Ashes of the Future

Chapter 18

"So, who's up for Elise's prom? It would've been Betsey's and Wade's too." Unwillingly, Lela let the last few words slip out of her mouth, scratching at her lips as if she had sinned by speaking their names. Seven had gone down to four, but the four barely spoke about the three they lost. Elise, Betsey and Wade were all are year older than the others, but they had been kept back a year due to low grades. So at final school they only took a two year course, meaning their prom had come around a lot quicker than they were expecting it.

Betsey had been planning for so long before it, making sure her and Wade's outfits coordinated, but also that Elise followed their royal blue theme too with her initially going with the two of them.

Now she was going with Vykter, who still had another year left at final school, along with Nathly. Lela was the only one left taking a four year course, the realization hitting her that after Nathly and Vykter leave, Avry won't be there with her.

"But who would you go with Lela?" Twisting her body round to face a stood Lela, Elise flashed a grin that was filled with intent, every word she said being spoke for a reason.

"I don't need to-"

"The rules are take someone or don't go at all." Elise's statement earned a confused look from Vykter and Nathly, the boy quickly catching on to what his best friend was doing.

She had spoken to him about Cody's little thing for Lela, a surprising turn of events to him, as he had predicted Matt and Lela to end up together. Vykter was never wrong, but once he knew about Cody's crush it all became obvious. The way he paid attention to her when they were all together, his confident exterior oddly crumbling away every time he talked to her. But not in the way that made him a fumbling mess, but in the way that made him a tolerable, polite human being.

"That's not the actual 'rules' of the prom surely-" Meanwhile Nathly had the other end of the stick, believing Elise was trying to set her and Lela up again. Since Nathly had started seeing someone else, their friendship had become so uneasy, so unnatural. It just wasn't like them, but it was the reality.

But Elise quickly snapped her hand up in an effort to shut Nathly up, talking over her and she focused her attention on Lela only. "Take someone or don't go at all. One of the boys must be free, well you'll be left with Cody or Charlie because Matt and Dan will go together."

"I'll take Charlie." And as Nathly spoke, Elise's plan fell into place, signaled by yet another unsettling obvious smirk.

Lela fell silent, hearing Nathly so quickly dismiss the idea of the two of them going together. But with the silence came tension, and tension led to questions.

"What's going on between you two, come on, spill." Elise tossed her gaze between Nathly and Lela, swirling her finger around in the area between them.

With a short, awkward glance between the two of them, Lela began to talk."Nothing, everything's great isn't it Nat?"

Nathly nodded, suddenly not feeling like speaking, while jumping up out of her seats. She listened to them all day 'where are you going' and 'what are you doing', but she knew her reply would only spark a further ruckus between Elise and Vykter. "Braidn's."

And with those words, the front door slammed and Nathly was gone.

"Braidn? Why would she be going to see him?" Vykter shot up from his daze, flickering his looks between Elise and Lela, wondering if he was the only one who didn't know what was going on.

And it turned out he was, Elise explaining the situation. "He's her new, what Cody called, 'fuck buddy'. I believe fuck is a term for sex- oh wow Lela is that why you're not talking?"