Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Forbidden Encounter ❯ Prom night ( Chapter 18 )

Forbidden Encounter

Chapter 18


Videl was just some girl he had only met a handful of times, Gohan thought to himself on Friday evening. Why his insides all were twisted up inside of him like they were tied into knots?? He hadn’t been this nervous since Cell had attacked Gingertown and he and Krillin had gone to investigate- and instead brought back Trunks, and learned from Bulma and the others that his father had indeed come down with the terrible heart virus... He shivered a little but managed to push the thoughts of his father out of his mind.

He bit his lip and nervously looked at his reflection in the mirror again. He could tell he looked good, but he still felt nervous. His mom had indeed had a cow about him wanting to go to the dance with Videl after their first day of school together, but she had surprisingly given in and allowed him to get the proper attire from a nice store and she had even helped him to pick out an elegant corsage for the girl she had playfully dubbed his ‘mystery date’.

“Wow, you really look like a 007 type of guy tonight, Gohan.” Trunks said from the doorway. The purple haired half Saiyan was spending the night with Goten so that his baby brother got to do something kind of special tonight too, since he was too young to go to the dance, of course.

Gohan laughed, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt. “Thanks, Trunks…”

“Dad doesn’t like wearing those kinds of suits either, but he says that females love them...”

“Trunks Vegeta Briefs, your father may be a powerful barbaric alien warrior but you are 8, young man so you have no business worrying about girls at your age.” Chichi said in her no arguments will be tolerated tone.

Trunks just grinned at her impishly. “Who’s worried? Mom says I’ll be way cuter than my Dad.”

Goten jumped up and down on Gohan’s bed, giggling. “Come on, Trunks, you mom never says your dad is cute, she says he’s hot! Whatever that means, since Vegeta couldn’t possibly fit in the microwave or…”

Everyone laughed at that mental picture, but a soft knock on the doorframe made everyone turn around. And Goten’s jaw dropped open like he remembered he had forgotten something. “Oh yeah! Hey, Gohan, your girlfriend is here- and she looks really pretty. See, there she is!! Hi, Videl!”

Videl blushed, at the unexpected compliment from the little boy. “Hi, sorry if I’m early, but Goten said it was ok if I came in.”

She did look beautiful- even prettier than she had the day at the mall. Her hair was arranged in beautiful curls that were piled up at the top of her head, but a few delicate ringlets had escaped to frame her face. Her dress was a sleek and elegant tight fitting work of art in bold blue violet silk that highlighted her lithe build and showed off quite a bit of the ivory white skin of her upper breasts without looking tasteless. Her dress flared into a bell shape at her lean hips and dropped in neat pleats down to her knees in the front, but it was almost ankle length in the back, sloping gradually down and then back up.

“You know, in my day, girls didn’t come to a boy’s house, to…” Chichi started to lecture, but Gohan cut her off.

“But it’s ok this time because we are going to the dance with two other kids and they are going to meet us at Videl’s house- the limo company wouldn’t give the driver clearance to make that many stops, mom I told you that two days ago. We are using one of our stops to go get cheeseburgers before the dance and then ice cream after the dance on the way to the post prom party at school…”

“You still could’ve gotten yourself to her house, Gohan…”

“Mom!” Gohan growled in a low voice. “You know that we don’t usually fly in front of the normal people, like Videl, they scare way too easily.”

Chichi blanched and quickly forced herself to smile at the lovely raven haired teenage girl, ignoring the suspicious look Videl was giving her. “H-How silly of me! I guess, I forgot we had to get the car fixed yesterday and it isn’t done yet… Well, uh, go on, you’re ready sweetheart; you go and have a nice time tonight- but not too nice- you better not do any kissing, you two- You never know when I’ll be calling the chaperones at the auditorium to make sure that you are being a gentleman, Son Gohan!!”

Videl couldn’t help laughing as she climbed into the driver’s seat of her capsule copter and put on her seatbelt. Chichi was still lecturing but luckily the two of them couldn’t hear her anymore. “I got the same lecture from my dad too, Gohan- it’s a universal parent thing, there’s no need to be embarrassed, and after all, we practically just met. It’d be way too soon to kiss anyway… Right?”

Gohan shrugged, still feeling a little nervous. “I don’t know. I’ve never kissed a girl before- well not counting my mom, of course.”

Even before she smiled, he knew it had sounded incredibly stupid to say that. Videl giggled only until he looked out the window as the copter blasted off, though. “I don’t mean to laugh, I mean, Erasa was serious it when she blabbed it in front of the entire mall the other day that I’ve never kissed anyone before either. I think it’s cute that you told me that, none of the other guys in school would’ve admitted the truth about something like that.”

