A/N - You might want to go back to the 'SPOILERS' chapter to see what their prom clothes look like.
Present time
Standing in front of the mirror, dressed in my Great Gatsby tux, trying to sort out my bow tie whilst half smirking after I see Josh creeping up behind me, "Looks like you need some help with that, bro" he says, leaning on the door frame, watching me fiddle with my black bow tie.
"I'm glad you find this amusing" I sarcastically say. He walks up to me, wanting to fix my bow tie, no one knows how to do a bow tie better than Josh, the real gentleman.
"My hands are shaking" he says in a slightly lower tone.
"You nervous?" I ask him.
So I am to be honest, I've never liked a girl as much as I like Melanie and me going to prom with her just makes everything official, everyone will know that we're going out for sure, which I'm kinda glad about because it takes the weight off of my shoulders, knowing that guys won't look at her twice because she's with me, but being a guy myself, I know it's tricky having a girlfriend as hot as Melanie, and not just hot, but smart as well.
Before when she was still part of the geeky squad, nobody really noticed her, that's including myself, but knowing what guys are like, they'll probably provoke me by wanting to steal my girl and that's not gonna happen any time soon.
"Yeah. I mean, I've never really had a proper girlfriend before and now that I'm dating a girl that I'm genuinely interested in, I'm getting these bad vibes that people will want us to break up because I'm on the football team and she's in a Mathematics club. Two different worlds" As if he took the words right outta my mouth, it's true though, nobody would have predicted we'd end up dating the smart girls.
"I feel you" I sigh.
"You look sexy" he jokes around and walks up to my bed to sit on it, I let out a laugh as I look into the big mirror once again, thinking that the bow tie is just about perfect, "Well don't know I that already?" I respond, cocking my eyebrows at him.
"We good to go for the girls then?" he asks me being impatient, "Whoa calm down dude, you'll see her in 20 minutes" I tease him and I see a tiny bit of red colour coming through his skin on his cheeks, to which I laugh at.
"Come on then, you impatient dick" I clap on his back, leading him downstairs.
We grab the flowers from the kitchen table that we bought for our dates and head straight towards the car that I rented out, a black Rolls Royce Ghost 6.6L, year 2013.
I bought 24 red roses for Melanie because I read on the internet that it means; you're always on my mind, it stands for the twenty-four hours of the day, and says that the loved one is thought of during every hour of the day. I just hope she likes them and knows what they actually mean too. She's a smart girl though, she'll figure it out.
Josh on the other hand, bought 50 roses in total, 40 white roses and 10 lavender roses which are shaped in a love heart, apparently lavender roses mean love at first sight, which is a true statement in his situation.
We get in the car, feeling like bosses as we put our shades on and fasten our seatbelts, I start the engine and it makes a really loud growling noise, making my grin wider than Grinch's. Before we drive off, I put the radio on, turning it up to the maximum, ready to pick my girl up.
After minutes of driving we arrived at Melanie's house. I press the bell two times, which is weird because usually I never press it, I just knock, I think it's this tux, it's making me do unusual stuff.
I give Josh a reassuring look and someone instantly opened the door, that someone being mister Rivers. We politely come inside, both of us shaking his hand, he welcomes us into the living room, motioning for us to sit down on the sofa, while the girls are still getting ready upstairs.
"What can I get you to drink boys?" mister Rivers asks us.
"Water, please-" "Whiskey" me and Josh both answer at the same time. Two different people.
He gives a me look that says are you fucking serious? I just shrug not knowing what else to say, "He asked us, so I answered." I say as if it was an everyday thing where my girlfriend's dad asks me what do I want to drink.
"Yeah, so you answer with Whiskey, great answer" he sarcastically claps his hands, shaking his head.
Her dad then comes into the living room again, handing us both a glass each. Scotch.
"To you guys" Melanie's dad toasts, both me and Josh nod our heads in agreement as we proceed to drink the alcoholic beverage, burning our throats in the process.
"Not to sound patronising, but we're not 21 yet." Josh tells him, making me roll my eyes. Why does he seriously have to speak?
"Special occasions, son. If anything, you didn't get it from me" He laughs making me smile. I like this guy. I put my hand on his shoulder, "Well in that case, lets have another round" I smirk at him and his smile fades away making me slightly scared again.
"Or not" I change my mind.
"Just kidding, I'll get us another round" he laughs as well, making me sigh in relief, clutching onto my chest, I thought he was serious for a second.
"Hey, you didn't get it from me, okay?" he makes sure we understand.
"Didn't get what? What are you talking about?" I quickly put my hand on my chin, caressing it up and down, pretending to not know what he was talking about. I see him smile making me chortle.
