PREPARING FOR PROM WAS AN EXTREME self-care day for Inez Archer. On the first Saturday of the blazing warm month of May, Inez has gone left and right to prepare for her special day. Instead of waking up at eleven in the morning like she usually did on a typical weekend, she woke up at nine and had a big breakfast and nice lunch before she headed out to a spa to get a relaxing pamper day before she'd visit a spa.
Her manicure consisted of getting scarlet red squoval shaped nails, which consisted of many sparkly patterns and shapes which went so well with each other, such as checkerboards and glittery white stripes. Inez also got her legs and arms waxed before she left the spa. It was painful to get extra hairs ripped right out of her, but the end results were a hundred percent worth it. Her legs were smooth and hair free, slightly more satisfying than the results of shaving her legs with a razor.
After Inez headed home from the spa, she straightened her hair with the help of her mother. With no frizz, her hair reached her mid-back, which brought out the deep red hue of her dress, which she was proudly wearing.
As she peeked into the vanity mirror inside her parent's bedroom, she already felt like a princess. After her mom shifted a makeup brush throughout her daughter's face, she took some time to apply some bronze eyeshadow, which made her eyelids pop. Gabrielle gushed, "You already look so beautiful."
"Thanks to you," her daughter hummed as she unsealed a small container of edge control to do her baby hairs to the side to enhance her look.
"No, you always look beautiful, Nez," Gabrielle recited as she brushed and applied some shimmery bronze eyeshadow, which made her eyes pop slightly.
Once Gabrielle finished applying additional eyeshadow, a bit of blush, natural-looking false lashes, eyeliner, and lipstick, she chirped as she began to place her makeup supplies into her large makeup bag. "Done."
Inez's eyes fluttered open, which revealed a full, yet natural-looking face of makeup. She quickly transformed from being the tired girl who just got out of bed looking crusty to looking like a complete dream. Her mouth dropped wide open in awe. "Mom, I love it. You know, you'd make a great makeup artist."
"Maybe, but I don't know. I like being a nurse practitioner," Gabrielle said with a shrug as she grabbed her bulky, tattered floral makeup bag, placing it under her arm. "But you look beautiful."
Gabrielle a hand through her daughter's silky hair. "I'm going to put this makeup away, then get something special for you."
"Okay," Inez muttered as she held up a few strands of hair to separate her baby hairs from the rest. She applied a little bit of strawberry-flavored edge control on it before she swooped it to the side with her edge brush. She did the same with the other side, satisfied with the way it turned out. All she could hope, however, was that her edges wouldn't flake up throughout time. Being that it was the day of prom, it would be extremely unfortunate.
Through the vanity mirror, she could see her mother leave the bathroom and head towards her daughter with a small glittery silver purse in hand and a small, rectangular box. She placed the purse on the vanity while she held up the box.
"The purse will match your dress, so you can borrow it for night to put your phone and whatever you need in it," Gabrielle said as she handed her daughter the rectangular box. "I have a surprise for you inside of this box. Why don't you open it?"
"I wonder what's inside," Inez cooed as she gently yanked off the box's cover. A silver pendant necklace in the shape of a heart sat inside with big letters engraved on it. It read, love always. "Wow, is this for me?"
"Yes, it is," her mother said simply as she took the necklace out of its box to hold it up. "Someone special gave it to me when I went to my senior prom."
"And that was?"
"Your dad," Gabrielle informed as she smiled at the memory. "Just as we were about to get going for prom, he gave it to me. I didn't forget about it, but I recently found it while doing a little spring cleaning in this room. It made me think of you, so I'm going to give it to you."
"Thank you so much, Mom," Inez gushed. "Can you help me put it on? My long nails are going to make it difficult."
"Of course," her mother hummed as she unhooked the necklace. She draped it across her daughter's neck before she latched it, looking into the mirror to make sure the pendant was in the center. "It looks nice on you. It highlights your eyelids."
"It really does, thanks Mom," the girl acknowledged as she got up from the small stool that came with the vanity. She smacked a kiss on her mother's cheek before she wore the small silver purse on her shoulder. Before she could place her phone inside, she tapped the screen a few times to check the time. The big numbers plastered close to the top read that it was six fifty-nine, which meant that prom would start in thirty-one minutes.
The minute moved on Inez's phone screen, marking that it was seven o'clock. Now, prom would start in thirty minutes. The time was ticking in a rush, and she still wasn't even out of the house on the road to get to the arena prom would take place in.
Minding the time, she placed her cell phone, edge control, and edge brush into her purse. You could never go wrong with those necessities whenever you're on the go. She sat back down on the stool in front of the vanity to put on her scarlet red two-piece heels, which slid onto her feet accordingly. Before she left the bedroom to go downstairs, she took one last look in the mirror to make sure she was ready to head out the door.
