Prom Queen ⚢ [EDITING]

↻ ◁ thirty-three ▷ ↺

"god save the prom queen,
teenage daydream"

I thought I hated public proposals.

Turns out, I just hated the idea of being proposed to. I didn't realize how exhilarating it would feel to put together a cute sign and plan something big for someone else. I guess this was why everyone got so worked up over these things.

I wasn't exactly the happiest when Ivy told me she had to go on Saturday, but when she texted me yesterday that she was going out with her mom all day, I felt nothing but happy for her. And it also gave me some time to get ready for this mission; it was going to be a big one.

I took all the time I could get yesterday to talk to each of Ivy's closest friends. I knew a few of the things she liked, but realistically, I knew more about her past and her trauma and all of those serious things than I knew about her favorite kind of cookie. So I got a bit of help.

In my backpack was the newest release of her favorite author—autographed too; that took a while to get. In my hand was a small box of raspberry jam-filled macarons and a bar of dark chocolate under it with a handwritten letter and a cute little appreciation card. The sign I made was safe with Nayeli and the purple dahlias I picked out for her, along with the bunch of balloons that I couldn't decide on, were being guarded by Ingrid and Gabby. Now, all we were waiting for was the ever-so-exceptional Ivy Mora to walk through those doors and face her fate.

"Do you think she'll like it?" I asked the girls behind me.

"She's gonna love it," Ingrid reassured me, squeezing my shoulder. "Don't worry."

My hands started to sweat as I watched every black-haired girl walk through the door with my breath held, just to exhale when I realized it wasn't her each time. Until finally, a familiar face stepped through the doors, and my breath got caught in my throat.

I watched her waltz in like I'd never seen her before. Her strut was unmistakable and her smile was beaming, unlike the fake one she'd always handed out to everyone other than her closest friends. She had on a simple outfit—jeans with a black faux corset tank top and an off-white cardigan. The most shocking change was her hair. Instead of the long, flowing, straight black hair she'd always had since the moment any of us had known her, Ivy's hair was cut down to her collarbones, lightened, and had blonde highlights that framed her face and peeked out from under the rest of her hair. Most lesbians would've gone for the undercut—props to her.

But seriously, Ivy Mora was more beautiful now than I'd ever seen her before. Maybe it was the new haircut that was giving her so much real, authentic confidence, but one thing I knew for sure was that this new energy suited her.

As she made her way closer to us, I scrambled to get everything ready. I handed the chocolate and macarons to Gabby as I took the flowers from her and grabbed the sign from Nayeli, trying to get back into place before Ivy arrived. And as she approached, the shock on her face was so vivid, I was terrified that she absolutely hated it. But then she started to smile again and as soon as I saw tears forming in her eyes, I decided I should probably get on with it before I made Ivy Mora sob in the middle of the school hallway.