Oh, Heather

Chapter Thirty-two

That next Friday, the morning of prom, Heather woke up to a loud mix of different voices yelling what sounded like gibberish.

“What on earth is going on?” She mumbled, sitting up on the side of the bed.

She adjusted her pajamas, fixing her hair as she groggily walked into her living room.

“Good morning Heather!” 

Heather groaned as she looked down at Miley who was sitting in the living room with a noise maker. Matthew and Alyssa were cooking breakfast in the kitchen, leaning all over each other as they put everything on plates. The quiet echo of running whispered through the house when Corey peered around the corner of the couch, eyeing Heather.

“Hi sissy! These shoes are loud.” He said, stomping them against the floor.
“Yes they are, so please don’t stomp them.”
“But you need to wake up and get ready, he was helping.” Alyssa said, handing Heather a plate.
“For what?” She replied.
“Prom, obviously? Did you hit your head?” Leo joked, pulling down his waistcoat as he walked out of the bathroom.

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping set up for tonight?”
“Yeah, but they needed more help so,” He smiled.
“So?”
“I agreed to help but we want you to help too!” Miley chimed in, tapping rhythmically against the cushions of the couch.
“Why would I want to help decorate a room at 7 in the morning?”

“Because Jada will be there. She’s helping.”
“Is she?”
“Yep.”
“What time do we need to be down there?” Heather asked.
“In one hour.” He replied.
“Alright. Should I change into my dress?”

“Unless you want to change in the school bathrooms.” Miley said.
“Are you gonna change into your outfit, Miley?” Alyssa asked.
“Oh I already have it on!” She smiled, unzipping her jacket to reveal the suit.
“Okay, there’s no way that was comfortable, like at all.” Matthew said, peering in from the kitchen.

Miley just laughed, sliding the jacket back over her shoulders and zipping it back up.

“Miley, how are you not sweating?” Heather asked.
“Don’t worry about me, go change into your dress.” She replied, shooing her away.

Heather walked silently over to the bathroom, locking the door behind. She glanced uncomfortably at herself in the mirror as she slid the dress out of the bag, hanging it onto the rack in the bathroom. When she finished changing, she tugged down the dress, trying to get it to fit how she wanted. But no matter what she tugged, the velvet rested uncomfortably against her skin. She threw her hair over her shoulders, unlocking the bathroom door as she walked out. She could deal with the material for a few hours. She ran to her room, sliding on a pair of black heels that had a strap around the ankle and over the joints in her foot. She stumbled into the living room, trying to keep balance in her walk.

“Here’s your purse honey, I put some money from your savings in there and your phone too.” Alyssa said, handing it to Heather.
“Thank you mom.” She replied, sliding her black purse over her shoulder.
“Are you guys ready to go?” Miley asked, hopping up from the couch.
“Yeah we are.” Leo answered.

The three of them drove off to the High School, blasting rock music as Leo pulled into the parking lot. Leo turned off the car as he hopped out of his jeep, looking back at Heather who was sitting in the backseat.

“Oh by the way, Jada was never coming.” He smiled, opening the door for her.
“I hate you.” She scoffed, yanking her purse over her shoulder as she stumbled out of the car.

Leo laughed as he wrapped his arm around her waist, helping her keep her balance as they walked into the front door. They walked down the quiet halls before making their way over to the gym. The blue and white balloons, streamers, and various other party decor decked the walls beautifully, drawing out the cream color of the gym walls. The utensils were a baby blue that pulled the colors of the other decorations together. The cheerleaders were standing above the stage, hanging up a banner that read, “Woo-hoo, Prom!” As the football players continued tying balloons to the table legs. 

“What are we supposed to do exactly? It’s only 7:30, how did they get this much done?”
“Stop stressing out, Heather. We’re supposed to organize the playlist and help set up the photo booth.” Leo said, rubbing Heather’s shoulders.
“Okay.” She replied, taking a deep breath as she walked up to the DJ stand.

The DJ was someone she hadn’t seen before, but she could tell he was also a senior. He had a black, curly mullet with dark blue tips that complimented the blue in his dark brown eyes. His light brown skin glowed underneath the disco lights. Leo was staring blankly at him and his mouth was slightly agape.

“Leo. Vance just broke up with you. Wait a month at least.” Heather whispered.
“Huh?” Leo replied, clearing his throat.

She laughed rolling her eyes as he scribbled down a couple last minute songs on his notepad, ripping over the two pages and hanging them to the DJ.

“You listen to rock?” He asked, shooting his eyes up at Leo.

His voice was warm and deep, I could tell he didn’t grow up near here.

“Uh yeah, I do. Rock is my favorite music genre.”
“Mine too.” He said.
“What’s your favorite band?” Leo asked.
“I don’t really have a favorite band, but I like sticking to the classics.” He answered, switching something underneath the stand.
“So do I.” 
“My name’s Zion.” He said, sticking out his hand.
“Leo.” He responded, reluctantly shaking his hand.

As soon as he dropped his hand, Leo climbed calmly off the stage, walking over to where they were setting up the photo booths. 

“Could you guys lend me a hand with the sound system? I need to make sure the speakers are working.”
“Yeah we can.” Heather answered.
“Great. There’s a speaker on both sides of this stage, make sure they’re on the middle frequency and the second loudest volume setting, and make sure they’re plugged up too.”
“You got it.” Miley replied.
“Thanks.” He said, sliding his headphones over his ears.

Miley and Heather walked down to the speakers, adjusting them how he asked. They looked over at Leo who kept awkwardly glancing up at the DJ, something about the look made Heather feel like there was more there than just a crush, like they might know each other. Heather walked over to Miley, watching how he looked at Zion. She took her attention away from Leo and to Miley when she noticed Miley pressing the volume notch.

“Miley,” She said, kneeling down beside her.
“What?”
“It’s a notch, you’re supposed to turn it, not press it.”
“Oh. I knew that. I don’t know why I was pressing it.” She said, rubbing her eyes as she turned the notch.

She jumped up, walking over to Leo once she finished up. They helped him finish setting up the booth before Heather noticed how he glanced up at the DJ but this time, Miley glanced too. There was something in her expression that Heather couldn’t place. But she looked… hurt?

“Okay, I’m tired of this,” She said, “You guys know that DJ. Who is he? Leo, you were clearly interested but when he told you his name you wasted no time to start setting up this picture booth so clearly something’s up. Usually I don’t press for details, but you both seem to know him. So what’s going on?” 
“Well,” Leo hesitated, looking over at Miley, “He’s-”
“He’s my ex-boyfriend.” 
“What?” Heather murmured, shooting a glance at the DJ.
“Yeah.”

“I thought you’d never dated before.”
“That’s because I don’t want to count mine and his relationship as a relationship.”
“Do you care to tell me the details?” Heather pushed, leaning against the photo booth.
“Not right now. Later tonight.”
“Okay, okay. But you seemed happy to be talking to him?”
“I try not to hold grudges.” She replied, drawing the curtain to the photo booth.
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Miley information!!