Survival Of The Fittest

"Take a little drive." "See where we end up."

Whoa.

Venetia didn't say that out loud, and thank God for that, but she was certainly thinking it. Maybe she was overthinking it, though? Maybe he literally just meant that, he didn't have any parties in mind and thought they could just... drive around for a while and find something. Maybe he did have some place in mind but wanted to keep it a surprise, which was more interesting, possibly. Or maybe her instinctive thought was right and it was a euphemism and she was going to lose her virginity to a senior boy in the back of his car which wasn't, like, how she'd necessarily expected the night to end, but she'd kind of just kept it lined up as a mental possibility so she wouldn't freak out too badly if it ended up happening.

The "if it won't get you in trouble" part was a joke, right? Cause it was definitely going to get her in trouble. But it wasn't his trouble, so it wasn't like he actually had reason to care, and it was the sort of trouble she was more than willing to get into. Worst thing that could happen was she'd be grounded and whatever happened that night would have already happened and her parents couldn't keep her grounded for more than a couple of weeks, anyway. Pros and cons, costs and benefits, it all added up to a pretty obvious choice.

"Yeah," she said, smiling her perfected smile. Couldn't really control the blush she'd felt come up, but she could do damage control, at least. "Sounds good. I'm up for whatever."

That sounded cool, right? Like noncommittal but also not leaving out any possibilities.

Yeah, she got this.

"Wonderful."

Alton held out his hand for her to take, and moved towards the exit of the hall. All around thronged his classmates, but already they were becoming less and less a part of his world. They were a whirl of colors and voices, laughter and jokes, the smell of sweat and perfume, skimpy dresses and baggy suits, but they added nothing beyond backdrop and flavor. They could have been cardboard, or disinterested extras in a film.

Prom had ultimately been good. It might, he thought for a moment, very well be his last. It all depended on where he was next year, what sort of people he was spending time with. These things were hard to predict, but the generally juvenile air of high school did wear on him. He was glad that, for all her clear youth, Venetia was at least putting forth an effort to play the role of a mature partner.

The night air was refreshing, the sounds of the others more muted from a distance, competing now with the rumble of distant traffic and the quiet hum of insects. Many of the other prom-goers were being picked up in limousines again, the better to pretend to be somehow important. Transient, all of it. But then, wasn't everything?

The car's roof was still down, and he didn't worry so much about driving slowly now, the wind tugging at his hair and forcing them to raise their voices to be heard as they rode into the night, streetlights passing rhythmically at first but soon disappearing entirely.