She retreated, her breath coming fast and heavy.
“Vanessa . . .”
But she said nothing to Adam, just ran past him and back out into the dance, the crowd swallowing her up like she'd never existed. Adam realized he was still alone in the office with a doubled-over Danny Stoker, his goons still waiting on the outside. His feet moved forward until he hovered directly over the boy who had threatened his life, told him not to take Vanessa to the dance, who thought he could do anything he wanted. Adam knew this was his moment, control was on his side. Danny looked up at him, and Adam thought he detected fear in his eyes.
“You know, Danny. High school, they call it a microcosm of life. You know what that means? I know, I know, it's a big word but I think you're smart enough to figure it out. So, this little contained world of ours, it throws us all these big issues. Life and death, friendship, love, all played out on a stage where the players are too young and stupid to understand what they are doing. About how their actions affect other people. Some go through these tortured years being told by everyone that they're a loser and will never amount to anything. While others seem to be spun from gold, with the sun shining down on them every day, like they walk on water. They get the girl, they get the adulation. They can do no wrong, kings that they are. But in this moment, at a dance that represents the culmination of our high school lives, the tables have turned. Because I know that my life is just beginning, and the world is filled with possibility. I get to go out on the high note, with the pretty girl on my arm, able to walk with my head held high. For you, it's over. You've peaked. You're nothing but a fucking loser now. A fucking coward who treats women like objects. Look at you, lying on the floor in your own vomit, kicked in the balls by the best thing that ever happened to you. How the mighty have fallen.”
“Fuck you,” Danny said.
Adam couldn't help it, he laughed. “Clever, to the end.”
And then Adam Blackburn walked out, confidently striding past the three thugs who were too busy looking at their fallen leader, still green and sickly, lying on the cold gym floor. The last thing Adam saw before he left the gymnasium, home to the “Forever Yours” Senior Prom, was three linebackers running far away from the brutal sacking. Game over. Season done.
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Vanessa Massey, a flood of emotions running through her to the point she couldn't settle on one, felt like she wanted to vomit up that sugary punch also. Instead she ran out of the gym and opted for fresh, lake-scented air, the comforting, briny breeze seemingly helping her recover from the awful scene she'd witnessed inside the coaches' office. The sight of a nearly stripped-down Danny, forced to watch what he was doing with Lucy, to Lucy . . . it just sickened her. It cheapened what sex was supposed to be like between consenting partners, and for the first time since their breakup she was thankful she hadn't given in to his pressures. Was that how he would have treated her? She shuddered now at the thought of his touch . . .
With night encasing her in its warm breath, her senses heightened to the point she could still hear the pulsing music floating out from the prom, she felt a sudden graze of fingers against her shoulder. She nearly jumped out of her skin, turned wildly, her body ready for fight. Like Danny had come seeking revenge. She softened when she saw who stood at her side.
“Adam . . . God, you scared me.”
“Sorry. You okay . . . I mean, I don't even know where to begin. Danny . . .”
“Don't say that name. Ever. Again.”
“Okay. Whatever you want, you're the boss. This is your night.”
“Not yours?”
“I wasn't even going to come.”
“I think you're the smart one. Come on, let's just get out of here.”
“You don't want to return to the dance?”
She wrapped her arms around herself, shook her head with sudden maturity, like she'd suddenly decided nothing mattered but tomorrow. “I've danced my last tango at Danton. The last four years of my life have been accentuated by everything that happened inside that building just now,” she said, with more than a taste of venom spitting forth. “I think I'm finally over high school, classes and proms and lousy ex-boyfriends. Just hand me my diploma and let me get on that plane.”
“Plane? Where are you going?”
“Not here,” she said. “Drive us somewhere and I'll fill you in. You're not the only one planning to ditch this water-soaked town.”