Was her hair in place? Check.
Was her dress properly worn? Check.
As she placed her purse on her shoulder, the girl's mother and her strutted their way out of the bedroom to climb down the stairs so she could head out. Climbing down the stairs with a long dress on was extremely difficult since stepping on the dress was highly common. The only way to stop it was to unpleasantly hold onto part of the dress, constantly looking at the ground below her as she treaded on each step.
Was it pleasant? Not at all. But was it worth the risk to fall down the stairs and injure herself during prom night? That was even worse.
When Inez reached the bottom of the steps, her father walked by, taking a brisk glance at his daughter before his mouth dropped wide open. "Nez . . . you look so beautiful."
The girl giggled before she reached out to hug her father, gently leaning the side of her head on his chest before she let go. "Thanks, Dad. Mom helped with everything."
"She did a great job," Jared remarked as he looked down at the pendant necklace, which was attached to the miniature chiseled chains that wrapped around her neck. His eyes lit up. "Wait . . . I recognize that necklace. Is that . . ."
"The necklace you gave me when we went to our senior prom?" Gabrielle intervened as a smile crept onto her lips. "I found it a few days ago when I was doing some spring cleaning in our bedroom. I decided to give it to Inez as a special token."
"That's perfect. Prom night for us was a good night, so I'm hoping for the same for Inez," Jared smiled before he flashed a smile to his daughter, wiping the side of his eyes dramatically. "Our daughter is going to prom, Gabs. Wasn't it just yesterday where she was crawling around the floor playing with her stuffed animals."
Gabrielle let out a breathy exhale as she fanned her eyes. "It feels like it."
"You guys are being so dramatic," Inez chuckled before the doorbell rang. "It's probably Alexander."
Since she was the closest to the door, she quickly unlocked the door, which opened from the inside when she twisted the handle. On the front porch, a glammed-up Alexander was revealed. His brunette hair was brushed down instead of being all shaggy like it normally was. He wore a red tuxedo jacket, a champagne white boutonniere sticking out of the right pocket of his jacket. He also wore raven black dress pants, and a black tuxedo shirt underneath the jacket to match. His jet-black bow was plastered against the collar line of the shirt, which somehow matched with the small box he held in his hand, a white bow plastered against the top.
"Hey, you look . . . gorgeous," Alexander raved with glee.
"You look handsome yourself," Inez chuckled as she held onto the doorframe with her hand.
"Hello, Alexander," Jared mustered a smile as he stood beside his daughter. "You look nice. I like how you and my daughter are matching."
"Thank you, Mr. Archer. It was Inez's idea to match with red," the Korean boy gushed.
Holding her cell phone, Gabrielle announced, her voice ecstatic. "Based on how you two look, you're going to make really great pictures. I'll be the photographer. We can go out in the driveway to take pictures."
With smiles, Alexander and Inez walked through the front porch to in front of the garage door, her parents trailing behind her as they walked. The sun, which was yet to set, beamed down them, making extremely exaggerated shadows in the pavement below them.
Before he could allow his girlfriend's mother to snap a few shots, Alexander stepped in front of Inez as he opened the small white box sitting in his hands. Inside the small space was a white corsage with a fake champagne white rose fastened to the middle. "I got you a corsage. It matches the boutonniere on my tuxedo."
"Oh, really? It looks so beautiful. It even matches my dress," Inez gushed as she held out her arm so her boyfriend could put the bracelet on her.
"I'm glad you like it," the Korean boy remarked as he slid the corsage onto his girlfriend's arm. Soon after, he stood beside her. "Now, let's take some pictures."
Making goofy poses with their faces, Gabrielle walked meters in front of them, holding out her phone in her fingers. As soon as she noticed the goofiness, she was there to shut it down. "You two are so goofy. We can take funny pictures later, let's just get some formal ones done first."
With a groan, Inez plastered a wide smile across her face as her mom began to snap a few photos of the couple. After she snapped a few good ones, she allowed them to make silly faces for the camera. After what seemed like millions of photos, Gabrielle finally announced that she was done taking pictures.
"You two have fun at prom," she announced as she itched the side of her eye with her finger.
"We will, Mom," her daughter smiled as she walked up towards Alexander's car. The boy held the door open for her to enter inside before he swung around to the driver's seat.
Jared added onto what his wife remarked. "Stay safe, kids. Call us if needed."
While lightly chuckling at what her father said, Inez placed her purse on her lap before she fastened her seatbelt securely. As she waved to her parents from the front window, the Korean boy pulled the car out of the driveway before he pulled off into the street.
Meadowbrook High School's prom would take place at a local arena, known for having concerts and events, about fifteen minutes away from home. Both individuals already knew the way there, so the monotonous voice of Google Maps wasn't needed. Because it was a Saturday evening, there were bits of traffic here and there, but it wasn't anything unbearable.
