{48}✔️

A/N: Does it annoy y'all when I put pictures in the middle of the story? Idk I love pics of the clothes I see them in but if it annoys you I'll stop. There's lots of pictures in this chapter tho bc I love dresses and you know I gotta show y'all what I envision them wearing lmao. I'm just putting them all up here so you won't have to scroll through them when you're trying to read though.

Dahlia's:

Billie's:

Cadence's:

Bea's:

Bea's date's:

***

**ONE WEEK LATER**

Dahlia's POV

************

"You're going to a dance together!" My dad practically squealed. Billie snickered as I facepalmed after seeing him do a cheer jump. "Dad, please, oh my god—"

"Your first dance!" He yelled. "Denver, get down here and look at your sister!"

"I see her every day!"

"Not in her big girl clothes!"

Billie's snickering turned into hysterical cackling as I sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed my eyes shut. Had I known my dad was gonna behave like this I would've had her pick me up a few blocks down.

"Daddy, please, you're embarrassing me!" I whined, stomping my foot. He gasped, his smile growing even wider as he pointed wildly at me. "That! T-That! You used to always do that! Oh—I'm having flashbacks. When you were a little girl, whenever your Aunt Juliette would come over you'd put on her makeup, clothes, and heels and when she made you take them off you'd get mad and stomp your little foot and—" he choked up, covering his mouth as he snatched a napkin off the living room table. I put my hands on my hips and sighed, glaring at the sky as Billie erupted into another fit of giggles as she walked over to him.

"Mr. Doe—" She snorted and let out a few more laughs before clearing her throat and putting on a serious face. She reached up to pat his shoulder gently. "No tears left to cry, that's what Ariana said. Don't disappoint her, Mr. Doe."

She'd learned that my dad is an Arianator once when she'd come over only to see him dancing around the kitchen in his underwear to her songs. I wonder if I can find a new dad on eBay?

"You're right, you're right." He shook his head and blew his nose. "No tears left to cry. Get it together, Joseph." He mumbled to himself.

I turned to answer the door once I heard a knock and sighed as I saw Julia standing there in a dress that barely covered anything. I'm not usually one to judge women based on what they choose to wear and how much or little they choose to cover up, but I fucking hate Julia, so I'm judging a bitch today.

"Is my Denny pooh ready yet?" She questioned sweetly, her long neck stretching out to peer around me. I stepped to the side reluctantly, and let her inside before closing the door. "He's upstairs. Don't you think it's weird he didn't offer to pick you up?" I asked coldly. Billie cleared her throat and shot me a look once I looked over at her.

Usually, I'm not one to care about gender roles. Does it matter whether the girl picks the guy up or vice versa? No, not fucking really, but since I fucking hate Julia it will matter tonight.

"I don't mind. " She shrugged before waltzing toward the stairs. "I bet he can't wait to see me!" She squeaked.

"Maybe if you were six foot and had facial hair," I grumbled lowly. Billie elbowed me as soon as I was beside her and I glared at her. "He's going to come to terms with his sexuality eventually, D. Don't even worry about it." She smiled. I shrugged my shoulders lazily, not caring to reply.

"I can't believe this." My dad chimes in again, his voice still trembling. "It was only a short time ago when—"

I groaned loudly, cutting him off. My dad is known for his frequent trips down memory lane. Long, long trips. Long, long, emotional trips.

"Oh, hush! It was only a short time ago when you were a little girl dreaming of going to your first dance, and now you finally are! It was an even shorter time ago when you were too scared to even tell your own family that you liked girls. Now you're going to a dance with one, and not ashamed of what anyone has to say about it. I mean seriously, you went from hiding who you were and who you liked to showing up at the Sadie Hawkins dance with your beautiful girlfriend. I'm so proud of you kid!" He smiled.

I bit my lip and looked down, a small grin on my face. I didn't even think about that. I guess that's good, not having to think about it and all.

"I'm so proud of you and how far you've come. I'm proud of how you're growing—blooming—into such a great little woman. I wish you'd stop growing, just for a while, but since I can't control that I guess I just have to be grateful for the fact that you're at least growing into a wonderful person. You could've easily turned out to be a bitch, but you're not."

