Next Door

A Different Prom

Ashlyn looked for Gina. "Hey." She said once she found her.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Not in a good mood. How about you?"

"I'm having fun."

"I think I'm gonna call it a night." Ashlyn told her. "I'll see you soon."

"Oh, uh... bye."

"Goodnight." Ashlyn left, beginning her walk home. After a minute or two, she called Big Red.

"Hey, what's up? Isn't prom still going on?" He wondered.

"Just decided to leave a little earlier."

"You don't sound very happy." He paused. "I'll put two and two together, prom wasn't great?"

"I missed you."

"I'm sure it was still fun."

"For a while, yeah. Then things just got weird."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning Hudson managed to cheer me up." She said.

"Wow."

"Yeah. But then after I thanked him... he asked me out again." She mumbled.

"Oh."

"Yeah. So that brought my mood down to worse than before, I basically shouted at him and left. I'm walking home right now." She told him.

"I'm sorry."

"I think I shut him up, so maybe it'll be nice in the long run. Besides prom being once a year... I just wish we could've gone."

"I do too, babe. Stupid flu."

"Agreed." She smiled. "Can we FaceTime once I get home?" She asked.

"Sounds good, yeah. Like a... really... different prom."

"It'll be better than flirting guys and lying there sick and bored, won't it?"

"By far." He laughed a little.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Oh, get ready, I'm almost home."

"What does 'get ready' mean?" He asked.

"Um... get ready for the best FaceTime in the history of FaceTimes?" She walked in her house.

He laughed. "Will do."

"You better." She flopped onto her bed and switched the call into a FaceTime.

"You look amazing." He smiled. "Or your face and sleeves do, considering that's all I can see."

"Sleeves are the best." She said sarcastically, nodding. "Thanks."

"Anytime."

"You look... pale."

"Yeah, I'm feeling bad."

"I hope you feel better soon hon." She smiled sadly.

"Thanks. Me too." He grinned.

"It's not a problem. I just can't dance with someone who's gonna get me sick."

"Right, that's the problem. Don't worry, I can't dance anyways."

"I know. You would've danced though, wouldn't you?"

"If you wanted, sure." He nodded.

"That's nice, thanks." She smiled. "But you better feel better soon, if you take more than about a day—"

"Which I probably will." He pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. Anyways, if it's longer than a day, I'll miss you too much."

"Trust me, I'll miss you more."

"...I guess that's true. But only because you'll be stuck at home." She said stubbornly. "Otherwise I'd miss you more."

"Sure." He said sarcastically. "We'll go with that."

Ashlyn yawned. "Mhm, we will."

"We can stop talking if you're tired."

"In a bit."

"Okay." He smiled. "I saw that— you wanna go, don't you?"

She had her eyes closed, continuing to lie down but now in a more comfortable position. "Maybe."

"Goodnight Ash."

"Night Biggie." She smiled slightly before he hung up and she fell asleep.