10 Days to Prom

The Surprise

"What do you say??", Rohan asked his mom after relating the whole thing.

"What am I supposed to say?", she looked him blinking her eyes.

"What should I do? Should I ask him out?", Rohan asked.

"I thought you promised to go out with me!!", said Elena who was listening all this while, and started kicking the air, fake crying.

"Shut up Eli. He is like our elder brother for God's sake.", said Chris, her twin brother.

"But we aren't related!! Dad and papa are auntie's friends. I know it will be alright!!", Elena kept on screaming when Rohan said,

"I am trying to do something here, Eli."

Rohan's mom raised her eyebrows.

Elena stopped talking. There was a 6 years age gap. Chris and Elena both were afraid of Rohan at some point.

"I was thinking of asking him to go to prom with me. You see I decided to stay home but someone out there wants to go to prom with me and since prom is once in a lifetime thing...I am thinking of making it memorable for him. Say something, mom. You are a fujoshi for nothing. A whole life of watching yaoi animes and bl dramas...you are the only one who can help me!", Rohan ended with a sigh.

"He is asking you to play cupid once again, Sanjana. Just like you did for Dan and Neil 10 years ago.", said auntie Lily smiling.

"Do you like him?", Rohan's mom asked.

Elena clasped her hands and leaned forward and looked at Rohan intently.

"Well...he is cute. And I am not sure if it's okay to do it but since he is already in love with me...even if I can't reciprocate his feelings this is the least I can do to make his wish come true.", Rohan said.

"Wouldn't that be leading him on to have a wrong idea or giving him false hope??", she asked back.

Rohan scrunched his nose and said, "That's why I am asking you mom."

"If you don't like him just let it be. It's always better to go with the flow. Don't mess it up if you can't do anything good.", she replied.

Rohan's face went dark. Something inside him was telling that keeping things as it is even after knowing it was wrong. Auntie Lily elbowed Rohan's mom. She looked at her son and sighed. After a while she said,

"There's still time. Think about it tonight. If you think your actions will not hurt him or make him cry, and that you will be open to anything that happens and never regret it,  do whatever you want."

Rohan looked up, with a bit of flustered expression. Auntie Lily patted his head and said, "It's never too late!"

---

"Confetti bombs?? Isn't that a bit too much??", Dave asked, perplexed.

The next day, Rohan decided to meet the ends. He was going to do it. Even if he gets rejected, he won't be sad because he tried and didn't sit back. He had already arranged a little flower bouquet. But he wanted it to be a surprise so he mentioned confetti bombs. 6 days in hand, he had to do something soon. Asking out for prom has been a common scene since last week but since their case was a bit sensitive Henry suggested they do it where there's less people. Ricky agreed to bring Mike at the decided spot. Dave and Henry were stupefied and it was too cringey for them to witness. Things people do for love!!

The lockers hallway was practically empty...lunch time just ended. Two or three people were still hovering around...the ones who were assigned for prom night preparations. Ricky signalled them from the end of the hallway. Dave put a thumbs up and Rohan waited for the moment. Noticing the silent preparations students who were nearby stopped to witness the situation.

Mike walked amid the intense stares of a few students, following Ricky. Not understanding what's happening, he asked,

"Ricky, what's happening?"

"You'll see, you'll see!", was Ricky's reply.

When Mike saw Dave and Henry smiling at him, he was still unsure. Ricky slapped his back and stepped aside saying, "I hope you it makes you happy."

Mike, perplexed, looked around at the students nearby who were smiling. Dave said to him, "Mike! Here bro..."

Mike looked at them to find Dave and Henry holding a sign saying "look behind you". Mike turned around and immediately heard a bam sound. Rohan was standing there in front of him with the flower bouquet, Mike saw through the falling confetti.

"Mike, please be my prom date!", Rohan said and held out the bouquet.

Mike kept blinking his eyes at him. Rohan's heart beat faster in anticipation. Mike couldn't answer for a while. Rohan repeated, this time in a lower and nervous voice, "Chubby Micky, will you go to prom with me?"

"Huh!? I...", Mike stuttered as he looked around to see all eyes were on him. He looked back at smiling Rohan and managed to say a shy little 'umm...yes'.

Rohan's face lit up like a bulb, "You will? Really??", he asked again to confirm.

Mike couldn't say anything anymore, he felt his ears were too hot and probably was red in colour by now. He nodded smiling, and looked down immediately.

The whole hallway was filled with sounds of cheers and clapping. Mike took the bouquet from Rohan's hand sank into his embrace.

"Whew! Went smoother than I imagined.", Henry said.

"You'll still hang out with me right? The game night on 14th...you will not bail, right?", Dave asked, sulking at the fact that Rohan will now go to prom.

"Bro... absolutely not bro. You are stuck with me, no matter what.", Henry said and hugged Dave.

"This event was for us right?", Mike asked Rohan after seeing Dave and Henry in each other's arms.

"Yes but this was not planned.", Rohan said and laughed along with Mike and Ricky.

"Let's make it a bit less embarrassing.", Ricky said.

Three of them joined Dave and Henry for a group hug.