Prompt: Y/N dreams of going to Prom with hotshot Minho, but her parents won't allow it if she doesn't pass her next Math test. Newt, her very generous friend, helps her study to pass the test so she can go... but her heart breaks along the way. Does Newt patch it up for her?
A/N: Just a heads up that this one is a bit longer than usual (4600 words), this was originally in three parts.
"Wait so, why am I helping you study with your math again?" Newt questions with a raised eyebrow but a soft toned voice, if it were any louder you'd be kicked out by the grumpy librarian who spends her days surfing centuries-old dating websites. You also suspect she has a Myspace account too.
"We already went through this, didn't we?" You slightly whine as you stare down at the intimidating sums staring back up at you with their evil eyes and mysterious motives. "Mom said I couldn't go to prom if I didn't pass the math test tomorrow."
"Oh, I see. That's a bit harsh..." He whispers but then says, "What's your average score on a test?"
You wave your hand in a dismissing manner, "Oh I don't know... maybe an E, possibly a D."
Newt looks at you with a tilted head, sarcasm laced through every fibre of his being, "Great."
He proceeds to help you study, flipping through your worn textbook. He asks you about a few of the pages you've seemed to have either destroyed or wet with frustrated tears, but you lie and say it was your cat; probably. He's obviously not convinced. Then the conversation takes a turn back to prom, which makes you feel slightly happier. "So, who's the unlucky guy you're going with to prom?"
You sigh dramatically, "Minho."
Newt raises an eyebrow, "Really? Didn't think he's your type..."
You look up at him and say with a serious tone, "How would you know what my type is? Besides, Minho is everyone's type. He's the best runner on the track team! His body is mint... and those arms..."
Newt screws his face up in disgust, "Yeah, yeah... I get the picture."
You smirk and scribble down a formula, then try to apply it to one of the questions. You stop yourself from squealing in delight when you manage to find the right answer, Newt flashes you a thumbs up and he genuinely looks pleased; sort of proud. This makes you happier.
"So who are you going to prom with?" You ask cautiously.
"Hmm." He grins in a sad sort of way.
"What?" You ask, dropping your pencil onto your exercise book, "Did she reject you?"
"Not exactly..." He looks down at his hands, and then looks up at you, "She's going with someone else."
You rest your chin on your hand, "Oh, that's too bad." After a while of awkward silence you then ask, "Who is it though?"
Newt shakes his head, "No one you'd know." He shoves another textbook in your face with more sums that look even worse than the last. You almost start crying. "Now try these."
You shake your head, "I'll be half dead if I past this test."
"Newt!" You shout, overwhelmed with pride and excitement. You screech around the corner of one of the school hallways, "Newt you legend!" You turn around another corner and slam into the blond headed and brown eyed boy. "Sorry!" You squeal apologetically.
He rubs his head and then picks up his books from the floor, you help him. "You're such a bloody slinthead, you know that?" His eyes flicker over to the sheet you hold in your hand marked with a C+ He drops his books and looks at you as if you've just created the cure for cancer. "Did you... Is that your... No way."
You look at him smugly, "Yes way!"
"You can go to prom?"
"Shuck yeah!" You both jump up from the ground and he sweeps you up into a wonderful hug.
"I thought it was impossible, I must be smarter than I thought..." Newt says as he lets go of the embrace and picks up the pile of books from the floor.
"Hey, what about me! I'm the one who did the test!" He rubs his hand through the hair on top of your head.
"Good job, ya' shank."
You give him a heart-warming smile, "Thank you."
You turn to walk away, excitement still brimming inside as your eager to tell your other friends and of course, Minho himself. You couldn't exactly confirm to him that you'd be going, and you had explained why so he must also be eagerly waiting for your answer, right?
Wrong.
"I... well you were unsure with your answer. And..." Minho sighs, "I've seen your grades on math tests before, and I thought you wouldn't be able to pass..."
Tears threaten to spill over your cheeks but you refuse to let them show. You absolutely can't show your weak side, not to Minho. He looks back at you, somewhat apologetic but also very uncomfortable. "I... uh... Fair enough." You mumble and then continue to say, "But you know, working really hard for this one night... Never mind, I guess I should of realised it was too good to be true."
You immediately leave the hallway and exit through the courtyard, you practically run for the girl's bathrooms to escape showing your tears to your peers but someone clasps a warm, strongly gripped hand around your wrist; jerking you backwards. You briefly look up into the face of Newt and then bury your head into his chest out of embarrassment as you feel the tears leak, unwantedly.
