Selene had woken up two hours earlier to get ready for school. She spent an hour and a half on her makeup and hair and another half an hour to pick out an outfit.
She wore a black and pink plaid skirt with chains on it, a graphic tee she had turned into a crop top and doc martens with knee-high socks. She had straightened her hair and pinned the front strands back with pink hair clips. Her eyelids were covered in shimmery pink eyeshadow and a small wing of eyeliner. She had put on some blush and highlighter and fake freckles. Her lips were nude-ish pink from liquid lipstick, she had spent five minutes putting on false lashes and she was the most tired she had ever been in her life.
Selene yawned at her locker. Declan hadn't come to give her her daily ice coffee and she was seriously craving it.
"Hey," Verona said, walking up to her. Two ice coffees were in her hands; Selene could cry. Verona passed her one of the plastic cups and Selene reached for it like her life depended on it. "You look cute today."
"I hope so," Selene said, taking a sip. With one hand, she opened her locker.
For a second, Selene thought she was hallucinating. "Do you see those bananas or am I crazy?" she asked Verona.
In her locker, next to her textbooks and her emergency kit of tampons was probably two dozen bananas.
"I see them."
People behind her stopped to stare.
Selene looked at the bananas again. Next to her emergency tampons was a note on yellow construction paper. "I'm bananas for you," she read out loud. She glanced at Verona who was looking away from her. "What's Declan doing?"
"No idea," Verona left quickly.
Selene called after her, but she quickly got swallowed up by the crowd.
Selene sighed and shut her locker.
When she walked into her first period, there was a white box on her desk. She was about to ask if someone had left it there when she noticed that her name was on the note attached to the box.
She opened it. It wasn't that big, and it was square. Inside was a dozen chocolate covered strawberries. Inside the lid was a red note. You make me berry happy, it said.
She rolled her eyes with a smile and closed the box again.
By lunch, Selene was a ball of energy. Declan had texted her that he was "finishing a test" during lunch.
Carlos and Verona were also absent from the lunch table. Roman was telling her and Ruby about something that happened at baseball practice the other day when the PA turned on and 'You're The One That I Want' from Grease started playing.
She raised an eyebrow at the two and Roman lifted his phone to record.
Selene turned around.
Carlos was holding a bunch of balloons in one hand and a bouquet of roses. Verona was holding a large teddy bear that basically engulfed her. Declan held a poster board sign that read 'You're the one that I want at PROM'.
Selene smiled, getting up. "This all for me?" she asked.
Declan did a little eyebrow dance while mouthing the words. He passionately lip-synced to her. "You're the one that I need. Oh yes indeed."
Selene laughed and walked closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Shouts and wolf whistles went up in the crowd.
Declan pulled away. "So, is that a yes?"
She grinned. "It's a yes."
»
"Woah," Carter said as Selene dragged the giant teddy bear, bouquet of flowers and helium balloons through the front door.
"I got promposed to," she explained, delicately placing the bear on the floor.
"Declan asked you to prom?" Carter asked.
She nodded. "There's chocolate-covered strawberries in my car."
"Ooh," Carter exclaimed running out the front door.
"How was school?" Her mom asked from the living room.
"I got a bear," she said plopping on the couch with the bear next to her.
The living room table was covered in papers.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"I'm doing seating arrangements for the wedding planner," her mom said. "Aunt T can't sit next to Auntie Celina because T thinks Celina slept with her husband."
"I'm surprised you're doing all this," Selene said. "I thought you'd just show up in a dress the day of and make some embarrassing drunk speech at the reception."
Lucille scoffed. "Selene think better of me."
She shrugged, about to say something when her phone buzzed.
A message from Zoë.
She unlocked her phone, hoping Zoë would be inviting herself over to watch trashy romance movies and eat popcorn with extra butter.
Her thread with Zoë was mostly blue before one grey message at the bottom, 'Congrats on prom. Have fun.'
»
"Zoë!" Selene yelled, banging on the front door. "Zoë open the door!"
Zoë threw the door open. "What?" she asked.
Selene pushed past her into the house. From the foyer, she could hear some people upstairs, and a TV blasting.
She hadn't seen Zoë in so long she almost forgot what she looked like. Her roots were showing, causing a stark contrast from the pink hair and she smiled at Selene but it seemed forced. She tapped her foot as if she had better things to do then converse with her so-called best friend. She was wearing the silk robe Selene had gifted her for Christmas; the one she usually wore during their sleepovers.