"Copy that, sir." Josh says, saluting him.
I turn my head towards him, eyes in disbelief, Melanie's dad having the same exact expression on his face as me but then he decides to leave the living room.
"Copy that, really? What are you, seven?" I ask. I'm shook.
"I thought that was a thing" he admits.
"You thought wrong, pal. You watch too many action films"
After we finish our little talk, mister Rivers comes back with more of that Scotch, but as soon as I bring the glass to my lips, Melanie comes into view, with her sparkly dress that goes all the way to the floor, hair up in some kind of a bun that looks angelic on her, make-up done like a princess, holding a little sparkly purse, a pearl necklace hanging on her chest, with the shoes that I bought her.
Without realising I instantly put my glass of Scotch down onto the coffee table, being absolutely speechless, my heart beat picking up from just seeing her smile, being totally mesmerized by her looks.
"Dylan, say something" she giggles her words out, probably feeling awkward as I stare her up and down without blinking.
"Wow." I whisper so quietly that it almost seems as if I'm saying it in my head. I take her hands into mine, staring her deep in the eyes as I see her blush.
"Dylan... are you going to say something because it's kind of awkward" she softly says, putting her head down to hide her rosy cheeks.
"Erm... Uh... I don't- I don't know what to say" I get lost for words, finally breaking the eye contact.
"I don't think there's a word to describe how you look right now" I finish my sentence.
She laughs and comes closer to me, slipping her hand into mine and slowly interlacing her fingers with mine, thanking me and then looking at her dad with her hand still in mine.
I look at him too, to see that he has tears in his eyes.
"Dad, don't cry, please stop being awkward" she laughs as she pulls him into a tight hug, "Dylan, do you mind if I have a moment with my daughter for a second?" he asks me and I instantly shake my head, "Of course, go ahead!"
They go off into the corner, her dad still crying his eyes out, probably giving her one of the dad speeches which I never had.
All of a sudden, I think of my mom, trying not to cry. Seeing her with such supportive parents, that are healthy as can be, make me think of the what if questions.
I put my thoughts aside as I see Josh kissing Alicia right in front of me, both of them smiling from ear to ear. It's nice seeing your friends being as happy as Josh is right now.
"Damn Alicia, I thought you was a hot next door neighbour for a second" I jokingly say, pulling her into a hug, "I'm just playing you look gorgeous" I honestly say and she compliments me back in a slightly meaner way making me chuckle.
She actually doesn't look like herself at all. I'm used to seeing her with leggings and a long shirt which she calls a dress, but now she has a tight short dress, with patterns of sparkles, her hair curled up, glittery high heeled boots which you'd only see on models during runways, her purse matching her necklace which is made out of pearls and her purse is in the shape of a shell. Her make-up giving her an older appearance with a hint of sexiness to it.
I get pulled away from the two love birds when Melanie turns me around by my shoulder. "You okay?" she asks.
"Yeah sure, why wouldn't I be?"
"Dylan, I think I can tell when you're okay and when you're not. What is it? You know you can tell me right?" concerned written all over her face, her eyebrows frowning making the little dimples above her eyebrows appear when she's worried, I decide not to tell her.
"I know" I say, squeezing her hand.
"I just found the camera, it took me ages to get it to work" we hear Melanie's mom rushing her way downstairs, "All of you get together, this has to be memorable" she says and we all squeeze in a little more closer together, ready to take the pictures, I should have known this was coming.
It didn't happen in my house simply because my dad doesn't give a shit because he acts as if he's not my dad.
"Okay now I want you two together, this is going up on the wall" she points at me and Melanie. she looks at me, a smirk already playing at the corners of my mouth, making her roll her eyes.
I get behind her as I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me by millimetres, her hands holding my arms, both of us smiling, well more like smirking for me but same thing.
"Erm mom, how many pictures did you take? because I'm pretty sure it was more than one" Melanie says breaking free from my grip.
"Let them go now, they don't want to be late and already took plenty of pictures" mister Rivers says to his wife.
As we lead the girls out to the cars, Melanie's neighbours start looking at both Melanie and Alicia but unlike Josh I couldn't keep my mouth shut.
"Keep dreaming bro, this is my girlfriend!" I shout at the guy in a hoodie as Melanie tries to shut me up by putting her hand on my mouth, but I know that deep inside she likes it when I talk about her like that.
"Get it? Mine!!" I shout once more, making mister Rivers laugh.
"For everyone on this street, I don't care if you're sleeping or trying to ignore me, but all the guys on this street, stick this inside your heads: Melanie Rivers, the hottest girl living on this street goes out with Dylan Cooper and that's me bitches!!" I shout across the whole street making people appear on the windows.
