Ranboo knew that there was no reason for him to be there. But, if he was being honest, there was no reason for him to be anywhere...so there he was, standing outside the school as his mother's car pulled away, standing beside some girl from his drama class as they awkwardly wondered what they were supposed to do next. The Snowball dance. If the blonde was being completely transparent, part of him wished that he hadn't told his mother about the dance excitedly during the beginning of the year, mentioning how he would finally be able to attend because it was juniors and seniors only. Well, it was a dumb thing to say, especially considering he had never had friends at the school to begin with. And now he was in the same position, and he didn't know what he was supposed to do about it. Ranboo's mother had mentioned it so excitedly only a few nights before, so he thought it was only in his best interest to go.
His mother had, as she usually did, made a fuss about it. Insisted that he shouldn't wear his mask and glasses, and that he was supposed to have fun. Regardless of what she said, the mask and glasses remained on his face, hiding the grimace he wore as he stared at the entrance to the school, where they would go through and take a right to get to the gym. Ranboo's mother had fixed his hair up for him and bought him a new tie, which was cerulean and adorned with porcelain white snowflakes dancing up the sides. It was a dumb tie, the blonde had to admit, but he had put it on regardless. Anything to normalize the situation he was in...anything to put a comforted smile on his mother's face, for her to at least think that her son was getting over his former boyfriend...even if the reality of it all was the opposite.
The blonde hadn't wanted to go alone though, that would just me embarrassing. Ranboo's original intentions, while he had still been dating Tubbo, were to ask him to go to the Snowball dance with him, assuming that by then the brunette would have no problem being seen in public with him. Now, however, it was more complicated than it was before, and he obviously couldn't ask his ex-boyfriend to go to the formal with him after breaking up with him, that would be in bad taste. Originally, after looking at his options, Ranboo decided that it would just be best if he went alone. After all, he didn't need anyone attached at his hip the entire time. Sure, the school always seemed to pressure students to ask someone to go with them, since there would be slow-dancing and shit, but that didn't mean that he had to. As the date drew closer, though, the blonde realized that it would be beyond humiliating to show up to the dance without a date. Hell, even asking someone as just friends would be better than showing up alone, everyone knew that.
Reluctantly, Ranboo had mustered up the courage to ask one of the girls in his drama class. Emmeline Hunter, one of the best actresses in his class. She was awfully pretty, and most of the boys in the grade would say the same. Umber and hickory hair that rested at her shoulders, juniper green eyes that sparkled under the stage lights. It didn't take a straight guy to realize that she was gorgeous. Besides, she had been complaining during practically every drama class that no one had asked her to the dance yet, and that she was still waiting for someone to go with her because the guy she was supposed to go with had unasked her and was planning to go with someone else instead. The least Ranboo could have done was ask her, which was what he did. It wouldn't be awkward, of course, because the blonde was pretty sure that Emmeline already knew he was gay. He didn't have to force any of that romantic lovey-dovey bullshit around her. Ranboo wouldn't have to dance with her, and he wasn't expected to take pictures with her...she could just hang around her friends and stuff.
Ranboo had heard through the grapevine that Tubbo had asked Aubrey Baxter to go with him. The blonde hadn't figured out if she had accepted his offer, but there was almost an one hundred percent that she did, which just made him absolutely fume when he thought about it. God, he was supposed to be the one that was asking the brunette to the dance. He knew he was in no position to complain, however, and that he would be a complete hypocrite if he did. After all, Emmeline was now standing beside him, glancing at him hesitantly as the two of them just sort of...waited there. Ranboo had asked a girl to the dance...and Tubbo had asked a girl to the dance. The blonde couldn't complain, his former boyfriend had just done what anyone else would do: ask someone to the formal. It wasn't like the brunette belonged to him, Ranboo couldn't control the decisions he made...so why did all of it just make him so jealous? The thought of his ex-boyfriend with anyone else besides him just made the blonde heat up on the inside, and he knew that it shouldn't.
