black and white and red all over

Chapter 29

A much more important topic than the junior president's love life, and more important than even the vampire attacks, soon comes up, as tickets go on sale and the upperclassmen begin openly discussing their plans. Prom will be at the end of April, and that soon becomes the primary topic of discussion. Though both the junior and senior classes are not particularly large, Byleth feels like there is a rarely a day that she does not see a dramatic promposal occur, which reminds her that this school really is no different than the others she has attended before.

She did not go to her junior prom the previous year, and never really considered it. Occasionally, she hung out on the fringes of a group, and they asked her if she would be in their group for dinner, but she turned them down. After all, once she got there, they would all pair off, and she would be by herself, dressed up for an occasion that she did not care much about either way. Before this year, dances were not something she cared about, not even one considered as momentous as the prom.

"I'm pretty excited for prom myself," says Caspar, after watching someone in their study hall open a card on their desk, gasping in surprise when they discovered that it contained prom tickets, and came from the person sitting directly in front of them.

"Did an upperclassmen ask you?" Byleth asks. "What happened to you and Petra?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that! See, this year, one of the really rich kids in my class got their parents to rent some clubhouse in a ritzy neighborhood or something, so the underclassmen are having our own thing that night. And, speaking of Petra, guess who asked her?" He beams.

"I'm assuming she said yes."

"It's gonna be great! Honestly, I feel bad for all the underclassmen dating someone older, cos they're probably gonna miss out on one awesome party!" he says. "See, the parents aren't gonna supervise or anything, whereas the prom is fully chaperoned. Way less fun."

"Keep talking about it like that, and you'll make me wish I wasn't a senior," she replies.

"So, are you going to the prom? Got a date yet?"

"Wouldn't you have heard if I did?"

"Hey, I don't hear everything ," Caspar says, though sometimes it feels like he does. At the very least, it often feels like she gets all of her information from him. "So, you don't? Got any plans to ask anyone, or looking forward to being asked by anyone?"

She has to think about that. Though they did go to a dance together, she hasn't asked about prom and isn't sure what the plan is, though she can't imagine Ferdinand will want to sit this out, which means all four of them will likely end up going. However, she isn't sure if they're going to pair off, or if they'll all go as friends to keep things simple, though, whatever they do, she knows the assumptions about Ferdinand and Edelgard will continue either way.

"I'm not sure yet," she finally says. "I guess I'll have to wait and see what my friends are doing."

"Well, if they decide to be lame about it, I might be able to sneak you into our party," Caspar replies. "So don't make any other plans if they turn you down!"

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

~X~

Byleth decides to ask Hubert to prom. If they're going to go in a group, it doesn't matter if they say they're going as friends or not, because the student body has already decided how they've paired off, and, honestly, trying to steer away from that might just continue to call attention to them. They might as well go as "dates," and if she's going to ask someone, it should be the one everyone already thinks she's going with. Not to mention, Hubert was technically her first crush, and she knows that, several months ago, before everything changed, she might have entertained the idea of being his date to prom.

She has no plans for a fancy invitation, or to even do it publicly. Instead, she does it as soon as they get home from school, saying, "We're all going to the prom, right?"

"I had hoped we would!" Ferdinand says with a smile, his enthusiasm not the least bit surprising. When Edelgard agrees and Hubert nods, Byleth nods as well, turning her attention to him.

"Hubert, do you want to go to prom with me?" she asks, and there is a pause.

"You're asking...me? To be your date?"

"I know we're all going together," she replies. "We're all each other's dates, but nobody knows that part. I just thought it might be fun to..."

"And you asked Hubert instead of me?" asks Edelgard, in a mock-offended tone. "I honestly don't know what to say about that, Byleth."

"Well, perhaps she already knew that I was going to ask you," Ferdinand replies.

"Oh, so it doesn't bother you that I didn't ask you instead?" Byleth says, before Hubert cuts in.

"I would say I'm offended you're asking Edelgard instead of me, but I'm more relieved than anything else," he says.

"Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"And you aren't going to fight for me?" Edelgard interrupts Ferdinand. "So, Hubert, does that mean you wanted Byleth to ask you?"

"I thought you wanted me to fight for you," Byleth argues, laughing all the while. The four of them are able to go on like this for a while, but all of it is in good fun. On the surface, Byleth will go with Hubert and Edelgard will go with Ferdinand, but the four of them will spend the entire night together.

~X~

It definitely feels strange, to begin discussing plans for the prom with everything that has happened. Really, everything has felt strange lately, because of how normal it has been. Everything has been too calm since Christmas, which works well for their plans, but seems almost too good to be true.

The year is almost over, and then nothing will ever be this normal again. In that sense, Byleth is glad to be able to go to her senior prom, something she never thought she would do, even before she met a vampire and fell in love with her and two of her friends. After the prom, there will be a few more weeks of school, then she and Hubert will graduate, and they will leave with Edelgard, and Ferdinand...she still isn't sure what Ferdinand will do.

That is a topic that they have not discussed since he joined their relationship, as they haven't discussed their plans for the end of the school year since the initial argument. Though she knows that topic will have to come up again soon, she is fine with waiting until the happier times are over to address it. No matter what may come in the future, they at least deserve to enjoy everything that comes before.