Sparkling Lights Part 2

"I'll kill him." Blake said crossing his arms.

"I'll get him arrested." Cole glared at me.

"I'll send him on a ship lying to him and telling him it's going to the Stuff Land of Landia's where everything is soft and cuddly but really I'm going to send him to Peppermint Jail where they feed you such minty and pepper stuff you never stop sneezing and crying from pure intoxication." I didn't have to look to know who said that.

I had made a vow to myself that I wasn't going to talk to them right now. Maybe even all day. When Mark and I woke up this morning the first thing we noticed was his phone was blowing up with text messages. After about five minutes of trying to cuddle but having the obnoxious beeping Mark stood up and answered the messages. He came back showing me they were all from Shawn. Except for one message that was from Mr. Bennett reading, We know what you two did. Nice.

All the other messages were from Shawn and they all read the same thing, We're watching you.

"Well that's creepy." Mark had said before cuddling back with me. About ten minutes later we heard something hit against the window. We ignored it. Then it came again. "For the love of God," Mark said rolling over to look out the window. He opened one of the blinds apart from the other and I peered out with him. Blake, Cole, and Shawn were all outside. They all held a pair of binoculars and when they noticed us looking out of the blinds the three waved slowly.

I haven't talked to them all day because of that. Mark thought it was funny. He even suggested opening the blinds and window so they could see what state we were in. I however was not amused. I left maybe an hour after seeing my brothers outside of Mark's house. When I stepped out of the door Blake, Cole, and Shawn sweeped me away like they were spies and I was a target they were trying to find. Mark stood at the doorway laughing the whole time. He and Blake exchanged a few words before we drove back home. The entire way home I sat in the back, arms crossed, and never answering their ridiculous questions.

So now I was at home. I had taken a short shower before changing into a sports bra and shorts. Dad and Lilly had taken Sue to studio where kids that like to sing can be enrolled for classes. They thought it'd be a great extracurricular activity for her. Sadly though, this left me at home with my three brothers that kept staring at me. They were waiting in my room when I got out of the shower. I was towel drying my hair and I noticed the three sitting on my bed with Sergeant. I rolled my eyes turning my back towards them for a moment.

When I looked back at them their mouths dropped causing my eyes to wrinkle in confusion. "Oh yeah," Blake said. "I'm definitely going to kill him."

Cole pulled out his phone, "I'm taking pictures for evidence."

"What?" I asked Shawn as he started to giggle. "What's so funny?"

"Did you not see the hickey's?" He busted into laughter. I looked in my mirror not seeing what the big deal was. I had one on my neck I saw in the morning that Mark had pointed out. And I had one just below my belly button where the Trips couldn't see so I wasn't really worried about covering that one. "You look like a leopard." Shawn said wiping a tear away as he pointed at my back.

My eyes widened and I turned my back towards my mirror looking over my shoulder. "What the fu-"

"My question is," Shawn said interrupting me. "If he did that did you suck him like Kirby would because damn girl he got you good."

"I just...fell asleep and I guess he did that. " I said my cheeks turning all red. Blake hit the back of Shawn's head because he was laughing so hard. "Son of a gun! That's why he was laughing so much this morning." I muttered to myself. I fell asleep before Mark had and I knew he was kissing my back but I hadn't thought he'd leave so much evidence of what we'd done.

Cole laughed with no humor as he looked down at his phone, "Oh yeah I'll definitely get him arrested."

"Let me give him a good right hook before he goes." Blake added on.

I turned to glare at them and crossed my arms, "We didn't do anything."

The three looked up at me before looking at each other. At the same time they all bursted into laughter like I had just told the funniest joke in the world. Sergeant popped his head up surprised by the sudden outburst. "Right Tori. Right!" Cole said laughing repeated what I said. "Didn't do anything."

"Even I'm not that thick Tobi." Blake let out a heavy laugh quoting me and Cole as he put parenthesis up with his fingers, "Didn't do anything."

Shawn stood up and walked over to me where he got behind me. I could feel his finger tracing spots on my back before he said, "I can play connect the dots with this many."

I slapped Shawn's hand away and grabbed Teddy pressing him to my face. I would usually grab Mr. Cuddles but after being sewed up he was now on top of my TV because he was too fragile and not fluffy enough to cuddle. Also since Sergeant was welcomed into the family I was afraid he might rip Mr. Cuddles up. So I settled for my new and favorite bear instead.

I sat on my bean bag pulling Teddy to my face to cover up how red it was. I did not need these three laughing at me over this. I never laugh at them when they come home with red lipstick stains on their cheeks and neck. But I also had to realize that they weren't used to me doing any of this and even though they're protective they were finding it way too humorous. When their laughter died down smirks replaced their lips. "So," Blake said wiggling his eyebrows. "How many rounds?"

"That's not how you start Blake." Shawn said walking back to my bed where he sat down picking up Sergeant and setting him in his lap. Shawn grinned towards me, "Which base? Tongue slip n' slide, fat massaging, writing skills, or fireworks boom boom?"

