Chasing Astrid Malone

18. FIRST

Our limo pulled up to the school, at the gym entrance, the whole place had been transformed. Not nearly as disappointing as I thought prom in a gym would be. No wonder Carly was so excited being on the prom committee.

Steve held out his arm to Carly and she smiled bashfully as she linked her arm in his. I know she said there was nothing between them, but it doesn't look that way to me.

Cameron must have seen what I did because he held out his arm to me. I looked at Brenda not wanting her to feel left out, but she smiled and nodded to me, silently giving permission. I linked my arm in his and took a step forward, but he didn't move.

When I looked over at him he was holding his other arm out to Brenda, who was staring at him wide-eyed. I couldn't help but laugh.

"My lady," he said in a silly proper way that made me start laughing again. She rolled her eyes but was smiling when she took his arm. I was just as pleased by the inside decorations as I was with the outside.

Carly beamed with pride as she saw our faces, "I know, right? Come on we have to do pictures."

"Not me, I'm going to check if the punch has been spiked yet." Brenda took off, leaving me with Cameron, while Carly was already posing for a picture with Steve.

"We don't have to do the whole picture thing-" Cameron cut me off, grinning ear to ear. "Oh no, we're doing it! Have you seen yourself? I've never seen anything more gorgeous in my life. I'm not passing up the opportunity to take a picture with you." Great, now my prom photo will consist of me impersonating a tomato.

We stepped in front of the backdrop, and Cameron stood next to me, neither of us sure of what to do with ourselves. The photographer directed us on how to stand and then took the photo.

Have I mentioned I hate posing for pictures? Carly waved us over to the table they were sitting at. Most of the senior class was here already. Everyone socializing and standing around, while the DJ played music for an empty dance floor.

"So, the punch is being closely monitored by our principal." Brenda found this to be hilarious, as she couldn't say it without giggling. We all looked over to see Mr. Styles standing directly behind the large bowl, looking as though someone would try it if he blinked.

Thinking about someone trying to spike the punch reminded me to ask Brenda about the pills I saw her take from Jasmine. "I need to use the restroom, B?" She easily took the hint and followed along.

...

"What's up, A? Regretting your choice in prom date already?" I shrugged my shoulders and smiled while rolling my eyes.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something," trying to be nonchalant about it, but it came out more serious than I meant it to.

Furrowing her brows in concern, she tilted her head to the side slightly. "What is is? What's wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong, at least I hope not. It's just..." Why does this feel so hard to ask? Maybe because she didn't tell me, or that I'm not sure how she will react to being caught.

"Spit it out, A! You're making me nervous." She's right, it's just a question.

"I saw Jasmine hand you a baggie of pills. I was just curious what that was about." There it's out.

"That's what you just struggled to ask me? You had me scared for a minute there, I thought it was something serious. Yeah, it's no big deal. I was venting to Jasmine about my weight gain and she offered me a few of her pills. She said they give you energy and suppress your appetite." She pulled them out of her purse and showed me the baggie.