chemistry ➸ hallie

iv. || dumb stuff

Allie's colder to Harry for the next few weeks. She doesn't fully ignore him, but she's been less talkative in class, replying scarcely to his texts, and hovering closer to Cassandra and Will at rehearsals. Thankfully the play has already happened by now—a huge hit with the rest of the school—so that's one less place where she'll have to see him.

Part of her wants to do the opposite. She wants to be overly-friendly with him, mostly to spite Cassandra. But that conversation with her sister stuck with her more than she'd like to admit. One of Allie's biggest fears is looking like an idiot, so she'd much rather spare herself the pain.

Harry has noticed her shift in demeanor. For a while his efforts to connect with her seemed to double, but eventually he got the hint. They're lab partners. End of story.

It's a rainy day in March when Allie first hears about the prom. She's walking out of the building and toward Cassandra's car to wait for her sister, when Gwen Patterson and Erika Crowder walk a little bit closer to her.

"Prom is literally in three weeks and I'm stressed because I don't want to go with Clark," says Gwen.

"What? Why not?"

"I met this guy..." begins Gwen, and then they walk a little out of range and the conversation is lost.

Allie thinks. Today is March 30th, which means prom is sometime in mid-April. Why hasn't Cassandra mentioned it? She knows her sister isn't necessarily the type to get all excited about something like prom, but Allie feels like she would have at least said something by now.

She's only waiting in the car for a few minutes before Cassandra is sliding into the driver's seat and placing her bag on the floor in the backseat. Allie waits until they're out of the parking lot to ask.

"Hey, why haven't you said anything about prom?" she asks.

Cassandra seems to hesitate for a minute. "I don't know. It's just not a big deal."

"Cassandra, it's your only prom," Allie argues, because it's true. At West Ham, seniors get a prom but juniors only get a banquet. Saves money for the town, or something like that. But the junior banquet is just sundresses for the girls and dress shirts for the boys and catered food at the local VFW, nothing fancy at all. It's why prom is always such a huge deal.

"I just don't want to be talking about it in front of you constantly," Cassandra sighs, and suddenly Allie is a little offended.

"What? Why?" she says. "You really think I'd get jealous or something? You think I'm that immature?"

Cassandra sighs again, sounding way too much like their mother. "No, Allie, of course not," she says. "It's just... well, I'm leaving soon, and I feel like prom is just a reminder of that."

Allie rolls her eyes. "Wow, you think highly of yourself."

"Allie."

"Whatever."

The conversation ends there, but Allie's still stewing a bit. Of course she'll miss Cassandra when she's gone. They just found out that she got into freaking Yale, which has been Cassandra's top school since she was ten years old. It's only an hour away but it's far enough. Sometimes Allie wonders what her parents will do when their pride and joy is halfway up the state, and they're left only with there spectacularly average second child.

But missing Cassandra doesn't mean that Allie won't be able to let go. She's not a child, and Cassandra doesn't always have to... protect her so much. There's less than a year between them. They're practically the exact same age. Allie doesn't need a babysitter, or a third parent. She can take care of herself.