Adam and Vanessa, bonding suddenly over dreams neither of them had spoken of before, before they could ditch the town, ditched the remainder of the “Forever Yours” dance, with Adam aimlessly, silently driving his father's car on the black roads of Danton Hill. Vanessa just stared straight ahead through the darkened windshield, trying to force Danny Stoker from her mind. He kept creeping back in; she could hear him laugh, see his sneer. For a split second she gazed over at Adam, concentrating so hard on the driving he didn't even notice she'd turned her attention to him. He was so sweet and caring, so well meaning and tonight acting the perfect gentleman. An ideal prom date, the boy she'd ignored for forever. She felt a tear seep out; she didn't wipe it away. As her wet eyes settled back on the road, inspiration suddenly hit her.
“Go to Danton's Hill. To the water.”
“Now. At this late hour?”
“No one from the school should be there yet, we'll be all alone. The gang was planning to rendezvous there later, you know, after the dance. For the real party.”
Adam did as asked, turned off on the next road, doubling back toward the other end of town. They bypassed an old farmhouse, all dark against the moonlit night. At last they made the cutoff road that led toward Lake Ontario and the town's famed landmark. It was really just a grassy hill found at the edge of the Danton State Park, but back years ago the so-named Danton's Hill afforded visitors magnificent views of the lake on clear days, and on moonlit nights like tonight the stars twinkled down like golden confetti. People would wait for the ships to arrive back from their seafaring journeys, the mariners coming home to their families after months adrift. The drive took only a few minutes, and before long Adam had parked and Vanessa was already walking up the hill when he caught up beside her.
“Hey, what's the rush?”
“Sorry, Adam, guess I'm anxious. The more distance we put between that stupid dance and us the better. I'm sorry I dragged you into the mess that my life's become, and I'm sorry that Danny did what he did, and I'm sorry . . .”
“Hey, enough apologizing. Okay? I knew what I was getting myself into . . . well, sort of.” He paused before speaking what was going through his brain. “Look, Vanessa, I don't know why things happened like they didâyou and Danny breaking up, your friends thinking I would be the perfect person to escort you to the dance, why you accepted . . . actually, why you ended up asking me when I felt you had rejected my offer. It was just a big mistake from the start, and now we're both paying the price. One more memory to add to our illustrious high school careersâand I'm not sure either of us can claim it as a high point. You especially, since you've had four years of high points. I've hadâ”
“Adam,” she said, putting a finger to his lips. “Don't you ever get tired of putting yourself down?”
“Excuse me?”
“You're a nice guy, you're kinda cute, especially in that tuxâit kind of transforms you and makes you look older. For you to take me to the prom like you did shows that you've got guts, character. You followed through on my impulse, which shows you've got integrity. That's a rare characteristic of someone any age, much less a teenager. I've seen the real Adam Blackburn buried beneath that façade of yours, and he's not the insecure, self-deprecating kid you portray him to be. So when are you going to start believing in yourself?”
“As soon as I have that diploma in my hands and Danton Hill is in my rearview mirror.”
“Guess what, Adam? It's already in that mirror. The past, even the recent past, is where it belongs. You told me about Princeton, about how your future doesn't include Danton Hill or anyone who lives here. Even your parents are ready to pack it in and say good-bye. So, tonight, take your first step. Right here on Danton's Hill. Come on, take a look out on the water, it's a beautiful, clear night, and who knows how far you can see. I bet your eyes can gaze out beyond the lake, but your mind can reach even further. Your mind always can, because what it sees is limitless. Mine is halfway across the Atlantic already. I'm ready to seek out new ventures to other placesâdistant places, aren't you?”
Adam took a deep breath, whether to fill his lungs with the refreshing air blowing off the lake or from her words, words that inspired him and challenged him all at the same time. “Wow, no one has ever spoken to me like that before, not my so-called friends and certainly not my parents. I've said it to myself, but only inwardly, I know what I'm capable of. But I've never heard those words said aloud.”
“And what does it make you want to do?”
