Trapped (egobang trans)

Chapter 77 - Doubts

Would you want to go to prom with me, maybe?

That didn't actually happen, did it? He didn't actually ask that. No, she must've imagined it.

Arin pinched herself for the millionth time as she laid on her bed late that afternoon. Nope. It happened. 

Oh.

My.

God.

She'd said yes, of course. Arin said yes to prom. Not just prom - prom with Danny. She was on cloud nine right now. Granted, the cloud was made of lead and far too quickly headed for the ground, but for now she just let herself bask in the feeling. She'd panic later.

Ever since popping the question Danny had been glued to her side (not that he hadn't been the rest of the day) and had refused to let go of her hand as they walked around more once they'd cooled down. Arin could still feel the warmth in her palm. And instead of the casual peck on the cheek when they decided to call it a day, Danny had kissed her on the mouth so lovingly you'd think he was never going to see her again. They parted ways with huge smiles, and Arin's had still not left her face. Her chest felt light, her thoughts were swimming with Danny's face, and she felt a strange urge to start jumping around in her room. She wondered if he was feeling the same way right now.

Since jumping around would probably get her in trouble with her parents downstairs, Arin took out her laptop and loaded up Skype; perhaps she could just scream at her friends in excitement instead. Suzy was online, so she called. No preemptive message, this was too urgent.

"Hi, what's--"

"SUZY GUESS WHAT."

Suzy jumped on the webcam, and Arin saw her reach to turn her volume down.

"Wow, that was loud. What's up?"

"Danny asked me to prom!"

Now it was Suzy's turn to scream. She disappeared from view for a second, presumably running in circles in her room judging by the sound. 

"Hold that thought. We've got to get everyone else in here," she said when she returned.

A few seconds later Rachel and Kevin were added to the video call, confused faces popping up. 

"What's going on?" asked Kevin slowly, obviously noticing the two girls' overly excited expressions.

"Arin has some news," replied Suzy.

"Oh, what is it?"

"I got asked to prom! By Danny!"

Rachel gasped, "No waaay! Did you say yes?"

"Yeah!"

"Arin that's awesome! Dude, I wish I went to your guys' school..."

"Can you drive?" asked Suzy quickly.

"Yeah, I passed my test not too long ago. Why?"

"How would you like to be our taxi? You could pick us up afterwards."

"You're asking me to pick you up from your prom?" Kevin narrowed his eyes, "What's in it for me?"

"... Seeing a bunch of cute girls in dresses?"

"Ew, gross, I'm not that kind of guy! Though, it would be cool to see Arin in a dress for the first time."

"Oh, that's right! Arin, what are you gonna wear?" asked Rachel excitedly, and suddenly all the attention fell on Arin again.

"Um, I'm not sure yet..."

What do I wear? What if it's not good enough? What if I spill something down it and make it worse? What if everyone starts staring? What if they laugh at me? What if Danny gets laughed at too for being my boyfriend? What if he gets so embarrassed he breaks up with me? What if --

"Woah, Arin, are you okay?"

Everyone was looking at her with wide eyes, and it was only then that Arin realised she'd started hyperventilating. She tried to wipe her now crying eyes, only to find her hands were trembling. She looked up at her webcam pleadingly. 

"Arin, just try to take deep breaths, it'll be okay," chimed in Kevin, taking charge over the situation as Suzy and Rachel didn't seem to know what to do.

"Okay, okay..." Arin agreed shakily.

A few minutes passed, and Arin was able to give her friends a small smile to show she was feeling better. She was still shaking a little, but breathing was coming a lot easier now.

"What happened?" asked Suzy.

"I just... got worried about what I was going to wear..." Arin admitted, realising how ridiculous she was being.

"Aw, don't worry about it. Rachel and I could help you find something, right Rach?"

"Yeah, of course! Looking at all those sparkly dresses is really fun!"

Arin imagined herself in one of those extravagant dresses she saw on TV. Her nerves returned as she then imagined trying to walk in stilettos and being covered in sequins. That didn't sound like her. Something simple would make her feel more comfortable.

"Actually, I think I have an idea of what I can wear." she said suddenly, glancing back at her wardrobe and smiling knowingly to herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

< Danny's POV >

Danny didn't go home straight away. Instead, practically skipping in his excitement, he found himself taking a detour to Havve's house. He knew his band mates were practicing today. He would've joined them, if it wasn't for that burning question that he'd needed to ask Arin before he lost his nerve. Now though, he just needed to actually tell someone that he was going to prom with Arin. The realisation sent butterflies darting around in his stomach, and he just couldn't keep it to himself for another second. He let himself in; he came here most weekends, it was nothing new, and made his way down the stairs into the basement, two steps at a time.

The sounds of instruments halted as he came into view, and surprised faces stared at him.

"Danny? I thought you had a date with Arin," said Sung, confused.

"I did." Danny grinned at them. "And she said yes."

Brian gasped, abandoning his keyboard to wrap his arms around Danny.

"Dude, that's awesome! I'm so proud of you!" he exclaimed, and Danny laughed.

"Geez Bri, it's not like it was that difficult."

"Bud, you were literally crying over Skype to us at midnight because you were so nervous," pointed out Sung.

"Okay fine it was difficult! I just... Agh, I can't believe she said yes!"

"She's your girlfriend, what did you expect?" chuckled Meouch.

"You know how Arin is about new situations. This is a big step for her, I didn't want to make her feel pressured into doing something she wasn't ready for." Danny folded his arms, frowning at that thought.

She said yes now, but what about when prom actually happens? What if she freaks out? I don't want to make her feel like that!

"Yo, earth to Danny! What'cha thinking about?" called Meouch, snapping his fingers in Danny's face.

"Wha-? Oh, I'm just... worried how Arin's gonna cope on the night. I don't want her to like, have a panic attack in front of everyone and embarrass herself. I'd never forgive myself if she freaked out cause I forced her into this."

"Danny, bro, you're not forcing her into anything," said Brian gently, draping his arm around Danny's shoulder, "She said yes, right?"

Danny nodded. "So, this is her decision. Just worry about yourself for now. You spend all your time worrying about Arin, it's got to be eating you up at this point."

"Worry about myself? What do you mean, Bri?"

"You need to buy a suit, duh! Ya can't go walking into prom in a hoodie and jeans!" cried Meouch in outrage.

"Oh, right... I've never bought a suit before..."

"SHOPPING TRIIIIIIIIIP!"