Chapter Twenty

Our prom, as it stood, was a smelly old gym but in the figment of my imagination it was a world of colour, intrigue and most important of all; doable. Affordable. The inspiration was all down to Sabrina. It just needed a little help from outside our prom committee of two. Our budget required more funding. As it stood right now, we could afford the basics, the food, the drinks, the D.J and the photographer but the design elements were a little out of reach. Everything had been attended to; from the date and time, to the theme, entertainment, invitations, marketing, even down to how the prom court voting method worked. All that was left was inputting the design.

With our investment into the toy bows and arrows to sell on the week of Valentine's, we'd nothing left to spend. We'd run dry. It was a given we'd raise a bunch of money in the Cupid's week, plus the sales of the prom tickets too, but we needed cash now – as well as additional income to donate to the cat shelter.

The thing about our high school was, other than Mr. Byers, who had taken an interest in prom, no other member of the staff cared and that included the principal. Sure, they volunteered to supervise the dance, but other than that they didn't seem to take an interest – which made sense considering they heard about it each and every year.

It was at the end of the school day, and the secretary who I'd dubbed as 'Flash' from Zootopia in my head told Anna and I to head into the principal's office.

Mr. Kellerman concentrated on finishing the end of a sentence and one when he prodded his pen to mark a full stop, he offered us a greeting.

"Well . . . You clean up nicely, Sam," he said jokingly, and I forced out a little laugh at his attempt at a joke about the milk incident. Luckily, he moved on quickly. "What can I do for you, ladies?"

Anna took charge. "We need more funds for prom. Only a little."

"We've given you the same set amount that other years have received." His tone was instantly stern. "This is what you get when you mix girls and prom. Mr. Byers was supposed to keep you on track so you wouldn't spend impulsively. Now, girls, I'm afraid this is a life lesson learned the hard way. What you've spent is what you're entitled to, and that's the end of the matter."

"We have projection figures for what we'll receive on the week of prom, that compensates for the money you would let us borrow because, of course, we'll replenish the extra funding," Anna continued, ignoring his sexist remarks. "And there will be enough extra to donate to the cat shelter too."

"What good to me is imaginary numbers, Ms. Jenkins?"

"The figures speak for themselves." Anna slid a piece of paper across the table.

"Plus," I injected, sliding across my designs. "How can you say no to that?"

He barely glanced at them. "Sorry, ladies, what you have is what you're stuck with. It's not our fault you decided to explore more . . . advanced creative avenues than other year groups. You can see yourselves out."

Anna gripped the sides of her chair. "Sir—"

"I'm afraid that's all I can do for you."

"But you did nothin—"

"Come on, Anna, let's get out of here," I said, pulling her out of her seat and out of the office before she could land herself a disciplinary warning or something. As soon as the door shut, I continued, "We expected that. I think my plan will be awesome, anyway."

"I thought asking for funding officially first could save us some time . . ."

"He's an ass. He literally thought Jack and Gerald's phones were destroyed because I wasn't photogenic. Who the hell is photogenic with their top see-through because of milk?! You'd pull the same face too."

"Calm down, Sam."

"Sorry. Sensitive subject."

"You brought it up," she pointed out and led me out of the reception and down the hallway to exit the school. "His office smelt funky anyway. Guarantee the odour will give him a headache. There's his karma. Mixing girls and prom. Such a sexist pig."

"To plan B?"

"Plan B," she confirmed.

As soon as Anna got into the passenger seat of Sabrina's car, and I was positioned into the back seat, Sabrina noted our expressions and said, "Plan B?"

"Plan B," Anna and I confirmed.

"Let's do it, then."

We hadn't spent all the money. If Mr. Kessler cared to look at the finances, he would have seen that we had two hundred dollars left, but it wouldn't be enough to have people come in and design the place of us.

First, we had to stop by the Jenkin's home to switch out cars in favour of a van. After, we went to a bunch of local arts and crafts stores and loaded the van with everything we'd need to handcraft the bulk of the prom by hand. We spent way too much time carrying a bunch of stuff because as we dumped the last of the things into the back of the van, the muscles in my arms were burning and shaking.

As Sabrina drove us back to the school, I texted Maisie wondering if she'd like to help us out and received a bunch of thumbs up in response and an estimated time of when she'd turn up.

Anna took the initiative to put up several signs that warned people from entering the gym, and while she did that, Sabrina and I started lugging the decorations inside. She parked as close as she could to the exit, so we didn't have more than a few feet to walk with the boxes in our hands.

"Is this what you imagined us doing when you said I'd be helping you out?" Sabrina asked, keeping the entrance door open with the back of her heel.

"A little," I admitted.

"You knew you wouldn't have enough cash to fund the prom and yet you still invested in the trinkets to sell next week. Why?"

"We do have enough money," I argued and motioned to all the stuff we'd carried inside all ready. The basics were already there, with the tables, the area where the D.J could set up their equipment, the crowning ceremony platform, all it needed was a little personal touching up. "I never wanted to buy a bunch of stuff and place it in here and voila. Or hire people to do the job. No. I wanted it all handcrafted but prom's sneaking up on us fast. And I guess . . . I was expecting a few more prom committee members, but for some reason, they were all too scared to join even when Anna and I were in charge."