"Y/N..." He whispers soothingly, keeping you in his friendly, warm embrace. Sobs rack through your body which makes you only feel even more embarrassed. But Newt doesn't seem to mind, he just keeps you in his arms; comforting you the only way he can.
"I'm sorry," You mumble and lift your head from his chest.
He wipes away the tears from your eyes with his thumb and then pushes the loose bits of hair behind your face. "What for, love?"
"I made you help me for all those hours when you could have been practicing for your lacrosse game or hanging out with your friends. I made you do all that for nothing." You lip quivers as the guilt takes its toll, why did Minho have to be such an ass?
"What did he do?" Newt almost growls, a sternness taking over his voice, his face.
"He... he asked someone else out because he –he thought I couldn't pass the test."
"That little-
"No!" You interrupt, "Just... just leave it. I'm over it." You regain your wit and strength as you prepare yourself to go back to class but before you can walk away from the only comfort you want, you're stopped by a hand to your arm.
"You wanna know something?" He asks, excitement sparkling in his eyes. You start to wonder what he's scheming.
"What?" You hope he's not going to drag you into pranking Minho at the prom or something. You wouldn't want it to end like the one in Carrie where his date kills everyone at the prom, that'd be terrifying.
"The prom is for lame losers who don't have an ounce of intelligence."
"Excuse me? I actually wanted to-
"How about we ditch it together and roam the city all night, eating fast food, shopping like crazy, heck: you can even wear your prom dress if you want. And then afterwards we can go down to the beach and make sandcastles and swim naked or some klunk."
You raise an eyebrow and smile with amusement, "Are you kidding?"
"And then let's crash some teenage party and get really smashed."
You shake your head, still smiling, "You're actually serious." Of course he's serious. You realize just how caring Newt is, first he gives up an entire evening to help you pass a test for a boy you don't even like that much and now he's willing to spend an entire night out just to make you feel better.
"You bet I am."
You blink, look back up at Newt and flash him a grin before saying, "I'm in."
***
You take Newt's word on wearing the dress. It's funny, you think to yourself as you look at your reflection: it's funny how when you were trying this dress on in a smoothly painted cubicle of a changing room in some weird hipster store that your friend, Brenda, suggested, that you were thinking of your prom night. Of all the cute fairy lights that would decorate the entrance, the food and the drinks. The ecstatic feeling in the atmosphere. Rocking up with one of the hottest guys in school... But now, all you can imagine is rocking out to Fall Out Boy beside Newt in his bomb of a car while pigging out on McDonalds.
You don't bother with a heavy amount of makeup, it would take too much effort and time. Instead you add a light layer, what you usually wear, and an unusual colour of red lipstick that reminds you of blood.
You look at your dress one last time, it's purple and blue fabric swirling around your body, ending just above the knee. It isn't tightly fitted, it doesn't cling to your figure. Which is why you chose this dress, it's elegant. It makes you feel incredibly beautiful even when it doesn't hug your hips, legs and bum; which is why you love it so much.
Instead of slipping on the heels you decided to wear to prom, you pull out from your backpack: a pair of big, black combat boots that you haven't worn since sophomore year when you hated the world a lot more than you do now.
You slip them on and you smile when they still fit the way you remember. Your suddenly glad that your feet didn't grow as much as the other girls. The colours obviously mismatch. The red, the blue and purple, the black. But for some odd reason, they do match. They fit together perfectly; you feel somewhat invincible. Like no one could touch you without burning to ashes.
You remember back to a time when you first got these boots and someone made fun of you for wearing them to a party that seemed to be a little more formal than you had expected. You remember how you waltzed right up to the boy who called your shoes a disgrace and kicked him in the privates. You remember how you shouted at him, "They might not look the best but no other shoe could make you hurt like that!" Those shoes were like a protection, you wore them everywhere.
Suddenly you're brought back to the present by a vibration from your phone. You didn't have the heart to tell your mother that you wouldn't be going to prom, so you said you'd be at Brenda's house getting ready with her. Instead, you packed your bag with everything you needed and came home with Newt, who's waiting patiently downstairs.
Newt: If we don't leave now, we'll miss the band play.
You: What band? I thought we were going to the city first?
Newt: We are going to the city.
You pack your things in a flash and race downstairs. Newt stands from the couch and his glance softens when he sees you all dressed and ready to go.
"Y/N... you look terrifyingly beautiful."
