting it slightly in between each kiss. I felt my stomach flip flop and my kness turn to jello before I knew to hold him tighter until it was our turn to board and go to our seats.
Once everyone was boarded onto about nine buses, the night was finally underway. The ride there was mostly uneventful. We whispered to each other, made some small talk with friends around us, voted for prom prince and princess (Junior class) and king and queen (Senior class), and I fell asleep curled up against Taylor for the remainder of the ride. It was a long day emotionally and physically and I had no time for a break at all. Tonight was only going to wear me out more, so once I put my head down, Taylor whispered that he would just wake me when we arrived, which he did. When we pulled up to PNC Bank Art Center, we were unloaded one bus at a time and were able to walk into our venue for the evening.
I held onto Taylor’s arm as we made our way through the large glass front doors with some other classmates of mine, and when we reached the main lobby, we were both in awe. The whole thing was marble with a huge staircase off to one side, there were large mirrors everywhere, and a spot set up for couples or groups of friends to take photos. We looked around the lobby a bit and I have to admit, I did a double check in one of those large mirrors to make sure hair and makeup was still intact, before we made our way into the main ballroom we’d all be spending majority of the night in. It was covered in black and silver themed table settings; there was a huge dance floor, a dome ceiling to see the stars, a bar, sparkling lights to set more of a romantic mood, and a dj table to make song requests. My description doesn’t even being to do this place justice. I looked over at Taylor who was still looking around the room.
“So, what do you think?” I asked when his eyes landed on some fancy decoration and his mouth dropped before looking back at me by his side.
“I know proms are supposed to be elegant, but even Isaac took a friend to one in Oklahoma a few years ago and it wasn’t anything like this. I saw the pictures.” He commented as his cheeks flushed red, clearly embarrassed by how he had taken in his surroundings.
“I just think it’s hilarious that you’ve been a pop star for so long and have been to the Grammy’s and award shows and things, yet, this impresses you and even blows you away” he could only shrug since he knew I was right (yeah, he shrugged about attending the Grammy’s) and we made our way to our assigned table to hang out until everyone else filtered in and the dance got started. Once we sat, I saw a menu in front of me and realized I hadn’t eaten since breakfast around 7:30 that morning and I was officially starved.
Chapter 50 | Guestbook