Sabrina's eyes went to the ceiling with a smile. "It's ambitious."

"Cheap?"

"No. I meant what I said. Impressive, Sam. But those trinkets? The bows and arrows? Why buy them before purchasing the essentials for prom night itself?"

"Anna and I spent so much time making them. They weren't bought. And well . . . it was either we sold them the week of prom or not at all. Too early, and no one would buy them, too late and no one would buy them. But I can see it. They'll be a hit. Not making them would have been such a waste of an idea."

"It will be a success. Of that, I have no doubt."

"Don't worry, though, your crown is super cool and won't be like the one you saw me wear last night," I said.

Sabrina smiled a little. "It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

"Yeah?"

"But maybe I'm slightly biased considering what happened after you wore it."

"Wow this is going to take a lot of work," Maisie said, making herself known as she carried in stuff without having to be asked.

"Maisie's here?" Sabrina mouthed to me.

I nodded and turned around to face the pink-haired girl. "Thanks so much for coming, Maisie."

She placed a bunch of cardboard next to my feet and gave me a one-armed hug. "No problem, Sam, brought some muscle too. Figured you'd need it. I know you're not all that into the internet-verse or whatever you called it that one time, but you articulated your anxiety so vividly that I had no choice but to help you."

"I sent you a picture of the stuff in the van, said 'help' and said where we'd be."

"Uh-huh. I could feel your terror through the screen. Don't argue. I'm an expert in deciphering texts. Hence, the muscle I brought with me!"

"I can't stay long! I told you that, Maisie!" Parker called out, slamming a box full of decorations into the door to the gym.

"Sure, you can!" Maisie called back sweetly.

"I'm not someone to call when you need muscle."

"I guess I should've gone ahead and called Jack and Gerald, then," Maisie said.

"Hi guys," Parker greeted us and shot Maisie a glare. "Hell no. Those dudes and their dogs have set us back so much . . . Inspiration! Sam, get pictures of Sabrina and I helping set this place up. Future prom queens, saving the day, saving prom! How could they beat that? They couldn't! Oh, man, Sam, you are a genius."

I blinked once and stared ahead into nothing as I processed what was happening.

Was I being . . . Vultured?

Before I could say a thing, Sabrina was shaking her head and ruffling the hair on top of my head and said, "Sam and Anna don't need saving. I don't like the idea of us taking credit for something they've put so much of themselves into. Swooping in at the last minute? No, I don't think so."

Parker pointed to the disorganized mess on the ground. "I mean . . . We are helping them out. It's not as if we're claiming something we didn't do. Mind if we talk about this as a team and decide what to do together?"

"We're not doing it. End of discussion." Sabrina put her foot down and turned to me. "What do you want tackling first?"

"I . . . There's a mix of sample heart shapes that you can use to cut out . . . well, the hearts needed to be put on the ceiling," I said, nodding to the ground. "One person cut, one person glitter, one person, stick to the string."

"You heard her, grab a pair of scissors, glue, whatever and let's get to it," Sabrina said.

Maisie gave a mock salute but didn't hesitate to follow instructions. Parker trailed after Sabrina when she headed to one of the tables with her supplies. Almost immediately their heads were close together and clearly having an intense conversation. Yeah. Going over there to help wasn't happening. Three was enough to operate that section.

Anna skipped into the room and came to an abrupt stop when she noted the extra occupants in the gym. She knelt beside me as I organized the decorations into sections on the floor and helped – and by helping – she took charge and had everything structured in a much better way than I would've.

She leaned over, so her shoulder brushed mine and asked, "Am I fifth wheeling right now?"

I snorted. "No. You're my date to prom, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Anna laughed. "Well it's nice we got some help."

"Uh-huh."

"Who invited them anyway?"

"I asked Maisie to come, and she brought along Parker."

"Right." Anna nodded. "This isn't awkward at all."

"Nope."

"It's not like you're totally in love with my sister or anything."

"Nope."

"Does Parker know about you and Sabrina?"

"Nope."

"I guess it's none of her business anyway."

"But it was yours?" I joked. When her chest heaved to no doubt explain her reaction to catching us together, I rushed to speak, "I'm kidding. I'm kidding."

"Better be."

"What are you two whispering about over here?" Sabrina asked, sitting down next to us.

"Nothing," Anna rushed out.

"You've both got nothing to worry about. We're not claiming any credit here for our campaign. I didn't even think of it," Sabrina said and held our gazes steadily, obviously thinking we were whispering about how they planned to steal our thunder. "I promise."

"I know. You're not The Vulture," I said and joked, "Just like we're not Jake and Amy."

"I'm very confused," Anna said.

"You wouldn't get it unless it were a Jimmy Neutron reference," Sabrina said.

"You guys are so gross with your inside jokes now."

Sabrina and I made eye contact and shifted our gazes away awkwardly.

We depended on each other and had inside jokes. We didn't sound so easy breezy to me anymore.