Beyond The Music

Chapter Thirty Five - Mika

"I can't believe you dragged me into this. I would have been perfectly happy to just stay home and watch TV," I scratched the inside of my elbow and frowned at Keira as we both walked along side Max down the corridor towards the gym.

"Yeah, well, I don't care. Now stop complaining and liven up a little bit, yeah. This is the prom, remember. You're supposed to look happy and pretend that you're having fun," she smiled when she looked up at me.

"You know, when you put it like that...I hate being here even more than I did before."

"Oh, come on. You can't seriously tell me that wearing that dress doesn't feel amazing. You look incredible and totally hot, okay. Lots of guys would love to dance with you, okay. I just know it," she laughed quietly and elbowed me in the ribs gently with a smile.

"Great. Now I loath being here altogether," I shook my head slightly and frowned when they both laughed quietly.

"Come on, Mika. You need to let go of the negativity and look on the bright side, okay. Now you can rub it in Steven's face of what he's missing. I'm positive that when he sees you walk through those doors, his jaw is going to hit the floor in shock. I, for one, am still shocked that I actually got you to dress up and look good for tonight. Actually, I'm more shocked that you're not wearing a pair of jeans under there," she looked me up and down once before smiling to Max.

"I would if I could but unfortunately it would have been super obvious if I wore anything like that under here. Believe me, I've tried."

She laughed softly and smiled at me, "I wouldn't doubt it."

"I'm kind of predictable, aren't I?"

She shook her head and winked at me, "Not at all. I just know you well."

I paused for a few seconds as we finally reached the doors leading into the gym. I looked around at the other couples heading into the gym when I noticed that they all looked at me with shocked expressions.

"I know you hate wearing dresses but here's the thing, you look freaking amazing in one so stop complaining and enjoy it. After tonight you can go back to your jeans and shirt style again but right now, you're going to pretend you're glad to be here and look good while doing it, okay. Just for a few hours, Mika. It's not that hard," she grabbed my arm and slowly began pulling me through the doors to prom.

As soon as we stepped onto the gym floor, a lot of heads turned to us with shocked expressions and stayed that way for a few seconds until someone would either snap them out of it or step in their line of sight.

I turned to Keira as she laughed quietly, "Easy for you to say, everyone isn't staring at you like something is slipping from place."

"Wow. It really didn't take long for everyone to notice you, did it?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly. "Clearly not. You know what, I don't think I can do this, Keira. I mean, I'm so uncomfortable right now, it's not funny. I'm beginning to sweat here," I wiped my hands on the front of my dress and cleared my throat softly.

"Calm down and relax, okay. Just think of it as an experiment for writing your next song. You write about your experience at prom and what it's supposed to feel like. The differences between the two could be written into a song and it'll be great," she touched my arm gently and smiled reassuringly.

"You want me to start writing about my feelings again?"

"Yes."

I shook my head and laughed nervously, "Yeah, I somehow don't think that's going to happen."

"Worth a try. So...do you see Steven yet?" She began looking around the room while Max and I both sighed softly.

"No. I haven't been looking either. What are you doing?" A few seconds later, she laughed softly and started tapping my shoulder like crazy.