Cole stared at Shawn and asked, "Writing skills?"

Blake's eyebrows scrunched together, "Fat massaging?"

I stared in confusion, "Fireworks boom boom?"

Shawn's eyes widened as he screamed, "You got to fireworks?"

"What?" I said suddenly realizing I probably asked the wrong question. My three brothers all looked at me like they were all about to go out and purge a whole city.

"Oh he's dead meat." Blake said Cole agreeing with him. The three of them started planning on how they were going to kill Mark. Blake suggested beating him up to death and throwing him into a creek. Cole said he could buy a gun on the black market and then throw it into the creek after they were done. Shawn kept rambling on about how he can get a ticket for Mark to board the Peppy Ship where he would believe he is going to a land full of cheerleaders when in reality he was going to Peppermint Prison.

"Guys!" I yelled causing them to all look over at me. I was embarrassed and feeling very violated with the way they were talking. I didn't feel like I had any right to have to give them details of what Mark and I did last night but I wasn't going to let them assume we did the 'fireworks boom boom.' I took a deep breath, "Mark and I didn't have sex last night so could just please stop acting like five year old's."

"Wait..." Blake said. "So what did you do?"

I felt my face heat up again and a smile took over even though I tried so desperately hard not to let it show. Cole and Shawn cooed at me as I buried my face back in Teddy only looking up at them through my eyes. So what if Mark and I didn't do the fireworks boom boom. I didn't care we didn't get that far and neither did he. We both stepped on new land we never knew was there. Like discovering a whole new planet except we found it together. Right now that's all that seemed to matter. We used to take different steps in search for worlds that were on the complete other side of the universe. But last night was different because even though we didn't created a new civilization we built a foundation. As long as I keep finding new planets with Mark I didn't care where the spaceship lands. As long as we're together.

"You look like a puppy." Shawn picked Sergeant up and made him face me. He spoke in a baby voice. "Doesn't she look like you Sarg? Doesn't she look so cute."

Well that killed the moment, I thought to myself.

"Did you guys naked cuddle?" Cole asked a smile playing at his face. "Those are the best."

I rolled my eyes, "I have the right to remain silent."

Shawn snorted looking over at Cole, "Of course she was naked. Did you see her back? I mean come on Cole."

"Hey it was a legitimate question." Cole raised his hands in surrender.

"You are right though," Shawn added. "Naked cuddles are the F-Bomb."

A sudden realization Blake and Cole. Cole turned to look at Shawn as he asked, "Shawn have you and Em...fireworks boom boom?"

"You mean make love?" Shawn shook his head. I knew all this from the other night when Shawn had told me about he and Em getting close but never actually sealing the deal. "No not yet. I really want to though. I told her it'd be the best thing ever. Like unicorns and griffins suddenly becoming best friends and sealing their rivalry. It'd be historic. But I still have to convince her that she's my unicorn and I'm her Pegasus and when we have kids we'll have a flying unicorn because those things are just so cool!"

"Aw," I said pulling my face away from Teddy. "Em's your unicorn?"

"Just like Mark's your teddy bear." Shawn grinned. "Except I obviously love Em more."

I smirked not ready to argue with him about who loves who more, "Ok whatever you say."

Shawn glanced at over at Cole, "Did you and Jodee fireworks boom boom?"

Cole's face turned red but he shook his head. "Nah but we've had naked cuddles."

"Wait," Blake said stopping us when he raised his hand. We all turned to look at him. His eyebrows were pinched together in confusion as he glanced between his brothers and I. "Let me get this straight..." He looked right at me with raised eyebrows. "People can be naked together...and not have sex?"

"Yes." The three of us answer.

Shawn clapped his hands together before throwing them up in the air. "Revelation!"

Blake looked bewildered. Maybe even enlightened. He was definitely perplexed with the idea. I wondered how long it could have taken him to figure this one out. He put his hand to his head. "What kind of jacked up world am I living in?"

I rolled my eyes and tried changing the subject so I wouldn't have to start talking about fireworks boom boom with these three. "So I told Mark he can come in the limo with us."

The Trips and I have talked about it and decided we were going to get a limo. It was either that or a party bus. Cole had told me that last year they would have gone with party bus but this year they wanted to lay low. Well...as low as a Parris could lay. Every team at our school--football, soccer, basketball, even the swim team--have all decided to get a party bus for their teams. The Trips had been invited to all of them but they refused the offers. Blake said he was trying to be more mature to help Cali and the baby. Cole said he wanted to spend as much time with Jodee as possible without the idea of having several horny high school guys gawk at her. And Shawn...well he liked the idea of a party bus but he's already been on one and agreed that a limo was better because it's like a car made out of taffy that was stretched very long and then cooled over. At least that's his theory on how limo's are made.

"Yeah," Blake said scratching the back of his head. "I invited Mark to come Tux renting with us."

"You did?" Cole and Shawn asked.