I laughed loudly and went to give him a big hug. "Thanks, dad. Please don't make me cry, though. Aunt Josephine would kill me."

When we pulled away he turned to smile at Billie. "I'm proud of you too. You seem like a great girl, and you've made my daughter really happy from what I can tell. She wasn't so confident, outgoing and free spirited until she met you. Thanks for getting her out of my house sometimes."

"I don't have on waterproof mascara, please, don't do this to me." She mumbled before giving him a hug as well.

***

"I had no business eating all those damn hot Cheetos earlier. Why did I do that to myself?" I grumbled as I pulled on my dress a little. "I should've stuck to my diet. It's only carrots and celery sticks for me from here on out."

My dress fits perfectly and hugs me in all the right places if I do say so myself, but I have a little pudge and that wouldn't even be there if I hadn't been eating like hell the past few days.

"Don't make me kick your ass on what's supposed to be a good night for us," Billie raised her brows and gave me a warning look. "You look fucking stunning. I'm shook. I'm shaken. I'm fucking quaking. I'm wigless, but because of how beautiful you are, my crops are growing, my skin is clear—Do you see a single pimple on this bitch? YEET! Hell no you don't. My teeth are straight, my brows are browing—"

"Okay, okay!" I giggled. "You look amazing too, Bil. I mean seriously you look incredible. That dress is so damn pretty, but I wish I could rip it off." I smirked.

"That ain't no problem! That ain't no problem!"

I laughed and shook my head as she kept quoting memes. I scooted away from Billie on the backseat and closer to the passenger seat where Cadence sat taking selfies. She's been at it for like ten minutes, and honestly, I can't blame her. She looks great!

I joined in on her excessive selfie-taking and eventually, Billie and Caden did as well. Julia tried to get in on the pictures, but we blocked her face every time. Denver patted her knee to comfort her as she leaned back, pouting.

A few more minutes and we were finally there. I felt myself starting to get nervous as I thought about the fact that I was about to enter my first ever dance. Everyone's gonna be judging the hell out of one another. What if nobody likes my dress? What if my makeup doesn't go well with it? I shouldn't have straightened my hair, that's so basic—

"Quit it, bitch. You look amazing." Cadence seemingly read my mind as she unbuckled her seatbelt and then turned around to slap my cheek. I glared at her as I tried to slap her back, but she got out of the car before I could.

Once we were all out of the car and standing at the entrance, Cadence insisted on taking more pictures.

"It's not very often everyone looks so good!" She exclaimed. "We need to remember this."

When she was finally done snapping photos, we all walked into the building and handed our tickets to the collector. Loud music was blaring from the speakers and the beautifully decorated room was already crowded with people. My eyes widened as I looked around quickly. Everyone looked so fucking good!

"Wow." I mumbled, a large smile taking over my face. All my nerves were replaced with the feeling of excitement the longer I stood there.

"Let's go get lit!" Cadence cheered.

***

"—And when my pet raccoon died, I swear to god I did too. I mean...On the inside. I never really healed from that." Bea sighed before taking a sip of her drink. I giggled and shook my head at her.

Bea looks absolutely amazing tonight. Her white dress matches her beautiful hair and contrasts perfectly with her skin. She looks like an actual goddess, and her makeup really completes the whole look. Not to exaggerate, but I think she's the best-looking person here tonight. Well, second to Billie.

Trying to keep her at arms length and being short with her only lasted a few minutes. She's just so charming and funny and nice. She's really warm and inviting once you get to know her, but still really blunt and she has a very matter of fact personality. I see why Billie likes her, and honestly, I do too. She's cool.

"I feel you. We had a pet opossum once—"

Cadence quickly shook her head, interrupting Caden. "He. He had a pet opossum once, and that was only for like a day and a half."

"You never treated Leanord with the respect that he deserved!" Caden banged his fist on the table, pouting.

"It was a fucking opossum, Cade!"

