L.R.
"I told you already," his voice raised above what's considered an 'inside voice' as he continued. "She said no!"
I glanced at my freshly painted nails, picking off excess polish the nail lady didn't catch.
"There's no harm in trying one more time Michael! Just go look in a mirror- you are fucking hot."
"Haven't I made this clear? Me and hot are just friends!"
I snorted, rolling my eyes.
"Come on! You guys would be super cute together. I can already imagine the caption your prom picture" I said.
"She told me that my hair wouldn't match her dress."
"Tell her you'll dye it again to match!"
"I did. She said that would be stupid because it'll make my hair fall out before prom even starts. And that she's not into bald guys..." he trailed off.
I heard a high pitched scream from down the hall, much resembling the annoying sound of my sister: the fucking pterodactyl. I'm surprised our neighbors haven't complained about us. With her screeching and strange noises that seemed to be higher in volume than in pitch, but only barely, and the fact that I once hosted a party, in their backyard, while they were on vacation.
"London!" The door burst open and she stood there with wide hazel eyes. "I am having a currently large and potentially dangerous predicament. I need your help."
"I'm on the phone, go away with your nerd problems," I rolled my eyes and threw a pen at her.
"But it's code red!" She stomped her feet while she patted her legs furiously. A fucking five year old. Why did Mom decide to not abort her again?
"Tantrums don't work on me." She stopped her movements and glared at me.
"Fine. Fine. I'll be there in a minute."
She smiled wide, her straight teeth glowing with sparkle.
"Lit, lit, I'll meet you in our car," Then she ran off.
"It's my car!" I yelled after her, gathering my hair into a messy bun.
"I'm sorry Mikey, you know Pepper is needy. I want you to go look at yourself in the mirror and gain some fucking confidence. I gotta go."
"Fine. I hate you for this though," he huffed.
"Love you too." With that I hung up the phone.
The railing of the stairs shook slightly as I tumbled down the stairs in a hurry. Whatever Pepper is so concerned about, it must be urgent since she never (ever) leaves the house on a school night.
///
"Tell me, please, how could this possibly be more important than what I was previously doing?"
"Talking on the phone will fade away. A dress, on the other hand, will never fade away,"
"Can't deny that logic," I said, taking note of the amount of people in the store. Only the lady at the register, Linda, was around. She was a youthful looking woman, most likely due to her obvious botox.
Pepper eyed around the expensive dress shop, before pulling a pink dress off the rack, then a sapphire blue one. I took a peek at the price tag and pushed it away before she could shove it into my arms.
"It's prom, London, take it." She shoved the blue one into my arms. "Every girl dreams of an extravagant prom with her knight in shining armor," she ducked into the dressing room, shuffling coming from the other side, "Except maybe you. But you should. Anyway, we just have to be asked to dance."
I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through my explore page on Instagram. The amounts of likes and comments I had under my recent post was disappointing. I made a mental note to buy some likes later.
Pepper folded back the Japanese style door and exited, flattening the wrinkles of her long dress. She truly looked beautiful in the dress; it hugged her in all the right places, despite the plainness of the dress. All she needs to do is to take off her glasses then she can truly be a beauty queen.
"You know what you always say: looking like this, the boys won't resist,"
A smirk played on her lips as she tested a few poses in front of the mirror. Her hand stroked the material with utter awe. The dress was blood red, pretty great dress if its her time of the month. It was, quite frankly, unremarkable as prom dresses go.
"Oh, you look great in that dress!" I heard the blonde lady exclaim from the register. I saw Pepper cringe and look solemnly at herself in the mirror. She mumbled something to herself that I couldn't hear.
"The date of prom is rapidly approaching, and we just so happen to be at a lovely dress shop, so go look!" She then proceeded to shoo me towards even more expensive choices of the ball gowns.
No thank you.
My sister was usually right, and this time she was, except for one part. I too, had dreamed of the special night where I'd be picked up in a stretch limo at seven, and my parents would stand at the bottom of the stairs with my boyfriend.
And the my father would be threatening my date and my mother would rubbing his shoulders with a 'sorry' face. Then I would start down the stairs, and when they noticed, I'd see my father tear up as my mom rapidly snapped pictures, my boyfriend at a loss for breath.
Of course I dreamt of the perfect night surrounded by my friends. It's just that eventually you have to realize that it's better to be alone; you can't hurt anyone and no one can hurt you.
///
Whether I liked it or not, Pepper has convinced me to go to the senior prom. I wasn't concerned about being asked at all, but I've dated enough guys at my school to know they're all asshats and couldn't prom-pose even if their girlfriends told them exactly what to do.
The ride back was quiet, as usual, besides the music. We returned to the house and I immediately recognized Parkers' Jeep out front.
As I jumped out of the car and ran over to him.
"What's up?" I asked, hugging him.
He's about 6'5, meaning he could rest his head on mine when we hugged. He's also on the football and baseball team so he's pretty built.
"Well," He started. His voice was oddly feminine for such a dude but everything about him worked to get her really nicely. "I came to give you your prom ticket, since we bought ours together and they were mailed to my house."
I had completely forgotten about the ticket, I would've been all dressed up no place to go. Thank God for his memory and willingness to drive to me.
"Thanks Park!" He stuck it out for me to grab and headed back towards his car.
"Shit!" He hit the top of his car and turned back towards me. "I locked myself out again. Can you work your magic?"
I nodded. Learning to break into cars really pays off sometimes. Thanks, Dad.
With a shimmy of a knife, I was in. As I opened the door, dozens of ping pong balls started to flood out the door and onto the driveway. Pepper started to record me as she exited the car, a big smile on her face.
What the fuck Parker
I shoot a weird look his way as I examined one of the balls in the seat. My eyes widened as I read the words engraved in gold.
Prom?
"London," he combed his hand through his hair, chest working hard. "I finally got the balls to ask you to prom."
///
a/n:
short & sweet
i hope u guys liked it :), a little earlyyyyy
don't forget to comment y'all (yes i live in texas, im sorry) i like feedback
qotw// when is your birthday?
-t
