Out of My League

{11} Prom

Charlotte's POV

The day following my public confession of my love for Lemon Hatfield went as expected: awkward. I couldn't help but notice the furtive glances from my classmates and teammates as I walked passed. It was especially hard to ignore the cold glare Annie gave me as I got my textbooks out of our locker. Yep, we were locker partners.

Annie raised her eyebrows in a condescending manner. "So you're some lesbo now?" she asked maliciously. 

"Actually, I think I'm bi," I answered nonchalantly, attempting to disperse all emotion from my voice.

"I can't believe you!" Annie continued angrily. "I don't even know why I'm talking to you right now, you're honestly such an embarrassment to be around."

"Then don't talk to me," I replied impassively.

"Don't you even care what people are saying about you? Your reputation will never recover from this! You know that right?"

"My reputation is the least of my concerns right now," I answered honestly. I could feel myself tensing up with irritation. "And honestly if people don't like me for who I am, I really don't give a crap about what they say behind my back."

"Ugh," Annie replied irately, sticking her nose up as she finally left me in peace. I sighed with relief.

"Hey Charlotte!" a familiar voice called out to me. Jackson appeared in front of me to my great astonishment.

"Oh, hi Jackson," I greeted with surprise. 

He flashed me a genuine smile. "I saw that post of you and Lemon, and I just wanted you to know that I'll support you guys until the very end," he made the gesture of steering a wheel. "We will go down with this ship." 

I laughed in response. "We?"

Cathy appeared behind him. "Yes we! Just so you know, I was the original captain of your ship."

"It's the truth," came Lemon's voice from behind me. "She was. It got pretty annoying to be honest."

I gave Cathy a high five. "Wow, what an honor it is to be talking with you right now."

"The pleasure is mine," she said, winking. As the four of us walked down the crowded halls together, I felt like myself for the first time at school in many years. Although many viewed popularity as the pinnacle of high school success, I believed it was extremely overrated. The constant paranoia and fear of losing your status was not worth the charades or the likes on social media. 

Out of nowhere, reality hit me like a blow to the stomach. My dad's return. The phone call. My mother in the hospital. I was dreading the journey back to that dreadful place after school today. Not only did I not want to face my father, I couldn't stand seeing my mother in a hospital bed again, surrounded by beeping monitors with an assortment of wires coming out of her. 

I felt a hand hold my own, squeezing it gently. "Don't worry Char," Lemon whispered. "I'm sure she'll be okay. Complications happen all the time. It's normal."

"I hope so," I replied worriedly.

"Just think, we have prom tomorrow, and we're going to have the best time ever," she looked at me with those kind brown eyes. "It's all going to work out."

I nodded, trying to suppress the growing dread in the pit of my stomach. Lemon was right, this was our junior year of high school. Now wasn't the time to be stressing out over the things you can't control. For once in my life, maybe it was time to take a step back. There was nothing I could do, though I wished with all my heart that there was.