TARA'S POV
It was prom night.
Every student was gathered in the large high school hall, drinking and smoking with their friends, while a large majority of others stood in the dimly lit room, smooching with their partners in the corners of the hall.
I stood at the entrance of the hall, feeling so out of place.
"Tara," I heard my name being called. "You didn't call to inform me of your arrival."
I hugged my best friend, Cassandra, as she reached where I was.
Cassandra and I were classmates and had been best friends for over five years now.
She was a year older than I. I was eighteen, and she was nineteen, but that was almost unnoticeable due to the close way we related.
"My cell phone battery went flat," I responded.
"What about your boyfriend?" Cassandra asked, noticing we hadn't come in together.
I blushed slightly and responded, "Oh, I guess he must be at one of the tables in the front."
She looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping on our conversation and gave me a conspiratorial look.
"So... how's tonight going to go? Are you still going ahead with what you planned earlier?"
"Yes."
I had finally agreed to give my virginity to my boyfriend tonight.
My boyfriend, Tyson, was one of the hottest and most popular guys in school, and we had been together for nearly four years.
The most we had done sexually was kissing and a bit of making out, but I had always stopped him halfway through before we went further, saying I wasn't ready yet.
I was planning this as a surprise for him tonight.
Taking the advice from my best friend, Cassandra, I had dressed up in a dazzling black short corset dress that hugged my figure in the right places, and I was sure that would set the mood tonight.
"Make sure you tell me all about it by tomorrow, okay?" Cassandra made me promise.
I playfully hit her arm and responded, "Of course I will."
"Now, won't you hurry along to meet your prince charming? You mustn't keep him waiting," I teased and shoved her slightly.
"See you later."
Carefully, I walked through the crowd of bodies, my eyes scanning everyone's face to see if I could spot my boyfriend.
My body tingled with excitement as I thought of what the night held for us.
"He probably hasn't arrived yet," I thought after searching for him for a while and decided to walk into the restroom to adjust my slightly smeared makeup due to the heat.
I opened the first door and closed it sharply as a sharp, offensive stench hit my nose.
"What would it cost the user to clean up after using the toilet?" I shook my head in irritation.
I walked towards the next one and heard muffled voices of moaning and groaning coming from it.
"Things have probably escalated from the smooching in the hall, and they couldn't hold it anymore," I thought inwardly and chuckled.
"Ah... Fuck, don't you think your girlfriend must be searching all over the place for you by now?" I heard the voice of the female amidst moaning.
Disgust is an understatement of what I felt.
"Forget about that bitch for now," a male voice responded.
For a second, I thought that voice sounded familiar.
Curiosity got the best of me, and I temporarily forgot what I was there to do. I stood behind the door, waiting for the occupants to come out.
Never in a thousand years would I have expected what would happen next.
Minutes later, my boyfriend, Tyson, walked out of the door, fiddling with the zipper of his trousers, with a girl whom I recognized immediately.
Tyson had sworn he and Bianca were just friends at the times I had confronted him about their uncomfortable closeness, and I had decided to let it slide so as not to seem too possessive.
Tyson's eyes dropped as he saw me and roughly shoved the other girl, Bianca, away, but it was too late. I had already seen her.
"Tyson." That was the only word my lips could form at that moment.
Sharp stabs of pain coursed through my heart, and I felt as though the world had just come to an end.
"It's not what you think, baby. I can explain," Tyson moved towards me and made to hold my hands.
"Don't you ever!" I hissed sharply and pushed his hands away.
I moved closer to the wall to support my trembling body and uttered the only word that came to mind.
"Why?"
Bianca still stood close by and had a dirty, arrogant expression on her face that I so desperately wanted to wipe off with a dirty slap.
Tyson went down on his knees and spoke, "Let me explain what happened to you. When you hadn't arrived, Bianca approached me and said her gown zipper was loose and asked me to follow her to the restroom to have it adjusted and..."
