Hop On Discord

Chapter 2 - Prom night

I put on the latest ElasticDroid YouTube video. Sitting at my desk, pouring out all of my makeup from my makeup bag. Do I use half of this stuff? Not really. Most of it is for plays and musicals. But for prom, a girl has to go all out. After do my base makeup I do a smokey eye, with some nude lipstick. I want all the attention to be on my dress, and don't want to look too green like the grinch. Periodically laughing at the video on my tv, I'm sure my parents are just as giddy as I am for the night. I put on my prom dress, a floor length deep green sweetheart dress. I put on my nude high heels, walking down the stairs after texting my mom that I'm coming down. She's at the base of the stairs with her camera out, standing next to my dad. "Are you sure you don't want a cover up or something sweetie?" My dad says looking cautious at the neck line of the dress. "Oh dear, leave her alone. She's practically an adult now. She'll be all alone in Texas in a couple days." My mom says nudging my dad's arm. "I'm fine, but thank you for looking out for me, dad. Mom is right. I'm not a little girl anymore" I say hugging my dad. We hear a honk outside, my mom opens the door and we see a limo with Katelyn, Skyler, Nevaeh and Jasmine standing in front of it. We head over and start taking photos. "Nevaeh, you're lucky to be going to two proms this year. But I'm sure you didn't need to buy two separate dresses" Katelyn said after the photos were done and we were saying bye to my parents. "Uh yes I did! No one will catch me wearing the same prom dress twice. Even Jasmine bought a second prom dress" Nevaeh said gesturing to her girlfriend. "I can't wait to wear another prom dress tomorrow you guys" Jasmine said laughing, Nevaeh smacking her arm.

We arrived at the prom, friend groups out front taking photos, others running inside to get their night started. We wave to others as we head inside, setting our bags down and heading to the dance floor. After two hours of dancing and talking with others, we head back to our table. Regrouping with each other, laughing and sending each other videos and photos we've taken. Someone tapped on my shoulder, and everyone looked up, all of us knowing exactly who it was. I turn around smiling, "Jared. Is it time to redeem a dance?" "M'lady, indeed it is" putting out his hand. I look back at my friend group, dreading leaving but knowing that I did technically tell Jared that we'd have a dance. We got the dance floor and 'Too Sweet' by Hozier starts playing. We start dancing together, adoring the moment. "So...Texas huh?" Jared says in my ear so I can hear him over the crowd singing along. I lean in "Yeah.. my parents aren't too thrilled. But I chose to do this, and it's only a week. But my heart just yearns for more than what our small town can give me, you know?" Jared laughs "Well, as long as you come back after one week. Promise?" With a glimmer in his eye. I smile "oh we'll see" as he spins me around, admiring my dress and how it compliments my body. We make small chat about his university program, traveling, the past four years. "You know, for the past four years, I've tried to get you to notice me. And even though we aren't dating, I'm still glad we're friends." Jared says as we're slow dancing to 'Before You Go' by Lewis Capaldi. "Jared, it's not that I don't like you. I'm just not looking for a boyfriend, I want to get to know myself as a person first, you know? I'm not the same person I was four years ago, let alone a year ago. And who knows who I'll be in a year from now." I say swaying to the beat. "I understand, I'm sorry if I ever came off annoying." "You're perfectly fine" I reassure the boy as I lean my head against his shoulder. After a couple more songs, I leave Jared and head back to my friend group, still sitting at the table. "Annalise, how's your boyfriend?" Nevaeh asked with a smirk. "Jasmine, control your dog or I'm gonna get on all fours." I say rolling my eyes smiling. Everyone starts laughing and gasping. Nevaeh sticks her tongue out at me "he's been after you for four years, you could give him a chance you know. He's the president of the friend zone" "Well, that's not my problem, now is it?" I say as we all head back to the dance floor.

After three more hours, prom was over. It felt like a flash before my eyes. We all headed back into the limo and got dropped off at all of our houses. My parents had ordered pizza, I grabbed a couple slices and some water and headed to my room changing into pyjamas. I turned on my tv and turned on Pezzy's stream. They were drinking and playing Mario kart. It brought me to the realization that in less than 36 hours I'll be in the same state as most of these guys. As I'm only leaving for a week, I don't need to pack a lot. So I get started. Checking the weather before starting so I know what to pack. At the end of packing, I ended up with two full suitcases of clothes, some towels, make up and a couple pairs of shoes. My carry on is a backpack with my chargers, laptop and anything I don't want to risk possibly losing. By the end of the stream I was dying laughing, as Pezzy ended stream I turned off my tv. Looking at my phone for the first time since coming home, looking at all the Instagram posts from prom. I see Pezzy posted a story from earlier opening it being met with a photogenic photo of Sly, his cat. She looked so soft and warm in the photo spread out on the ground. I replied to the story "Give her an extra pet for us!" Knowing he'll never see it, it's funny to me replying to all his stories and commenting on his posts. To him, I'm just another follower. Another subscriber. Another random soul on this earth. I put my phone on charge. And went to sleep, excited for the next day to start traveling.