"That's so nice of you," I said smiling. Happy to know that Blake was actually considerate about my boyfriend and not just himself. "Thanks a lot Cake."

He smirked, "Don't thank me yet."

Cole and Shawn turned to smile at me too. I swallowed hard. "What?"

Cole grinned, "Guess who's going dress shopping with the rest of the girls?"

My eyes widened and I started shaking my head. The idea of spending time with the girls as we all went dress shopping sent a fear down straight to my bone. "No." I said as they nodded devilishly. "No no no no. No!"

"Yes!" The three all shouted together. "Yes yes yes yes."

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

Shawn's POV

"Could you imagine if they had a show about guy's trying on tuxedos?" I asked while fixing my collar in the dressing room. "I think it'd be a hit."

Yeah, my voice said sarcastically. You'd be a hit.

"I think if we did," Cole said from outside my dressing room curtain. "There would be a decrease in marriages. With everything guy's say in here. Woman would be so pissed."

I nodded in agreement even though they couldn't see me. My brothers, Mark, and I had arrived to the store maybe an hour ago after dropping the girls off. The store itself was clammy and smelled old. But it was nicely decorated. Like an antique shop with a decorated ceiling, chandelier, and old lamps. The moment Mark laid eyes on the place he said he wouldn't be able to afford anything in the store. Luckily the owner knows our family well and guaranteed to give us a discount when we rent out the tux's.

The four of us had been waiting for the girls to tell us what color their dresses were. So far only Em had texted me causing the other three to start doubting and wondering. It was quite entertaining. "Alright you guys," I said grinning at myself in the mirror. "I'm ready."

"Well come out." Mark said. After picking him up and dropping the girls off we all had a long talk with him. In the most part he rolled his eyes and said he was going to take more care of Tori than anyone else ever would. Although we're all protective over our sister my mind came to the realization that he has known Tori the longest. Plus, Mark and I have history class together. We always work on projects or worksheets. Sometimes we even cheat on the tests together. Mainly because he as the brains and I have the creativity. We work well as a team. At least in history we do.

"We don't have all day." Blake said.

I dramatically pulled the curtain back standing in my full glory of a tuxedo. "Ta-da!"

Their eyes all went wide in disbelief. I agree with them, my voice said. You look dumb.

They never said I looked dumb. I replied.

They don't have to, he laughed. Look at their faces.

He was right though. It took everything in me not to laugh. Blake looked constipated. Like an elephant decided to take a crap right next to him and he was smelling the most horrid thing in the world. Cole had a toad face looking like a frog that got stuck in mid-croak. And Mark. Mark had his neck stretched out in front of him like he was trying to stare at something small. His eyes were squinting and his lips were drawn into a straight line.

"I think I look snazzy." I turned to the main mirror that gave me a look from my shoes to my head. I ran my hand down the ruffles that went down my entire torso. My tux was a powder blue with a bright red bow tie. If I had long hair I would have tied it back in a pony tail. I turned to look at my side and started moving my arms around seeing if it was flexible enough to move around in.

"Please for the love of God..." Blake said. "Take. That. Off."

"But Em told me her dress is blue." I said looking at my brothers and Mark. A pout formed on my lips as I looked at my reflection. With this tux on I would be matching with Em. Even though I hadn't seen her dress she told me it was a light blue.

"That doesn't mean you wear...that." Cole looked at me up and down before planting his hand to his face. "You look horrid."

I pouted again staring at myself in the mirror. "But...don't I look good? I think I look good."

"I think you look great." The owner of the store said. He was an elderly man with caramel skin and small white hairs as a beard. He looked like a lighter version of Morgan Freeman without the very deep voice. I don't know how long we've known him but he's a cool guy. I think this was the shop that our dad bought his wedding tux in years before we were born.

Blake took my shoulder bringing me to him like we were huddling for a game. He whispered to me, "He just wants to make money out of it Shawn. If you wear this you better be the best damn dancer because everyone is going to be staring at you."

"It's worse than being that guy in the white tuxedo." Cole added. He sounded like a stylist. The way he spoke about how I have absolutely no fashion sense. I think it was coming out from all the time he's spent working at Hollister. The fashion business has finally gotten to his head. Next thing I know he'll be modeling all the time.

I glanced at Mark who was staring at me with his hand cupping his chin like he was thinking. I hadn't noticed that he was already fitted in the tux he was meaning to rent out. He looked like James Bond. Fixing the cuff of his sleeve and his collar before turning back to look at me. "You look like a spy." I said smirking.

"I feel way to fancy for my own good." Mark ran his hands down his own chest to the bottom where he buttoned the jacket. He then turned towards me and smiled softly. "You look like an idiot dude." I shrugged but he continued. "It wouldn't be unexpected for you to wear something like that. But if you love Em don't you think that maybe for one night you could maybe take the attention away from you two and just enjoy being together?"

"Heart over balls." Blake coughed pitifully into his fist.

