The Moon Shines when the Sun Isn't Around

Part 16

### **Chapter: The Prom Dilemma**

"Yo, did you hear what they're saying about prom?" King asked, leaning back in his seat, his usual confident smirk on his face.

Oreo, her head in her phone, glanced up briefly. "Hmm? Nah, what about it?"

He shrugged, looking over at a group of classmates huddled together at a nearby table, clearly deep in discussion about their prom plans. "Just the usual stuff. You know, dates, dresses, tuxes... all that."

Oreo's fingers paused over her phone screen, a thought crossing her mind. Prom. Right, that was coming up soon, wasn't it? But who was she going to go with? She hadn't really thought about it yet.

"Well, who you going with?" Oreo asked, her tone casual but her heart skipping just a little. She avoided King's eyes, pretending to be more interested in the new game she was downloading.

King laughed, but there was something a little awkward in it. "I mean, I haven't really thought about it. You?"

Oreo felt her cheeks heat up for a moment. She hadn't expected him to turn the question back on her so quickly. "No clue," she mumbled, her eyes still on her phone. "I don't even know if I'm going."

"C'mon, Oreo, you gotta go. It's prom. You can't miss it," King said, leaning forward and nudging her arm playfully.

She smiled at him but tried to play it off. "I mean, it's just a dance, right? Nothing that exciting about it."

"Nah, it's more than that. You know how people are about prom. It's like a whole thing," King argued. "You gotta get dressed up, take a million pictures, maybe win some corny title like prom queen. Plus, it's our last big high school thing."

"Yeah, I guess," Oreo said, shrugging. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The truth was, the idea of prom had been in the back of her mind for a while. But every time she thought about it, she also thought about who she'd want to go with. And every time, her thoughts landed on King.

But there was no way she was going to say that out loud.

King, on the other hand, was thinking the same thing. He glanced over at Oreo, wondering why asking her to prom felt like such a big deal. They were best friends. It should've been easy. But something about the idea of them going together, dressed up and making a whole night of it, made his stomach flip.

"So... if you did go, who would you wanna go with?" King asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Oreo's eyes widened slightly at the question, her fingers nervously tapping the side of her phone. "I don't know... Haven't really thought about it."

"Liar," King teased, grinning at her. "C'mon, you gotta have someone in mind."

"Nope, no one," Oreo replied quickly, maybe a little too quickly.

King leaned back, staring at her for a moment. "Really? You've got no one in mind?"

Oreo hesitated, the air between them suddenly feeling a little tense. "What about you?" she deflected. "You haven't mentioned anyone either."

King scratched the back of his head, his usual confident air faltering just a bit. "I mean... I guess I was kinda thinking..." He trailed off, glancing away.

Oreo's heart skipped again. Was he about to say what she thought he was going to say?

"Well?" she pressed, trying to keep her voice steady.

"I was kinda thinking... maybe we could go together?" King said quickly, his voice barely above a mumble.

Oreo blinked, caught off guard by how fast he said it. "Wait, what?"