Betty giggled as James danced drunkenly under the streetlight. He looked so cute in his Levis and vintage tee.

She didn’t drink, herself, but she made no objection to James doing so on occasion. He could get away with it easier than she could; his rich parents would make any problems go away with a wave of their checkbook, and they didn’t care much what he did as long as he stayed close enough to the path that they had laid out for his life. Betty wasn’t exactly included on that path, but for the time being, they put up with the diversion– the assumption being that after high school ended, their silly little love story would come to a prompt end, as James moved onto more important things in life. After all, when you are young people assume you know nothing about love or life in general. Little did his parents know that it was neither James’ nor Betty’s plan to say goodbye any time in the foreseeable future. 

Betty believed that James was “the one,” and the past two and a half years they had spent together was her best supporting evidence. Before James, she had felt so very unseen. It was as if she was an old cardigan lying forgotten under someone’s bed. But James saw her. He found her, dusted her off, put her on, and said that she was his favorite. There was nobody who knew her better than he did. He was the first person she ever trusted enough to show all of her scars to, and he saw them as parts of her that were beautiful. He drew stars around them and made them beautiful even to her. 

Earlier that day, they’d been doing their typical weekend activities together. They liked driving around, somewhat aimlessly, until they found a little dirt road that led them out of town and to someplace closer to nature. They would park the car and kiss in the backseat, James’ hand under her sweatshirt as he kissed away all of her stress from the week before. 

They sometimes liked to get out and run around, playing hide and seek behind bushes and trees. The silly things they did together were just a part of what Betty loved about their relationship. The fact was that no matter what they did together, as long as James gave her his weekends whenever he could, she would be happy. They saw each other during the week as well, but those times were squeezed in between school, James’ family-mandated social events, and Betty’s part-time job at the bookstore. So weekends were the only solid time they had together, and they treasured them.

For dinner that night, James had taken her to a downtown bar and grill that they’d been to a handful of times. He liked taking her out to eat, and she was appreciative of the delicious meals. On this occasion, James had managed to bribe the waiter to bring him a beer (or two, or three). It helped that the waiter was an old family friend of James’ dad, and had basically played the role of “fun uncle” ever since James was a baby. As usual, Betty declined to partake in the alcoholic refreshments offered to her. 

It wasn’t that she was judgemental of people enjoying a drink now and then; it was only that she had no interest in drinking herself, and she felt a responsibility to be the good decision maker that her mom had raised her to be, and continued to trust her to be. She knew that no matter what choices she made, her mom would always be there for her and help her when she needed it. But she also knew that the best thanks she could ever give her mom for everything she did for her was to be the best version of herself that she could. She’d decided early on that drinking wasn’t a part of that. 

Watching James frolicking foolishly around the darkened street was amusing, however. She was glad that he was happy, and she was content to give him that night to let loose considering that he had promised to be sober on the following night, for their junior prom. Betty had been looking forward to the dance and wanted it to be special and memorable. She wanted James to be fully present with her, and he had agreed to that without any resistance. He told her that it was a special night for him, too, and he was looking forward to spending it with her. 

Eventually, they decided to call it a night and James walked Betty home, as he always did when he had been drinking. Getting in the car with a drunk driver was something Betty would absolutely never do. He dropped her off with a long, sloppy kiss before telling her he loved her and then heading to his own house, which was a good 45-minute walk from there. She knew that he would call her when he got home to say goodnight.

The next day, James pulled up to Betty’s house in the afternoon so they could hang out for a few hours before the prom started. She was expecting him, waiting patiently on her front porch swing, still wearing her regular clothes since she didn’t want to start getting ready for the dance until just before. As soon as the car stopped, he jumped out, clearly excited about something. 

“Betty! You’ve got to come here and check this out!” He ran to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the passenger side of the car and flinging the door open. “Quick, get in!” 

Betty did as requested and it only took a moment of glancing around the car to see what he was so excited about. 

“It’s a car phone!” he said, pointing frantically at the device that had been newly installed in his car. “My parents bought it for me, a brand new phone! In my car!” 

Betty rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but laugh at his excitement. It was pretty cool, she had to admit. 

“Now I can call you anytime I want to, no matter where I am.” He grinned.