Your blood-red lips turn into a smile, "Exactly how I wanted."
You follow Newt out to his car, it beeps unlocked so you climb in instantly and turn on the radio. All you hear is talking so you slip in a Fall Out Boy CD.
"Do you mind? I haven't even started up the car yet." He says, slightly amused. He twists the keys in the ignition and you both wait until the engine revs and reverses out the driveway. After your off his street, you turn the CD player back on and it plays you're favourite song.
"I like this one." Newt states gruffly as the car turns a corner, heading onto a main road. "But bugger, it'll be stuck in my head for the rest of the night."
You smile evilly, "Good." You open the window and stick your head close to it, feeling the fresh, strong wind whip at your hair, at your eyes. It stings and almost makes your face numb but it's your favourite thing to do when you're tired and need that... peaceful feeling.
"So what band are we going to see?"
"Do you remember Thomas?" Newt asks, brushing back his fringe. "My friend Thomas, in that hipster band?"
"Yeah... and his friend Teresa? The one with those gorgeous eyes?" You say as you vaguely remember their appearance and Thomas casually talking about all these things you don't understand like instruments and if they aren't like this particular way or cared for in this particular way then they don't sound this particular way. You remember it was all very confusing. "He likes instruments."
"Yeah, they're the ones. Actually, I think Teresa will be there tonight as well."
And so she was.
But also was Minho.
And they were together.
"I... I'm sorry, we can leave if you want." Newt says as his eyes find Teresa and Minho's.
You gulp, "No. No it's alright. I'm a big girl, I'm over it." You both edge closer to the pair who seem to be talking to Thomas, the band's lead guitarist.
"Newt! Hey!" Thomas says as he gives Newt one of those weird "man-hugs". He turns to you and his eyes light up, "Y/N! Good to see you again."
Minho looks over in your direction.
"It's good to see you too." You say politely, although you can't lie about the anger rising from within as your eyes connect with Minho's. He looks down at the floor in embarrassment. You all find your seats around a circular table that only just fits the four of you. Teresa suggests that Newt should go order drinks and you look up at him worriedly, scared to be alone.
He nods you towards him but before you can stand up, Minho's voice rings out like the chime of death. "You're going with Newt to prom, Y/N?"
You freeze, hesitant to stay but you decide quickly. Of course you can't leave, he's already started a conversation; the slinthead. He's done it on purpose. "Uh, no; we're not going to prom."
"You're not?" Minho raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah, Newt said it was for lame losers who don't have an ounce of intelligence." You stand up, politely pushing your chair in. "I think Newt will need a hand with the drinks."
You're sour for the rest of the band playing, but you can't help but feel a little bit happy from the smile you received from Newt when you told him what you said.
"Utterly genius, you are." His voice repeats in your mind.
Soon the gig comes to an end and you help Newt try for a standing ovation from the crowd. But the rest of the audience unfortunately resists, although you get a thumbs up from Thomas and a flashy smile.
"It was nice hanging with you guys but we must leave now, unfortunately." Newt says, meaning to be polite but coming across quite... mockingly.
"I thought you weren't going to prom, that's what Y/N said." Minho glares and you resist to rolling your eyes.
"Well Minho, there are other places in the world than prom." Newt takes your hand gently into his, "Cheerio."
Once you two get into the car, the laughter pours out. "That was so good, Newt!" You wipe the tears from your eyes. "I can't believe you said that."
Newt sighs happily, "Our night is only just beginning and we've already been rebellious."
You shake your head, "Where to next?"
"Hmm, it's not dark enough to go skinny dipping yet so let's head down to McDonalds' drive through." He gives you a quick wink before starting up the engine again.
You shake your head again, "If you think that for one second I'll strip naked in a public place-
"Oh so if it wasn't public, you'd still strip? For me?"
"Oh slim it."
***
"Do you want to head down to the beach now, love?" Newt asks as he takes the McDonalds from the window and hands each paper bag to you. You keep them on your legs.
You peer out the window, your hand clasps over both of the paper bags. The sky growing crisp and clear with only a slight breeze to cool the heat. "Sure."
Soon you rock up to the beach, before you exit the car though; you slip your shoes off and slide them onto the floor. Then you exit the car and walk side-by-side with Newt, carrying your own bag of food. Your skin on your feet tingles at the sensation of the sand, the last time you came to the beach would have been freshman year; you realise. You weren't ever really fond of the beach because of its grainy sand that seems to stick to everything and salty waves, you're still don't take much liking to it, but maybe you just needed the right company like you have now.
