The Promposal (COMPLETE)

5- A Fortnite Later

POV. Jonah Parker

2 weeks ago Edith asked me to go to prom with her as friends. It was a kinda weird situation, given that we don't really know each other too well. But I didn't really give it much thought after the fact, I went on with life as normal: going to school, doing homework, playing video games. The only thing was that I had to tell Nolan about it eventually.

Nolan knew that I had been trying to build up the courage to ask Cynthia to the prom for weeks. I had a crush on her since Freshman year, back when Nolan was popular and tried to convince me I had a chance with girls because of it. 

That said, if Nolan found out that I had agreed to go to prom with Edith, he'd hold it against me forever. He'd always been advocating for me to ask Cynthia out, and seemed pretty confident in the possibility of our relationship. But the only problem is that I wasn't. Confident.

I'm gonna be honest, I was bullied a little in middle school. That kind of thing starts to weigh on you. Though it's not an excuse for me saying yes to Edith when I really should've just asked Cynthia.

Back to today, where I'm sprawled out on my sofa playing fortnite with Nolan who's in the beanbag on the floor. Somehow, I've held out on telling him this long. But it's not going to last much longer.

"So did you give up on asking Cynthia?" Nolan asks me as we play. I can tell that he's trying to catch me off guard, and I arm myself to avoid his questions.

"Yeah I guess. It's kinda late for that." I answer him, spamming the controls a little to get my nerves out. For some reason, Nolan has a way of just forcing the truth out of me. And I am not falling for it today.

"You know Justin said that he had to make the limo reservations soon, since all his and Camila's friends are planning on coming," Nolan says nonchalantly. I notice the mention of Camila, who is apparently Edith's best friend. Which is weird, since I mostly just remember her from that viral video where she fell on her face in the middle of a cheerleading contest. 

"So?" I respond, clearly confused about what he's implying. 

"So, are you gonna have a date at all?" Nolan asks. "I know you've been acting weird lately, did someone ask you? Was it a guy?"

"What? No." I respond very loudly. Nolan has had this running theory that everyone at school thinks that I'm gay, and he brings it up whenever presented with the opportunity. He, of course, knows that I'm not because of my huge crush on Cynthia. Still, it's quite annoying to hear his constant nagging. 

"Hah, I was just joking. I know you'd tell me if someone asked you to prom. Wouldn't you?" Nolan says, and I can tell he's working on a guilt trip.

"Yeah whatever" I respond. 

The game ends with both of us losing, and Nolan turns toward me. "Who asked you?"

He's finally got me. "Edith Blythe," I respond.

"And?" he's trying to ask if I said yes.

"I mean she's cool." I brush off the accusation. I can tell he knows I just said yes to her because I didn't have the guts to ask Cynthia. But I don't want him to know he's right. It happens much too often and I'm tired of it.

"But this was your chance! You've been looking for an excuse to ask Cynthia out for literal years, and then, all of a sudden, prom. Neither of you have dates, and I'm like 75% sure she has a crush on you as well. So what's the logical solution?" he goes off on a rant, and I can see that he has a point.

"Dude, I'm not like you. I don't just ask out a new girl every month and then break up with them later. I can't even give a presentation in class, much less ask a girl to prom. This is just the easiest option." I answer. 

Nolan looks disappointed, but doesn't try to argue anymore. He simply starts another game, and we play in silence for a bit.

"I guess we don't have to worry about adding more people to the limo then," Nolan says after some time.

"Have you decided who you're going to prom with yet?" I ask.

"I don't know. None of my relationships seem to work out, so maybe I should just go solo." He responds. I can tell he's thinking about his last relationship. The only one that ended with him getting dumped and not the other way around.

He met Brittney during Christmas break, and they spent ski week together as counselors for some YMCA camp. They did everything together, even watching Endgame opening night when Nolan and I had planned to wait until Sunday and watch it together like we did with Infinity War. I was always kind of wary of Brittney because of her 'wannabe instagram influencer' vibe, but Nolan swore she was more than that. So when she broke his heart by cheating on him on Valentines Day, he was crushed. 

I know not to push Nolan on that subject, although it does seem kind of odd that with the amount of dates he'd been on, Nolan was choosing to go alone to prom.

This time around, Nolan wins the game of Fortnite, but he doesn't seem too happy. 

I don't feel too great either, considering I usually love just hanging out and playing video games. 

I feel defeated, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Fortnite.