Second Chance

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“Now move closer to him,” Margaret De Fiore told her daughter. “Hug him tightly.”

“Mom, I think I’m close enough.” She ignored her mother and looked at Micah. The smile on her face showed Margaret that Antoinette had deep feelings for him. She wasn’t sure of what they were. She looked at him and saw him with an honest smile on his face. She knew instantly that their attraction was mutual. Her heart filled with joy.

“I know. I just want to see if you’d do it.” She made her daughter smile and took a picture, the first one with Antoinette smiling and showing her braces.

“Mom,” the teen said. Antoinette wasn’t angry or upset. She had a feeling that her mother wanted to see her smile, something she didn’t like to do since last summer, when she started wearing the braces. Antoinette knew that she had to smile at least once tonight for pictures.

Micah looked at his watch and searched the rooms for the driver. He didn’t see one immediately. “Where’s the driver?” His question was answered by movement to his side.

“I think we should be going,” a male voice said. It was Nick Dozier, the limousine driver. He arrived early to make sure all the teenagers would know the rules, so he wouldn’t have to hurry through them. He ended up finding out that one of the girls’ brothers was a friend. He spent the extra time in the kitchen talking with his friend, Antoinette’s older brother Vito.

“I think so too,” Terri Caldwell agreed.

The girls gathered and hugged, looked at each other’s gowns and fixed whatever might be misaligned before taking their dates’ hands.

“Mr. and Mrs. De Fiore, it’s been nice seeing you again,” Dozier said. He made his way quickly to the limo, a stretched Lincoln, and unlocked the doors. He opened the right side rear doors and waited for the teens to arrive.

Antoinette leaned into Micah and hugged him as they exited her home. “You make me so happy.”

“I feel the same way.” He knew he made a mistake once the words came out of his mouth. He wanted to something different, knew he should have. Micah went to add to his comment but stopped. She hugged him tighter and thanked him.

“I was so worried you’d not want to be here.”

“Why would I not want to be here?”

She leaned in closer and whispered, “I was afraid that you’d be scared about not knowing anyone.”

“To be honest,” he started, “I was a little nervous about that. Then, I remembered I met a few of your friends before and felt comfortable around them. I know tonight is important for you and I want to make you as happy as I can.”

She stopped their walk and looked into his eyes. “You don’t know how good that makes me feel.” She pulled him down to her lips and kissed him.

“If you two are finished please get in the limo,” Dianne joked.

Antoinette ended the kiss with a laugh. “She’s right. We should get inside.” Micah took her hand and escorted her to the vehicle.

“My lady,” he said stopping before the opened the door. He thoughtfully helped her inside and waited for her to sit before entering himself. He sat next to her.

“Again, thank you,” Antoinette said. She gave him a quick peck on the lips.



The trip to the Albany Convention Center was short, a ten minute trip, most of it on I-787. When the limo exited and made its way up the hill into the Empire State Plaza, where the A.C.C. was located, the girls pulled small mirrors from their clutches and checked their makeup.

“How do I look?” Antoinette asked.

“You look beautiful.” Micah reached over and kissed her cheek. “More beautiful today than the first time I saw you.”

“Thank you for the lovely words,” she said. Antoinette looked at him, stared into his eyes. For an instant, she thought she saw two pairs of eyes staring back, one that were slightly out of focus. She blinked and they were gone. She didn’t know what to think, what to tell him. She decided that she was seeing thinks and allowed it to leave her thoughts.

Antoinette put a hand behind his head and pulled him close. She kissed him; let her tongue find his.

Micah was caught off-guard by her caress. Though they had kissed like this before, he didn’t think she would do it in front of her friends. He danced his tongue with hers. His mind went blank when she pulled him even closer, wrapped her arms around him.

“We’re here,” he heard their driver say. She broke the embrace and smiled at him.

“You’re such a good kisser,” she said. She chuckled, removed a tissue, and cleaned his lips. “I don’t think you’ll look good with my lipstick on you.”

“I don’t think so either,” he added. The limo came to a stop, a few vehicles were ahead, each ready to drop off prom guests. Nick informed them that he would be back at 10, the scheduled end of the prom.

