My 1st Prom

Prom night (part 3)

 Quicker than a serpent, Eva karate punches me in the stomach. 'Aaaahh!' I stumble backwards, breathing heavily. Good thing I didn't eat much for dinner. 'Eva!' Nick's voice dips, possibly an octave lower. She takes a keen step towards me. Only one step, because XYZ jumps between me and her. 'How are you so mean? XYZ is alarmingly calm in this confrontation. Nick gets to my side. 'Yeah,' I agree, 'what did I do to make you hate me so much?' 'The whole enchilada. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth!' She deflects, hackles rising to a whole new level. 'Be specific, anyone can tell from her necklace' Nick's face becomes non-transparent, more calm than he should be, 'Why do you have beef with Celestia?' Eva pulls a karate fighting stance without giving an answer, her fists one before another in front of her chest. Crap, I'm in for it. 'Eva, please think about what you're doing,' Nick sticks his palms together. XYZ is still covering me. I tighten my hands into fists, 'XYZ, get a teacher.' 'But-' 'Now,' I add granite to my voice, 'I'll be fine.' She reluctantly sprints away. I can see countless others observing -making room as they circle us- from the corner of my eye. 'Eva,' I wipe hand sweat on my dress, 'wanna settle this with a dance off?' I have a damn score to settle. 'Dance off! Dance off!' A small group of people chant from the crowd before getting shushed by the majority. 'Music's gone,' she scoffs, 'besides, I won't let my combat skills go to waste.' She knows how to fight ? Sugar honey ice tea.

'Listen, please,' Nick tries soothing a now-ballistic Eva, 'a dance off is perfe-' She barrels straight at me, raising her knee to rib level, leg poised to kick high. Before I could blink, Nick swiftly shoves me out of the way in a flash. Eva's heel spikes the air where my face was half a second ago. Several relieved sighs come from our audience. 'Tell me you wore shorts under that dress.' I blab. Eva repositions herself, whirling closer to me, 'You shut up!' She lunges -in her heels- arms straight, fists out, nails sharp. I barely duck in time. Her moves could have taken down a man. 'Celestia!' Nick gets between Eva and me. I only dragged him back a few feet-desperately, diamond swinging with motion- 'Try me.'

Eva narrows her eyes, then extends her fist-fast like lightning before I can breathe. A grey sleeved arm hastily shoots out, gripping Eva's wrist and twisting. She immediately retracts, bending her legs in pain, toe to toe with the familiar grey tux guy from earlier. The hall holds its breath. 'Woooo! Go, dude!' XYZ cheers beside me. 'Get out of the way!' Eva warns. 'You're in my way,' her new opponent responds in a British accent. XYZ's friend doesn't so much as balk when Eva's throws the first power punch. He counterattacks, no second thought. Step back, duck, side kick, go forward, punch. He's a brand new definition of fluid, blending between attack and defence without any hesitation. We're agog, our eyes doubling in size, breaths drawn in. Eva roars while they exchange heavy blows. Both of them moving forwards, backwards, backwards, forwards. Punching and slashing and blocking. 'The teachers were drunk when I found them.' XYZ informs me, 'one was throwing up-look at him go!' I refocus on her friend.

His wavy hair reflects light as he nimbly dodges her lioness strikes, throwing out several brutal ones of his own. Eva takes a hit before twisting to the side and kicking. 'Is that a side thrust kick?' Nick gasps in astonishment. The male squats down before her leg is fully extended, spinning with a leg sweep. Eva has to jump on her feet to maintain her balance. Some people in the crowd begin live streaming on their phones. A few S1 boys even places bets on the fighters.