"America's foundation was built on the backs of Opossums!"

"Caden—"

"They slow down the spreading of Lyme disease and they eat all those pesky fucking bugs you complain about during the summer, what exactly do you do?"

Everyone at the table laughed loudly at the twins' argument. It's nice to see them getting back to normal.

My laughter was cut short once Billie tried to reach onto my plate and grab a cheese fry. I quickly popped her hand and she winced, holding it close to her chest dramatically. I pointed my fork at her. "Don't. Touch."

"What happened to celery and carrot sticks?" She grumbled. I rolled my eyes. "Those are as cancelled as James Charles." I shoved another forkful of cheese fries into my mouth and groaned in satisfaction.

This is the only reason I even show up to half the functions I show up to. The fucking snacks are always fire. If I'd known they served hot wings and cheese fries at these dances I would've started coming to them long ago.

"Oh, I'll be back." Bea picked up her phone and stood up, smoothing out her dress. "My dates here!" She informed us.

Her date doesn't go to this school and had another dance to go to earlier tonight. I'm glad she's here now, though. Bea has been gushing about her the entire time we've been here and I can't wait to meet her.

"Oh my god, look at them." Cadence kicked my leg under the table and pointed toward another table. I looked where she was pointing quickly and groaned as I saw my brother and Julia making out, feeling all up on each other. Julia was literally pushed up against a table to the point where she was basically lying down on it, my brother pressing himself up against her. Their kiss was sloppy looking and disgusting and it didn't really look like a kiss as much as it looked like they were trying to have a literal tongue war.

"Cadence, why would you make me look at that?" I cringed, turning back to her. She shrugged. "If I have to suffer, you do too."

"I should go snitch on them." I rolled my eyes.

Billie glanced at them and then let out a low whistle and a small sigh before looking at me. "That could be us, but you playing."

"Bitch if you don't—"

I cut myself off as I saw Bea coming back over, a large smile on her face as she practically dragged a girl along behind her. Bea's pretty tall, probably like 5'10, and the girl is probably 5'5. I've noticed Bea walks really quickly. I let out a small laugh, feeling bad for the girl.

She's really pretty, too. She's got black hair and pale skin, beautiful blue eyes and a button nose, and the cutest smile! I noticed some dimples poking out from her cheeks as her smile grew.

She looks like me, but like, prettier.

"Guys, this is my date for tonight, Luna." Bea grinned. Cadence got up to give her a hug and I followed suit, smiling as I watched Cadence. I'm so proud of her! She used to never talk to anybody or welcome anybody new, but this year she's really been getting better at that. She's gotten closer to Billie, she's doing really good talking to Bea even though she doesn't know her that well and is skeptical of her, and now she's hugging a girl she doesn't even know. I'm gonna have to gush to her about how proud I am later.

"Hi, I'm Dahlia!" I introduced myself as I pulled her in for a quick hug. "You're so pretty!"

"Oh, please, that's you!" She smiled.

Caden hugged her as well as I took my seat again, looking over at Billie. I frowned as I noticed her facial expression had changed from one of happiness to one of annoyance. She glared at the back of Luna's head while she spoke to Cadence. Her fists clenched and her leg bounced as she stared at the girl, biting her bottom lip a little.

"Bil? Are you good?" I whispered. She didn't reply, and I don't even know if she heard me because she seemed to be in some type of trance. "Billie?" I tapped her shoulder. She glanced over at me, her features softening.

"Let's go dance." She mumbled before standing up.

***

I tried to get Billie to tell me what was up with her earlier, but she changed the subject or cut me off before I could even get the words out every time. She was right back to normal as soon as we hit the dance floor, though, and we spent almost an hour dancing before we headed over to the punch bowl. I smiled at Mrs. Bledgin, bringing my hand up to hide my giggles as I noticed her 'purse' was actually low key a flask. Her eyes were glazed and her smile was lopsided as she lost her balance and stumbled a little, trying to move out of the way.

"H-Having a good time?" She asked.

"Not as good of a time as you," Billie snickered, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "Can I get some of that, Mrs. B?"