She smiled back at him sweetly, but then gently pointed out the obvious. “Well, yes. As long as I’m at home, or at the bookstore. I don’t have a car, let alone a car phone,” she chuckled.

James conceded her point, but was still clearly excited about his new gadget. She was happy for him, and glad that he would be able to call her more easily, especially when he was out at social gatherings and she was missing him and wondering what he was up to.

“So, are you excited for prom?” she asked. “I could barely sleep last night, I’ve been looking forward to it so much.” 

“Yeah, it’s going to be great,” he replied. “I have my tux all ready to go. What does your dress look like? You haven’t told me much about it yet, other than that I should wear a silver bowtie to match.”

“That’s because it’s a surprise,” she smiled coyly. “You’ll see it when you pick me up later.”

They spent the next few hours in Betty’s backyard garden, reading on the bench together and chatting. Then, James went home to get ready while Betty started her more in-depth primping process. 

By the time she was ready to go, she had been nearly transformed. Her mom helped her get ready, which included doing her hair, nails, and makeup. Then, of course, there was the dress. She had found her prom dress at a local thrift store, and it had been an incredible steal. It was a long silver ball gown with a sequin-covered bodice that shimmered in the light. The sequins added a touch of sparkle that somehow brought out her smile. She wore black lipstick, which was an unusual choice for her, but worked well with her glamorous black-and-white-film-star aesthetic. Her brown hair was loose and curled. To add a bit of color, she wore maroon high heels. 

As she looked in the mirror, her mom behind her with tears filling her eyes, she felt the satisfaction of knowing she looked beautiful that night. James would be ecstatic. She enjoyed reminding him that she knew her value as a girlfriend, and even the little bit of jealousy she hoped he would feel when he saw other boys at school noticing her. Oh, the sensual politics of being a teenager. 

“Alright, I think I’m ready to go,” Betty informed her mom. She felt giddy with anticipation. 

“Oh, you reminded James to bring his camera, right?” her mom asked. They didn’t have one of their own, of course, but Clara still wanted to document this special night in her daughter’s life. 

“Yes,” Betty reassured her. 

Right on time, there was a knock at the front door and Clara bustled off to answer it. A few moments later, Betty walked into the living room to find James waiting for her, looking dapper in his tuxedo. He beamed when he saw her.

At first, Betty felt satisfaction at his clearly adoring reaction. But as she took a closer look at him, she noticed that something was off. He smiled at her without saying anything, his eyes looking tired and unfocused. She noticed him swaying slightly and quickly looked to her mom to see if she had noticed the same thing. James was drunk.

Fortunately, Clara was not as attuned to James’ mannerisms and she seemed unaware of his inebriated state. Betty forced herself to act normal, smiling for the pictures that her mom started taking with the camera that James’ had handed her when he walked in. She made sure that the photo session didn’t go on too long, though, and within a few minutes she was saying goodbye to her mom and walking with her boyfriend out the front door. 

James’ car was parked out front, much to Betty’s alarm. But because her mom was watching from the front porch, she walked to the car and allowed James to open the door for her so she could get in. She waved to her mom through the window, and Clara waved back before finally retreating into the house. Betty immediately turned to James, who was just getting into the driver’s seat.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. He looked at her in confusion, feigning innocence, which made her even angrier. 

“You’re drunk,” she stated bluntly. “You drove here? Under the influence of alcohol? What the hell were you thinking?” She stared at him with fury in her eyes. He stared dumbly back, unable to form a response. She shook her head and opened the car door, carefully getting out while managing her voluminous dress. 

“Where are you going?” James asked, his speech slurring slightly. 

Betty walked to the driver’s side, opened the door, and pointed to the street. “Get out,” she said firmly. “You are not driving anymore.” He did as he was told, and started walking toward the passenger side. 

“No,” she directed. “I don’t have a driver’s license, you know that. We have to walk to prom now,” she said, frustration heavy in her voice. “Wait on the sidewalk, I have to move your car up the street so my mom won’t notice that we didn’t drive.”

