I never thought I would utter these words, but prom was just magical. I went with Wyatt, out in the open, as his date. We danced, we kissed, we took photos with all of our friends and with just us. I felt loved and cherished, and I wouldn't have traded it for anything.
When we got back home, we made love to each other for a while. First he topped, and then he asked me to take him once we were able to get hard again. It was an emotional night, and we made love slowly and sensually, with tongues touching and bodies covered in sweat. I licked beads of sweat off his neck as he came hard.
I'd always had this idea of how my graduation day would go. It included both of my parents there, pretending to be proud of me and taking photos, and my siblings being dragged along against their wills. I would then go to everyone else's graduation parties, though I knew I wouldn't have one.
That wasn't how the day went though. Eliza was there, and mom and my other sisters were somewhere in the crowd though I didn't interact much with them. They all gave me hugs, though mom looked like she wanted to say more. I never gave her much of a chance though. I told her I had to go, and went to find Wyatt. We took photos as a group and photos of just the two of us together. Dorothy's camera had to be full by the time the day was done.
We did go to quite a few parties, but Dorothy held one in our honor too. She set up the backyard with games, sodas, food, and she had Wyatt's uncle barbequing burgers and hot dogs. We played basketball on the hoop in the driveway with our friends, explored the garden behind the house, and ate food. She had a big cake made with "Congratulations Wyatt and Milo!" in rainbow letters.
As all of the parties came to an end, and the summer began, Wyatt and I had to talk about what we were going to do about school. I had gotten into the New England Conservatory for Music and would likely go there, while Wyatt had decided on UC Berkeley for sciences. It would put us across the country from each other, but it all kind of depended on how the Battle of the Bands went. I might have ended up doing online schooling if the band won.
Wyatt had a full ride so long as he played sports in college, and I couldn't bring myself to stop him from doing that, even if it meant it made us be apart from each other. He spoke about transferring closer, but I told him that I wanted him to go to the school right for him. My future all depended on a lot of luck, talent, and chance.
We didn't want to focus on that right now though. Wyatt wanted me to put all of my attention into the Battle. We only had a few weeks before we would be in Salt Lake City to perform. The band was perfecting what we were doing for our set, especially "On the Edge" as that would end up being our biggest song. It was also the song that would decide whether I succeed in the original song contest as well.
Dorothy went all out for the Battle of the Bands in Salt Lake. It was only less than an hour from us, but she decided to rent a few hotel rooms for the night among the big group of us. Dorothy had one suite with two rooms for her and the girls, and one suit with three rooms for the band and Wyatt. It had to be a fair amount of money but she wouldn't let me pay her back in any way.
I hadn't ever been to Salt Lake City before, but it was beautiful. I didn't subscribe to the Mormon belief system and was generally an atheist, but I could admit that the architecture that resulted in the Mormons settling here was stunning. Dorothy took us around to see some of the city, though she did none of the driving. She was too afraid to. We went out to eat and, with sodas of course, we clinked glasses in celebration of the band and everything that was to come. Dorothy was sure we would win, and nothing we said could make her think otherwise.
Finally, the day of the Battle was upon us. We had redyed my hair in preparation, and the mohawk was longer than I normally kept it, trying to make it look more noticeable on a big stage. Usually the other guys let me have fun with my own makeup and they went up on stage bare faced because they weren't as into it as I was, but tonight was different.
I used a lot of color tonight, giving us an overall rainbow look. I toned down their own looks and went all out with mine, doing just one or two colors each for them so the whole rainbow came together on me. We got into our clothes made of our normal black, reds, leather, and metal. I stood in front of Wyatt wearing a long sleeved fishnet shirt with a tighter red and black vest over top that showed off my physique. The vest had black leather and metal studs, and I paired it with ripped black jeans and combat boots with metal studs in them that I had added myself. My lips were painted black and I had an entire rainbow on my eyes with dark eyeliner and black stars around the rainbow.
Wyatt grinned at me. "If I wasn't worried about messing up your hair and makeup, I'd take you right now right here over this dresser."
I smirked back at him. "Lucky for you, once this event is over, you can either celebrate it with me in bed, or console me in bed."
"We'll definitely be celebrating, babe," Wyatt whispered to me.
The venue was big and walking into it was like stepping into another world. There was seating up higher in the balconies, but the main floor was completely open so people could dance and mosh if they wanted to. Right now it was just the bands, plus Wyatt who was helping us get our equipment figured out. The backstage was luckily set up for us to be ready to go at any time. They had something like almost thirty bands playing, starting right as evening hit. We weren't playing until later, but I was pumped all the same.
Once we were set up and ready to wait, we were allowed to start roaming around the venue a bit. As it filled up with audience members, friends, and family, the place really started to come alive. It reminded me a lot of going to grunge concerts, with the stone floors and the alternative clothing of the audience. Of course, there were parents and such here too, so it was an eclectic group, but the air still seemed to be buzzing with excitement.
I felt my friends come up behind me as we just looked out over the people talking, laughing, and waiting for the event to start. This was what I had always dreamed of. Standing in a venue waiting to perform, with people excitedly talking, snacking, and ready to dance. I dreamed of one day being in a huge venue where people were waiting just to see us perform. I had kind of figured it might never happen though. So to be standing there, waiting to be able to perform, was already a dream come true. If we won the Battle of the Bands, our entire lives could change.
I felt someone put their hands on my shoulders and turned to see Wyatt grinning at me. The group of us went down to meet up with Dorothy and the girls. They all ordered sodas, but those of us who did any vocals, which usually meant Nigel, Zack, and I, had water to keep our throats ready.
We were surprised by Eliza and my mom coming up to us at the table. The others all fell silent when they saw my mom, though there was still a buzz all around us in the venue. Eliza gave a brief flash of an apology with her expression and then moved over to greet the others, leaving me standing in front of our mother.
"Mom," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. "What, uh...what are you doing here?"
"Oh, well," mom breathed out and then cleared her throat. "Eliza said this was your, um, passion, and I wanted to see...I wanted to be here to...I should be here to support you and your dreams."
"Oh," I replied, not entirely sure what to do with that. It was a thoughtful gesture, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to give her a chance, or if it might be too little too late. "I appreciate that. Hopefully you enjoy the show."