Mark stopped looking at me and glanced at Blake giving him a deadpan face. There seemed to be a mental challenge there too. Like Mark was asking, Really?

You know he's right, my voice said.

Yeah I know that Mark has more heart than balls. What's your point?

Not that! The outfit stupid.

I looked at myself in the mirror again. I closed my eyes and imagined myself in a regular tuxedo. It would be nice to look and act normal for one night. To just let Em enjoy a night with someone that doesn't cause people to turn their heads towards. Someone who will only look at her knowing she's his whole world. I smiled to myself thinking of her in her dress with her hair and make-up done. Most importantly her smile. My heart might just explode with all the happiness I feel when I see her smile.

I took a deep breath walking past everyone to the rack of tuxedos. The owner said he already had some of my calculations down because they were common. And even if they weren't it would probably only be an inch too long or short. Everyone seemed to be talking--maybe to me--but I didn't hear what they were saying. When I finally found my size I quickly went back into the dressing room and tried the regular tuxedo.

As I got dressed I could hear their conversation outside. "Prom is so overrated." Blake muttered.

"Look who's talking." Cole smirked. "We all know who Prom King is going to be."

Blake chuckled, "Doubt it. I was last year remember?"

"You weren't even a senior last year." Mark said utterly bewildered. That was true. Blake wasn't even meant to be on the ballot but so many people had asked for him to be on the ballot they finally just added him. He was the first junior to ever win Prom King. And most likely the last.

I could just see the cocky smirk on Blake's face, "Exactly."

"Well then who was Prom Queen?" Mark asked.

"No idea." Blake said casually. He probably shrugged. I could feel him shrug. "We hooked up afterwards. That was probably the most exciting thing that happened. Prom is still overrated though."

"Yeah but it's fun if you're with friends. I mean we could just tell the chauffeur to drive us around the city." Cole argued. "As long as you don't expect too much out of it it should be fun."

"There's no grinding music." Blake added.

Mark laughed, "Like that's stopped people before."

"The ballot this year was awesome though." Cole said causing me to grin because I know exactly who it all was. "The influence we have on people is amazing."

"The influence I have on people is amazing." Blake said probably winking.

I chuckled stepping out of the changing room and everyone turned to look at me. "You look so much better." Cole said with a big smile.

"I feel like James Bond." I grinned looking in my reflection. It looked way better than the other tux. I felt more confident and less stupid. Don't get me wrong the other suit was hilarious but this made me feel...awesome. Like I could disarm a Gumdrop nuke and save the whales from destruction. Yeah, I thought to myself. I look awesome.

My voice whistled, You look good!

Right? I grinned even more.

You know we only have one more thing to do.

What? I asked.

Lick your new dog.

Not ever going to happen!

Blake took a step out of the dressing room also. I hadn't noticed he had entered it but when he came out he was itching at his collar. The owner came over to look at him. "You look good Shawn." Blake said while putting his arms out for the owner to measure and find the problem. It didn't take long before he fixed it. Blake gave his thanks and the owner smiled.

"You boys are so great." The owner said grinning as he walked towards the back of the store.

Cole kept snickering at us. He was sitting on one of the seats with his arms crossed. "Bet you wish dad's tux fit you."

"You're just lucky that you're Bill's size." Blake muttered. Before coming to the store we had all tried on Bill's wedding tux in hopes that'd it'd fit. Because we had all returned our tuxedos we had to re-rent them out. But Cole was Bill's size so lucky him, he didn't have to worry about getting a new tuxedo.

"I can't believe you're wearing his tux." I said glaring at Cole while crossing my arms. "If anyone gets to wear that tuxedo it should be me."

Cole chuckled, "Why?"

"Because I'm smarter that you!" I said causing everyone to start laughing at me. I tried not taking it to offense but I placed my hand over my heart in shock. How dare they think I'm dumber than Cole. I'm the genius of the family.

"Even I know that's not true." Mark said.

"Cole doesn't know the secret to trees." I said giving them all my glare. "None of you know it."

"Really?" Cole smirked. "Explain will you?"

I took a deep breath getting ready to rant. "Trees fart."

Everyone stared at me like I had just walked out of the dressing room in the blue tuxedo again. "Why?" Blake finally said looking towards Cole. "Why would you encourage him?"

It was too late now. My mind was working like gears were turning. "Trees fart," I stated again. "trees are living organisms. They fart. Like us. But unlike us their farts are oxygen. That's why they make oxygen. Really the air they give out is just them farting. But they take in carbon dioxide right? Which is what we breathe out. Our breaths make them gassy. We live by breathing in the farts."

There was a silence that fell between all of us. All we could hear was the clock in store ticking. I kept nodding my head grinning knowing that I was right. Mark broke the silence first as he shook his head and sighed, "It's amazing yet sad you come up with these sorts of things."

"Cole didn't know that." I kept grinning like I had just won a war. "Therefore I am smarter."

"Whatever you say Shawn." Cole said shaking his head.