"Newt, are you just hanging out with me because I got ditched? Because if you are, I'll be very mad with you."
There's a long pause as you finish the sandy pathway and come onto the beach. You see the water calm as anything, almost like glass. The wind seems to drop and you smell the fresh, salty-water tingle at your nose.
Newt drops his McDonald bag on the sand. "No." His voice rings crisp through your ears, a sort of calmness to it.
You look over at him briefly, he looks back. "Good that." You reply softly, almost too softly.
"Race you to the water?" He asks as he slides his shirt off, revealing his bare torso from underneath.
You look at him daftly, "I..." You shake it away and tell yourself to stop being so awkward, "I'm not going in naked, Newt."
"Hey!" He says, "Chill man, I'm trying to take it slow here; there's no need to rush." A smirk tugs at his lips as you realise he's just being an ass. "Just go in your underwear?" He grins and then runs towards the water.
You blush and grin sheepishly, "Oh yeah..." You say to yourself and quickly unzip your dress after placing your bag of food beside Newt's, your bare skin tingles against the air; you suddenly feel a little self-conscious but you race down to the water anyway. You stop against the edge as the crisp-blue water climbs its way over the sand towards you. It touches your toes, to your surprise though, it's not as cold as you thought it would be.
You wade in, and that's when you see Newt's face; it looks sort of... disappointed but also amused at the same time. "What?" You ask.
"Your underwear." His voice almost sounds grim.
You look down at yourself and almost squeal in fright, you completely forgot that you're wearing quite revealing and well, sexy underwear. "I..." You're almost lost for words. "I was saving this underwear for prom... All my other underwear was in the wash too, and I thought I might as well go ahead and where it anyway."
Newt's eyebrows raise, "What were you expecting to happen on your prom night... Y/N?"
You know he already knows the answer. "Pfft, nothing at all..." You don't sound very convincing.
"Thought you were going to get it on, aye?" Newt suggests, a wicked grin spread across his face.
You splash a bit of water over at his face, you look at him sternly, "Go away Newt, it's none of your business."
He only chuckles and splashes you harder, "Sure thing, love." But you know he'll never let you live it down.
"You still haven't told me this mystery girl of yours." You lead the conversation onto a new topic, and you soon feel the embarrassment leave your cheeks and mind.
He groans, keeping his eyes on the still water. "She's the most gorgeous girl I have ever seen, Y/N."
"Oh really, almost as gorgeous as me?"
Newt only chuckles, "Maybe I'll tell you another day. I thought going out today was to get the prom off our minds?"
"It's completely off my mind, thanks to you. And you're right, prom sucks compared to this freedom." You gently fall back into the cool water, and you're surprised that the water doesn't chill you to the bone like you thought it might.
"Can you believe our high school life is almost over?" Newt suddenly asks, a lot of thoughtfulness in his voice.
"Don't remind me."
"What?" He drags out the 'a' in the word, "You were just talking about freedom!"
You sigh, "It means I have to actually get a life, you know? Responsibility. No more fun. At least that's what my parents said."
"No more fun?" Newt asks dramatically as he crouches into the water, flicking his wet fringe back, "We're going to move in together."
You raise an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"
"We're going to move in together so I can make sure you have all the fun you deserve and more." He shrugs.
"How?"
"We're going to save up, move in to a nice apartment. Then we'll do whatever the hell we want because we bloody can. Go out to McDonalds at midnight? Sure! Watch movies all day? How about we cover the house in pillows and blankets while we're at it?" The cheesy grin spread through Newt's lips smiles wider and you can't help but giggle at his plans for your future.
"You're an idiot Newt."
"I'm serious!" He splashes up some seawater at your face, lightly dampening your cheeks and forehead, only just missing your eyes.
You put your hands at the ready, "Are you sure you want to go down this road?" Newt only gives you a wicked look, like he's accepted your challenge. You can't back down now. Instead of full on splashing him in the face like he expects, you dive underneath the silky water and tug his feet out from underneath himself. He yelps for a moment before you watch as he falls underneath the water too, looking straight at you with a need for revenge in his darkening brown eyes. You come up for air and just as you gulp in some oxygen, Newt comes crashing down on you, taking you back under. You fight and struggle to slip out of his arms but it doesn't work, his grip is too strong. Instead of wasting all your strength of trying to get away, you punch at his arms and he soon squeals in pain which is like a happy tune to your ears. You slip from his arms and breathe in oxygen as your head emerges from the water. You quickly swim away ungracefully, sloshing the water around your body.
