-𝑓𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 - 𝑚𝑖𝑑90𝑠 -

THREE

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ruben's pov

so... salem looks pretty tonight. i mean, she didn't really change much, but her in a dress just seemed so perfect. i don't know what it was thats making me feel this way, maybe i'm high and i don't know it.

"oh god. look who's here," i heard suki say from next to me to her friends, they all glared at salem as she walked in, looking around the gym. everyone looked at her, and i swear i saw a blush come up on jimi's cheeks.
"the fuck is she doing here," jayme said. we all just kinda watched her for a good minute.
"jesus, when is this bitch gonna kill herself," gwen, another one of suki's friends, said, making her brain dead friends giggle.

later that night, jayme got a great idea.
"basically, i just need one of you to get her to dance with you. that way, she'll be in the middle of the gym, everyone'll get a view of it," he said with a devilish smile, everyone else grew one similar. "meanwhile, we're gonna fill this with water," he pointed to a bucket.
"we'll signal when and you'll just back up, and you already know what happens next," he said, they all nodded, i thought it was awful.

"who volunteers to ask her to dance," jayme asked, then oscar put me in a headlock out of nowhere.
"ruben," he volunteered me, i grunted as i pulled myself out from his arm.
"aight, ruben it is," jayme said, i rolled my eyes.
"hey, man, i'll go for you if you want," jimi said, i shook my head.
"i can do it, thanks," i said, mostly to fuck with him since he clearly has something for this girl.

so, everyone watched as i walked up to salem who sat at the bleachers, just staring at the ground as she tapped her foot to the music. i awkwardly sat next to her, she glanced at me, scooting away a bit. i couldn't help but let a grin build up.
"ouch," i said, she didn't react. i scooted next to her again, she looked in the direction away from me.
"hey," i said, nothing.

"hellooo, are you there?" she still ignored me. i sighed.
"y-you look nice," i said, i saw her head tilt a bit in my direction.
"...i didn't expect you to be here. i just- i wanna say sorry about lunch today. that was kind of douchy. p-personally, i think you're pretty cool. i'm sorry about your skateboard, you rode that thing better than any of us," i said, she finally turned her head to look at me, her eyebrows furrowed, of course she was confused.

"what do you want," she asked, i glanced at her, locking eyes for a second.
"i... i want to ask you to dance. maybe... take away some tension."
"what about your friends," she asked, i looked over at them, then back down at my lap.
"they aren't too great, you should know that more than anyone," i said, she looked at her lap.

i lifted my hand slowly, holding it out to her.
"so- do you wanna dance?" she looked at my hand. she seemed to be contemplating it, then she slowly lifted her hand and i took it in mine. i smiled, getting up and leading her toward the dance floor.

i turned around once we got where it was planned i'd go, i softly took her hands, putting them on my shoulders. i then placed my hands on her waist, pulling her closer to me since she was way too far away. she had a dark blush on her face the whole time, and a small grin i couldn't help but notice.

you know, from up close, she's really fucking pretty. she has this smooth, brown skin with a few freckles on her upper nose and cheeks, her cheeks were always blushing, i guess it's natural. the blush fit so nicely on her skin color. her nose is tiny, almost in an adorable way. her lips were soft looking and lightly red, they looked so plump, so... kissable? i don't really know how to describe it, but they drew you in so easily, it's just something about them. her eyes are dark brown and big, they were the kindest looking eyes i'd ever seen. faint eyeliner was drawn around them, it looked a little smudged. her features looked almost fake, like some perfect cartoon or something. everything on her face just fit so well on her.

"you know, i could get you another board. i have these friends that own a skate shop, downtown. you should drop by sometime," i said, she smiled as she nodded.
"i'll try to," she said, i smiled. i looked up and at suki who was watching with all her friends, a scowl on her face. i ignored her, she was getting annoying, anyway.

when i looked back up and away from salem, i saw oscar, holding up a finger as he mouthed one minute. that's when i remembered what was even happening. i looked down at salem in a panic, she was looking past my shoulder. we were closer to each other, i could feel her breathe on my neck.

"uh- salem- you should really get out of here," i said softly, she furrowed her eyebrows as she looked up at me.
"what," she asked with a small laugh, i shook my head.
"no, for real. you should leave," i said, she was taken aback, she stopped swaying to the music.
"um... no? i don't get it," she had a confused grin on her face, meanwhile i'm here panicking because i know this'll only end up in her hating me even more.

"salem, just listen to me. get out of the gym," i said, she still thought i was joking. i guess i see where she's coming from, but i wish i could just tell her what was going on without her getting upset.
"dude, you're being super weird right now," she said, i looked up again, they were signaling for me to get ready.
"oh... fuck," i muttered, my only options were to either back up or stay here and get soaked with her.

and, of course, i backed up quickly when they were right behind her, simply out of instinct. i couldn't watch, i simply couldn't bear to see this. they successfully tipped the bucket of water over her head. i shut my eyes tightly as i clenched my fists, cringing at the whole situation that i'd just gotten myself into.

she let out a gasp, not even knowing what hit her. everyone around us laughed, they all fucking laughed. i know the kids here are supposed to be shitty, but holy shit, these kids fucking suck. she looked up a bit, we locked eyes for a moment, before she turned around and pushed through the crowd of kids, running out of the gym like i told her to. except, i was hoping it would be before any of this happened.

they all kept laughing, i let my guilt take me over and i started speed walking to the gym doors.
"yo, yo!! where you goin," jayme yelled at me as he was dying of laughter. i shook him off but suki stopped me.
"what're you going after her for? we already finished the prank, you idiot," she said, i shoved past her.

i followed salem's footsteps, since her shoes had gotten soaked. she had already left the building, i ran in her direction. when i opened the doors, she wasn't anywhere to be seen. there were faint footprints going away from the school. until they disappeared, i followed them. i kept walking around, looking for her, it took almost forever. not to mention how fucking cold it was outside, i started getting worried.

i was about to give up and convince myself that she'd just gone home, when i saw a girl sitting on a concrete ledge from afar. i squinted my eyes, was that really her? she looked like she was shivering, too. i started walking toward the person, seeing that they wore the same blue dress that salem had worn, along with the shiny mary janes that seemed almost brand new.

i could hear her soft sobs from a few meters away, she rubbed her arms slowly, her head hanging low.
"salem?" i said, nervous as fuck. her breathe hitched as she shot a glance at my shoes, only to look back at the ground. i sat next to her, taking off my hoodie.
"salem, you're freezing," i said, putting the hoodie on her lap. she only sniffled as she looked away.
"listen, i'm so... so fucking sorry i didn't do anything about that. i'm serious. i feel awful, okay? i'm so sorry, i shouldn't have let them do that-"

"it's fine," she said softly, her voice raspy. i looked at her, my hand was on her back.
"i should've listened to what you were saying. i-i'm..." she couldn't help but start crying again.
"i'm so stupid," she sobbed, i wrapped my arms around her, rubbing her goosebump covered arms.
"i don't know why i thought you actually wanted to dance with me. this was my fault, i shouldn't have been so dumb," she said, i shook my head softly.

"salem... i think you're so fucking cool. seriously. i don't even know why those guys pick on you, half of them have a fucking crush on you, anyway. they're just pricks. at this point, i'm just getting bored of them doing the same shit all the time," i said, i felt her shiver intensely from under my arms.
"here," i said, taking my hoodie and holding it out to her again. she reluctantly took it, putting it on. she cleared her throat, coughing softly after.

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