From Tutoring, to Friendship, to More...

Chapter 17: My Prom Date

Things had been going by routinely over the next few weeks. Delilah would get tutored by Ion on Saturday. Sometimes she'd hang with him and his friends (or more like their friends now) at his house, sometimes she wouldn't; it really depended on the mood. She was a little surprised at how easily she integrated herself into Ion's social circle. Then again, she only really became popular because of dating Chaz. Once she was in that world of popularity, it didn't really take long for her not to enjoy it. Some of the people were ok, but so many of them wanted to party constantly.

     She also found her feelings for Ion growing day by day, much to her chagrin. Despite being popular, despite knowing she was good looking, plus had a nice figure, despite Ion calling her beautiful, and saying they were friends, Delilah still couldn't fathom that someone like Ion Bleaker could ever like her as anything more. She blushed nearly anytime she saw him.

     "Sure, sure, we've hung out together outside of tutoring," she thought. "But, we are still very different people! The most we have in common is probably a love for the Discworld books, but how could anyone not love those? You'd have to be a true fucking idiot to not! So... Chaz. Shit! Over 2 years wasted with that dumbass! And ever since... the nut shot fiasco... no guy has attempted to ask me out!? What the fuck!? I'm not trying to sound conceded here, but I know I'm attractive! Plenty of people do! Ion called me beautiful! Which doesn't mean he likes me like that! Friends can compliment each other's looks!"

     "Del, I think I can see smoke coming out of your ears," Bowen said in a deadpan manner.
     "What?" Delilah asked, not really knowing what he just said.
     They were standing at their lockers, getting what they needed for the following classes.
     "You spend way too much time in your head," he commented. "It's probably just a ball of neurotic thoughts. Plus, I bet a few of them focused on Beaker." He then winked.
     "You don't need to comment on everything," she retorted. "Sometimes I hate how easily he can read me!"
"You're just pissed that I can read you so easily," he quipped with a smirk.
"Shut the fuck up!" she exclaimed, slamming her locker shut. "Damnit!"

As they walked down the halls, they noticed prom posters and banners going up.
"Oh, god," Delilah groaned. "I forgot about prom!"
"Guessing no guys have asked you to go," Bowen said, not asked.
"Bitch, please," Delilah sighed with an eye roll. "I haven't even been asked out on a regular date! Not that I can blame any guy at this school after what I did to Chaz."
"Still worth it though," he smirked.
"So fucking worth it," she sighed, this time with clear joy. "I've seen some videos of it online, seeing it from a different perspective is somehow more magical."
"I bet someone will ask you," he said. "How could anyone resist taking out the girl who nut shot Chaz Freeman so hard he puked to the prom?"
"I appreciate the enthusiasm," she replied with slight sarcasm.

____

The first half of the school day came and went briskly, then it was lunch time. Nobody stared anymore when Delilah and Bowen sat at the same table as Ion and the rest, it was old news at this point. It definitely gave Delilah some relief, she just didn't care anymore how people saw her.

     "Yo, Delilah," a very familiar voice called out, causing her to groan. She looked up to see Chaz standing at the end of the table, a smug smile plastered over his face.
     "What the hell do you want, Chaz?" Delilah sighed. "I can't fucking believe this shit!"
     "That anyway to talk to your prom date?" Chaz asked with a click of his tongue.
     "Dude, I think that kick to the nuts scrambled his brains," Mal chimed in. "Or he puked some of them out."
      There was some light chuckling from this remark. Chaz just stood there, he didn't dare try to cross Mal again.
     "I know things didn't exactly end well between us," Chaz carried on.
     "Which part?" Delilah interjected. "The part where you publicly dumped me? Or the part where I kicked you in the balls?"
     "And made him puke," Mal added.
     "You're not helping, Mal," said Ion.
     "I'm not trying to," Mal shrugged.
     Delilah actually loved that Mal kept interjecting with these points.
     "You know that everyone is expecting us to go together," Chaz continued. "So, let's just put our differences aside, ok?"
     "You can't get a date after that shit show you pulled weeks ago," Bowen deduced.

