cxiii. prom and popcorn

13 3 0
                                    

cxiii. prom and popcorn

Justin had to make up a math test, so he wasn’t at lunch one day. Aaron and I were all alone, which I didn’t mind all that much. It meant more vending machine food for me, as long as I didn’t take Aaron’s precious gummy worms. He was crazily protective of those.

“Hey McKenna,” he said. “Who are you going with for prom?”

“I’m not going,” I said. I remembered back to the conversation with Shonali. I was most definitely not going, for a multitude of reasons.

“Really? Why?” Aaron asked.

“Too many people,” I grumbled as I took a handful of popcorn.

“Would you ever change your mind?” Aaron asked.

“No,” I said. “I’m going to stay home, and I’m going to have way more fun than you.”

Aaron smirked. “We’ll see about that,” he said.

I rolled my eyes and started eating again. “How are your classes going?” I knew I was doing well in school, but I wasn’t so sure about Aaron. He was never a great student.

Aaron groaned. “You’re just like Justin,” he said. “All you ever want to talk about is school. At least Justin will occasionally talk about music with me.”

“What bands do you like?” I asked. I didn’t know a whole lot about music, but I knew some stuff, mostly because of Justin. He knew everything.

“I like Weird Al,” Aaron said.

“Weird Al is a parody artist!” I shouted.

“But he’s good. Besides, he writes some of his own stuff,” Aaron said, and I couldn’t really argue with him there. “Are you sure you’re not going to prom?”

“I’m completely, one hundred percent, absolutely certain that I am not going to prom and I don’t want to talk about it either.”

“What if I offered to go with you?”

I was silent for a minute. “This is hypothetical, right?” I asked.  Aaron nodded. “Probably not.”

“Probably not?”

“Probably not,” I confirmed.

“McKenna, will you go to prom with me?” Aaron asked.

“No,” I said, although it was mostly just to bug him at this point. Maybe he would forget it.

“Please?” Aaron asked.

He seemed kind of desperate, and I probably wouldn’t mind going so much if it was with Aaron, so I said, “Yes.”

“Awesome! I can’t wait!”

“I figured you already had a date,” I said.

“Are you kidding? Nobody would want to go to prom with me except for you.”

“Well, I’m glad I was able to help you,” I said. “I’m still not excited about going.”

“Why?” Aaron asked.

“Too many people,” I said.

“But I’ll be there,” Aaron replied.

I shrugged. “That might make it a little better.”

Aaron grinned and ate another gummy worm. I grabbed a handful of chips. I was glad Aaron was so excited about this, but I certainly wasn’t. I had someone to go with, but I wasn’t anywhere near prepared for prom. Besides, my night relaxing in my room with a book had been ruined.


Still, I had made Aaron happy. That had to count for something.

Daydream BelieverWhere stories live. Discover now