Author’s Note: May recognize some characters if you read my other stuff, may not. Whole thing was written for the end scene.

And The Space Monkeys Rained Down
By Chiomi

Scholarships to St James were as rare as snow in Indonesia, but Ceres had managed it by a better-than-perfect GPA and more volunteer hours than you could shake a stick at. The commute from Bensonhurst was a killer, but it would be worth it for almost guaranteed acceptance to the Ivy League school of her choice. And, as her grandmother repeatedly insinuated, it would be very easy to find a rich boyfriend. It was only the first day of her junior year, and she’d already seen someone she wanted to get to know better. In her second period AP Euro Lit class, an adorable lanky guy with messy reddish hair slouched down in front of her. Because it was a small school attendance was taken by the teacher glaring at the empty seats and jotting down those present, so she didn’t get to catch his name. He put forth surprisingly strong feelings when the teacher broached the subject of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Nights Dream, which was intriguing against the utter apathy demonstrated by all of the spoiled rich kids in the room. He looked just a little different from the rest of them, so Ceres felt an immediate kinship at the prospect of his being another scholarship student.

After class, she contrived to be just behind him as they left the room, but was foiled in her plan to start a conversation by two guys falling in beside him.

“Want to catch a movie later?”

“Nah, I’ve got work. The family store, you know.”

The first guy shook his head sympathetically. “That sucks, man. You work all the time now.”

The cute guy just shrugged. Ceres’ sense of kinship increased. If his family owned a small store and needed him to work, that pretty much guaranteed that he was a scholarship student like her. The fact of they’re being the only two in the school that she knew of made him more attractive – they’d actually have something in common.

She continued on to her Film class, which apparently no one took seriously, as at least three people were asleep in their seats before the bell rang. The teacher didn’t say anything – didn’t care, probably. The cute guy was in that class, too. Ceres snagged the seat next to him and flashed a smile. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He nodded at her politely and went back to staring blankly at the projection screen.

Undeterred, she introduced herself. “I’m Ceres.”

He responded by giving her a full measure of his attention and a slow smile. “Alex. You’re new?”

Ceres nodded, looked down and away as she considered the best way to not sound unbelievably awkward asking him out. “Yeah. Wanna go out for coffee after school?”

“Sure.”

She smiled at him, then pretended she was paying attention to the rest of the class as she doodled. This would be her first date. On the way out, Alex snagged her arm. “We should swap numbers in case one of use runs late.”

He handed her his phone, and wordlessly she put her number in, then handed him his and her own. He entered his number, but the bell rang again before he was finished, so she waffled between staying for her phone back and running to class. The urge too obey the rules and be on time was deeply ingrained - too much of the all-girl catholic school she’d gone to before getting into St James. Alex evidently noticed, and quirked an amused eyebrow at her. Ceres could feel herself blushing.

She passed the rest of the day in a sort of happy daze unsullied by the fact that she ate alone at lunch and no one talked to her except in a rather desultory way, when it was required by class. They get used to her, and besides, she still had friends in the neighborhood.

When the last bell rang, she hurried out to wait on the steps. She didn’t want to keep Alex waiting, especially if he had work later.

When she saw him coming out of the building looking a bit absent, she couldn’t stop a blush from rising. She gave a little wave, and he nodded and came over to her.

“Hey.”

“Hey. So, where do you want to go?” Ceres left the choice to him because she didn’t really know the neighborhood around here, and if he’d been a student longer, he probably would. Well, he had to have been a student longer than her – the principle had mentioned that she was the only scholarship student starting that year.

Alex nodded towards the street. “There’s a great coffee shop up this way.”

She nodded and followed his lead. As rarely happened, she couldn’t think of anything to say.

“So, you started this year? Where’d you transfer from?” Alex was obviously just trying to make small talk.

“Bensonhurst.”

“Ah.” Alex seemed a little surprised, but not at all taken aback. “So, what’re you taking besides Lit and Film?”

They continued small talk on the way to the coffee shop, and during coffee. It came to light that Alex was actually the scion of one of the most recognizable families in the country, and Ceres was glad she hadn’t mentioned anything about her assumption that he was a scholarship student. She was glad of the initial assumption, though, because she’d never have approached him otherwise, and he was fantastically interesting. Eventually, though, he checked his watch.

“Shit. I have work at my dad’s office in twenty minutes. Meet you on the steps tomorrow morning?”

Ceres smiled at him. “Sure.”

She read one of her textbooks on the subway home, trying to absorb as much of it as she could – any grades below an A would put her scholarship in jeopardy, so she wouldn’t be able to waste too many afternoons in pursuits other than studying.

The next morning, Alex was waiting for her on the steps with another guy, his blond hair gelled to resemble a bleached hedgehog, and a gorgeous brunette. Ceres waved a little, and Alex smiled and nodded her over.

He proffered a coffee. “Here, Ceres. This is Jessica and Jeremy. We’re still waiting for Akira, the lazy fuck.”

