I Could Have Missed The Pain,
But I'd Have Had To Miss The Dance.
--Garth Brooks

As the final bell rang at H.L Lucas High, Caleb and Madison walked out of the school. Madison and Caleb had been friends for about two years, as friends go, they were pretty close. They were both seventeen, and almost finished the Eleventh grade. Madison was a beautiful girl, she was around 5'10", a brunette, and had eyes you could get lost in. Caleb was a few inches shorter then Madison, but that didn't matter. Some would say that Caleb was handsome, but he never found himself to be that way. Like all teenagers, he had the occasional problem with acne. It was because of this, and having low self esteem, that he thought no girl would ever want to be with him.
"So," said Madison "did you see the signs for the upcoming prom?"
"Yeah," said Caleb "heard a lot of people talkin about it, people are even starting to get dates to it."
"I've been noticing that," said Madison "I hear that Meagan and Mariann already have dates."
"Well" said Caleb "I'm not surprised, they're very beautiful girls. Hell even Mary's already got a date."
"Yep," said Madison "it's always the beautiful girls that get the dates first. Anyone ask you yet?"
"Me?" stammered Caleb "Oh..yeah, I've been..swamped with offers..but ya know, gonna think about it. How about you?"
"Oh yeah," said Madison "Have had so many people ask me, just a matter of who do I have to let down."
"Nice." laughed Caleb "Well I'll see ya, give me a call later."
"Okay," said Madison "I'll talk to ya later." Madison and Caleb began walking their separate ways towards their homes. As Caleb walked, he heard a voice behind him.
"CALEB!" yelled the voice behind him "WAIT UP!" Caleb turned around to see Jim running up to him.
"Jim," said Caleb "about time you caught up!"
"Shut up!" said an out of breath Jim, as he flashed a smile. Jim was a good friend of Caleb's, Caleb had known him since they were younger. Jim was a little taller then Caleb, he had short blonde hair, blue eyes, athletic build, and a face that the girls swooned over.
"So, what's up?" asked Caleb.
"Well," said Jim with a smile "I got a date to the prom."
"I'll alert the media," said Caleb, a sarcastic tone in his voice. "Jim was able to get a date with a girl, contact CNN."
"You continue with this sarcasm Caleb," said Jim "I might have to break my foot off."
"Anyhow," said Caleb "so who ya going to the prom with?"
"Ya know that Meagan girl?" asked Jim.
"The one that's friends with Mariann?" asked Caleb.
"Yeah," said Jim "I asked her out. She seemed more then happy to go when I asked her. I even got Eric a date. He's gonna be going with Mariann."
"Sweet!" said Caleb with a smile. "Y'all can hang out with Mary there, think she's bringin some guy named Paul."
"Aren't you gonna go?" asked Jim.
"I don't think so," said Caleb "I mean what girl in their right mind would wanna go with an ugly schmuck like me?"
"Well," said Jim "why don't ya ask Madison to go with ya."
"You kidding man?" said Caleb "she's my friend. And besides, she's so beautiful, she could go with virtually any guy at Lucas, why would she wanna go with me?"
"Just ask her." said Jim "I already know that ya like her more then a friend, you've told me on several occasions. Just ask her as a friend, that's it. And if something else is to happen...well just let it happen." Jim then proceeded to flash a mischievous smile, and wink at Caleb.
"But she said that a bunch of people have asked her already." said Caleb.
"And I'm sure you probably said the same thing." Said Jim "It's obvious you're both lying out your teeth. Just ask her already!"
"Ya know what?" said Caleb "You're right, I should ask her...as a matter of fact, I will ask her!"

