"Oh," Thomas smiled once he looked up from his desk. Tiffany stood in the doorway. "Come on in. What's up?"
Tiffany walked in and closed the door behind her.
"Hey," she grinned uncomfortably. "I hate asking for favors, absolutely hate it. I know we're supposed to request time off 2 weeks ahead of time but it completely slipped my mind."
"What day do you need?"
"Next Saturday. I understand that was going to be the day for organizing & backing up all the files but it's my senior prom and-"
"Consider it done," he stood up putting a couple binders back on his shelf. "I don't wanna be the guy that kept a girl from her prom."
Thomas kissed her on the forehead.
"Thank you," she blushed.
"You'll be the belle of the ball. If only I were younger, I'd ask to take you."
"What was your prom night like?"
Thomas laughed. "I, uh, I didn't have one. I was homeschooled after freshman year. Got too busy making a name for myself."
He sat back down in his office chair and Tiffany walked around to sit on his desk, crossing her arms. "If you did go to prom; let's say we were the same age, how would you go about it?"
"I honestly have no idea what kids do these days for prom, but..." he thought for a moment. "With a single rose and a handwritten card, I'd ask if you'd go to prom with me. And assuming you'd say yes, I'd make sure my tie matched your dress. I'd probably manage to get us limo service, a nice dinner...and since I'm a gentleman, I'd have you back home at the end of the night. Might even ask for a kiss. Well, when I was your age, sure I could act my ass off in front of a camera. But in front of a pretty girl like you? I'd be a nervous wreck."
"No way," she chuckled.
"Way," he nodded. "Girls found my shyness cute, though. Then again, I never knew if they saw me as Thomas or if they say Ponyboy Curtis."
"Pretty sure you didn't care."
"Not at all," he laughed. "Have you found a date, though?"
"No. I'm thinking of just going with my friend, Serenity. Her boyfriend dumped her so she's going alone too."
. . . . .
During lunch on Monday, Nadia sat in the courtyard very agitated. Kali, also looking troubled, joins her at the table with her bag of lunch.
"Nadia," Kali sighed. "I don't know what to do. I'm torn between a girl and a guy, I have no idea what my sexuality is even doing. Not to mention my family would probably burn me at the stake for having any ounce of same-sex desires in my blood. Austin is so cute but he's not really making any moves, I mean, why would he? He's my boss, you know? And Stass wants to go to prom with m--"
"Kali!" Nadia rubbed her temples. "With all due respect...I have more pressing matters to worry about."
"Wh-what's wrong?"
"Everything," Nadia groaned. "Some idiot got the order mixed up and sent all of our pre-ordered decorations to another school that is also having a Great Gatsby themed prom. Instead we got stuff for, I don't know, I guess a Red Carpet night. Totally lame."
"At least we got something, right?"
"What do I tell everyone? Oh sorry you all got extravagant outfits for a theme that's not gonna happen? To make matters worse, my dressmaker fucked up the design I wanted. I told her I'm not paying for that. But it's too late for a new one to get made, so I had to go to the store to find another dress that someone probably already has." Nadia sighed with defeat.
"Breathe," Kali chuckled. "If it makes you feel any better, a Great Gatsby theme isn't too far from a Red Carpet theme. And I'm sure everyone was gonna wear outfits that had nothing to do with the theme. It'll be alright."
"Yeah but--" Nadia is interrupted by her phone ringing. She answers. "Hello? ...Yeah? ...Oh m-- ...That's great! Thank you so much!"
"What was that about?" Kali asked.
An even wider smile grows across Nadia's face as she puts her phone away.
"Oh nothing," Nadia happily sighed. "Only...Logic's publicist."
"Logic? ...Logic, the rapper Logic?!" Kali's eyes widened.
"Aka the special performer for our senior prom!"
The girls both scream at the same time, making others stare at them as if they were bizarre.
"Keep it on the low, okay?" Nadia asked, grabbing her things. "I have to go run it by Miss Kendrick."
. . . . .
After school, Lucy sat in the hallway at the physical therapy center, reading a magazine. Her phone buzzed and she looked around before answering it.
"Hello?" She answered.
"I miss you," Kian spoke quietly on the other end.
"I'm at the therapy center, what's going on?"
"Do you miss me, at least?"
"Of course I do, Kian. You just have that tone in your voice that you either want me in your bed or you've been drinking...which I told you a long time ago not to do so much of. Which is it?"
"Just a little...high."
"You don't seem so sure."
"No, no, I'm sure. I'm high. That's it."
"Hm. Okay."
"So you're not mad at me anymore?"
Lucy took a deep breath as she flipped through the magazine. "I'm only mad at you when you keep asking me the same question."
"Sorry," he lightly chuckled. "I do want you in my bed, though."
"Save it for prom night." Lucy looked up once Mary the therapist opened the door. "I gotta go, I'll call you when I get home. Love you."
Lucy quickly hung up and put the magazine down.
"Is he ready to go?" Lucy asked Mary.
"Yes, there's just something you have to see first."
Lucy didn't know what to expect from Mary's plain facial expression. But once she walked in the room and saw Nate standing with the help of the parallel bars. There was a grin on his face once he saw her element of surprise.
"Oh my God, Nate...you're--"
"Not fully," he spoke. "But the feeling is coming back. I'm just glad I wasn't permanently paralyzed."
"He's very lucky," Mary finally smiled. "Ready to show her, Mr. Maloley?"
"Mmhmm."
Mary had Lucy stand at the other end so that Nate could walk toward her. Nate gripped onto the bars as he slowly put one foot in front of the other. Mary remained close, just in case. There was a moment when he paused and Lucy could see the slight frustration in his pursed lips, but he pushed through and continued his strides. Especially once he kept his eyes on Lucy, it gave him more motivation to get to her.
