My 1st Prom

Prom night (part 2)

  XYZ twirls, 'I may have invited a friend from outside school here.' 'Do I know this person? ' I tap my foot to the beat, 'Who's your lucky guest? Everyone's wearing eye masks here.' She coos, 'I'm not spilling the beans yet.' I make puppy dog eyes while sidestepping, 'Care to spill part of the beans?' 'Nope, you'll find out later,' she says earnestly, 'I love your eye mask by the way.' 'Thanks, you are very kind.' She whips out her phone, 'Selfie time?' 'Sure!' I reply over the music, 'Say cheese!'

Slow music oozes from the speakers. I glance around, wishing -daring- a certain boy to dance with me. Where is he? Everyone seems hesitant to dance with romance. XYZ pokes me in the shoulder, 'May I have this dance?' 'Yes!' I bounce on my toes. XYZ places her hands on both sides of my waist as I put mine on her shoulders. The hall spins while we waltz around and around and around the tempo, grinning like it's what we're born to do. The diamond shines spectacularly bright. I tip my head back, twirling in circles and XYZ spins while we're having a blast. Following our lead, several girls pair up, gliding elegantly like multicoloured swans on a smooth lake, each magnificent in their own way. I flick my hair, 'Me being here doesn't ruin prom after all.' We spin, fingers entwined and both of us dancing along -laughing- in pure delight.

XYZ leaves for the toilet after partnering up for one more slow dance. I dance alone for the next song, solely focusing on movements. A glimmer of gold is the only sign of an ambush. The next thing I know, Apple's talking into my ear, 'Whether you remain my friend or not will be based on your behaviour.' Huh? For some reason, she isn't interested in the gem I'm wearing like everyone else is. 'I do what I want,' I stand tall, 'did you value our "friendship"?' She snaps her fingers, 'I should ask you the same thing. You've been friends with XYZ for quite some time.' 'True,' I brace myself for an Apple tantrum. 'Well, I never liked her. She's got a bad reputation, you know.' She convinces, trying to hold my hand. 'So do I,' not convinced in the slightest, I swat hers away, 'Let's get to the bottom of this.' Apple whistles, 'I'll change your mind.' A flash of silver next to gold. Eva appears beside Apple, scrunching her nose at me. 'Bow to the Belle.' Apple seems to drown in a state of madness. No. My back remains straight. 'I said BOW!' She adds weight on my back, trying to force my waist into position. I gasp for air as my back is suddenly bent parallel to the wooden floorboards, diamond swinging like a pendulum, eventually stopping perpendicular to the ground. My hair drops on both sides of my face so I could only look up. Those two girls are making a huge scene. So this is her true colour. All students stop dancing, they look around in baffling confusion, telling me the music has been abruptly stopped. Eva applies lip gloss, 'Kneel down for the Belle of the Night, a.k.a. me.'

Uncountable pairs of eyes are on us, especially from the huge clustering crowd. I grit my teeth, 'You don't deserve the title.' 'And you do? Is that what you're saying?' Eva bosses me around, 'Hurry up and grovel. Beg me to stop.' I suck in a breath, ready to retaliate. Why is she after me, not the bling instead? Before I can move, Apple savagely claws my hair tightly -near the roots- and pulls. My eyes tear up from pain, tears threatening to flow. 'Let me go.' I stand upright with difficulty, desperately trying to unhook her fingers, 'Where's the rest of your squad?' Apple adds weight on my back a second time, forcing my waist to bend down again. Never mind the unanswered question. I frantically try shaking myself free. No light hits the gem, letting it stay dim. 'I didn't know you had dignity,' Eva's sneer hardly covers her cruel amusement sharp enough to draw blood, 'drop to your knees. Exactly how you lost your mind in the library.' Apple tugs my hair once more. 'N-'I bite my tongue in tremendous effort to not scream in pain. Her rage is honed to a remarkable edge. So is mine.

