Courtney's Going To Prom

3~Edgewater Indiana

One epic musical number later, Angie and I were skipping down the hallway when I heard my name being called by my dad. I groaned then turned around to see him standing with the man who was standing at the front of the room in the auditorium. I made my way over to them and when I was in front of them. I stopped, crossed my arms, and raised my eyebrow at the two men standing in front of me. My dad sighed and rubbed his eyebrows while the man just stood there confused. I don't blame him. Us Olivers can get very confusing at times.

"Courtney, this is Mr. Hawkins. He's going to be your principle." Dad explained

"Oh, cool. Well, I'm Courtney." I said, sticking my hand out to my soon to be principle.

He gladly took it and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Courtney. Are you ready to start at James Madison High?"

"Well, Not necessarily. I didn't know I'd be transferring schools. And going from a performing arts school to a regular high school will be an interesting change for me." I replied

"You went to a performing arts school? That's cool. Which one?" he asked

"Professional Performing Arts School, also known as, PPAS. It was amazing and I never imagined leaving there till I graduated." I said, glaring at my dad towards the end.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I should've given you a heads up." He commented, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You really should've." I shot

"I think you're gonna love it here, Courtney." Mr. Hawkins said, breaking the tension.

"I'm sure I will. It'll just take some time to go from city life to small town life, you know?" I reassured. "What classes can I take for my electives?"

"Oh, um, you can take drawing, painting, art, creative writing, foods, childhood development, spanish, or french." Mr Hawkins said

"Wait, are there any choirs? Or dance classes? Theatre? Any drama related classes?" I questioned

"Sadly, we do not have any classes for the performing arts. But, some of the other classes are just as good." Mr Hawkins mentioned

"If you say so. If they aren't as good I'm gonna get at you." I say, turning away and making my way out of the school.

As I was skipping my way out of the school and towards the bus, I ran into someone. Literally, ran into someone. I quickly apologized and as I was looking at them, I noticed something. They aren't just some random person, it was Emma.

"Sorry if this is super out of the blue but you're Emma Nolan, right?" I asked

"I am. And you are..." She replied, trailing off

"Right, I'm Courtney." I added, a bright smile on my face.

"It's nice to meet you Courtney. Are you going to start at James Madison soon cause I haven't seen you around before." Emma commented

"Actually, I'm starting on Monday." I replied

"Oh fun! Well, if you need someone to sit with at lunch on Monday, look for me in the outdoor eating area. I shouldn't be too hard to find." she offered

"For sure, yeah!" I smiled. Dad walked past me and gave me a look that said 'hurry your ass up or the bus is going to leave without us.' "I gotta get going. It was nice meeting you, Emma!"

"Nice meeting you as well, Courtney. See you on Monday!" Emma replied

"See you on Monday!" I called out as I ran down the hall, following my dad out of the building.

A few moments later, Dee Dee, Angie, dad, Barry, Sheldon, the godspell kids who came with us in the school, and I were all back on the bus and on our way to the hotel we're staying at. I watched the scene pass by through the window with a content look on my face. After a bit of thinking, maybe going to school in Indiana won't be too bad. The only reason I say that is because Emma is making it a bit more bearable. She seems like a really good person who deserves to go to prom like everyone else. And I am prepared to help her get that prom. But, I do find it wrong that the only reason I'm here is to help get more information about the situation from the inside. Maybe I'll make some new friends. That I might never see again after this...

I was snapped out of my trance to see a motel in front of us. I thought we were going to a hotel. I was about to go off the bus when I heard my dad start to gag. Shit, not again. I quickly sat on the seat across from him and tried not to puke while sitting there with him. I figured I should actually wait for him other than just ignore it unlike what I did for the whole drive. After he was done doing his business, I took the trash can from him and threw it into the dumpster. No point in keeping that anymore. When I was jogging back to the bus, I saw my dad stumble out of the bus. I ran up to him and caught him by his arm as he fell out of the bus.

"Wait here against the bus. I'm gonna get our bags." I say, as I run around to the back of the bus. Once I had our bags, we headed into the motel lobby to get our key. I took my bags into the lounge area to wait for dad to get the keys. I was sitting on one of the chairs scrolling through social media and seeing pictures and videos of the flashmob that happened at the school. I smiled at myself then posted the video I myself got onto my story and feed. Then I switched from Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube and posted it on all of those platforms. They all quickly gained a decent amount of likes before dad, Dee Dee, Barry, Angie and Sheldon joined me at the lounge. I shut off my phone and tuned into the conversation but before it went anywhere, dad handed me a key and told me to head up to our room and wait for him to come up. I somewhat obeyed. I took the bags down the hallway and into the room. I put our bags onto the beds. I popped into the bathroom and freshened up then ran back out into the lounge in time to see everyone leaving the motel.

"Ahem? I think you forgot someone!" I called out

Everyone turned around and stopped in their tracks. "Well, shit, um. I don't think you can come with us. We're going to a bar.." Dad said, biting his lip

"And I don't think you'd want to come to Applebee's with Tom and I." Dee Dee added

"Okay. Well, now what am I supposed to do?" I asked, throwing my hands into the air.

"Hey, Courtney! Want to go find a bite to eat with us?" Marco exclaimed

"That solves our problem. Are you going with them?" Dad questioned

"I don't wanna be stuck at a crusty motel so, yes I'm going with them." I confirmed.

I ran over to Marco and everyone else. We ran down the street and into a small shopping centre. We split up into three separate groups. One went to McDonalds, one went to Costa Vida, and one went to Taco Bell. Marco and I were a part of the Coast Vida group because we're trying to be healthy when lord knows we're doing horrible so we have to try at some point. We sat down and ate our salads while laughing about the drive here. After we finished eating, we hit up a Target to scope out things we can do when we get bored. We ended up buying a few board games, some cheap art supplies, and some school supplies for me because I know I didn't pack what I need for school. I thought this trip would be a nice three month-long vacation but no. I actually have to go to school. I'm not too mad about it though, because I'm doing it for a good cause.