“He’ll probably text me in like ten minutes to say he’s skipping. Last I saw him he was off with this college chick with henna tattoos everywhere.” Jeremy sounded highly amused, which Ceres took to mean Akira had sexual romps frequently. It made her a little uncomfortable that this might be what Alex expected if they ended up going out – she’d never even been kissed. And who was Jessica attached to? Girls that pretty were never single, and apparently either Alex or Jeremy were the prime candidates. She should’ve stayed at her all-girl school. So much less confusing.

Jeremy’s phone buzzed, so he dug it out and flipped it open. “What did I fucking tell you? He says he’ll be here by lunch.” Jeremy abruptly lifted his head to stare at Ceres. “You’re having lunch with us, right?”

Ceres darted a brief glance at Alex. “Um, sure. Do you guys meet here?”

Jessica spoke up for the first time. “I have fourth period with you. I’ll bring you to lunch.”

“Oh, ok. Thanks.”

The bell rang, putting an end to any further conversation.

Jessica really was in Ceres’ fourth period class, and she waved Ceres over to sit by her.

“Everyone’s being really nice,” Ceres said in an undertone to not attract the attention of the teacher. It was true – yesterday no one had talked to her, and today a random girl in her first period class had struck up a conversation, and Alex had made a point to talk to her in her next two classes, and now Jessica was being solicitous.

Jessica shrugged. “Alex wants us to play nice with the new girl. He’s like that. We tend to indulge him.”

Ceres suppressed a wince at the implication that she wouldn’t be worth the time otherwise. “So, um, how long have you known Alex?”

Jessica shrugged. “Forever, really.”

An awkward pause ensued.

“So, are you named after the Greek demons or the Roman Goddess?”

“What? No- I’m named after the planet. My parents met in an astronomy class.”

Jessica nodded, and the conversation gave way to class.

Ceres was unsettled. Jessica was somewhere between standoffish and outright hostile, and she wasn’t sure why. Did she and Alex have a thing? Were they dating? But he wouldn’t have come out for coffee with her if he had a girlfriend, would he?

The bell rang, and Jessica stood and gathered her bag. “C’mon.”

Ceres trailed her out of the classroom and down the front steps. Figured that these kids weren’t settling for cafeteria food. Jessica led her down the street to one of those mildly disturbing post-ironic vegan cafes, where she didn’t even go in, just plunked down at an outdoor table, dropping her bag.

“Grab a seat. The waitress will be out when the boys get here.”

“Um, ok.” Ceres grabbed a chair from a nearby table, as there were only three at the table Jessica had picked.

Not quite five minutes of awkward silence later, Alex approached with Akira and an obviously stoned blond that Ceres assumed was Jeremy. They all sat down, Alex pulling up the extra seat and seemingly oblivious that it put him extremely close to Ceres. Then he smiled at her, and she didn’t think he’d done it obliviously anymore.

They ate lunch, and somehow were back at school before fifth period had officially started. Ceres was happy all afternoon, sent over to ecstatic when she got a text on the way home – Alex inviting her to a party on Saturday. Formal, and he’d pick her up at eight. That pretty much meant it was a date, didn’t it?

She ate lunch with them the rest of the week, and Jessica gradually thawed. Particularly so after a senior asked her to the party on Friday – she was nearly pleasant.

Saturday dawned sunny several hours before Ceres rolled out of bed. She studied, then spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready, including a last-minute run for new shoes when she realized she had nothing to wear with her dress. Shortly before Alex was supposed to pick her up, she tottered into the living room on her new heels and spun. “How do I look?”

“Like you’re going to get vertigo, being that high off the ground,” her mother fussed, frowning at the shoes.

“I’ll be fine, mom. This is going to be so awesome!”

“Home by ten, remember.”

“Oh, let her be, Clara. It’s her first party. One am, and not a minute later, ok, young lady?”

Ceres kissed her dad on the cheek. “Thank you, daddy.”

Clara shot him a disapproving and irritated look, to which he responded with a smile and a shrug. The bell rang, and then Ceres was off. Alex handed her a corsage at the door, and was properly introduced to her parents, and then they were off in the back of the car.

When they got there, the whole place glittered. Ceres tugged absently at her dress, pulling it down to fall properly. The walked in, and Alex made an immediate beeline for Jeremy and a blonde Ceres thought was in her Film class.

“Anyone else here yet?”

Jeremy sort of smirked. “Jessica’s on the dance floor with her date.”

Alex looked at her. “Wanna go dance?”

Ceres nodded. She was starting to really, really like Alex, and was looking forward to getting closer to him on the dance floor. The band was playing something slow, so Alex wrapped his arms around her and they swayed close together. Ceres didn’t know what to talk about, so she just watched people over Alex’s shoulder. She spotted Jessica, glittering in something green. The next song came on, another slow one, and they gradually rotated on the floor. Ceres knew the moment Alex spotted Jessica; he leaned down and kissed her.

And she knew that her first kiss was only the byproduct of simmering complications between other people, and it didn’t matter, because it was sweet and he was sweet and kind, and it was her first dance, too, and she didn’t really mind – it only hurt a little bit. And it went on and on, and then Alex lifted his head and smiled, and Ceres smiled back as she gasped for oxygen.