"Dylan, shhhh. Be quiet already" she laughs with me, her cheeks turning bright red.
Once we get into the car alongside with Josh and Alicia sitting in the back seats, we drive towards the city museum where our prom is held at. As soon as we get there, Josh gets out of the car first and opens Alicia's door, both of them getting out. Melanie doesn't look at me, she just extends her hand out, wanting to open the door herself.
I grab her by her hand making her turn her head around, "We've got one more stop to make" I say and she mischievously smiles at me.
As we see the couple walk inside the museum, I drive off out of the parking lot. In about 10 minutes of driving, holding Melanie's hand in mine, we arrive at our destination, "Dylan, I'm so sorry, I should have known-" she tries to say more but I stop her by leaning in and kissing her lips.
"It's okay, she just always wanted to see me in a tux" I say with a reassuring voice, her frown disappearing in seconds as a smile replaces it, lightning up her face. She starts caressing my hand with her thump lightly, making me relax my every muscle in my body.
"Let's go then" she says with the same heart warming smile on her face, letting go of my hand and opening her door up and that's when my heart started hammering against my chest.
We walk through the hospital corridors, looking for my mom's room and when we find it, I deeply sigh, standing before the door, not being ready to open it. She tugs on my hand that's interlaced with hers, turning my around to face her.
"You'll be okay, I'm here with you if anything" she softly speaks up and I nod, breathing in trying to prepare myself for seeing my mom attached to wires once again, being prepared to have that image in my head for the rest of the week, again.
When she sees me hesitating to open the door, she switches her positions from standing behind me to standing in front of me and instantly opens the door without knocking or telling me she's going to open the door, dragging me behind her.
My heart starts racing like crazy, but the fact that Melanie's with me calms me down a bit. She pushes two armchairs closer to the bed as my mom's eyes open, "Dylan?" a faint voice pierces through my ears.
"I'm here." immediately I spiked up to put my hand overs hers with a wire attached to her wrist. Her eyes open wider when hear the sound of my voice. She looks to my left and sees Melanie as a smile creeps up onto her face.
"Melanie. You look absolutely beautiful. Wow, Dylan certainly does have a taste in ladies" she softly says trying to contain strong, making Melanie laugh and making me smile.
"Thank you. How are you feeling?" She asks her, extending her hand and places it on top of mine as I let my mom's hand go.
"I'm alright, honestly. How about you two huh? Shouldn't you be at prom already?"
"Not without seeing you first" I say but I get a laugh in response, leaving me confused.
"You know, when I went to prom with your dad, well not high school prom because we didn't know each other then but college prom, he'd always be the last one to get every where" she stops to think about the moment, after laughing her ass off.
"Dad was always late to everything?" I ask in confusion because that doesn't sound like dad at all.
"Yeah, we were always late to everything because of your dad, he always made sure I ate before we went somewhere, made sure that I had spare flats so that I could dance the night away with him, even though he was a terrible dancer but he doesn't know that till this day" she gives out a laugh once more but starts coughing in the process, scaring me to death.
"Hey, easy." I higher her pillow so that she can sit up and notice that Melanie is nowhere to be seen. I didn't even see her leave.
"You really like her don't you?" she randomly asks me but I can see that it's a serious question so I just nod, not being able to say another word. "You can tell she really likes you back" she nods her head nonchalantly.
"Why are you telling me this mom?" Suddenly I get really scared because it's not likely of her to be saying these kind of words to me, especially when she's in a condition like this, I can't lose her yet, it's too soon.
"Before you do another mistake. She's not like other girls" she says indicating how I made other mistakes by treating girls like shit, fucking them and chucking them.
"I know she's not, that's why I like her"
"Then go and tell her, not me." she sternly responds.
"Sometimes you scare the crap outta me, you know that?" I scoff.
"Yeah, you do too"
I bring her hand up to my lips and softly kiss it before hugging her, "I love you mom"
"Oh god, stop making me emotional and go enjoy yourself" she sighs making me laugh. "You're the worst." I sarcastically say while standing up from the armchair, "I'll visit tomorrow" I say, making my way towards the door.
"I love you too Dylan" she says as she sees me opening the door.
I extend an arm towards Melanie which she takes, "Goodbye Mrs. Coopers, we'll check on you tomorrow, we promise" she says in a sweet voice, "Have fun guys" my mom says before I close the door and smile.
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Yeah whatever smart ass" I laugh.