“No one but you and I heard her say that. And I feel like the biggest nerd in history now that I’ve told you.”

“After they told us you got perfect scores on your entrance exams, I think the rest of the class already decided you were a nerd, Gohan... I don’t like guys that don’t have a brain though, Gohan. I think it’s great that you’re that smart. Sharpener is only going to that dance with Erasa because I told him 57 times that I wouldn’t go with him if he was the last Neanderthal on earth... You’ve seen what a jerk he is in class- he’s that way all the time, I like you. And Erasa likes you too. She told the girls in gym class this morning that she’s sure that you aren’t gay, either...”

“What? Why would any one think I’m gay?”

Videl paused, and tried frantically to think of a way to back out of that one… but his expression said he wouldn’t drop the question so she sighed. “Well, to quote what Pencilla told the other girls, in the locker room, ‘Any guy that looks as cute as you do, is as smart as you are, is built like you are and is as nice to talk to as you are, has just got to be gay. Then she said it was a terrible shame to waste a future hunk like you on another guy.”

“She thought I was gay just because I am nice to her when we have to work together in our psychology study group??”

Videl shrugged, and nodded a little. “Erasa and I told her that was really stupid logic, but Erasa had to tell her about our little trip around the mall together before she believed us though. I think she’ll be jealous when she sees you with me, I think she wanted to ask you to the dance herself.”


Gohan knew that Videl had tried to put his mind at ease, but inside he was bristling with anger. He didn’t even like the silly red head that worked with him, Videl, Erasa and Sharpener on projects during psychology’s study group time. He was only nice to her because he had been raised to be polite to everyone.

Needless to say, he didn’t have much to say on the limo ride to the dance, he barely even tasted the delicious cheese burgers and fries that they got on the way to the auditorium, and as soon as they arrived at the dance, Gohan excused himself from the group and went into the men’s bathroom. Where he wondered exactly what he was doing here…

“Hey, Mark,” Gohan heard from one of the stalls. He looked around quizzically, but no one else was in the large room, the other stall doors were open. “Mark, is that you? You did it, right? You remembered to get the whiskey from your dad’s…”

Gohan blanched and quickly left the bathroom, not wanting to hear any more about the plan the other kids were coming up with to spike the punch bowl. What was the deal with these kids today, he wondered? For a moment, Gohan considered telling the chaperone that someone was going to bring in some alcohol, but it was at that exact moment that the elderly lady with the pale blue dress on was approached by Pencilla about going to stop two kids from making out on the auditorium’s front steps while a pair of boys distracted Principle Crayola with some wild goose chase about drugs in someone’s abandoned purse by the ladies room and a third boy crept up to the punch bowl.

Pencilla came back to the table with all of the refreshments on it and pressed herself suggestively up against the boy that was dumping the golden colored liquid into the punch bowl…

Videl’s voice startled the young half Saiyan out of his thoughts, she was behind him, but he didn’t turn around. “There you are, so, are we having fun yet?”

For a moment he was undecided about what to tell her, but Pencilla and her date had already skulked off, and the two adults resumed their solitary vigils, by the table, neither seemed to realize that the punch bowl had been carefully added to and stirred, so what was the harm in it… More and more since that incident at the mall with the drug dealer, Gohan had been wondering what it might be like to act like one of the kids in his new neighborhood who seemed to buck the system constantly and not get into trouble for it. He had to admit most of it was a distraction from the situation with his dad that had only gotten worse.

Gohan growled. His mom now had a restraining order against his dad that kept him from being able to see the two boys until they were totally finished with the divorce hearings that were already beginning on Monday. He was glad that he didn’t have to see his dad at least not yet, but when his father had tried to at least visit Goten the other day while Gohan had been gone; he had learned that the younger boy had gone literally hysterical with grief that he couldn’t see his dad because it was against the law. It was clear that his brother was miserable, their whole lives had been turned upside down and he didn’t know why. Goten had really been hit hard by the loss of his father and he didn’t even understand what a divorce was yet and tonight had been the happiest he had seen his baby brother since the day their dad had left them...

“Hey, are you ok?” Videl asked worriedly, snapping her date out of his thoughts, she was in front of him now, her blue-violet eyes concerned.

He had every right to feel angry and hurt and rebellious, right… He nodded, smiling, but trying not to look like the cat that just swallowed the canary. “Yeah, Sure, I’m fine. I was just thinking about getting something to drink.”

“After what we just ate, are you kidding me?” Videl giggled. “On the other hand, I guess Pencilla did say that she helped her mom make her great grandma’s special recipe punch. I guess one little sip won’t hurt anything. Even Principle Crayola told Erasa and I that it’s fantastic.”