Blake finished fixing the collar and cuffs of his tuxedo before standing in front of the mirror. Not smiling but staring at himself looking up and down from his toes to the one curl of hair on his head. "You ok, man?" Cole asked also noticing Blake was distressed.

"Yeah," He said looking himself in the eye through the reflection of the mirror. "As fine as I can be I guess."

Cole and I were about to say something when Mark received a text and pulled his phone out of his front pocket of his jeans that were laying on the floor next to our clothes. He quickly read it before reading it out loud to us. "Tori texted me the colors of the other dresses. Em is blue as y'all already know. Cali has a pink dress. Jodee has black. And Tori's dress is green."

I laughed trying to imagine Blake with a pink tie. I pointed my finger at him while gripping my stomach with my other hand. Blake hates the color pink. Not because it's viewed as a feminine color just because he doesn't like it. We used to think it had to do with him womanizing everything but then we realized it's just not his color. He has nothing associated with the color pink. He gave me a small glare. "I've only seen you in the color pink once," I said through my laughs. My throat dried up and I quickly coughed before continuing my laugh. "When Tori dyed our clothes."

He shoved my chest causing me to fall onto the small armchair. "Shut up Shawn."

"What goes with black?" Cole asked.

"Spots! Like a dalmatian!" I blurted out. "Er...I meant Oreos."

"Green." Mark muttered under his breath like he was thinking. "I didn't even know Tori liked green."

"Well do you like green?" I asked.

"Yeah I guess so." Mark answered.

Blake snorted, "You better."

"That's our sister wearing that dress." Cole added standing up and poking Mark in the chest.

Without a second thought I joined in, "So you're going to like it even if she looks like Tinker Bell."

Mark chuckled, "I'd like it even if she dressed like the crocodile."

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

Tori's POV

After the guys dropped us off I suddenly realized I was surrounded by three girls that absolutely adore shopping. They looked like excited puppies about to get their bowl of food. While I was that lazy adult dog in the background that just wanted to lie down under the sun and never be bothered. I was going to kill my brothers for this. They had told me that they promised the girls we could all go shopping over the weekend for dresses. Which of course didn't suit me considering I absolutely hate shopping. I thought it was bad enough having to do this for homecoming but now Prom too.

Ugh, I groaned.

We slowly made our way to the shopping center. All the girls waited up for me knowing I couldn't move as fast while on the crutches. Em had her hair tied back in a braid with a pair of sunglasses acting as a hair band and she was wearing a T-Shirt with a dinosaur on it. Her shorts came mid-thigh and I could tell that the flannel around her waist was Shawn's. Jodee's strawberry blonde hair was straightened and I noticed she had gotten highlights from the last time I saw her. She was wearing shorts and crop top with black high top converse. And finally was Cali who was wearing a dress with flower prints on them. At her waist the dress flared off and I realized she was doing really well at hiding her pregnancy. When I looked down at myself I smirked. Unlike the stylish girls in front of me I wore a t-shirt and jean shorts with a pair of off brand Vans. But I was so very comfortable.

I still felt slightly insecure about going to Prom in crutches but then I'd remember what Mark said to me. How he treated me. How much he loves me and it's like the wind just makes all the insecurities fly away. When I talked to him over the phone the other night I said he could go and dance with other people if he really wanted to but then he interrupted me and started naming all the board games and card games he has. He said he would rather play monopoly with me and lose than dance with someone that wasn't me. Mark never likes losing monopoly. If you actually make it to the end of the game you better be the winner.

"Alright," Em said as we slowly made our way towards the shopping center. "So Shawn told me we're doing limo, right? It was either that or party bus."

"I did party bus in high school," Jodee said while shrugging. "It was awesome but you'd need like twenty people for it to be a real party."

"Limo sounds nice." Cali said softly. She looked like she felt excluded from our group. Whenever she spoke to us she said things quietly like she was afraid we would judge her for her opinion. Especially whenever she spoke to me. She had been invited for this field trip before even I was and Blake told me to take it easy because it took him a lot of convincing getting her to come. We could tell she felt like she wasn't one of us. Even though we continuously told her she was. She was simply the last one to join our group but even then it was ironic considering she was my best friend first. Right now only our group knows about her pregnancy. She started showing a bump a few days ago but at this stage it simply looks like she put on some weight. She had told her first ultrasound was coming up--mainly through the help of my parents and Cali's brother was she able to set it up. But even when we told her how awesome that was she was still afraid we hated her. Which isn't true.

"It sounds like a lot of fun." I said grinning. "I've never been in a limo."

"I'm going to go broke after Prom." Jodee said sighing. "I blame Cole."

Em rolled her eyes. "You blame Cole for everything."

"Yeah but he blames me for everything too." Jodee said smiling as she gave a shrug. "We fight a lot."

I smirked, "I know."