God, how long had it been since they had had a sleepover? Since they had hung out not just at Selene's home so that Zoë could read all of Selene's messages with Declan and critique them but to watched movies and laugh about stupid memes? Selene couldn't even remember. Zoë hadn't even attempted to make up for ditching their birthday plans little over two weeks prior.
Selene made up her mind then and there. "I'm done," she said.
"What are you talking about?"
"I can't do this stupid plan anymore," she said. "You're my best friend and I haven't seen you in months. Grade twelve is supposed to be a memorable year for me and I'm spending most of my year doing all this shit for a guy who doesn't even seem like he deserves it. I had a freaking relapse, Zo."
Zoë raised an eyebrow. "When?"
"Like four freaking days ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You never answer my fucking calls!"
Zoë paused. "You swore."
They both stared at each other in the foyer.
"Well, I'm really mad."
"Why?" Zoë took a step forward. "When this plan started you basically said fuck Declan. You couldn't even kiss him without almost throwing up. And now you're saying 'he doesn't deserve it'?" She scoffed in disbelief. "I can't believe you fell for him."
"What?"
"I told you not to fall for him as a joke but you actually did."
Selene stared at her.
"And you don't even have the decency to deny it."
"I don't like Declan," she said, her voice shaking.
Zoë scoffed again.
"He's a good guy, Zoë."
"He's an asshole!" Zoë yelled. "He broke up with me less than twelve hours after I fucked him with no emotion! He cheated on his other ex with Nyx!"
"He--what?"
"Bet your little boyfriend didn't tell you that."
"That was a long time ago," Selene said. "People change."
Zoë rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah? So if Julian pulled up asking to be with you again you'd take him back because 'people change' or would you tell him to fuck himself because he's an asshole who hurt you."
Selene took a step back. "How dare you bring him up. We promised to never bring up grade nine."
"What are we five?" Zoë asked. "It fucking happened; get over it."
Selene's jaw ticked. "Don't bother coming to my dad's wedding."
"Sel--"
Selene turned and walked out, making sure to slam the front door.
She sat in her car, waiting for Zoë to follow after her; to apologize or even continue the argument.
No one came. She turned on her engine and drove away as tears threatened to fall.
»
"I need your help," Roman said, sliding into the seat next to Selene.
Selene raised her eyebrows at him. "How may I be of service?"
"You're Verona's best friend." Selene raised an eyebrow. "Don't make that face; you are. You need to help me prompose to her."
"Sure. When?"
"Today."
"What?"
"We're ditching last period to prompose to her."
Selene sighed. It was practically the end of the semester anyways. "Sure why not? What's the plan?"
It took the whole group no longer than fifteen minutes to set up in the atrium.
They had released helium balloons that rose to the top of the floor.
Roman and the rest of the baseball team had apparently prepared a dance to "Love On Top" by Beyonce--who he said was Verona's idol.
Selene had been tasked with holding the large poster board that said 'Don't be a SINGLE LADY. Put your LOVE ON TOP and get DRUNK IN LOVE with me at PROM?' with a cutout of Beyonce's head on it.
"She's coming down," Ruby said. "I'll go to the staircase." Ruby ran off the intercept her. Ruby's phone was connected to the speaker that Declan was holding so she would be the one to press play so the baseball team could start their dance.
Declan walked over to Selene. "Maybe I should have done a dance for mine," he joked.
"That would have been interesting." She smiled.
Declan leaned in. "You look really pretty today."
"Thank you."
"Gorgeous."
She laughed.
"You want to come over to mine after school?"
She opened her mouth to answer when she speaker started blasting the music and they both winced at the noise and moved into their positions.
Verona walked around the corner with a hand covering her mouth. When her eyes caught Roman dancing in the center of the baseball team, her whole body relaxed.
Selene's heart softened. Verona was so in love with Roman.
When the dance routine finished, Selene ran up with the sign but Verona had already wrapped her arms around Roman was saying. "Yes!"
Declan came and stood next to her.
"They're good together."
Declan nodded. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Selene smiled and let him take her to his house where they spent two minutes actually doing homework before teenage hormones won out and they spent the next few hours making out in his bag.
Fuck it, Selene thought. It was almost graduation anyways.