“Recede.”
“Why?”
“Because when you put my dreams into words, they somehow lose their power. What I want, is it really something I can hope to achieve? Can I run away from this dumb town and find the man hidden underneath this boyish frame? Am I running to something, or am I running from something? Right now, right here, with you, I just don't know anymore. These last two days, knowing you would be with me for that last rite of passage before graduation, I guess I started to think about what high school might have been if I'd been braver. Did I sell myself short? Do I really lack confidence? Did I let others box me in, only to close the lid myself? Did I willingly accept their labels? How is that strong? How is that knowing who you are?”
A brilliant flash of smile hit Vanessa's face, meant to soothe his doubts. “Adam, I've got one more place we can go to. The gang will be expecting us here, and right now they're the last people I want to see. In fact, other than you, there's not another soul on this planet I'd rather be with.” She urged him forward. “Come on . . .”
Adam found himself transfixed by her alluring smile, and he allowed himself to be pulled forward. Down the far end of Danton's Hill they went, running first across the dewy grass to the sticky pink sand of the beach. Vanessa stopped, flipping off her heels, freeing her feet to dig into the cool sand. Adam did the same, leaving behind a trail of shoes and socks. Together the two of them ran far from the dance, far from high school and the memories they had made, intent on new ones that waited beyond the horizon. As they approached the lapping shore of the great lake, Vanessa pushed past a wooden sign situated before the long pier of rocks. M
ERCER'S
P
OINT,
it read, its letters faded, as though it were part of another time and place, a distant piece of some other life.
“Careful, Vanessa, those rocks can be sharp and slippery . . .”
Vanessa didn't seem to care. It was like she was dancing on the rocky pier, tiptoeing her way down its narrow length. Crashing waves washed up against either side, gently cooling the boulders with its foamy spray. Finally, she had edged her way toward the end of the long pier, with nothing between her and the lake and the faraway land on the other side. Vanessa was breathing hard, laughing like she hadn't all week. Releasing her pent-up emotions. Adam stood beside her, drawn to her energy. Like this place, where they were so alone and so together, had infused her spirit.
Then, there, on the very tip of Mercer's Point, nestled beneath the starry night with no one else around them, Vanessa Massey stared deep into Adam Blackburn's eyes, searching for the truth about life. What would she see in his blue eyes? How did he see the world, and would she recognize any of its destinations? Could Adam even reveal his dreams and open up his soul? She felt nervous tingles course throughout her body, a new but somehow comfortable connection between herself and the person before her. She felt overwhelmed, not in control of her actions. A raw power overwhelmed her, some larger force directing them toward each other. That's what she thought, so that's what made her do what she did. And what she did was lean forward to place a sweet kiss on Adam's mouth. An awkward kiss, where her top lip met his lower lip, a slight disconnection, not unlike how this night had come about, forced but in the end acceptable. Her kiss met his again, and this time they got it right, his touch and hers.
In the shadow of the moon, just one hundred yards from where the women of yesteryear once came to seek out the men who had promised to come home but oftentimes did not, Adam and Vanessa gave in to a moment neither could have predicted before this night had begun, but both willingly fed the night's passion. Hidden behind a large cropping of rocks, far from prying eyes, the music of the sea their guide, they kissed and they touched, they caressed and spoke no words because any words might spoil the blossoming moment between them.
At last their lips parted and only their wide eyes met. A fresh longing existed between them, the knowledge that waning childhoods had finally caught up to adulthood, and a decision loomed before them as to which of those entities they embraced. They were locked neither in the past nor the future. This moment was now, and only belonged to them. They touched again, her hand against his cheek, his fingers toying with hers, almost counting them, looking at perfection.
At last, Adam said, “I should probably take you home.”
“I don't want to go home. Not now, and probably not ever.”
“We both have plans beyond Danton Hill.”
“That's why this place is perfect. It's a launching pad to tomorrow.”