The ride to the arena consisted of bubbling conversation about anything and everything, continuous flirting, and everything in between. It was amazing how much a little conversation could pass a lot of time since they arrived at the arena in no time, like the flip of a switch. Alexander drove to the area of the arena where Meadowbrook's prom would take place. The parking lot was filled with loads and loads of cars. The only available spaces were a bit far from the establishment, so they'd have to walk to the building.
Walking in heels was never a pleasant thing to do.
"You know, I can drop you off at the entrance while I find us somewhere to park," Alexander offered as took a brisk glance at the girl before he temporarily parked his car in front of the building.
"No, it's okay. Even if I'm in heels, I want to walk with you," Inez reasoned with a glowing smile. "I need to get used to walking with these things again, anyway."
"Okay, if you say so, Nezzie," the Korean boy exhaled heavily before he turned the car. He drove through the particular parking row and found a parking space which was sort of far, but not the farthest. Once the car was parked, both individuals stepped out before Alexander locked the car, dumping his keys into his pocket before he laced his arm around his girlfriend's.
Inez could already feel the heels of her feet cramping up from the heels, despite them only being three inches. She's always hated high heels and everything about them. They were the shoes most prone to injuries, in her opinion. A shoe disaster on the night of prom didn't sound pleasant at all.
I should've worn platforms. Or flats. Flats are better, she mused internally. After another minute of pain to her feet as she walked, the couple finally approached the arena.
A trail of bricks led to the building, which many students stood around in deep conversation. Towards the center was a circular garden. Trimmed boxwood bushes surrounded the outside of the garden, which shielded a selection of assorted tulips. The center of the small garden consisted of a small water fountain, which water sprouted out of. Outside of the building consisted of multiple vines of leaves, which grew from the entrance of the building.
Inez and Alexander walked through the set of automatic doors. Meters ahead of the doors was a table of school staff who were there to sign people in for the school event. Once the couple was signed in, they followed a series of signs to the vast ballroom where senior prom would take place.
The ballroom consisted of an area for dinner, which surrounded the vast dance floor where multiple lights shone above. Multiple decorations and balloons were plastered across the wall in school colors, especially in front of the diverse dessert buffet. A chocolate fountain was at the center of the table, the sweet treat cascading down the machine endlessly. Even if no one has had dinner yet, eating strawberries with chocolate sizzled on top already sounded tasty.
Each table, which consisted of ten or so chairs had individualized plates of food, such as romaine lettuce, barbecue-style grilled chicken, and steamed vegetables. Every table also had small plates and bowls of caesar salad dressing, croutons, salt, pepper, and other additional condiments. Inez could feel her mouth water all at once at all the food placed on the table. It sounded delicious, but her attention was still focused on the chocolate fountain.
"We should totally go to the chocolate fountain after we finish eating dinner," she gushed as she wanted to lick her lips but remembered that lipstick was plastered across them. Licking lipstick did not sound appealing.
"We should. It's been a while since I've had chocolate and strawberries together," Alexander remarked with a smile. "But where's Jayden, Jolien, and the people they decided to come with? I don't want to start eating without them."
"We're right here," said a voice from behind him, shrill and bubbly.
A dressed-up Jolien stood behind the couple as Jayden trailed behind her with a few other friends. Mostly choir kids, but a few other people as well. At first sight, Inez instantly extends her arms to give her best friend a hug.
"Look at you! You look so beautiful," she cooed as she let go of the hug, holding onto her friend's arms with tender care.
"You look even more gorgeous, like you always do," Jolien remarked before she took a brisk glance at her friend's boyfriend, turning back to her afterwards. "I love how you and your boo are matching with each other."
"Uh-huh, red was such a good choice," Jayden added with a curt nod.
"It really is nice," Inez acknowledged as she adjusted her purse. "Should we start eating now? The food is just getting colder and colder as we talk."
"Perfect idea," Jolien chirped as she pulled out one of the modern wooden chairs from the table. Just like her, the entire group took a seat at the table. Like the couple they were, Alexander and Inez sat beside each other at the table.
As the girl began to use a spoon to drizzle caesar salad dressing across her lettuce, her boyfriend cleared his throat. "You know, Nezzie, red looks sexy on you."
"How sexy on a scale of one to ten?" Inez wondered out loud before she tapped the boy's nose as if he were a baby.
"An eleven," the Korean boy remarked without hesitation.
The girl's eyelashes fluttered. "Oh?"
"What can I say? Red looks really good on you," Alexander said simply as he poked a fork into a small string bean.
The rest of dinner consisted of the couple being flirtatious with each other. The rest of the table noticed, but decided to ignore it and carry on with their separate conversations, teasing the couple every now and then. Once their plates were empty, a waiter came by and picked up their plates so they could go to the dessert buffet. There was nothing wrong with ending off a rather nutritious meal with the flavor of something sweet.
