Missing Moments

Henry and Amy's Promposal Fiasco

"Beats me," Noah sighed. Trying to put a more positive spin on the situation, however, he pointed at Finn meaningfully as he said, "But hey, it's still gonna be a fun night. We're not going to let the relationship drama ruin this for everyone else."

"Oh, definitely not. I live for dance parties, and this is gonna be the best one yet for sure!"

Noah chuckled and fist-bumped Finn on the arm. "I like the attitude, Finny boy. Keep it up."

They reached the end of the hall, and Noah told him, "I've got to go run some ideas for Regionals by Emily and Michelle before they leave for the night. I'll see you later, man."

"See ya."

As Noah walked away, Finn set off in the opposite direction and pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time. It was the middle of the afternoon, and Emily and Michelle had given the dancers the day off so they could make preparations for prom. Not ready to go home just yet, Finn decided to head for Shakes and Ladders instead to see if any of his teammates were there.

Sure enough, Piper sat at one of the tables off to the side, her back to him as he entered the juice bar. She had disappeared after Henry stormed off to Studio A. He had assumed that she must have stayed back with Amy, but that assumption proved false as Amy was nowhere to be found.

Without a second thought, Finn slipped into the empty seat next to Piper and ran a hand over his hair. "Well, that was awkward," he stated with a sigh. He was referring to the obvious promposal disaster, but he didn't think he needed to clarify for her to know that.

Indeed, she muttered, "Tell me about it," in response.

There was a full smoothie sitting in front of her, but Piper didn't seem in any hurry to drink it as she twirled her straw around in it. Finn glanced at her, noting the way her lips were pursed. For a moment, it crossed his mind that she surely must have known that Amy was going to prom with Ty since they were best friends and probably told each other everything.

But wait. If that was the case, why would she have agreed to help Henry with his promposal instead of warning him that Amy was already going with someone else? There was no way Piper could have known.

"How's Henry?" Piper asked after a moment, finally turning her gaze to meet Finn's.

He shrugged one shoulder. "Okay. Summer's keeping him company tonight – you know, to keep his mind off everything."

Piper simply nodded to show she'd heard him and went back to twirling her straw around in her untouched smoothie. She was strangely quiet to the point that Finn couldn't help wondering what was running through her mind that had her so downcast. He'd only known her a few weeks, but this was starting to become a recurring theme.

When she spoke again, her voice was softer than he'd ever heard it. "I wanted to come with you guys, but I figured it might be awkward considering..."

"Considering?" Finn questioned when she trailed off.

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she tilted her head to the side like it should be obvious. "I'm Amy's best friend, and she's probably not his favorite person right now."

"Oh. Yeah, no, she's definitely not his favorite person right now. Far from it."

"Right," Piper muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. She gripped her smoothie with both hands, but she still didn't take a drink from it. The briefest look of bitterness seemed to flash through her eyes, and her lips formed a thin line. "Did you know I didn't even know anything was going on between them? Amy never said anything. I had to find out from Summer."