"Almost there," Lucy encouraged.
He took a few more steps and ended it all with hugging her. Lucy squeezed tight, being proud of him.
"I knew you could do it," she said.
"I just had to get to you," Nate spoke near her neck.
Lucy didn't want to rain on his parade, so she didn't respond to the obvious intent behind his statement.
"You did good," Lucy smiled. "Let's hit the road."
It was a serene ride home. Lucy had Yellow by Coldplay playing while Nate stared out the window at all the towering trees, full of hope & happiness that his legs were on their way to working again.
"Yo Lucy," he said. "Do you think...do you think you could save me a dance at prom?"
"What?"
"Just one. I know Kian's obviously gonna be your date, but I just want one dance."
"Um," Lucy thought. "Sure. I don't see why not. I'll have to ask Kian if it'll be okay, though."
Nate nodded as Lucy pulled into his driveway. She wheeled him inside and took him to the kitchen where his little brother was making two sandwiches for himself.
"Hey Stew," Lucy remarked.
"Sup." Stew gave her a hug and took his sandwiches with him to the family room where he was watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force reruns.
"Alright well, I'm gonna go to the mall. Gotta find prom shoes. Great job today, Nate."
Lucy leans down and kisses him on the cheek before heading toward the foyer.
"Oh, and Lucy?" Nate called out. "The Lucy I knew never needed to ask a man for permission. She did shit on her own accord. Just in case you forgot who you were."
Lucy shook her head. "Yeah okay. Enjoy the rest of your evening."
. . . . .
At the mall, Gilinsky joined Vanessa in the food court as she ate her salad, kissing her on the cheek. He had a couple shopping bags in tow.
"Got your macaroni," Vanessa spoke with a full mouth, nudging the styrofoam container toward Jack.
"You're the best," he smiled. "I finally found a tie. The perfect tie."
"A bowtie?"
"They didn't have any that I liked, I just got a regular one. But it matches your dress, it's navy blue with gold dots."
"Speaking of dress," Vanessa sips on her water. "That's why I'm eating this salad. It needs to fit perfectly. Minute on the lips, lifetime on the hips."
"You'd look beautiful regardless, babe."
"I know," she winked & kissed him on the nose. "Still, that dress is expensive, even more money if I had to alter it on a short notice."
"Well on prom night, we're ordering the biggest pizza and bringing it to the hotel room."
"You never told me what else we're doing."
"I told you it's a surprise. Just trust me."
"Hey guys," Lucy approached them. She sat down and took a couple deep breaths.
"It's about time," Vanessa groaned. "Do you know how weird it looks when you hang out in a food court for too long?"
"No," Lucy shrugged, helping herself to the untouched bag of salad croutons. "Sorry, though. You know L.A. traffic. Oh! Guess what...Nate took his first steps today. Showing great progress."
"Oh yeah?" Vanessa kept her eyes on her salad.
"Yep. I'm so proud of him. You should've seen his face light up."
"...And have you talked to Kian?"
"I talk to him everyday," Lucy responded with confusion.
"Hm."
"Well," Jack belted. "Shall we begin shoe shopping?"
"Wait, is something going on? I feel like I missed something. Kian sounded fine on the phone, minus being high."
"High on what," Vanessa mumbled.
"I hear Bella Vita is having a sale today, I know you ladies love sales," Jack continued to change the subject.
"What does that mean?" Lucy put the bag of croutons.
"Well Lucy," Jack began. "A sale means tha--"
"It means Kian has been doing a little more than weed for the past couple of days," Vanessa stated. "Shut up, Jack."
"I'm just gonna go grab a few more Teriyaki chicken samples." Jack wasted no time leaving the table.
"He what?" Lucy felt slight heart palpitations.
"I know he would never tell you so I had to. Kian never listens to me and I don't want him to go back to using or selling or none of that shit. He'll only listen to you."
Meanwhile in front of the row of food court restaurants, Jack helps himself to several samples of chicken, giving the man praise for how good it tastes. He feels a tap on his shoulder and nearly drops a sample once he turns around.
"M-Madison," he stammered. "What are you doing here?"
"It's a mall, silly," she giggled.
"I mean are you shopping for prom?"
"Nope," she batted her eyelashes. "I was gonna go with Sammy because he asked. But then I found out there wouldn't be too many juniors there so I thought why bother, you know? I think Andrea is throwing a party so I'm gonna go to that."
"Oh cool. Well I'll see y--"
"How's Lucy doing?" Madison put on an entire act, pretending she was concerned for Lucy's wellbeing. "I heard what happened, totally messed up."
"She's doing better, I think."
"Oh good. Once I heard the pictures got sent to her parents, I gasped so loud. Like, I couldn't even imagine!"
"I-I gotta go back, Mads. I'll see you around."
"Why are you so nervous?" Madison folded her arms.
"I'm not nervous," Jack scoffed. "I'm just trying to get back to my girl."
That line angered Madison but she didn't show it.
"...Must be nice," her voice almost cracked.
"What?"
"Having someone."
Madison moved past him, finally going on her way.
_________
Author's Note:
I'm not gonna say what, but did you catch it? The thing that could make you throw the side-eye? I wonder if anyone is gonna point out the foreshadowing I'm being vague about...
Lolll. Prom is coming!! I promise it'll be a sweet chapter for everyone but of course it wouldn't be complete without my little plot twists & cliffhangers near the end. You'll see ;)
Also I've been re-editing past chapters one by one, adding more photos & outfits. Check it out if you want. So far I'm at chapter 7 or 8?? idk.
Vote & comment! xo