Regret

65-68

65

At the end of April, the week before our performances, everyone was talking about prom.

Ah yes! Prom! Everyone wanted me to ask Chase because I didn't ask him during Fire on Ice.

Well, a week before prom, that's exactly what I did.

***

66

It was the last day to buy tickets and I already was going with Luna, Chastity, Isaac. We were also taking Nick, a senior who was on the pro-start cooking team and our friend.

I had an extra ticket because Kota, my choir friend, didn't know if her date was going yet or not.

It was also the ticket Chase could use.

So after school on Friday April 24th, a week and a day before prom, I asked him.

***

67

I walked past his locker twice with Luna and Samantha. Kota, who liked Josh, pulled on my arms when we walked right past.

The reason I walked past without stopping because Josh and two other rugby boys were at his locker.

I kept walking until we got to the edge of commons, but Kota kept pulling on me, making it really obvious. "Go go go!" They said, rather loudly.

I got out of Kota''s pull right when the boys rounded the corner and started walking towards Josh's locker, about twenty feet from where we were standing. "Stop it!" I yelled, semi-loud.

When Chase saw me, his face turned red. It was like December all over again!

As soon as one of his rugby friends saw me, he whipped out his phone, 'recording' Chase.

I say 'recording' because Luna found out he was just pretending.

Anyways, I walked right up to him while he was standing with Josh and the two others, ready to blurt, "Chase do you want to go to prom with me."

But stopped at 'Chase' when I saw the phone, pointed right at Chase. Sneaky!
Chase was digging through his bag, squatting on the ground, with the kid recording him.

"Hey Chase, can I talk to you?" I said.

The kid who was recording Chase looked at me and said, "what are you looking at?" He was very rude!

"Uh, nothing. I just need to talk to Chase."

Chase wasn't paying attention, or ignoring me. But Josh heard and said, "I don't know what they're doing. He's recording him for..." He wasn't looking, he was throwing things in his bag.

"Yeah you do," Camera boy said. Then Chase quickly got up and left, the camera boy right behind him. Weird!

"Oh yeah! They are recording him for, um..." he looked up and noticed they left. He slammed his locker shut, grabbing his bag.

"Where did they go?" He went around the corner after him.

'What the actual hell just happened?' I thought.

I went to my friends at the end of commons. Chase and his friends were by the guidance doors, thirty feet away. The camera still on Chase. They were whispering and kept on looking over at me and my friends.

"Go over there!" Samantha and my Kota were geeking out.

At this point, Isaac joined us, Luna quickly filled him in.

"Guys shut up and stop looking towards them," he said. Yea Isaac!

The boys all left because they had a rugby game right after school, so they had to quickly get to the next town over. They rushed towards the student lot doors.

I went around all of the cafeteria tables following them. I met up with them when they stopped at the glass doors, separating the cafeteria from the gym hallway.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" I tried again.

Josh pulled on Chase's arms. "Dude, we gotta go. We're going to be late, we gotta go right now!"

"Hold on, this is important," Chase said, and Josh slowly walked towards the student lot doors.

Aw! He said I was important.

He turned back towards me.

"Hey are we still friends?" I asked. They way he was acting, I wasn't sure.

"Yeah! Of course!"

Both our faces were red, and my heart was beating unhealthily again.

It was definately December all over.

"Um. Are you going to prom?"

"Yeah," he said, turning towards the door to leave.

'Hurry or you'll make him late!' I yelled at myself.

He turned to face me.

"Do you wanna go to prom...with me?" I asked, probably really red, heart pumping extra fast and the 'with me' coming out higher and cute.

"Um. I'm going with a group, sorry!"

"That's okay! I'm going with a group too!" I sounded like I just said it cause he said it first, but I wasn't lying.

He started to leave.

Okay, think, dancing!

"Hey wait! Will you dance with me there."

"Yeah, sure. If I see you! Of course I will!"

"Okay! Have fun at your game," I yelled after him.

Then he left and I was the happiest I have been in a long time in that moment.

Everyone geeked when I came back and told them.

That happiness lasted a week and a day.

***

68

The performances went great. We had standing ovations every single night!

The following week Chase was in lunch all week and I put my headphones in and ignored everyone. Trying to keep my happiness contained.