We finally made it to the variety of stores. I was glad that the rest of the girls were walking as slow as I was moving. I couldn't wait to get off of these things and start walking again. But my therapist told me it was going to be slow progress. I just hated these stupid crutches. On top of me not liking dresses and Prom and getting all dolled up I had to deal with these two crutches under my arms. It meant I couldn't get a strapless. That would simply add more stress.

"Oh my god." Em said when we walked past a store. She stopped outside one of the windows staring at the dress on the other side. The way her face lit up said it all. She absolutely loved the dress. Her hands went to her cheeks as she stared openly.

"It's so pretty." Cali said taking a step beside Em. "You should try it on."

Em bit her lip crossing her arms like she was thinking. Her forehead creased and she looked longingly at the dress. I smiled standing beside Jodee who was grinning from the dress to Em. "Shawn would love that." I said.

Em looked up at me before smiling at the floor. The thought of Shawn always seemed to drive her crazy. "Come on," Jodee steered Em into the store. Then she went to the counter and asked for Em's size in the dress she liked. The old lady at the counter said that the only one that was Em's size was the one on the stand. Of course Jodee was probably the only girl that had enough guts to tell the lady to get the dress out of the viewing and let Em try it. It took some convincing and a lot of yelling and arguing but Jodee managed.

"I owe you," Em said as she walked into the dressing room with the dress in her hands.

Jodee shrugged, "Don't mention it. Just make sure it fits and looks good or old lady there is gonna pull her claws out at me."

I took a seat out on one of the cushioned chairs as I waited for Em to come out. Jodee and Cali walked around the store seeing if anything caught there eye. I simply looked around. Everything had sparkles or bedazzles. It looked like Fairy Godmother had accidentally slipped and cursed the whole store into having sparkles. It took a few minutes but soon enough Em stepped out of the changing room and smiled. "Ta-da!" She said grinning widely.

My mouth dropped. Even without having her hair or make-up done she looked gorgeous. Like the perfect Cinderella. The dress was a strapless baby blue. Her torso hugged her waist and had small flowers that were created from the bedazzles. At her waist the dress spread out into layers. Mainly they were the same blue as the top but there were a few that were pink and light yellow. Making it look a bit like a rainbow. I definitely wouldn't have the taste for it and it certainly wouldn't look good on me but seeing Em look exactly like a princess made my heart go out to Shawn knowing he was going to absolutely love this dress.

Jodee and Cali sat beside me just staring at Emily. "Does it look good?" Em said she twirled around letting the dress bounce against her causing all of us to smile. "Do you think Shawn will like it?"

"Like it?" I asked dumbfounded. "He'll love it!"

"Except..." Jodee put her hand under her chin leaning onto her arm that was resting against her knee. "You'll probably stick out."

Em turned to look at the mirror and felt down the torso carefully trailing the gems on the dress wit her fingers. She couldn't stop smiling and simply shrugged, "Knowing Shawn he's probably going to wear something crazy. If we stick out we can stick out together."

I smiled knowing she was right. The dress definitely caught attention. People would probably turn around to look at Em as they saw her walk towards the dance floor but she didn't care. She knew that Shawn was also going to look ridiculous or do ridiculous things. But at least they would be able to look ridiculous together.

"That's cute." Jodee said a small smirk on her face. "It's like puppy love."

"It really is," I said smiling softly crossing my arms over my chest and looking at Em with raised eyebrows. "Lilly told me you've been trying to contact Shawn's grandpa."

Em's face turned red and she started nervously twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. "Yeah..." She said softly. "Shawn's always talking about him and I just thought it'd make him really happy if his grand-dad came for graduation. So I asked Lilly for his grandparents number. He lives kind of far away but I've been trying to convince him to come. He's really funny. Reminds me a lot of Shawn. Except he's a very strange old man..." Em frowned for a second thinking about it, "He'll just randomly call me sometimes to say weird things. Like one day he said, 'The chicken has set the house on fire.' And then he just hung up."

I laughed just imagining an old man doing that. More so I imagined Shawn growing old and doing that. "Well," I said containing my laughter. "Get used to it Em because that's basically how Shawn is going to act as an adult."

Jodee chuckled asking, "So what did Shawn say when you told him his gramps might be coming?"

Em snapped her eyes towards us, "You can't tell him! It's suppose to be a surprise."

"That's so sweet." Cali said smiling. "Don't worry we won't tell."

We all agreed causing Em to give out a sigh of relief. She smiled back as herself when she looked into the mirror patting her dress down. Shawn was sure lucky to have her. And she was lucky to have him. "I'll take it," She finally said referring to the dress. We all smiled knowing she made the right decision.

"Good," Cali stood up. "Because you look like a princess."

When Em saw the price of the dress it took more convincing for her to buy it. Eventually she did. As the cashier was ringing her dress up Em quickly texted Shawn letting him know the color of her dress. After a few more looks around the store we all agreed that we would move on to the next one. Jodee wasn't into sparkles and the only dresses Cali saw that she liked were the same blue as Em's so she quickly put them back on the rack acting like she never looked at them. Em left the dress back at the shop so she could pick it up on the way back. Because it was so poofy and big there was no way she'd be able to carry it around.