Jimmy Harrison leaned over the opened partition and spoke. “We’ll be ready for you.”

Antoinette hugged Micah again. “I hope you’re ready.”

“Antoinette, if I wasn’t ready, I wouldn’t be here for you.”



A table welcomed the prom attendees. Three members of the Organizing Committee sat behind it, each one accepting tickets and exchanging them for meal tickets. Antoinette queued in front of the girl who was taking tickets from names that began with “A-H”. She reached into her clutch and removed her tickets.

“Hello Toni,” the girl said taking the tickets. “Is this the Micah we’ve been told about?”

“Yes it certainly is,” Antoinette proudly answered. She gave her date a hug around his hips.

“You’re right. He does look more Italian that you.” The committee member smiled and handed Antoinette her meal tickets, one for chicken and one for beef.

“When you’re ready, the official pictures are up the incline and to the left. You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you Mary.” Antoinette exited the line and headed up the incline. “Let’s get this done now.”

Micah thought for a minute, thought about his next comment to her carefully. He did want to know why she was rushing the pictures, but sensed that if he did, it would upset her. All he could think of as an appropriate comment was, “Yes.”

“Good thinking,” the Presence said.

Micah jumped slightly, not expecting it to appear, so to speak, now. He felt that it was inappropriate for it to disturb him at this moment. He was angry, wanted to know why it decided to say something, but the emotion waned when she put her hand around his waist and squeezed.

The photographer’s assistant welcomed the couple. She asked for their names and what package they would want. Antoinette told her that they wanted two basic ones: Three pictures of the couple and one of them alone. “Come with me,” the assistant said, leading them to a small scenery.



“I don’t know if I’m going to buy the pictures,” she confessed to him as they stood and waited to enter the center proper.

“Why not? You look so beautiful.”

She stood fidgeting. She looked up and honestly opened up. “I’m self-conscious of the braces. You don’t know how they’ve made me feel.”

Micah smiled and told her, “I’ll purchase mine. If you want to later order some of us together, I’ll get them.”

She hugged him. “You don’t need to do that, but thank you.” The bottleneck of teenagers, caused by friends talking at the entrance, ended and the couple walked in.

Transformed from a convention center used by New York State politicians for speeches and rallies and by organizers for conventions for comic books, guns, and inspirational speakers to a large dining hall, words escaped Micah as he looked around. The committee installed a dance floor and several tables while removing the arena and bleacher seating.

He knew from attending a comic book convention a year before that a full-service restaurant kitchen replaced the snack bar type originally built. It had to be, since they were having full, restaurant quality meals, not just snack foods and salads.

Micah looked and saw crape paper streamers and a disco ball added to the atmosphere, along with softer lighting. He knew this was for affect, to give the hall an intimate feeling. He saw a bandstand next to the dance floor. The band was setting up.

“Who are they?” he asked Antoinette.

“Some good band,” she answered. “I forgot their name, but heard them practicing in school last week. The guitar player graduated from school last year, his brother’s still there.”

“I hope we’ll dance,” he commented as they approached the table where Dianne, Terri, and their dates were standing around. Another couple was seated, two more stood and talked with them.

“Toni,” one of the standing girls called out. She rushed over, her arms extended and opened. The two hugged. “Oh my God, your gown looks perfect.”

“So does yours,” Antoinette said. The girl looked to her date and smiled.

“This must be Micah,” she stated. “Tell me, Toni, this is him.”

Antoinette blushed but took Micah’s hand and pulled him to her. “Yes, this is Micah Vaughn.”

“He’s more handsome than you told us.”

“Thank you,” Micah spoke softly.

Antoinette nudged him and smiled proudly. “Let me introduce you to everyone.” She clasped his hand tighter and brought him to the table. “Everyone, this is Chance.” She closed her mouth quickly, knowing that she let his nickname escape.

“Chance, what an unusual nickname,” Drummond said. “How did you receive it?”

“Was it from soccer?” Harrison asked.

Micah stood still, unsure of whether or not to tell them the story of how he received the moniker. He looked at his date and saw her blushing deeply. He knew that she was sorry. “It’s okay Toni,” he whispered. He kissed her cheek.

He faced her friends and smiled.