     This thought never even occurred to Delilah. Sure, Chaz was an asshole. Sure, he dumped her in front of petty much the entire school. But, he was Chaz Freeman! Star athlete! Most popular guy in school! So many girls gave Delilah dirty looks over the last couple years because she was dating him. In most scenarios she saw or read, the popular guy bounced back, no matter the shit situation.
Then again, there was video evidence of not just the nut shot, but the breakup itself. People saw and heard the condescension oozing out of Chaz as he dumped her. Plus, he probably had to take a little time off from practice to recover. Delilah only thought she'd lost some value (although she cared less and less about it with time), but Chaz had too! And she knew he cared a lot about that! He'd been top dog since middle school! No way he was going to just get over it!

"Holy shit," Delilah said quietly looking up at Chaz. "It's true? Isn't it?"
Chaz's face said it all.
"So fucking what if I can't?" Chaz asked aggressively. "I know damn well you can't get a date either!"
"So instead you ask out your ex," Bowen chuckled.
"A guy going by himself to prom is no big deal," Chaz retorted. "But people tend to think differently when it comes to chicks."
As much as that stung, Delilah had to admit she did care. She didn't want to skip out on prom. But she also didn't want to go dateless.
"For your information," Delilah began, with clear nervousness in her voice. "I do have a date to prom!"
"Bowen doesn't count," Chaz snickered. "A best friend might as well be your cousin or sibling."
"It's not Bowen!" Delilah exclaimed. Her eyes darted around the cafeteria rapidly. She wasn't sure how much time passed before she finally spoke. "Ion is taking me!" All eyes went straight to him, who was just as shocked as everyone else. "He asked! I said yes!"
"Beaker?" Chaz asked with a chuckle. "Beaker is your date to prom?"
Ion's eyes went back and forth between Delilah and Chaz. Chaz's expression was one of skepticism, Delilah's expression was a look that said "please, help me!"
"Yes... yes I am," Ion finally replied.
     Chaz said nothing in response, he just walked away. Everyone sat there in silence for who knows how long.
     "Library," Ion said to Delilah. "Now."

____

     Delilah and Ion walked in dead silence towards the school library. She had no idea what he was going to say to her. Once they entered, Ion took a quick look around to see if anyone was there. It seemed to be just the two of them, although he figured their friends were not far behind spying on them; he didn't mind that as much.

     "Ion?" Delilah asked worriedly.
     He gave her a signal that said "just a moment." He then took in a few deep breaths.
     "What the fuck was that!?" Ion finally spoke, or rather shouted.
"I panicked!" Delilah exclaimed. "Chaz was right, having Bowen as my date would be basically taking my cousin or sibling! I'm so sorry! I... it just all happened so fast, and I put you on the spot! Oh god! You must really fucking hate me right now!"
"I thought I'd have an actual chance to ask you," he retorted.
"Wait... what?" she asked.
"But, you're right," he continued. "Chaz put you on the spot, in front of basically everyone. I should've asked you sooner..."
"What are you talking about?" she asked, clearly confused. "Huh!?"
"I was gonna ask you before all that," he shrugged.
"You were?" she asked. "Huh!?"
"I mean... yeah," he smirked as he scratched the back of his head. "I figured, since we were friends and all, you wouldn't wanna go to your first prom without a date. Bowen's great, obviously, but he's your best friend, everyone was gonna just see it as some kind of pity thing. I know that I'm not exactly the most ideal candidate, but..." he was cut off by a sudden hug from Delilah. "Woah!"
"You're definitely ideal," she said quietly. "More ideal than you can possibly imagine!"
     "Oh... uh, thanks," he chuckled. "Too bad I didn't get to ask you properly."
     "You could ask me now," she said timidly, still hugging him. "Holy fucking shit!"
     "Will you go to prom with me?" he asked, blushing brightly. "I can't believe this just happened."
     "Yes," she replied happily. "I can't believe this just happened."

The two just stood there. Neither were exactly sure what this was yet, but they didn't care. It was just a perfect moment.
     "We know you guys are watching," Ion suddenly said.
     "We didn't want to intrude," Bowen called out from behind a shelf.

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NOTES: New chapter! Aw yeah! I actually worked on this chapter more before the previous chapter, as I had this scenario in my head for a good while. Hope y'all enjoyed reading it!

Thanks for reading! ^__^