Painful tears streamed down my face. Tears of hurt, disappointment, betrayal.
"Enough!" I yelled, cutting him off from his bullshit explanation.
Was this how low he thought of me?
Taking a deep breath, I looked at Tyson fully.
"You know what? We are done!"
I turned to face Bianca and flashed her a sickly smile.
"And you, you can have him all you want. Only God knows how many times you guys have fucked."
"What do you mean, Tara? You can't just casually call off our relationship of four years just because of a little thing like this."
"Little thing?" I repeated bitterly.
I knew that if I stayed here any longer, I was going to lose my sanity. Shoving Tyson roughly out of the way, I rushed out of the restroom.
My throat and heart stung so badly that I felt like I was going to die at any moment.
I ran towards the lonely school parking lot and collapsed on the ground, bursting into tears.
After an hour that felt like an eternity to me had passed, I regained a little control over myself and stood up.
Fuck Tyson, fuck Bianca, fuck the stupid feeling called love.
Prom party wasn't something that was held regularly, and the night was barely starting. I was not going to let some insignificant beings ruin my night.
Ignoring my ruined makeup, I walked back into the hall to locate Cassandra, and I spotted her waving and beckoning to me.
I rushed towards her and, without thinking, collapsed into her chest.
"He cheated on me," I managed to say amidst fresh tears that had begun flowing from my eyes.
"Who? What do you mean?" Cassandra supported my chin to look at her properly.
"Tyson."
"That bastard," she cursed under her breath.
I was expecting her to say something more or offer me some comforting words, but she didn't. Instead, she had a strange expression on her face when I looked at her.
"Aren't you not going to say anything else?" I questioned.
Cassandra simply frowned and murmured, "I knew it. I thought he had already promised to stop it."
I stared at her in confusion.
"You knew what, Cassandra? Have you finally gone insane?"
Something clicked in my head.
"You knew Tyson was cheating on me?" I drawled.
A guilty expression formed on her face as she darted her eyes back and forth, refusing to look me in the eye.
"I'm really sorry, Tara. I really thought he had..." Her voice trailed off.
"Make me understand, Cassandra! What the hell are you trying to say?" I yelled over the loud music, attracting looks from people around.
Cassandra finally looked at me and spoke.
"What I'm trying to say is that I am aware Tyson had been cheating on you. In fact, this has been going on for over a year now, and—"
"And what?" My voice shook.
"I confronted him a number of times about the issue as your best friend, and he promised to stop."
"Why didn't you inform me about this?"
"Because I didn't want to hurt you, Tara. I see how your eyes light up whenever you talk about him, and I didn't want to ruin that."
I looked up at her face fully and muttered the next words.
"I hate you."
I shoved her roughly out of the way and ran out of the school building without looking back this time.
My so-called boyfriend and best friend betrayed me in just one night.
I was fucking done!
"Rhinestone Bar," I mumbled without thinking to the driver of the cab I hailed.
"Your fare is ten dollars."
"Just go." I hung my face low to hide the fact that I had been crying.
Luckily, I was the only passenger in the cab and had the liberty of crying as much as I wanted, without receiving weird looks from anyone.
The cab arrived, and after paying my fare, I walked into the bar.
I planned to get myself so drunk until I forgot every single detail of what happened tonight or passed out completely.
Ignoring the lustful eyes of men that ogled over my body as I walked into the bar, I located an unoccupied solitary seat in a corner and walked towards it.
"Miss. What can I offer you?" the bartender approached me.
"Mix me up the strongest alcohol you guys have in here."
The bartender nodded in understanding, as though he understood my pitiful plight, and excused himself.
I looked around, still feeling the fresh, painful ache in my heart.
Most men were pricks; I should have known. Tyson included.
Good thing I had found out the truth before giving him my virginity, or else I would have lost both ways.
The bartender arrived and placed a glass before me, smiling professionally as he spoke.
"Here is a mixture of the strongest drinks available. Hope you enjoy your drink."