Gohan nodded again, trying to stomp down the guilt he was beginning to feel. He knew the punch was spiked and it wasn’t right that he hadn’t told anyone about it yet… but as he and Videl walked over there, Vice Principle Rose Art took a sip of the newly spiked punch and smiled at a pair of kids who were nearby, munching on cookies. Then she took her punch glass over by one of the large decorations and casually took another sip…

He was shocked- not only had she not caught on but even at this distance from the table, Gohan’s keen nose could detect a very subtle hint of something not right about the scent of the pretty pink colored liquid in the huge bowl. Perhaps it wasn’t as spiked as it looked, he wondered. Then he shrugged as Videl collected a glass for each of them.

“Mmm. I’ve never tasted punch quite like this before.” Videl smiled, after taking a sip. “Remind me to talk to Pencilla later and get her recipe.”

Gohan choked on his reply, but did manage a nod. Before he took a drink, he sniffed at it again. There was something in it alright. He could smell a hint of the strong whiskey, but it was only that, just a suggestion that it was spiked. It was probably undetectable to a human’s nose, but he wasn’t just a human… Again his honest and upright upbringing demanded that he not let Videl finish her punch, but he stomped his conscience down again. There isn’t much in here… how bad could it be? So, down the hatch it went… It was tasty, he thought. He wouldn’t half mind bringing it to the next party Bulma had at Capsule Corp, not that anyone needed to bring anything to an event at C.C., but it was a darn tasty little concoction and he wouldn’t mind sharing it.

It was almost two hours later before Pencilla or any of her helpers approached the punch bowl again and that was only because it was time to replenish the bowl on the table. Again, they used the same technique to distract their adult chaperones, but this time a bunch of girls used a story about a couple of kids making out in the maintenance closet down at the far end of the hall. Gohan was a little alarmed when he saw that they were putting more alcohol in this one than they had that last time, but after he smelled it, it didn’t seem like it’s scent was any different, and it didn’t alter the taste enough that the adults caught on either, so he just shrugged and let it slide.

So far it had actually been a really fun party other than the spiked punch, which somewhere in the back of his mind he had a nagging suspicion that he was going to regret not confessing his knowledge of up front, he was really glad he had come. The more time he spent with Videl the more he was starting to like her. He had told her at school that his mom was divorcing his dad and she had listened and been very sympathetic. Since her mom was dead and everyone knew that her dad was chasing everything with two legs and breasts; he had even felt safe telling her that he had actually seen his dad with his new... girlfriend.

The rest of the kids and the chaperones all seemed ok and they were all drinking the punch. About everybody had imbibed had several glasses of it and nothing bad had happened yet, plus there were enough kids dancing now that Gohan and Videl had decided to go out and dance too. Gohan had discovered to his surprise that he liked dancing especially with Videl; she seemed more relaxed and happier than he had ever seen her. Plus, she was smiling at him in a way that made him get a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach too. It wasn’t a bad feeling, he noticed, just peculiar, because he felt sort of warm and cold at the same time- and yet he didn’t feel at all sick...

“Kiss me.” Videl said suddenly, as the fast song they were dancing to ended. There was a look in her eyes as she gazed at him that he found profoundly fascinating and yet he couldn’t quite place it, except that it made the funny feeling in his stomach turn into something that was now hot rather than kind of warm and cold... He wanted to kiss her too, he realized suddenly- except that he didn’t want to draw the line at just kissing her…

“Hey you two!” Erasa giggled, and Gohan just stared at her quizzically- where had she come from all of a sudden?? The vivacious little blonde was usually like Bulma’s mom you could sense her coming from twenty yards away. “Did I hear that right?” She giggled.

Videl blushed furiously and buried her head against Gohan’s shoulder. Gohan wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere too, knowing Erasa had overheard her best friend ask him to kiss her, but he didn’t have a chance to say anything.

“I think if you’re going to grant her little request that we better get out of here. I just saw Principal Crayola making eyes at Vice Principal Rose Art. I think the punch was spiked- I know it’s weird to say that when it doesn’t taste funny or anything but Pencilla did just kiss the photographer because he said she’s pretty enough to model… and he’s a dirty old man I’ve never been surer of anything in my whole life. Sharpener and I decided to go get our ice cream now. You guys want to come so just in case we won’t get busted with everyone else?”

Needless to say, the half Saiyan and Videl agreed to leave. Sitting in the Dairy King across town, the four of them laughed and talked until all at once the teenage girl who was working the front counter at the ice cream shop yelped in shock and turned up the radio loud enough for everyone in the store to hear it.

