About You Now

Prom Preparations

"I wonder what the others will be dressed in?" questioned Serenity as she sat at her vanity table, gently curling her hair; she'd already done her makeup, complete with shimmering lip gloss, sparkling eye shadow, and oversized, thick false eyelashes. She glowed a sun-kissed bronze now, having gotten a fake tan done earlier in the day. The dress she planned to wear hung from her closet door, the shoes to accompany it resting beside her purse on the nearby chair, her jewelry pieces set out at the end of the vanity table. "Ugh! It doesn't matter anyway, I'll be the most beautiful prom queen in All Star Academy history," she added, glancing at her phone wrapped in a pink glittery and diamond phone case.

She'd sent a message to Roman shortly after her confrontation with Galina. The instructions she'd sent were clear: pick her up at seven, and they'd head to the prom together. She hadn't mentioned her thoughts in the message; they'd go to the prom together as a couple and as expecting parents. They'd also be prom king and queen together if she had her way. However, Roman hadn't responded; instead, he left the message on read, and he didn't call to confirm that he'd understood. He didn't even bother to answer her calls either.

Through the mirror, Serenity saw her mother, Sienna, entering her room, a bright smile upon her lips, a proud smile even. In her hands was a small wood-carved decorative box and a small pile of authentic-looking ballot votes intended to help Serenity cheat the vote for the prom queen race. For a moment, Serenity appeared confused until she remembered the tradition her maternal grandmother, Grandma Sloan, had started. Every girl in her family would wear a golden tiara, decorated with small sparkling gems. The tiara wasn't anything special, but every girl who wore it before had won the titular title of prom queen.

"Come, let's get the future prom queen ready," Sienna said, offering a tight smile to her eldest daughter, her favorite. You see, Sienna Irons was just like Serenity when she was younger, maybe even worse; she was a bully, the queen of her year all through high school. Even when she got pregnant at sixteen, she retained her popularity and her cruelty. She'd been the same in college and continued her vile behavior into adulthood.

Yes, she was once married to Andy Black, Serenity's father, but the marriage was loveless and far from happy. Once he matured, it was like he was a different person than the one she originally wanted to sink her claws into. Still, he looked the other way when she played outside the marriage, even when she birthed two more daughters from her affairs. To this day, she blamed Andy for forcing her to get a job; he'd been cruel to her in his will, left everything to the two affair daughters and nothing to Serenity and herself.

"You go get the happiness I never got," commented Sienna as if she was living vicariously through Serenity, after all, the two were so alike. Both had mousy brown hair and judgmental hazel eyes; both valued appearance and money above all else, and both were vicious when they chose to be. If you didn't know they were mother and daughter, one could easily mistake them for sisters.

"Did you find out about Echo and Hunter's plans?" asked Serenity, pulling herself from the fluffy stool she'd previously been perched upon. Carefully, she stepped over to her closet, reaching for the pink floor-length gown hanging from the door. Serenity's smile brightened; it was perfect for her, beautiful even if simple. The dress was a powder-pink, with a wrapped braiding design on the top and a full, layered skirt at the bottom. It was simple, yet would allow her the comfort needed.

"Hunter will be attending prom with his friends; his parents rented a limousine to get the group to and from the school," Sienna replied, recalling her conversation with her ex-brother-in-law, Valentine Black. "Said group is heading off on an adventure soon, but didn't get any details about it," she added, certain her daughter wasn't interested in Hunter anyway; instead, Serenity's obsession was with the younger of the black twins, Echo. "Valentine refused to share details about what was planned for Echo. Even when I demanded to know about the amusement park trip, and how they'd accommodate you."