The fight is relentless, it's like watching a 3D action movie. Both break off after an intense punch-slash-block session. Not giving her time to rest, the boy in grey takes a few steps and pounces. Eva pounces as well. They meet mid-air, striking and kicking until they separate, dropping to the ground. The two of them face opposite directions as they land, gasping hard and breathing harder. Neither seems too exhausted. I wonder if Apple is trying to sneak a peek of the full-blown fight. Eva approaches first this time. The boy has barely enough time to spin around when she drives a fist into him. To find her wrist twisted again. She screams, legs bending inwards. He shoots forward the same time she does, the two of them exchanging more blows. Swifter, stronger, more sudden. It's a mystery how Eva's tiara hasn't fallen off her head yet. I can't look away. No one can.

They're moving to and fro so fast I can catch blurs of shimmery silver and grey. Until both break apart once again. Eva stops to pant for a moment, a hand on her side. It won't be long until one of them triumphs. She looks worse than the time Madame Lafrance ran out of makeup. Her skin isn't no longer glowing and strands of her hair are caught in her tiara. The masked boy is onto her so quick I don't have time to blink. One breath, Eva's deathly still, the next, she's back bending yoga style, groaning. Her tiara crashes onto the floor with a sturdy thunk, plastic jewels rocking with impact. Crash and burn. My jaw drops. Everyone's jaw drops. Who is he? Applause and whoops splatter from the audience, then encapsulates into a thunderous waterfall sound that drowns out any other noise. Nick guides me into his arms, 'Are you ok?' Blinking as though just waking up from a trance, I wrap my arms around him, patting his back soothingly, 'Yeah, you?' XYZ shouts, 'Well done!' Nick glances to Eva, firmly sprawled on the wooden floorboards, 'I'm fine, cutie.'

'That's my step bro! I knew your karate lessons paid off!' XYZ cheers. Gyan? 'Thank you.' I smile. 'You're welcome, Celestia,' his adopted British accent is unexpectedly pleasant, he juts his chin at Eva, 'she ought to leave.' Eva literally peels herself off the floor, hauling up her feet. 'You had the last word, I have the last laugh,' I make sure she hears it. Eva doesn't deign to reply, she just snatches her tiara before staggering out those wooden doors. Hair severely disheveled and more wobbly than a giraffe on six inch heels, she joins Apple outside. We can see both girls standing like exiles before the doors gloriously close with a boom. The Person Whose Rucksack I Contaminated pays money to another dude and runs after her, singing "God save the Prom Queen" at the top of his lungs. All of us fall into dumbfounded silence, watching his effort to comfort his humiliated date. Then they hum with excitement. Seems like Prom Queen won't guarantee eternal popularity after all. Looks like someone's not going to get off scot-free.

'Aren't you the special plus one guest XYZ invited?' I turn to Gyan, his tux the perfect match to XYZ's dress. 'I am. You might wanna fix your hair?' Gyan suggests. 'Point taken. Thanks for.....' I do an expansive gesture with my arms. God, my hair is a tangled clump. 'Me and Gyan are gonna dance when the music plays again. You two should enjoy the evening too!' XYZ playfully swishes her dress. The step-siblings glide away, side by side. A moment later, she turns back before shooting me a heart formed with her crooked index and straight middle fingers. I want to knock my bestie unconscious right there and then.

'Well... how do I look?' I finger comb my hair until it looks how it did this evening. 'Wow,' Nick takes me in. I strike a pose, 'For a widely beloved guy, is "oh" the best compliment you can give? Drunk on mocktails?' I drop my arms while he enjoys the close up view. My dress is surprisingly clean from the scuffle, not a single smudge shows. 'Oh yeah,' he rubs the back of his neck, 'you look confident tonight, to be honest.' 'Don't forget beautiful,' I tease. 'That too, Celcel.' I can't help but smile, 'Why call me that?' 'Huh?' He acts confused, 'You mean Celcel?' 'Obviously.' Nick mildly clasps my hand, 'Obviously not.' 'Is your diamond authentic?' He points. I clutch my dress and curtsy, 'As real as I am.' 

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Lemme know -in the comments- if you guys enjoy the fight.  (૭ •̀n•́)૭  

Part 4 comin' soon!