She got into the driver’s side and turned the keys that were still in the ignition. For a brief moment, she felt the urge to just drive away and leave James standing alone on the sidewalk. But what she had said was true; she didn’t have a driver’s license, and unlike James, she didn’t feel above the law. She slowly drove the car to the end of the street, put it in park, and shut off the engine. With a big sigh she once again got out of the car, struggling with the effort of maneuvering carefully in her formal attire. She stalked back to where James stood waiting for her and gave him a hard look.

“I’m sorry,” he said lamely. “My dad wanted to toast before I left. He said it would be okay for me to drive because it was only a tiny bit.” 

“You are not drunk from a single toast,” she retorted. “How much did you drink after that? Half of the bottle? What did you do, sneak it out of your dad’s stash when he wasn’t looking?” 

He looked away shamefully, not answering her. 

“That’s what I thought.” 

“I was just nervous… was trying to take the edge off,” he offered, knowing it was a poor excuse. 

Betty looked back at him, hurt in her eyes. “You promised.” 

James flinched at the words. He didn’t know what to say. He had let her down, and there was nothing he could do about it now. 

Without another word, Betty began walking in the direction of the school. It was only a fifteen minute walk, but in her heels she knew it would feel much longer. James followed behind her in silence.

Finally, they reached the courtyard of their school, a cobblestone area surrounded by foliage that led into the gymnasium. The cobblestones were aged and many were broken; clearly the school was due for a facelift, but it apparently wasn’t a priority. Walking on the uneven surface was difficult with her high heels, and she had to walk slowly to avoid twisting her ankle. 

Before entering the gym, Betty turned to James. 

“You stay out here. I need to find Inez and calm down a little before I’ll be ready to attempt to enjoy this night with you. Come and find me in a little while,” she requested. Then she turned on her heel and walked away.

Inside the building, the gym had been transformed into a ballroom scene from a fairytale. The decorations, the lighting, and the refreshments were all glamorous and lovely. It was exciting to see, but Betty felt a pang of hurt that James wasn’t seeing it for the first time with her. She couldn’t have walked in with him at that moment, though. She was too angry. 

Across the room, she spotted Inez and quickly walked over to her best friend. Inez had chosen to attend the dance without a date, but she had already found a few other single friends to hang out with. Betty recognized one of the guys from her home economics class, but she couldn’t remember his name. She saw him taking notice of her from the corner of her eye, and turned to say hello to him and the rest of the group. She made small talk for a few moments before Inez excused the two of them and pulled her away.

“What happened?” she asked as they walked away from the increasingly crowded dance floor. 

“He’s drunk,” Betty answered. “After he promised he would be sober for this one night.”

“Bastard,” Inez growled. Then they reached the side of the large room and she pulled her in for a hug. “I’m sorry sweetie,” she comforted. “But you know what? You look absolutely gorgeous. And we are going to have a good time, with or without that boy.” 

Betty smiled appreciatively at her best friend. “Thanks,” she said softly. “You look amazing too.” She was beginning to feel lighter now that she had Inez by her side. She decided then and there to enjoy her special night, regardless of what James did or didn’t do. 

And enjoy the night she did. Betty and Inez danced with the group of friends that had gathered together, taking breaks to sip punch and snack on the dainty appetizers. James never made an appearance, but Betty tried to put him out of her mind. When her favorite song came on, an emotional ballad that was sappy and sweet, she couldn’t help but think of all of the times she and James had sung along to it on the radio. She felt a deep sadness knowing that not only was James missing the night with her, but he had shown her that the things she cared about did not matter to him. It wasn’t about the prom, really. It was about love and respect, neither of which she’d felt from him tonight. 

Fortunately, she soon had a distraction from her miserable thoughts when the boy she recognized from class came over and asked her to dance. He seemed nice, and although she felt no romantic attraction toward him, she was happy to share a platonic dance with him. She appreciated the offer, in fact, because she was beginning to feel like a rejected wallflower with nobody to dance with to the slow songs. 

By the end of the night, Betty was exhausted but had made the most of the dance, all things considered. At least there was still senior prom to try again, she thought. When the music officially ended, she decided to try to find James. She at least wanted to make sure he got home alright.

After searching for several minutes to no avail, she started to worry. She found Inez and asked if she had seen him, to which she responded that she hadn’t. Betty didn’t know what else to do, so she gave up and accepted a ride home with Inez and one of her older friends who had a car. 