When we make it into the museum, we walk down the carpeted stairs that have little lights on the sides of it, the whole building lit up in a dim vintage bar way, crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, white flowers every where. We walk up to our table, greeting Michael and Eve sitting next to each other, both of them wearing black, looking very elegant.
We see Gigi, who is Tasha's best friend sitting besides Johnny, wearing a gold mermaid dress. I assume she's his date for prom because she wouldn't be sitting with us instead of sitting with Tasha, which reminds me, where is cotton candy Tasha?
I would have never imagined Johnny bringing Gigi as his date because they used to date ages ago so unless they're back together I don't see why he'd want to make this awkward for himself.
"Hiya" we both say to all of them as I tuck Melanie's chair in like a real gentleman before sitting in a seat next to her myself. When Johnny sees me eyeing him and Gigi, he nods his head with a smirk on his face, answering the question that was going through my head the whole time.
That bastard did actually get back with her. "How long?" the words escape my mouth but I try to play it off cool.
"About two months" he states and I'm shocked, "Two months and you haven't told your bro? Wow, I'm offended." I laugh. She's actually not that bad, you'd think that because she hangs out with Tasha she'd be like her copy, but she's kind of the opposite and I can't say that they don't go together.
All of a sudden we see the outside of the prom building being projected onto a massive white canvas, a white old car with the roof down coming into view from the left corner. Only then do I realise that it's Tasha making an entrance, what surprises me is that Alex is sitting right next to her, driving the fucking car. I can't believe he'd actually do this to me.
As if on cue, the rest of the table looks at me with weird expressions making me slightly uncomfortable.
"Is he serious?" Michael then breaks the silence as we continue to watch him on the projected screen, opening her door and giving her a hand, leading her into the building, following the red carpet.
As the projector shuts down, we see them in real life, coming down the same stairs that everyone went down on, however, nobody had the same attention as Tasha of course. "Aw what I shame, I won't be able to call her cotton candy any more" Melanie sarcastically says, looking down at the dress she's wearing.
Tasha's wearing a long red lace dress with a backless cut to it, probably all in designer including her purse and shoes which no one can see because of how long the dress is. Her purse made out of real pearls because I know Tasha and she would never wear something that's fake. A big pearl necklace with ruby's in the middle with matching earrings, her blonde hair styled into a classy lower bun with some vintage flower accessories, make-up probably done by a professional.
No one takes prom more seriously than her, the real deal.
When they come closer, Alex gives me a look that I can't read but judging from the fact that he almost instantaneously looked away, tells me he doesn't care and doesn't regret a single minute of his 15 minute of fame.
They both take their seats on the table with the remaining fucktards meaning the cheer leading squad and some boys from the football team.
"Hey, our seats are taken, can we sit with you guys?" A voice asks in front of our table. I look up to see Luciano Ramirez and his date Valeria Lopez, ranked as the second prettiest girl in school and that's not even my opinion but a statistic fact. She's wearing a two piece white lace set, her skirt goes down to the ground, her wavy jet black hair going down to her waist, make-up done glamorously.
I remember when she was going through her phases where she changed her hair colour every two months, first it was pink, then it was a mint green, then dark blue, then silver and she just carried on until everyone didn't even notice she changed her hair colour afterwards. I must say I admire her bravery though, that's a bold move changing your hair colour so many times.
"Well since Alex!" I say a little louder than I should have because I want him to hear, "-isn't sitting with us, then why not?" I carried on as they both smile at me, Luciano giving me a little hand shake and then Valeria hugging me and kissing me on my cheek as a hello, "This is my girlfriend, Melanie" I introduce them to each other and they exchange smiles.
"I know you, you're the girl who won the mathematics competition two times in a row" Valeria says to Melanie, making me eye roll, of course she did, I smile to myself.
"You like maths?" she awkwardly asks as both me and Luciano look at them making conversations, "No but I want my own business so I have to be interested in it somehow" she laughs.
"Makes sense. Aren't you the crazy girl who-"
"Changed her hair colour every 24 hours? Yep, that's me" Valeria chuckles, it's weird how people are known for their stupid things.
"This is my cousin Eve, she's from Merlyn Hill" Eve stands up giving her a hand shake as well, "And your boyfriend Michael, I know. He talks about you 24/7 in business" Eve's eyes widen and she then looks at Michael, giving him a look.
"She's exaggerating." he states and we all laugh, if only she was.
"Johnny. Gigi" She leans over to them, giving them both an awkward handshake. Johnny and her had a history so this is gonna be awkward since he's here with Gigi and is dating her, again.
"Attention please." We hear our principal talking into the microphone so we all instantly take our seats, everyone automatically looking at me because they're about to announce the prom king and queen.