As Caleb sat in the living room watching the TV, he picked up the box of the movie he was watching. There being nothing on TV, he had decided to watch a movie. After looking through the movies he owned, he finally decided on Brandon Lee's last film, The Crow. As he sat watching it, he heard the phone ring. Picking it up, he heard Madison's voice on the other end.
"Hey," said Madison "what you up to?"
"Nothing much," said Caleb "just watching The Crow."
"The Crow?!" said Madison excitedly "MMM, Brandon Lee is SOO hot!"
"He's dead though." said Caleb.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind going necro for that!" laughed Madison. "But anyways, do you know what was going on with Jim?"
"What do you mean?" asked Caleb.
"Well I saw him earlier today," said Madison "and he was acting all weird. When he walked by me, he winked and had this big smile on his face."
"Well," said Caleb with a smile "he is one of my friends, so that should be explanation enough."
"True" laughed Madison "I still think he knows something he's not telling me."
"He does" said Caleb under his breath.
"What was that?" asked Madison.
"Nothing." said Caleb "So, you decided on who you're going to the prom with?"
"Not yet, you?"
"Well," said Caleb "I was thinkin of asking someone, but not sure if they'd say yes or not."
"Well," said Madison "only way you're gonna find out is by asking."
"Well, when you're right, you're right." said Caleb, as he gulped and took a breath. "Can I ask you something then?"
"...Uh..sure!" said Madison, unsure of what Caleb was gonna ask.
"Well," said Caleb "I was...uh..wondering if you wanted to go to the prom with me?" As Caleb listened into the phone, all he could hear was silence from Madison's end.
"Well.." stammered Madison "I don't..I don't know..and"
"Just asking ya to go as like a friend." said Caleb really quickly.
"Okay" said Madison "..sure!"
"Great!" said Caleb excitedly. "Well I guess I'll see ya at school tomorrow, then see ya again on the weekend..ya know at the prom and everything."
"Yeah," laughed Madison "I know what you were talking about. I'll see ya tomorrow."
"See ya tomorrow." said Caleb, as he hung up the phone, and went back to watching The Crow. He then looked at the phone, picked up the receiver, and began dialing. "I gotta tell Jim about this, he loves it when he's right."

THE NIGHT OF THE PROM

It was in the evening, as Caleb drove his car up to the school. As he looked over at the passenger seat, there sat Madison. With her makeup, the way she had her hair up, and her dress, Caleb thought she looked even more beautiful then she usually did. As they walked into the gym together, Caleb looked in the one corner to see Jim, Meagan, Eric, Mariann, Paul and Mary.
As they made their way over to them, Jim flashed Caleb a thumbs up. All the girls joined together, and started talking. Leaving them nothing to do, the guys began talking amongst each other.
"Very nice buddy!" said Jim, as he slapped Caleb on the back. "Madison is looking real sexy in that dress." Caleb looked over and noticed that the dress did look quite sexy on Madison, the way it kinda clung to her body, showing off all her curves.
"We're just here as friends though." said Caleb.
"Well regardless," said Jim "I hope ya remembered to bring a jim hat."
"If I were you," said Caleb with a laugh "I'd be taking your own advice."
"Oh, I always got one or two on me." said Jim with a smile, as he opened his wallet and pulled out two condoms.
"Ha Ha!" laughed Eric "Jimmy and his Jim hats..kinda like The Cat In The Hat...only with condoms."
"Wow," said Paul, with a sarcastic tone in his voice "pretty clever there Eric!"
"Thanks!" said Eric with a smile.
Meanwhile, the girls were talking to Madison about being at the prom with Caleb.
"Hmm," said Mariann "Caleb's lookin pretty good in that tux."
"Yeah," laughed Meagan "he's a fine piece of real estate, and I'm gonna get me some land...LAND HO!"
"...Anyways," said Mary "so did he try to make any moves on ya on the way here?"
"No," said Madison "he was actually pretty quiet for most of the ride, kinda like he was nervous or something."
"It's cause he likes you," said Meagan "like the crush kind."
"Whatever you say Meagan," said Madison "he's like my friend, I don't think he has those kind of feelings."
"He does!" said Meagan and Mariann simultaneously.
"And how do you know?" asked Madison.
"He's really good friends with Jim, and he told him about it. Jim told me and Eric, who in turn told Mare."
"Hmm." Madison said to herself, as she put a finger over her chin, and looked over at Caleb. They then heard the music start, it was some generic dance music. Grabbing their partners, they all started dancing.

As the time passed, people were beginning to notice that the music selection for the prom was not well planned out. For the majority of the dance, they heard nothing but dance music, rap, pop artists, and some rock.