When she got home, she was glad to find the house darkened, signaling that her mom was already asleep. She didn’t have the emotional energy to talk about what had happened with James right then, and this would allow her to put it off until morning. She knew that her mom would talk through it with her and help her figure out what to do about her and James. Although she wasn’t ready to confront it just yet, she knew that this wasn’t just going to be a small fight they could forget about and move on from. She had some serious thinking to do about her relationship–but that could wait until the morning.

Morning came too quickly when Betty was awoken by the house phone ringing. It rang a few times before mercifully going quiet, indicating that her mom had answered it. After a moment, she heard her mom calling her name from the kitchen. 

“Betty, it’s for you! Inez is on the phone!” 

Surprised to be receiving a phone call so early from her usually late sleeping friend, she slid her slippers onto her feet and trudged to the kitchen, smiling sleepily at her mom before taking the phone.

“Inez?” 

“Hey, sweetie. Good morning… how did you sleep?” she asked.

“Alright,” Betty responded. “What’s going on, though? You never call this early, especially on a Sunday.” 

Inez hesitated for a moment. “Well…” she began, slowly. “I wanted you to hear this from me, first. It’s… about James.” Betty felt her stomach drop. Had something bad happened to him last night? Was he okay? 

“What is it?” she asked nervously.

“I heard a rumor, from a reliable source,” she began. “The rumor is that James drove off from prom last night with another girl… Augustina.”

“Augustina? From student council?” Betty asked in shock.

“Yes. I’m so sorry sweetie. I wish it wasn’t true but, well… apparently there is photographic evidence. Someone snapped some pictures as they were driving off. The flash on the camera made it pretty visible that it was clearly James getting into her car,” she said sadly. “I haven’t seen them yet, but it doesn’t sound like it’s made up, and since you couldn’t find him last night, it would make sense if it were true.”

Betty didn’t know what to say. Images flashed into her head as her imagination ran wild. Did James think that she wouldn’t find out? Did he even care? She pictured him kissing Augustina, inviting her back to his house, her laying down on his couch. What about everything they had built together? “Is it over now?” she wondered. 

To Inez she said that she had some thinking to do, thanked her for the information, and told her they would talk soon. But as soon as she hung up the phone, she picked it right back up again, fury building in her chest. Without stopping to think about what she was doing, she dialed James’ number. There was no answer, but thankfully he had an answering machine. She would make sure that he got the message that she wanted to deliver, loud and clear. 

“I know what you did,” she started without preamble. “And I want you to know that you have destroyed my trust and everything that we had together. All of your promises have clearly meant nothing. You, James, are a lying traitor. I will never forgive you for this.” She hung up, slamming the phone down on the receiver with finality. 

When she turned around, her mom was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, her face pale and worried. Betty realized that tears were spilling down her cheeks, and she rushed into her mother’s waiting arms, sobbing into her shoulder.

“What happened, baby?” Clara finally asked.

“He was drunk for the prom,” Betty said in a tearful voice. “He promised he wouldn’t be, but he lied. Then he disappeared and I didn’t see him all night. Inez just told me that he left with another girl.”

“Bastard,” her mom muttered furiously. “How dare he treat you like that!” 

Betty was wildly oscillating between rage and despair, and she didn’t have the capacity to say anything back. She just continued to cry as her mom held her. 

“I don’t know what to do,” she finally said. “Should I talk to him? Give him another chance?”

Her mom hesitated. “Well, that is up to you baby. You have a long history together, and those feelings don’t just disappear overnight. But you deserve so much better. Maybe you should start by talking to him at school tomorrow, and see how it goes from there,” she suggested. Betty agreed that that was a good idea. She would confront him, and see what he had to say for himself. A tiny part of her hoped that it was a misunderstanding, and that he would apologize for drinking and ruining their prom plans, and she could eventually forgive him. 

Unfortunately, what Betty didn’t know was that James would not be at school the next day. She didn’t know that the only way she would see his face that day would be when she looked at his picture on her nightstand, and how even looking at the photo of him would feel wrong. She didn’t know that he wouldn’t be at school the day after that, or the day after that, or any day for the rest of the school year in fact. He was simply gone, without a single word of explanation to the girl he claimed to love. 

Songs used:

Cardigan

Is It Over Now?