“I repeat, Orange Star High school’s Junior Prom has just been broken up for the use and consumption of banned substances at a school function! A group of unnamed students has just been caught in possession of the drugs marijuana and Ecstasy in the men’s bathroom of Satan Auditorium- and a sample of the punch is being tested for alcohol content after two large and empty bottles of an undisclosed but expensive brand of whiskey were found in the bottom a trash can locked maintenance closet that was supposed to remain open for the party’s duration! The post Prom party at Orange Star High has been cancelled in connection with the contraband substances. Wow, kids these days- I think we’ll be hearing more about this breaking story in the morning!” The DJ on the radio laughed. “And now back to the music...”

“Wow… they brought in drugs? But why would they do that?” Gohan asked out loud, but then he thought back to something Erasa had said about the photographer who was there to take the prom pictures. There was something dirty about him... Sure he had been dressed in an elegant white tux, his hair was slicked back and he had smiled at everyone, but Gohan hadn’t wanted Videl anywhere near him again after the creep had taken their pictures. When Gohan had first seen him, he had even briefly entertained the idea that there was something familiar about the grungy, sort of creepy photographer that had been sent by the agency to replace the woman who had been scheduled to be there until her son had caught the flu that very morning... Was it the same guy who had tried to give him those drugs at the mall the other day? Right now the incident was a little hazy in his mind- compliments of the whiskey no doubt. Suddenly it disgusted him out that he had allowed a foreign substance to cloud his mind enough to have encountered a man like that twice in the same week and he hadn’t done anything decisive about it either time!

“I don’t know,” Videl growled, the last few bites of her vanilla chocolate twist cone forgotten. “But I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Erasa giggled, licking the last bite of her brownie sundae off of her spoon. “Totally, you go girl! You’re the best, Videl, but for now I think we had better get home. I’m sure by now the proper authorities have alerted our parents and they must be worried sick about us by now. I’m sure the post prom party at the school cafeteria would have been great, too bad it got cancelled. I hope our class can get some kind of a refund on the money we put up to get all those pizzas and sandwiches that no one will get to eat now. Mrs. Stratford was as excited as I was about our theme for the post prom party this year.”

“Don’t worry, Erasa, I’m sure your luau would have been great.” Videl assured her suddenly deflated friend. “There will be other parties and things for you to plan.”

“But unless we are sure the cops caught the right people our teachers and even Principle Crayola won’t trust our class not to pull stupid stunts like this anymore.”

Sharpener grinned; he had been listening, leaning back in his chair coolly like he always did in class. “Well, I over heard an interesting little talk between Mark and Pencilla’s twin brother Colour, that I’m sure my dad is going to find very interesting when I get to his office in the morning. He’ll be working all night, but I’ll tell my mom right when I get home, she’ll make sure he hears about it for me. I’ll just go down and file a report on it in the morning.”

“Who is your dad, Sharpener?” Gohan asked as the four of them slid out of their booth, taking his strawberry shake with him.

“Satan City’s Police Chief.” Erasa giggled.

Gohan sighed as he started to feel guilty again, but he was starting to get disturbingly used to it- or maybe it was just the Kami be damned alcohol again. Why did anyone like drinking that stuff when it left him feeling so mixed up like this?

They were pretty quiet when the limo driver dropped off Erasa first and then Sharpener, by the time they got to Videl’s house, Gohan felt nervous and jittery all over again- and those crazy butterflies were back in the pit of his stomach again. Gohan quickly got out as the limo reached a smooth stop in front of her father’s mansion and offered her his hand. She smiled and took it.

For a moment after the limo pulled away, they stood there looking into each other’s eyes but not really knowing what to say.

“Videl!! Oh, thank Kami my baby girl is safe!! There you are!!” Cried a gruff voice from the front steps of the mansion which was followed by the running steps of a large familiar fraud, Mr. Satan as he preferred to be called publicly promptly joined them. Gohan forced himself to smile at the ‘savior’ of the world, but the idiot didn’t even notice, he was too busy swinging his daughter around like a rag doll. “Oh my baby girl, everything is ok now sweetheart!! I’m so happy you’re alive!!!”

Knowing his mom would say pretty much the same thing, Gohan managed not to smile. “Hi, daddy.” Videl said softly as her father finally put her back on the ground. “I’d like you to meet my friend, Son Gohan from school, and my date at the dance too. Son Gohan, this is my father, Satan Hercule, or Mr. Satan if you rather. We can talk later, Daddy, but I have to give Gohan a ride home, his mom is probably…”

Gohan smiled and levitated a few feet off of the ground. Videl had already seen him fly- and for that matter so had her dad. He grinned roguishly at her. “I think I can make it from here. I had a nice time tonight. I’m glad Erasa talked us into this, but I am sorry we missed the post prom party though. It was nice to see you again, Mr. Satan. Goodnight Videl.”

Gohan hadn’t missed the way that the world’s hero blanched at his farewell and he grinned all the way home because of it.