The New 90210

. 25 .

"Oh," Thomas smiled once he looked up from his desk. Tiffany stood in the doorway. "Come on in. What's up?"

Tiffany walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Hey," she grinned uncomfortably. "I hate asking for favors, absolutely hate it. I know we're supposed to request time off 2 weeks ahead of time but it completely slipped my mind."

"What day do you need?"

"Next Saturday. I understand that was going to be the day for organizing & backing up all the files but it's my senior prom and-"

"Consider it done," he stood up putting a couple binders back on his shelf. "I don't wanna be the guy that kept a girl from her prom."

Thomas kissed her on the forehead.

"Thank you," she blushed.

"You'll be the belle of the ball. If only I were younger, I'd ask to take you."

"What was your prom night like?"

Thomas laughed. "I, uh, I didn't have one. I was homeschooled after freshman year. Got too busy making a name for myself."

He sat back down in his office chair and Tiffany walked around to sit on his desk, crossing her arms. "If you did go to prom; let's say we were the same age, how would you go about it?"

"I honestly have no idea what kids do these days for prom, but..." he thought for a moment. "With a single rose and a handwritten card, I'd ask if you'd go to prom with me. And assuming you'd say yes, I'd make sure my tie matched your dress. I'd probably manage to get us limo service, a nice dinner...and since I'm a gentleman, I'd have you back home at the end of the night. Might even ask for a kiss. Well, when I was your age, sure I could act my ass off in front of a camera. But in front of a pretty girl like you? I'd be a nervous wreck."

"No way," she chuckled.

"Way," he nodded. "Girls found my shyness cute, though. Then again, I never knew if they saw me as Thomas or if they say Ponyboy Curtis."

"Pretty sure you didn't care."

"Not at all," he laughed. "Have you found a date, though?"

"No. I'm thinking of just going with my friend, Serenity. Her boyfriend dumped her so she's going alone too."

. . . . .

During lunch on Monday, Nadia sat in the courtyard very agitated. Kali, also looking troubled, joins her at the table with her bag of lunch.

"Nadia," Kali sighed. "I don't know what to do. I'm torn between a girl and a guy, I have no idea what my sexuality is even doing. Not to mention my family would probably burn me at the stake for having any ounce of same-sex desires in my blood. Austin is so cute but he's not really making any moves, I mean, why would he? He's my boss, you know? And Stass wants to go to prom with m--"

"Kali!" Nadia rubbed her temples. "With all due respect...I have more pressing matters to worry about."

"Wh-what's wrong?"

"Everything," Nadia groaned. "Some idiot got the order mixed up and sent all of our pre-ordered decorations to another school that is also having a Great Gatsby themed prom. Instead we got stuff for, I don't know, I guess a Red Carpet night. Totally lame."

"At least we got something, right?"

"What do I tell everyone? Oh sorry you all got extravagant outfits for a theme that's not gonna happen? To make matters worse, my dressmaker fucked up the design I wanted. I told her I'm not paying for that. But it's too late for a new one to get made, so I had to go to the store to find another dress that someone probably already has." Nadia sighed with defeat.