Before anyone else at their table, Alexander and Inez decided to go to the vast dessert station to pick up some strawberries and chocolate. Despite there being two dedicated dessert buffets on opposite sides of the ballroom, this particular one was already flooded with fellow students. Hovering over the table, Inez could see a variety of cheesecakes, brownies, cupcakes, cookies, and of course, the chocolate fountain for the strawberries. There were also healthier choices of desserts, such as slices of pineapples, apples, and watermelon, but most people took the sugary treats.
Once the buffet cleared up a little, the couple took a plate and scooped several strawberries onto the surface. Each strawberry had wooden picks at one of the ends to make it easier for people to shadow it under the fountain.
"Watching the chocolate flow down from the fountain is so satisfying," Inez remarked as she shadowed a strawberry under the milk chocolate, watching it ooze all over the tip. "I could probably watch it forever."
"Yeah, my mouth is watering for these," Alexander said simply as he placed a strawberry filled with chocolate onto their shared plate.
Inez began to chuckle. "As soon as we're finished pouring chocolate on the rest of these strawberries, we can finally eat them."
The Korean boy nodded his head in agreement as he placed another strawberry under the waterfall of chocolate, as if he were holding out a marshmallow over a campfire to make s'mores. With teamwork, the couple finished putting chocolate over their strawberries in a jiffy, which allowed someone else to begin to use the fountain.
The couple strutted back to the table they originally came from. Other than Jayden, several people decided to either go to the dessert station or restroom, but their spots were still unoccupied. Slouching back into their original seats, Alexander placed the plate of strawberries in between his girlfriend and him for equal access.
In awe, his friend's mouth dropped open. "Wait, they have a chocolate fountain? I didn't notice that when I came here."
"Yeah, people are crowding around it like crazy. You should do it while the chocolate and strawberries are still there," the Korean boy remarked as he stared back at the overcrowding dessert station.
"I'm taking your word for it. I'll be back," Jayden mentioned as he hopped up from his chair, patting his friend on the back before he took off.
The couple was finally left alone once again. Alexander gently pulled a strawberry off of its pick stick, careful not to get chocolate on his fingers. Holding it up towards his girlfriend's mouth, he smiled. "Open wide."
"You're going to feed me like a baby?" Inez teased in denial.
"Yes, I am, and to make it far, you can do the same to me," the Korean boy remarked, still holding up the strawberry. "But first, open wide."
"Okay," the girl hummed before she opened her mouth. Once Alexander got the strawberry into the girl's mouth, he allowed her to take a small bite since the berry was rather big, too big to swallow in one bite. "Mm, the chocolate is melting in my mouth. It's so good."
"I'm so glad you think so, Nezzie," Alexander remarked with a smile as he raised the half-eaten strawberry back to his girlfriend's mouth to allow her to take another bite. When she was finished, he winked. "Now it's your turn."
"Finally," Inez cheered as she took a strawberry off of its pick. "Open wide, Alexa."
"Alexa?" The Korean boy nagged. "You couldn't think of anything better for a nickname? This one sounds so girly."
Inez shrugged, a smirk shaping her lips. "This is payback for all the times I told you not to call me Nezzie in the past, Alexa. You're lucky I'm not telling you to turn off the lights or something."
"That was in the past, though. We're cool now."
"Doesn't matter," the girl answered simply as she held a strawberry up by its tip. "Now open wide."
With a playful eye roll, Alexander did as commanded, savoring the goodness of the chocolate cream drizzled on the fruit. The rest of the couple's dessert time consisted of teasing each other and being playful like kids. After what seemed like forever, but in a pleasant way, the pair finally finished eating their chocolate strawberries, ready to move on with their night.
"We should totally go dance," Inez suggested as she pointed to the lively dance floor. Other students were already gathering around the floor, busting out modern dance moves to the rap songs that echoed from the speakers. "People are already starting to dance, so we should too."
"But I don't know how to dance, Nezzie," Alexander admitted, his lips forming into a grimace. "I really don't."
"Everyone knows how to dance," the girl urged him as she leaped up from her chair. "You just don't know it yet."
Leisurely getting up from his chair, the Korean boy crossed his arms. "Okay, you got me right there. But when I start looking like a fool out there on the dance floor, don't say that I'm embarrassing you."
"I'd never say that," Inez remarked before she tilted her head upwards, planting a quick kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. Afterwards, she held out her hand. "May I have this dance?"
Taking her hand, Alexander mustered a smile. "Yes, you may."
a/n: prom finally came to meadowbrook!! i was so excited about this chapter ever since i began writing this story.
speaking of, we only have two chapters left. can you believe it? i honestly can't 😭
thank you so much to those who've read this far into the story 💗