Trolls: All This Time

Chapter 3

with her makeup done and her dress and crown on, poppy walked out of her house, practically tripping on her heels from nervousness.

it was dark outside, and the only source of light were the lights from the party that was about 30 or so feet away from her pod.

it was 6:35, poppy was running much later than she had anticipated. trolls were coming out of their pods left and right, the sound of music and chit chat filling the air. seeing everyone calm and dressed up just as much as she was eased poppy's nerves just a little bit.

poppy noticed most people were walking arm and arm or hand in hand with their partner. most of the boys' ties matched the color of their date's dress.

worried, poppy started to wonder if she should've brought a date to this party. almost everyone was walking with their date, and poppy hadn't even thought about that.

she shrugged it off. i have enough to worry about today. she told herself in her head.

poppy got a few greetings here and there, but much less than what she usually would on her way to a party.

none of the snack pack was in sight either. she assumed most everyone was already at the party.

arriving, she was right. almost everyone was already there, including the entire snack pack.

dj suki was matching with guy diamond. biggie was matching with smidge. cooper with satin. fuzzbert with chenille.

poppy smiled as she realized even mr dinkles was dressed up.

skimming the crowd, she managed to find every troll she was looking for, aside from...

"where's branch?" poppy asked, approaching king peppy. "he told me he would be here."

king peppy shrugged. "i haven't seen him. maybe he wasn't feeling it tonight?"

poppy folded her arms and shook her head. "no, he promised me he'd be here for my big night." angry, she stormed off towards his bunker.

once she reached there, poppy knocked on his door. 30 seconds went by. no answer. she knocked again. 30 more seconds. still no answer.

scratching her head, poppy gave up and returned to the party. it was now 6:50, and almost every troll in troll village has arrived. most were either dancing to the loud, upbeat music or eating with their dates by the bar.

"poppy!" a voice from behind her squealed. "you look stunning!"

poppy turned around to find dj suki. "aw, thank you!" she smiled. "so do you! did you come with guy?"

"i did, but i lost him at the bar. he's probably off somewhere twerking."

they both laughed.

after a few moments of silence, dj asked, "so, who did you come with?"

poppy shook her head. "oh, no one. it didn't really occur to me that i should bring a date."

suki nodded. "i get you. guy asked me last minute. considering this was such a last minute party too, i'm surprised so many people even have dates to begin with."

—♡—

the party had been going on for 30 minutes. king peppy had done most of the announcements. poppy stood by most of the time, unsure of what to say.

"and now, for our first slow dance of the night!" peppy announced, and all of the girls in the crowd shrieked and ran to find their dates.

sighing, poppy backed down from the stage and headed toward to bar. she'd only had a bowl of cereal and a cupcake today. she was practically starving.

the song started, and she made sure to excuse herself from squeezing through all of the happy couples dancing.

a hand from behind grabbed her arm.

"may i have this dance?"

poppy turned around and there, standing behind her was branch in a black suit.

without asking any questions, poppy nodded and let him lead her into the center of the dance floor. they began slow dancing and branch smiled.

"where were you? i couldn't find you in the crowd and you weren't at your bunker," poppy said, looking at him questionably.

"oh," branch said, and broke eye contact with her. "i was just...helping a friend get ready. he couldn't get a tux in enough time, so i brought one to his house for him."

"ah," poppy nodded, which then brought her attention to his suit. she smiled. "your tie is purple. it matches my dress."

branch looked down and grinned. "it does? oh my troll!"

they both broke into laughter and caused a lot of eyes to look at them, wondering what they were laughing at.

"did you do that on purpose?" poppy asked.

"how could i have? i hadn't seen your dress!"

"you knew who i was from behind."

"it's kind of hard to miss a pink troll who's been on stage for the entire party," branch said, raising an eyebrow.

poppy smiled and noticed the song was almost over. she hugged branch and told him, "thank you."

"for what?" he asked, looking at her.

"for dancing with me," she said. "i didn't think to bring a date."

branch gave her a small smile. "anytime."