A Few Hours of Freedom

"You could hug me if you'd like and you could kiss the way you love it. It's okay for me to be used."

"Just for this night…" I smiled at this mysterious guy. We were sitting on a couch in the midst of a noisy prom. No one bothered to glance at the two of us, who were making our way to a romantic night. I couldn't help myself but smiled sympathetically. He knew how I felt. Right now, he was the only friend I have, and no one could replace him. But he being used by me is something I couldn't resist on doing yet I do not want to hurt his feelings. I frowned at the thought.

"You don't' have to do this, you know…" I muttered in his ear, "You can back out if you want." And he caressed my shoulder lovingly.

"Nah, I won't chicken out." He said, as he patted my head, "You're feeling lonely, I'm all alone and we need dance partners for the prom dance. It makes sense on the reason on why we are together. It'll be for tonight, right? Nothing bad could happen. You just need a few hours of freedom, that's all."

I tensed under his gentle smile. It was so reassuring that I couldn't help but wonder, 'How did he find me…?' I mean, we just knew each other just tonight.

-30 minutes ago—

I was sitting alone on the same couch as now, drinking punch while watching the other couples smiling together, holding hands and doing romantic stuff (what I meant was kissing). I sighed at that moment, thinking of bringing my crush with me to the prom, instead of my brother, who was eating most of everything that was on the table. He has gotten fatter, I commented, but I got a little of those cellulites as well, so there's no difference. And it was that moment after thinking that I'm fat was when "he" noticed me.

He stood, staring down at me with gorgeous green eyes. His striking black hair shined under the dim lights (he must have used Sunsilk). He had a smirk plastered on his face.

I frowned.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Are you looking for a partner?"

"I already have one." I said, gesturing at the man who was gobbling up anything that he could see in his way.

"What I meant was a partner to dance with…" he said, "My sister's taking up all the food as well, and she was never fond of dancing."

There was no comment.

"Aw, come on…" he whined like an idiotic baby, "I'm sure you want to dance too, right, since you're bored and all…"

I sighed, "No thanks…"

He paused and said, "If you say so… but you're missing a good chance~"

I raised my eyebrow in question that says, "A good chance in what?"

"To hug me; to hold hands with me or even…"

"What?"

"A kiss…"

I gave a disgusted look and stuck out my tongue at him. He was very lucky that I had no knife wit me. Otherwise, he'd be dead by now.

He pouted and I hit him (punched for that matter) on his stomach, but he dodged quickly, smirking.

"Aw, come one…" he whined once more, "I'm a good dancer and I'm perfectly a gentleman." He held out his hand.

"What do you say, miss?"

-present—

And that was how I ended up sitting on the couch beside him, watching the other people walk by. It seemed so surreal to me that I guy would just… ask so suddenly. We barely know each other and yet, we're so comfortable to sit side by side in silence. I watched my brother approaching the sister of my "date". They were smiling at each other, as if they haven't been together for a long time. Probably, they were talking about food.

"Awww, they're a lucky couple." My date commented, staring to where I was looking.

"They're only going to talk about food." I grumbled, lucky that my brother was socializing while I sit in the corner with this mysterious guy.

'You think? Look again."

I did, but my eyes went wide open when my brother held out his hand as if he were saying, "May I have this dance?"

The girl laughed and gave a curtsy, acknowledging his question and took his hand and they went on to the dance floor, dancing to the slow rhythm of the music.

I sighed, wishing that I was on the dance floor with my crush. I looked down sadly, remembering that I couldn't because my crush had a girlfriend.

And suddenly, someone held out his hand. I looked. It was my "date", standing boldly in front of me while stretching out his hand at me.

"Wanna dance?" asked he.

I stood up. Without giving a curtsy, I smiled brightly and took his hand I mine, tightly.

"Not giving any curtsies?" he teased.

"Nah!" I replied happily, "Let's dance!" I pulled him towards the dance floor, but I paused. I don't know how to dance.

"Don't worry." I looked behind to see my "date" smirking at me, "I'll take the lead." I smirked back.

"Make sure I don't step on your toes." I warned him, "I'm not a good dancer."

He laughed and my smirk transformed into a smile.

He squeezed my hand and pulled me closer. He wrapped an arm on my waist as I placed a hand on his shoulder, just like what I saw in the movies. As the next selection played, we danced to the rhythm of the music. I looked down, hesitant to look at his eyes.

His grip on my waist tightened.

My cheeks were pooled by the color red.

Close your eyes and I'll kiss you;

Tomorrow I'll miss you;

Remember I'll always be true;

And then while I'm away;

I'll ride home everyday;

And I'll send all my loving to you.

I listened to the music, smiling to myself. I didn't ignore the strong urge to look up into my date's eyes. He was staring straight at my soul. My heart beated so fast that I could collapse into his arms. But I didn't. I was so mesmerized I his enigmatic green eyes, his fair skin and his luscious lips…

He kissed me.

It was soft, caressing, and it was so unexpected altogether. It made me feel so free that I couldn't help but kiss back. His hands were all over my body and I moaned in response.

It felt so right.

I felt so happy.

It had a sense; a sense of belongingness of loving…

"Miss Reyes and Sir, you do know the rules to not show too much public affection." We stopped and turned. It was Sir N, my Biology teacher, holding hands with his prom date. He smiled and laughed.

"The exit is just a few feet away for you guys to escape. Have fun, Risa." And he walked away with his prom date.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I gleamed at him with cunning brown eyes.

"Let's get out of here."

"You could use me all night as much as I use you, babe. But please, let's do it safely. We don't want to cause trouble to any of our families, right?" I smiled.

A few hours of freedom with stranger you just met couldn't kill you, right?