My 1st Prom

Date: 6/7, Wed

  'Vote for me to be Belle of the Night!' Eva shouts through a megaphone in the corridor, 'Vote for Eva from S1G2!' It's 4 days until prom, which means Eva's likely working her butt off whenever she's free. 'Who wants a healthy school environment! If I'm the Belle, I will promote personal hygiene!' Her voice flows into the room despite the shut windows. I squint at how high she is above ground level through the windows. Not knowing any of the prom court candidates well enough, I'm not planning on voting this year. Eva's friends hand out flyers of her name and selfies below next to the table she's standing on.

XYZ approaches me, 'Celestia, do you need help in getting Eva disqualified?' I know better than to meddle with her campaign. 'No thanks.' 'If I become Belle of the Night,' Eva waves to students below outside, 'I will encourage you guys to keep this school squeaky clean! Let's banish a specific type of germs!' She has balls. For spreading that message, standing on a chair on top of tables on top of more tables like a pyramid structure. Apple's right, Eva's campaign is profitable for herself.

'If we tell on her, she can get kicked out of school.' XYZ suggests. 'No,' I say firmly, 'I can't risk getting any more dislikes.' She disapproves skeptically, 'What's your plan?' 'I don't have one.' I tell her, 'She'll be the Belle if she wins.' XYZ's harrumphs, 'You do realise she hates you whether her ass is on a throne or not?' 'Not a big deal,' I steal a glance at Nick a few rows ahead, remembering exactly how I've hinted my attendance to the dance, 'I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. We shouldn't do anything yet.' 'Celestia!' XYZ points to Eva shouting catchy slogans, 'You need to think ahead! You wouldn't want your butt to be kicked from one end of the hall to the other, would you? ' I can tell she's struggling to not scream "Are you out of your mind?". 'I'm fine with it -not the butt kicking part- as long as she knows I'm no longer available to be picked on.' XYZ argues, 'By that time you'll be in a box six feet under.' I hold firm, guessing her indirect meaning, 'I'm not going to chicken out at the dance. XYZ, the Mocktail keeps me together, it's my silver lining ! So don't go "you shall not go to the ball" on me.' 'That's not how you use "silver lining" Celestia,' she seems to soften, 'well... try not to do anything drastic, ok?' 'Got it, mum. What happened to showing up in one piece?' 'Whatever you do at prom, do not doubt yourself, ' XYZ shakes me by my shoulders, 'Once you've made up your mind, go through with it. Remember, everything is going to be ok.' I don't tell her how badly I needed reassurance, 'Thanks.' 'By ok,' XYZ removes her hands from my shoulders, 'I mean you're going to be fine as long as you don't second-guess yourself. It's like your fatal flaw or something.' I really don't need that pep talk.

Eva is outside blasting slogans when class ends. She's putting more effort into the online election than the time she's running for class rep. (She was a few votes away from winning.) I look up from my food to catch Nick staring at us over his shoulder, and the idea of him texting me first springs into my mind. He averts his gaze almost immediately when I caught him. I dig in with XYZ, listening to Eva's promises. I find Nick watching me from the corner of my eye, neck twisted to the right at 180 degrees, like an owl. Judging from XYZ's spooning speed, she's struggling to not rush into action and shut Eva up. Nick's munching on his meal when I look his way. Switching my phone on, I pretend to be interested in the wallpaper. XYZ is chewing so fast she bites her tongue, 'Ow!' I hold my phone ahead, 'XYZ, take it slow.' Nick is most definitely staring at us when I discreetly click the WhatsApp icon. XYZ's scooping ferocity comes to an end when her spoon hits the empty lunch box, 'I've had enough of her jabs. Ciao!' I watch her leave before facing the front again. Nick's gone back to eating. I type, "Do you have a crick in the neck from spying on me?" I look up to see him drinking from a plastic bottle. His pocket buzzes and he fishes out his phone. A glance at the screen and he's sputtering water, choking from shock. I can't help but crack up, ignoring the sudden looks I get. 'Celcel!' Nick twists behind, shooting me a look between amusement and exasperation. A large patch of his shirt is soaking wet. Meaning his chest is fully visible.