"This is grown folks shi—Stuff." She laughed before stumbling away.

Billie and I laughed as we poured ourselves some punch and snagged a few brownies. I started to walk back to our table, but Billie quickly grabbed my arm and lead me in the other direction, toward the double doors that lead to the hallway. I asked where she was taking me, but she didn't reply.

I looked back toward our table and saw Luna staring. I sent her a goofy smile and shrugged my shoulders before she was out of my line of vision. Once we got into the hallway, Billie sighed and pushed me against the wall, giving me a kiss.

I melted into the kiss immediately, groaning in disdain at the fact that I couldn't touch her. One of my hands was holding on to my drink, the other was holding a napkin with two brownies in it. I guess Billie had put her shit down before kissing me because I felt her hands sliding up and down the sides of my stomach before landing on my hips.

She pulled away from the kiss after a few moments, my lips chasing after hers, but she chuckled and brought a hand up to grip my neck, pushing my head back against the wall. She squeezed my neck tightly for a few seconds as she stared into my eyes and then brought her hand back down to my hip.

"You almost made me spill my drink." I pouted. "What if it would've gotten on my dress?"

"Fuck that dress. You need to take that shit off anyway." She growled, her grip on my hips tightening.

I blushed as I looked around, making sure nobody saw us. It's an empty fucking hallway, so of course nobody saw, but I wanted to make sure. "Billie, you're gonna get me in trouble." I smirked. If she keeps acting like this I'm gonna have to fuck her right in this hallway.

"Am I?" She whispered before attacking my lips with her own once again. This time I really did spill my damn drink, luckily not on myself or her, but on the floor next to us. I threw my cup down too and let out a satisfied sigh as I was finally able to touch her. I slid my fingers through her hair, pulling on one of the curls she'd done.

"Hey what are you two doing out here?! Nobody's supposed to be in this hallway!"

We broke apart slowly and looked toward the voice. Mr. Tomlin stood there giving us a stern look. I shrugged my shoulders and tried to look innocent, shoving one of the brownies into my mouth. "Just eating." My voice was muffled as I spoke with my

mouth full.

"Nah, we didn't get to that part yet," Billie whispered. I hit her stomach with the back of my hand before walking toward Mr. Tomlin who was holding the door open for us to go back inside. "Listen, I ugh—what do the kids say these days?—I ship it, but my job is to make sure nobody does anything that isn't PG while they're here, so—"

"We totally understand, Mr. Tomlin." I laughed.

Billie caught up with me and grabbed my hand as we walked back inside. She sighed as we headed toward our table, and I looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something.

"I don't...Wanna sit?" She tried.

"You wanna dance again then?"

"Yeah."

***

I feel like I'm in one of those dancing competitions where you have to dance for hours until people get tired and start dropping out. The only difference is that I'm not getting any type of reward for this shit.

Most people who were on the dance floor earlier are sitting at their tables, tired out. Billie and I are one of only like six couples still dancing, and that is not by choice for me.

She looks fucking miserable and tired and done, but she refuses to go back and sit at our table and I know exactly why. I'd tried not to mention it again because I knew she didn't wanna talk about it, but I think one of my heels is about to wear out from all this dancing and these shoes were expensive so I won't have that shit.

"Billie—Bil." I stopped moving and grabbed her hand. She raised a brow, waiting for me to keep talking. "Why don't you like her? That girl, Luna, what'd she do? You're avoiding her."

"I'm not, I just—fuck, my side hurts. I think something in my dress is sticking me, baby, come look—"

"Bitch, you know damn well nothing in your dress is sticking you." I rolled my eyes. "Stop changing the subject. Who is she and why don't you like her?"

Billie sighed before grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the nearest corner. We leaned against the wall and I watched closely as she chewed on her lip for a few moments and then brought a finger up to scratch her eyebrow.

"Remember the day you asked how I knew I was into girls and I said it was because of this girl that kept flirting with me that I found out?" She questioned quietly. I nodded. "Well, that's the girl."

"So, she's an ex?"

"Yeah, you could say that."