"Wow!" said Jim "They REALLY didn't plan the music out well did they?"
"Really," said Caleb "next thing ya know, they're gonna start playing 80's hair bands."
"Alright!" said Eric excitedly "Maybe they'll play some Twisted Sister." Eric then began singing a couple lines from I Wanna Rock, while trying to break dance.
"Okay.." laughed Caleb "just gonna move over here now!"
"Alright," came the voice of the DJ through a microphone. "this is the last song we're gonna be playing. It's gonna be a slow one...so grab that special someone, and get them on the dance floor." As everyone else got ready to start dancing, Madison and Caleb slowly made their way to each other. They all listened as "These Are The Days" by O-Town began playing. As they started dancing, Caleb placed his hands on Madison's hips, while she placed her hands on his shoulders. As the song continued on, Caleb and Madison looked at each other, making eye contact. As they did this, Caleb wrapped his arms more around Madison's waist, until his hands were behind her. This caused Madison to bring her arms more around Caleb's shoulders, until her her hands were resting on his neck. As the song neared the end, they could feel their faces getting closer and closer. Caleb could feel the moistness of Madison's lips as his lips touched her. As they were locked in the kiss, they could hear cheering coming from a corner of the gym. They quickly pulled away, and looked over to see Meagan, Jim, Mariann, Eric, Mary and Paul all clapping and cheering. Caleb and Madison both turned red from embarrassment, as they found everyone was watching them.
Discovering a romance between them, Caleb and Madison walked out of the dance hand in hand. As they headed for Caleb's car, they heard shouting behind them. They turned around to see their friends coming towards them.
"You two going to the party?" asked Jim.
"The one at Eddie's?" asked Caleb with a laugh.
"No," said Meagan "I don't think anyone's pathetic enough to go to that one!"
"We're talking about the one at Jordan's." said Eric "Word is, there's gonna be A LOT of alcohol!"
"Well what are we waiting for then?" laughed Mariann.
"Drinkin!" said Meagan, imitating Cal from Undergrads, as her arm shot into the air.
"Man!" said Paul "I am SO glad we're going in separate cars!"
"Tell me about it!" laughed Mary.
"So," said Jim "are we gonna see you two there?"
"Well.." said Caleb.
"I don't think so," said Madison "I'm kinda tired, so I'm gonna call it a night!"
"Ah!" said Jim with a wink "I understand fully! I'll leave you to it then." As they all walked to their cars, Caleb looked back at Jim and smiled, as he shook his head. As they got into the car, Caleb noticed the dark clouds moving in, and felt a drop of rain land on his face.
As Caleb drove, he found that the rainfall was getting heavier.
"I had a great night!" said Madison with a smile.
"Me too!" said Caleb "I would have never imagined what happened actually happened though."
"I know," said Madison "but I'm glad it did!"
"Me too!" said Caleb with a smile, as he leaned over to kiss Madison again. All of a sudden they heard honking, Caleb looked ahead to see headlights coming towards them. The lights got very close, before turning into the next lane. Caleb and Madison watched as a car full of drunk teens from another prom drove past them.
"Drunk jerks!" Caleb said to himself. He then turned on the radio to calm his nerves after that.
"OH MY GOD!" yelled a panicked Madison "LOOK OUT!" Caleb looked ahead, to see a deer in the middle of the road. Caleb quickly swerved to the right, causing the car to tip over.
Twenty minutes later, Caleb regained consciousness to find himself upside down. As he undid his seatbelt, he fell to the roof of the car. As he looked to his side, he saw Madison sitting unconscious, blood coming from her forehead and on her dress. As he climbed out of the car, he quickly made his way to the other side. Using all his strength, he opened the passenger door. Undoing her seatbelt, Caleb caught her body, as it fell. As he pulled her out of the car, he brought her body close to his. Feeling that she was cold, he placed his fingers on her neck, finding no pulse. Caleb looks up to see police lights coming towards the car. As he holds Madison close to him, the only sounds that can be heard are the falling rain, the police sirens, and the radio. As Caleb listens to the radio, he can hear "The Dance" by Garth Brooks playing, this causes him to hold her tighter. As he kisses her on the forehead, a tear rolls down his cheek.

THE END