"It might not even be me" I whisper to them as our principal continues speaking and all of them laugh at my statement, "Yeah, like that's even an option" Luciano lets out a laugh.
The principal holds up a card with the names of the king and queen, opening it up very slowly making everyone die in anticipation.
"This year's prom queen is no other than Natasha Wheeler" our principal announces and everyone looks back at Tasha who's now walking towards the vintage lit up podium with red curtains matching the red carpet.
"And her prom king is also no other than mister Dylan Cooper" as soon as I hear my name, Melanie raises her eyebrows at me and we both smile at each other. I get up from my seat, winking a my girl before hearing everyone whistle at me making me laugh.
I walk up to the stage to take my crown. I look at Melanie who's whispering something with Eve and Valeria next to her, she unexpectedly gets up from her seat, throwing her hand in the air, "That's my boy!" she shouts as everyone laughs and whistles at the same time, I shake my head in disbelief, I can't believe she's actually done that, I bet Eve put her into this.
When the principal from Merlyn Hill High comes from behind the stage, it's clear for everyone that they're going to announce the king and queen for their high school as well. I quickly look at Eve, nodding at her telling her she's gonna be the prom queen to which she mouths a clear 'NOOOO' with a frown on her face making me laugh.
"The prom king and queen for Merlyn Hill High is Stephanie Blue and Eric Malone" their principal tells everyone as they both come join us on the stage, everyone clapping. Everyone being ready to leave the stage and take our seats, our principal stops us, "Don't go anywhere just yet. We have another special announcement to make"
We furrow our brows but wait for another announcement. "Because we joined this prom with another high school, we were hoping everyone will come together and because the only couple who joined this prom together from our school and Merlyn Hill are Michael Moore and Eve Rivers, we made a special prom king and queen edition for this occasion as well" She explains as the principal of Merlyn Hill High brings another two crowns on the stage, I see Eve's eyes widen, her facial expression pure shock, Michael smirking like always.
"Michael, Eve, come up to the stage for your crowns" our principal raises her voice, scanning the entire place for them, once they get out of their seats and make it to the stage, they both give me a look, "I told you" I say to Eve, her smile taking over her face.
"Time for the prom queen's and king's first dances" the principal of Merlyn Hill says, looking at the DJ. In the meantime I zone out because this means I have to dance with the only person I hate more than my dad.
As the DJ puts Thinking out loud by Ed Sheeran, I quickly look at Melanie and she gives me a smile and a nod. I take Tasha by her hand unwillingly and make way to the dance floor. She puts her hand on my shoulder and her other hand is in mine. With the music still playing we sway from one place to the other.
"Don't make it awkward and speak" I warn her before she does start talking.
"And what would I talk about?" she asks me, making me internally roll my eyes, "I just said don't speak."
"Oh so you can't talk to me because of your nerdy girlfriend. We had something there you can't deny that." she states looking me dead in the eyes.
"What I do with her is none of your business. Now stop talking or I'm switching partners" I threaten her but instead she scoffs, "And who are you gonna dance with, Eve? She already has Michael if you haven't noticed and I think you don't want to grab more attention than there already is, so be a good boy and just dance. Don't worry, I'm more into Alex now, he's a cool guy"
I hate it when she's right. I really don't want more attention and I can tell that she wants this awkwardness to be over as well so might as well get this over and done with. "Ha. You don't say." I say with disbelief, I still can't believe he's here with her. I'm not mad at him for being here with my ex girlfriend, I'm mad at him for being here with the person that I really hate the most, with the person that tried splitting me up with the person that matters most to me, Melanie. And he know's all of that, it's not like he doesn't.
"Ah, I get it. You're jealous of him now because you realised what you're missing" I laugh at her response, Melanie looking at me as if she's thinking 'what could have she said to make him laugh like that?' I turn around to Tasha, a serious expression on my face.
"Stop convincing yourself that I still like you"
"Too bad, cause I still like you. I'm only here with him to make you jealous, although I'm not sure if it's working so much" she admits, making me internally rage.
"Damn right I'm not and too bad because you're gonna be lonely for the rest of your life cause I will never like you back. High school is gonna be over soon and what will you have left?" I wait for her response but don't get anything, "Exactly, nothing. High school fame isn't everything Tasha." I say through my gritted teeth, but suddenly I'm spun around into the hands of Eve. Michael gives me a look, telling me I owe him one.
A/N
This chapter is getting too long lol so I'm splitting it up into two. It will make sense when I publish the second one, but Dont forget to Vote and Comment telling me what you think will happen to Dylan's mom. Xxox