Apple simmers, still gripping my hair with iron fingers, 'It's a good thing they are afraid of your M germs. I can have you to myself ASAP.' I thrash, 'LET ME GO.' Anger boils with each wave of scalp pain. Eva grabs both my wrists -with gloved hands- and tugs forward. 'Go on, kneel for the Prom Queen.' Those 2 certainly go far to wreck the evening I look forward to most. My knees buckle and a few onlookers flinch. A whirl of grey as some girl's arm moved like a whip, 'YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR!' Apple covers her stinging cheek with both hands, sound and action over before I realised the slap. 'When- when- did you and Eva join forces?' XYZ -her slender figure displayed in her grey dress, I realise- demands. 'On the 1st day of school,' Apple sends shades of gold dancing as she chuckles, 'starting the M germs thing was easy-peasy.' Everything starts shaking sideways quickly, I manage to choke out, 'You know it bloody hurts. How could-why did you do it?' Eva cackles, 'Because we ca-' 'I'm asking her.' I find myself shaking with betrayal and outrage, knees stinging, 'Why did you write on my ba-.' A meteorite-hard impact thuds into the space between my shoulder and chest. XYZ screams my name.

Apple doesn't remove her fist from my skin, her eye mask glitters dangerously. I laugh bitterly, pushing her fist away, 'YOU STABBED ME IN THE BACK!' Something in my chest turns harder than bricks. 'What's your excuse?' XYZ glares at her, pulling me up. I can feel lava spice surging in me. Even Eva glances at Apple curiously. 'Back when school started, you were all shy and innocent.' Apple fumes infuriatingly, 'Our classmates wanted to know you better. They wanted to hang out -to talk with- the mysterious shy girl.' She explodes, 'And guess what? YOU PUSHED ME AWAY!' More people look our way, bewildered at Apple's outburst. She screamed, 'You were going to dump me, your childhood friend, in favour of new friends!' 'Of course your ex-sidekick did,' Eva says to Apple, guffawing uncontrollably, 'look who she's replaced you with.' She breaks the peaceful spell on us. 'I'm not the pathological girl here,' I managed to talk despite my face blanching.

'I never replaced her!' XYZ is the girl who stiffens. Apple purses her glossy lips, 'How about being my friend again?' A steady war cry pounds inside me, strong and undeniable. 'We used to be thick as thieves,' she carries on. I merely shrug, might as well be writing "not anymore" on my forehead. Her nose twitches, 'Are we not best friends?' 'We're never best friends, ' I reiterate through my teeth in a resentful tone, 'did you honestly think you can justify-' 'THEN TAKE THIS!' She whacks the back of my knees with the force of a hammer, knocking me down. The diamond smacks my neck. She and Eva tower over me, high and mighty. Yikes. 'What do you want from Celestia?' XYZ helps me up. 'A good showdown. Check out her fake rock. Fancy.' Eva clicks her tongue in mock approval, 'Encore, if you please.' On cue, Apple mercilessly pulls my hair once more, roughly jerking my head. I wince in pain, having no choice but to look at Eva-her tiara atop her brown wavy hair. There's a strange glow in her eyes like a hungry spark, and not the good kind. Everyone is unabashedly staring at our scuffle. Eva eagerly extends a palm. Then fists and stepping punches and pointy fingernails. I scream a bunch of words my parents would wash my mouth with soap bars if they heard. Several onlookers gawp but no one dares interferes. Encore? Not a chance. Letting my fists fly, I land a few punches. Eva shrieks, pale and hopping backwards, her nose pink from taking a hard punch.

'Join the queue.' I challenge her with the voice of a rightful heiress. I know Apple well enough to tell she's seeing red. She attempts grabbing me by my neck and is literally scooped off her feet by Nick, who tiptoed behind her earlier. I can sense everybody -literally everybody- staring at us, transfixed. 'That's more than enough, Apple.' Nick carries her bridal style out the wooden doors, supporting her back and her legs. Me and XYZ and Eva can only gawk in utter shock. 'You will eventually be crawling back to me, Celestia. EVENTUALLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY!' Apple screams like a spoilt kid the entire way. 'Your loss,' I scowl. Her noise is muffled into silence by the doors slamming shut. The doors fly open a split second later as someone walks back in. We can hear Apple whining outside to the bouncers, 'Here's my ticket! I have the right to join the Mocktail!' Eva doesn't react when she sees Nick -He's back?- cracking his knuckles.

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The drama's not over yet. (^_^メ)