We stopped by two other places in hopes of finding dresses. One of the stores was filled with short dresses which of course was a big no for all the girls because apparently at Prom you have to wear long gowns. This whole excursion was quite educational for me. The second shop was alright. It seemed more like professional gowns than actual Prom gowns. However, we did make a short stop because Jodee was in love with every dress in the store.

"Wow look at this one!" Jodee said pulling a bright red gown that had sparkles running down the low V-neck. She set it back up on the rack before running to a different dress squealing like a little girl. "These are so sexy! I think I'm in love."

Em leaned towards me asking me quietly, "Is she shopping for Prom or Hollywood red carpet?"

I chuckled shrugging it off as she kept looking around. "This would make my ass look hot!" Jodee shouted making everyone in the store turn to look at her. One of the ladies even smiled while rolling her eyes. Jodee took the dress off the rack letting us see it as she set it in front of her to view the length. It was a thin strap mermaid dress that flared off at mid thigh. It kind of reminded me of the night sky with its jet black color and small sparkles that were laced within the see through torso. It was translucent around the torso staring just below the breasts to right above the bellybutton. Of course there was thin lace that created small patterns as well as the sparkle but the dress itself looked smooth and as Jodee had put it, sexy.

"I think my butt would look fantastic." Jodee said a smirk playing at her lips. She seemed to be talking to herself. "Maybe Cole will finally have competition."

I raised an eyebrow. "Competition?"

"Cole has a very very very nice elbow if I do say so myself." Jodee looked up and shrugged before looking through the dress sizes. She finally picked one out before walking towards the dressing rooms. "I'm going to go see if it's awesome."

We waited up for Jodee as she tried the dress on. From her changing room we could hear her slowly cursing every time she got stuck or fell over. Cali and I didn't bother looking around the store for a dress realizing this place was way to high priced. We weren't sure how Jodee was going to afford the dress she was trying on if she happened to buy it. She'd probably have the money from her job but even then this place felt like it was celebrities or people who attend high class weddings.

"I knew it." We heard Jodee say before she stepped out of the changing room. "My ass looks fantastic."

"You do look really good." Em added as Cali and I nodded along with her.

The dress itself hugged Jodee's body showing off her curves. She turned around pulling her hair over one shoulder. Her back was visible along with some of her tattoo. I hadn't thought black would have gone nicely with her hair but it definitely made it stand out. She kept grinning at her reflection running her hands across her stomach where her skin was visible. "You know," She said smiling. "The best part about Prom isn't the dance. It's the before and after that count. The friends, food, then it's the dance but afterwards...well..." She grinned at us through the mirror wiggling her eyebrows making us all laugh.

Cali put her hand up laughing softly, "I'm already knocked up so no thank you."

We laughed harder. "So is this what wedding dress shopping is going to be like? With you three?" Em asked before adding quickly, "Except obviously my aunt would be there and I guess so would Shawn's mom."

"I think it'll be you three." Jodee gave us a sad smile before turning around going back into the dressing room. She closed the door behind her talking over it. "I'm going to Zealand, remember?"

Em frowned, "But we could still talk."

"Yeah," I added in. "It's not like you can't talk to us. Skype and whatever else there is."

We heard Jodee sigh and then the dress falling onto the floor. "I don't know. I want to start over. It sounds bad but really...I just want to forget everything here."

Cali raised an eyebrow asking, "Including Cole?"

There was silence behind the Jodee's door. After a minute of silence she came out with the dress over her arm. "So should I get the dress or not?" She asked ignoring the question. We didn't push her into telling us about how she felt about Cole. And I sure wasn't going to tell her how he feels about her. It wasn't my place to say. Jodee purchased the dress leaving Cali and I to find one.

It was very stressful. More than it should have been. We went to three more different stores. Two of which didn't even have Prom dresses. Em and Jodee simply saw clothes saying they were cute and told each other they needed to come back for the regular clothing. The worst part was finding a dress that wasn't strapless. Cali tried on a few but then got frustrated with the way they hugged her body leaving the baby bump visible. She looked about ready to quit and even said she was just going to tell Blake she couldn't go. We kept her spirits up saying it didn't look as bad. So she started trying on the looser dresses in hopes for something nicer but as spontaneous.

I didn't try as many dresses. I would simply look at them and shake my head. I always found an excuse to not like a dress. Whether it was strapless, had too many sparkles, or wasn't my kind of color there didn't seem to be one for me. I waited patiently for something to pop up but nothing did. However, at the moment we were all helping Cali. Frankly a part of me was happy because it meant I didn't have to worry about the girls bothering me. I looked around the store in search for a dress that Cali might wear. Em had already had her try on a purple dress but it didn't seem to really go with Cali's body figure. Jodee handed her a navy blue dress that Cali disliked severely. I found a strapless dress that was a bright pink with a lace just below the breasts before the dress flowed smoothly to the floor. The lace was bedazzled and made a small star in the middle. An instant smile crept onto my face.

