𝒦𝑜𝓃𝑜𝒽𝒶 𝐻𝒾𝑔𝒽

𝓡𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼

⸻⸻⋅☾ 🥀☽⋅⸻⸻

By Monday, we had enough signatures from the PTA to start organizing the dance.

By Wednesday, most of the setup was done, and now on Thursday, ticket sales are picking up, and word has gotten around.

ChoCho and a few council members even set up a system where you can buy a rose to send to someone you want to ask to the dance. It's already popular, with a lot of people getting in on it.

I've already seen Himawari receive a rose from Inojin, but she quickly tucked it away inside her locker when Boruto came over. He had a whole bunch of roses from different girls, all from various grades, and yet he hadn't accepted any of them so far.

I've received some roses too, but most of them are either dicks or guys I'm not interested going with. 

...

After second period, during lunch, I was sitting in the cafeteria eating with my friends when Boruto walked over with the notebooks I had asked him to grab from my locker.

"You've gotten a lot of roses," he said, setting my notebooks down on the table. His tone and expression were unreadable.

"Oh, yeah," I replied casually. "So have you."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Shikadai and Chocho smirking.

"So, are you going with any of them?" Boruto asked.

"No," I said, raising an eyebrow. "But why do you care?"

"Just curious," he shrugged.

...

When I got home, I dropped my bag on the couch and headed to the kitchen to make something to eat. As I walked past the living room, I was surprised to see Dad sitting there, reading the newspaper. It was strange—I'm still not used to him being around. 

I was about to walk into the kitchen when I heard my mom squeal.

"Sarada!" she exclaimed. "You've gotten a lot of roses!"

"She has?" Dad said, raising an eyebrow, his voice sounding stricter than usual.

"Are you going with any of them?"

"No," I replied.

"You should!" Mom said excitedly, her voice filled with enthusiasm.

"I'm not interested in any of them," I said firmly, not really feeling the need to explain myself further.

To my surprise, I could have sworn I saw Dad let out a quiet breath of relief, almost as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It was subtle, but I noticed it. His expression didn't change much, but there was a slight shift in his posture, like he'd been bracing for something and now he could finally relax.

...

Today is Friday, and the council committee got to skip the first two periods to finalize the setup for the dance—hanging decorations, arranging everything, and refrigerating the food we'd approved. It felt nice to have some time to get everything in order before the event later on.

After school, I rushed to change for the dance. The committee had to arrive earlier to hand out tickets and finish setting up.

I had a quick lunch and shower, then brushed through my hair and redid my makeup to fit the theme. I applied foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, and some lip gloss. I slipped into a black mini dress and finished the look with a masquerade mask, ready for the night ahead.

My parents agreed to chaperone the dance.

When I walked into their room, Mom was slipping into a pink dress and touching up her makeup. She looked so focused, and I couldn't help but think she must be excited to dance with Dad.

...

About thirty minutes later, we piled into the car and drove to school.