Charms or Banjos?

Chapter 1

A magical night. Jessica walked down the red carpet, towards the Oscars themed prom. "Jess, you look amazing!" Paige said as Jessica walked over to her and the rest of their friends. Jack, Jessica, Rose, George, Amelia, Amy, May, Anna and Paige were an odd group to say the least, a mix of good and bad students, rebels and observers, but neither of them cared to think too much about it. They got on like a house on fire and were closer than siblings, apart from Jack and Rose, who were together. "Thanks girl, you look amazing too." Jessica said once she reached her friends. The lot of them then made their way inside to grab a table.

Prom was in full swing, people chatting about the exams just gone and dancing to the music. Alex and his friends walked over to the DJ, requesting a rather strange song: California Gurls by Katy Perry. The whole lot of these supposed hard men, gym bros just start dancing around, singing along with not a care in the world. Meanwhile, Jessica stood outside with her friends, laughing as they took a group photo. Jessica and Alex didn't cross paths until after the awards were passed out.

During dinner, Jessica began to look around and see what her classmates were wearing. Some of those who she never imagined to be wearing a suit looked 'rather delicious' as Rose had said. One boy in particular caught her eye, he had piercing blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. His face was familiar, but seeing as Jessica hadn't really migrated outside her group for the past two years, she couldn't exactly place his face to a name. She could tell he was popular, constantly surrounded by a gaggle of boys, but she wasn't too sure he liked the attention. In her mind, this boy craved to be left alone by the loud guys he called friends, but put up a front so as not to be pushed out. In her mind, he could be her friend.

It was nearing the end of a borderline magical night. People were dancing around to BritPop classics, a circle forming. Whilst Alex and his friends stood right on the inside of the circle, making a big show of their moves, Jessica and her friends stood off to the side, not wanting to be dragged inside. Finally, the DJ calls for the last song and people begin to disperse. Jessica still stood dancing with her friends whilst Alex moved to wait for his lift home outside. Alex and Jessica had a perfectly normal prom, they laughed and danced and spoke. Though not with each other.

As she arrived home, Jessica saw a notification come up on her phone, she had been added to a school-wide group chat by someone. Nearly everyone from her year at school was in this group chat, but only one name really caught her eye - Alex. For the next few moments, Jessica didn't think much of the group chat. That was until a new notification popped up: 'Alex added you on Snapchat', it read. Jessica couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face at that.

Soon after seeing the notification from Snapchat, Alex started typing. At first, Jessica couldn't quite remember who he was, until his icon with piercing blue eyes and dirty blonde hair popped up, that was when she knew the guy from prom was, the one who she couldn't find a name for. He was her friend from history, the one who encouraged her to make friends. It warmed her heart that he remembered her, even if she didn't remember him all too well. It was normal friendly conversation but it made Jessica's heart warm at the thought he remembered her from years ago, even her iconic nickname. The two young teens texted through the night, their friendship soon defrosting. Jessica was so enamoured in her conversation with Alex that she forgot to tell Paige all about it. All that really mattered to Jessica in that moment was her rekindled friendship with the loud football 'king' with piercing blue eyes and dirty blonde hair.