'Stop playing with the megaphone!' A deafening screech sounds outdoors, 'Give it ba-aaaaaah!' Followed by a more deafening crash. And plenty more tiny crashes. Our jaws drop simultaneously as Nick and I and everyone else hurry to the windows. Don't ogle at his transparent shirt. Don't even admire. Eva's under a heap of tables and flyers like a beetle on its wings outside. 'Yo Eva, do you have OCD ?' XYZ whispers into the megaphone she's now holding, 'It would make so much sense why you keep going on and on about "dirt" and "contamination".' Her voice magnifies, sounding like the walls are talking. By now, everyone in the room is peering through the glass. 'I'd recommend a doctor for your OCD but ...' XYZ whispers, 'you fight dirty.'

Eva manages to struggle into a standing position after her friends lift a few tables off her. I giggle without meaning to. XYZ whispers into the megaphone once again, 'No one likes a fearmonger for Belle, quit spewing trash.' In the room, I peer at Nick-to see him staring at me. S-T-A-R-I-N-G. I whip my head around, heart beating precariously quick. 'Return it to me! Now-aaaaaaargh!' Eva attempts regaining her balance only to slip on her own selfie flyers outside, bumping her chin on a table edge.

I continue giggling while Nick struggles to conceal his laugh. I risk a glance along his chest to his stomach. No muscles but...not bad. I force myself to focus on the more important thing. Outside, one of Eva's friends lunges for the megaphone, M germs be damned. XYZ drops the megaphone within her reach the same time Eva wades out of the table pile, mad enough to bash her former friend flat against the nearest wall. Scary. Quite some onlookers flinch for a deafening crash that doesn't happen. Eva's friend catches it at the last second before it hits the tiles. My breath hitches as Nick taps me on the shoulder. Oh my God, his chest! I avert my eyes, blushing scarlet. He might as well be shirtless. I think I'm going to die of heart failure. My attention focuses back on what's going on out there. Eva nabs the megaphone from her friend, speaking into the machine, 'Vote-' She stops after hearing her normal speaking volume. 'Between you and me,' XYZ coos, 'I did you a huge favour. Guess who's going to be a trending prom court lady by the end of today?' Eva hisses, likely wanting to throw a temper tantrum. Her friend wipes her palm on her dress, 'There's M germs on it.' 'You're the one to talk!' XYZ mock salutes Eva and stomps off before any teachers come running, 'See you at prom!'

Campaign disruption over, everyone discusses amongst themselves, meals forgotten, faces pulled and me avoided. Nick taps my shoulder again, 'Let me use your cardigan.' Not ogling his chest is growing more and more torturous. 'Sure,' I strip mine off and toss it, 'you'll get me wet if you come any closer.' I immediately regret what came out of my mouth. He slips it on backwards after catching it, 'Whaaaaaat?' 'Nothing,' my voice instantly decreases. One near half naked guy and I'm falling to pieces. Great. Was this how the first female on earth behaved around the first male to ever exist? 'Aren't you thirsty today,' he purrs, caressing my left cheek, 'did you enjoy the view, Celcel?' 'Uuuuuhhh....' I might have blushed a deeper red beyond scarlet, 'je veux ton amour.' I can't believe song lyrics slipped out of my mouth. A love song, no less.

I could've sworn he doesn't know what to say-his fingers freeze for several long heartbeats. I take it back! I take it back! I do an innocent blink, "Please leave a message. Beep!" He tucks his hands into the pockets, leaving me aching for his touch, 'Yeah. Thank you. I'll return your cardigan late-ooooooh, there's stuff in here.' 'Don't take it out!' I say louder than I intend to. Nick quizzically raises his brows and peeks inside. I'm suddenly aware of onlookers staring. 'Ok ok,' I amend, 'just keep it from XYZ.' He scoops out a crumpled flyer of Eva's selfie and stares at nothing for a while.

'Nick?' I wave, 'hi?' 'Oh hey.' He snaps out of whatever he's thinking. 'Like using the cardigan?' I babble. A school uniform? What was I thinking? 'Sure!' Nick gives a subtle smirk that's enough to make most girls trip over themselves, 'But I like you more.' I wave bye bye before the situation becomes unbearably awkward, 'Awesome to hear.' He blows me a kiss in return, dropping the flyer back in. Does he actually want to kiss me or is he only being friendly?

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The heat's been turned waaayyyy up high. I was giddy with excitement staying up late one night, typing Nick's teasing , brainstorming all the ways he made Celestia feel, and giggling to myself like a weirdo. 

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