Before Newt can attack you again, you stand up from the water and feel it drip off your body. "Wait!" You squeal, wide eyed. What can you do to get out of this one?
Newt looks at you, amused with a definite smirk. "Give up?"
You frown, "Hell no."
He inches forward but you hold up your hands and say, "Stop!"
He raises an eyebrow.
"I... we should go eat, you know? Our McDonalds." You're suddenly glad that you remembered your uneaten box of nuggets lying against your fries in a paper bag.
Newt opens his mouth to say something but then his eyes flash, as if he thought of something else instead. "Oh alright, but you're totally going to pay for that pinch; missy."
You roll your eyes, "Sure thing."
By the time you both have finished your food, the air becomes chilled and night starts to settle over the once sky-blue sky. "Guess what."
You look over at Newt, curiosity brimming in your mind. "What?"
Newt pulls out a bottle from behind his back, "Let's get drunk." He opens the bottle and takes a gulp before holding it out to you, eagerly.
"Are you kidding?" You can smell the alcohol from here but it's not the same... it smells odd but not off-putting. You then realise that there's not even a label wrapped around the bottle, is it his own concoction? "What even is that?"
He smiles, "You know Gally?"
"Of course I know Gally, he's on the football team."
Newt looks like he's about to roll his eyes, "He gave me a sample of this wicked stuff a while back at one of those typical teenage parties they hold when their parents are out of town. Anyway, I asked for more so I bought it off him, he calls it after himself."
You look at him, puzzled, "So it's just called Gally? That's a little bit-
"No, no." He shakes his head and pushes the bottle into your hands, "Gally's Secret Recipe."
You groan at the cliché name, "Really creative." You lift the bottle to your mouth and swallow down a mouthful, it burns your throat but only slightly. You pass him back the bottle before saying, "That's actually quite nice."
Before you know it though, the bottle is almost finished and you're surprised to see that Newt has taken most of the liquid. You know he said he wanted to get drunk but you didn't think he was serious until now. The slurring of his voice, the hiccups and the slight giggle he does all points to the effects of alcohol. You find it quite amusing.
"We wouldn't have been able to drink at the prom, you know." He says out of the blue, a quiet smile.
"I'm sure someone would have snuck some in, someone like yourself." You say as you take Newt's thrown leather jacket from the sandy ground and wrap it around yourself.
"I wouldn't have if I had someone to go with." He mumbles quietly.
You turn your nose up in disgust, "I thought we were done about the prom. Who was the one to say that it's lame?"
Newt rolls onto his back, placing the bottle beside him. You watch as wisps of his blond hair blow slightly in the wind. "I only said that because I couldn't go with you."
You raise an eyebrow, "What happened to that gorgeous mystery girl of yours?" He couldn't be telling the truth, could he?
He turns onto his side so he stares directly at you, "You are the mystery girl, Y/N. Why else would I help you out with your math?"
"But you knew I was going with Minho."
"Not until after we started, and besides, you looked so happy about it. I could tell you really wanted to go with –with him."
You sigh, "I think it was more of just going to prom... At the time, I didn't really care with who..."
Newt slowly crawls towards you, his jeans brushing against the sand, his eyes reflecting a different sort of brown. "You got so upset when he ditched you for someone else though."
"I would have gotten upset with anyone who ditched me. It was the fact that he ditched me, not that he ditched me. I think that's why I don't really give a damn about him anymore."
Newt's head tilts as he stares into your eyes with his soft ones. "This is better than prom." Newt, so kind and so generous. He helped you with your math even when he knew he couldn't go with you. Why is he so... so amazing? You're nothing compared to him...
A smile spreads across your face, "You're better than prom." It comes out as a whisper, and at first, you're not sure you even said it. It came out of nowhere... but you don't want to take it back because it's true. You've had more fun with Newt than anyone else in a very long time.
He inches his face closer, staring at your lips. "You shank." He mutters before kissing your lips, gently. You lay back against the sand as the kiss deepens, you feel his hand against your neck. You can taste the grease from his burger and the sweetness from Gally's drink, but you get a lick of sea-salt. As he pulls away his darkened brown eyes stare down at you, he sighs and slides his hand from your neck to the sand beside you. In a very serious tone that doesn't match with his wickedly amused eyes, he says, "Now let's go skinny dipping."