* * *
Guy walked into Rob's house and couldn't believe the mess. He saw Brett stacking empty cans at the bottom of the stairs and a suspicious-looking sled at the top of the stairwell. He shook his head as he scooted by before disaster struck.
The house was pretty crowded with kids, and Guy found Gibby, Kirsten and Kristen huddled together in the living room, already planning their costumes for Prom.
"But I wanted go as Barbie," Kristen whined, flipping her long blond mane behind her shoulder. "I've got the hair for it."
"But I already got the costume," Kirsten snapped, taking a sip from her cup.
Guy waved as he went past them, having no desire to get involved in that conversation. He was on a mission to find Josie.
He saw Rob and Tracie in the kitchen laughing together, Rob with a cowboy hat on his head. He spoke to them a few moments, asking Rob if he had seen Josie.
"Nah, she's not here yet. I know she's on her way here, though."
Guy left the kitchen and went past Brett up the stairs and started peeking in rooms up there. He saw some couples hooking up in a couple of them, but found one room empty and quiet. He didn't turn on the lights to inspect the room at all, he just noted that it was indeed empty. As he closed the door, he saw there was a label on the door that said, "Josie", which made him smile. Maybe fate had stepped in and allowed this room to be marked off for him? He knew Rob had a sister - wouldn't it be amazing if she was named Josie as well, considering he and Josie had dated at one time?
He went back downstairs and as he headed into the kitchen he found Rob and Josie huddled together near one wall. She looked like she was lecturing him so he sidled up next to her and stood really close to her, causing her to turn and look to see who it was crowding her.
"Hi," he said softly, smiling down at her.
Josie giggled demurely and said hi back.
"Uh, I gotta talk to you." He looped his arm through hers and started to pull her away from Rob. "Please come here."
He heard Rob say, "See ya around the cellblock, Mrs. Robinson," as they left the kitchen and headed up the stairs.
Once they reached the top he made small talk for a moment as he led her to the room he had found a moment ago.
Josie suddenly lurched away from him and blocked the door.
"You know, maybe we should go into another room?" she asked.
"I've checked each and every one of these rooms. There are 'serious' couples in there. This is fine." He brushed past her and opened the door, pulling her in with him.
When the lights came on in the room, Guy couldn't help but laugh. There were prize ribbons all over the place and stuffed animals covering nearly the entire bed. Obviously Rob's sister was completely different from her brother. "Wow," he said before he could stop himself. "Rob's sister�.is a loser!" He wanted to go on and admit to her that he actually had the same number of ribbons tucked away in a box in his closet but didn't want to waste time talking about stuff like that.
"Um, please come here, I need to talk to you about something." He grabbed her hands and led her to the small twin bed. The bed was soft and he bounced up and down a few times as Josie sat down next to him.
When they were comfortable, he tilted his head and kind of watched her for a moment. He studied her lovely features as she looked back shyly at him. Then he said slowly, "Uh, I know that you probably already heard that I want to ask you to Prom, but there's something different about asking in person. I know that we didn't hit it off in the beginning, and I would be really --"
"Yes." Josie blurted out, cutting him off. Then she smiled brightly. "Yes." In the quiet moment that followed she leaned in a bit, and Guy leaned forward as well.
He wanted to kiss her, but something told him not to. Not yet. Instead he whispered, "That's rufus."
He pulled back and asked, "So uh, where do I pick you up - how do we arrange this?"
Josie thought for a moment and then replied, "We can meet here at Rob's and then all go in a limo together."
Guy nodded and stood up, looking back down at Josie. He was thrilled that he had asked her, and knew he'd have a great time with her. "Thank you," he said, smiling.
Josie grinned back at him, watching as he began walking out of the room. "Have a good evening," she said. "And thank you."
Guy closed the door behind him, leaving Josie in the room alone. He smiled again to himself.
Prom was gonna be�well, he hated to say it...rufus!
* * *
"Mrs. J!" Guy called as he walked into her office.
Mrs. Johnson came out from behind her closet door and beamed at Guy. "Guy, I haven't talked to you in what seems like forever! You look wonderful!"
Guy smiled contentedly as he sat in the chair next to her desk. "Yeah, I'm doing pretty great. Much better than a couple weeks ago."
"I can tell - you are actually smiling with your eyes, which I didn't think I'd see again."
"Life is going well now. I met a great girl that I'm taking to Prom. I made a new friend with a guy who moved to the area a couple months ago. And I was nominated for Prom Court, which is not too shabby!"
Mrs. Johnson laughed gaily as she came and sat down at her desk. She opened a drawer and pulled out a late pass for Guy. "That's wonderful, Guy." She paused a moment before asking, "And what about the situation from a couple weeks ago? Is that all cleared up now too?"
Guy shook his head, his smile faltering a bit. "Well, I apologized like you advised me too, but she didn't fully accept it. She put a condition on it that I wasn't prepared to accept. So I haven't spoken to her since then."
Tactfully changing the subject, Mrs. Johnson asked Guy what his costume would be at the Prom.
"Well, Josie has a thing for Shakespeare's 'As You Like It', which she's studying in Mr. Coulson's class. So we're going as Orlando and Rosalind. She found us the best costumes - I even get to carry a sword!"
"Oh, you'll look magnificent as Orlando!" Mrs. J. crowed. "Just magnificent!"
Guy laughed and replied, "I just hope I don't poke myself with the sword at any point during the night!"
* * *
Guy sat in the back of the limo, a small smile playing across his face. He was happier than he had been in a long time. Graduation was around the corner, he was going to Prom with Josie Geller, and he hadn't offended Aldys in any way in weeks. Things were looking up.
He checked his costume to make sure things were in place � there seemed to be a lot of fabric with this costume. 'Those poor men,' was his thought as he got dressed earlier in the evening. To think that they had to dress like this every day in centuries past � that's torture! But he knew that he and Josie would make a spectacular couple as they walked into the country club this evening for Prom.
The limo turned the corner onto Rob's street and Guy grabbed up the white flower he had laid carefully on the seat beside him. Opening the sunroof he stood on the seat and brought the upper half of his body outside the limo roof as the car slowed in front of Rob's house. He could see Josie standing on the front porch, looking amazing in her rose-colored gown. Her hair was up, her makeup impeccable, and her eyes shining brightly as she smiled nervously at the car.
He brought the flower up in his hand, half hiding it. When he saw Josie's face tighten up a bit he quickly smiled and brought up the bud, spreading his arms in appreciation as he said, "C'mon, beautiful! It's time to go!"
Josie beamed at him and ran down the stairs to meet him.
* * *