"Cali," I called out to her as I searched the rack for her size. She came over and quickly glanced at the dress I was looking for before helping me find her size. "Do you like it?"

She smiled back at me and nodded, "Yeah...I just hope it looks good."

Cali was the fastest changer I had ever seen. It felt like only two seconds ago she had walked into the dressing room and no she was standing in front of us wearing the pink dress. She was smiling hesitantly waiting for our opinions. But I was still trying to over come the shock of how quick she changed. I guess the years of shopping really helped her out. "Well?" She asked nervously. "What do you think?"

"It's the best one out of all of them." Em said nodding happily. "You look beautiful."

"You can barely see the bump." Jodee added in. She stood up and walked towards Cali like she was examining her. "Honestly Cali I think it's too late in the pregnancy to find a Prom dress that won't show the bump. But this is by far the best one that covers it up."

I was smiling so widely I couldn't even speak. The three girls turned to look at me but all I could do was smile. I finally found my words saying, "Yeah well I picked the dress so I think kudos go to me considering I have a terrible fashion sense."

They all rolled their eyes at me before Cali walked over to the mirror and looked at herself. "I really like it..." She seemed to mutter more to herself. She spoke louder addressing to us, "And I love the color pink."

I raised my hand in praise almost laughing, "That's why I chose it!"

"You know," Cali turned to look at me with a big smile as she crossed her arms over her chest. "We'll be looking for your dress next."

My smile disappeared in the blink of an eye. It didn't take us as long as Cali to find myself a dress but it sure felt that way. The girls kept asking me to try several dresses and at one point I thought the chair outside my changing room door was going to over flow with different styles and colors. First they had be try on an orange dress that made me feel like a bloated tangerine. Then a red two piece that was definitely not my style. There were about four different shades of blues in the mix and lime green that made me look like Tinker Bell.

I was exhausted and had only tried on four or five dresses. Whereas Cali had tried a good eight or nine. I started complaining as we made our way to a different store. How come Em and Jodee only had to try on a dress once before they chose it? That's simply not fair. There was only one store left which was at the end of the shopping center. We were all praying I'd find one there. I was praying for the day to be over.

The door jingled as we opened it stepping into the dress shop. We looked around the plastic covered dresses in hopes of finding something new. The colors seemed repetitive and I couldn't distinguish these dresses from the ones I saw in the other stores. The lady behind the counter gave us a kind smile when she saw us walk in. She said to holler for her if we needed any help. Then she proceeded on doing things on her computer.

"What about this one?" Em asked pulling out a royal blue dress from the rack. The color was nice but the amount of sparkles on it seemed quite excessive. I shook my head and she kept looking.

I made my way to the corner of the store quickly flipping through to see if anything caught my eye. It's cliche and stupid to say that one did however catch my attention. It was hidden between a red and yellow dress like someone had purposely hid it there.

Well too bad, I thought to myself. I pulled it out smiling as I read the tag that was clipped to the top of the hanger. An emerald green dress that had no gems on it except for the two straps that would wrap around my neck. There was lace around the waist but what I loved was how elegant and simple it looked. Kind of like Mark's eyes. I almost laughed and cried out of pure joy I was so happy. Now what I needed to hope for was it to look good.

"I don't know how I feel about the green." Jodee commented when she saw me holding the dress.

Cali and Em soon joined her but before they could say anything I went by the counter and asked the woman if there were any of the dresses in my size. She quickly went to the back pulling one out before handing it to me. I had to swing the dress over my shoulder as I made my way to the changing room before stripping my clothes off and carefully putting it on. I looked at myself in the mirror throwing my head back in victory. It was exactly what I wanted. Something simple, elegant, and smooth.

When I hopped out of the dressing room all three of my friends were sitting there with big smiles. "Hallelujah!" Jodee cried. "Praise the Lord we have found the dress."

Em and Cali laughed softly grinning up at me and giving me a thumbs up. "Take it Tori," Em said. "It looks really good."

Cali nodded, "Just wait till you do your make-up and hair. You'll look amazing."

Jodee stood up swinging her bag in her hand. "This only means one thing," She said a devilish smile forming on her lips."

"That we get to go home?" I asked with happiness and excitement lacing my voice. I couldn't wait to just sit down and play video games while Sergeant takes a nap on me. Or maybe I'd play fetch with him and throw the tennis ball outside so he could go and retrieve it. His mouth still wasn't big enough to fit the whole ball there so it was quite entertaining and one hundred percent cute watching him bring the ball back. The best part about Sergeant was watching my brothers and I start playing with him on the yard. Blake would get face to face with the pup and Shawn would pretend he was the momma dog. Cole kept trying to show Sergeant tricks but the poor pup can barely sit still.

"No," Jodee said smirking. "We found the dresses now we gotta find-"

Em interrupted her shouting, "Shoes!"

Jodee and Cali rejoiced and nearly fainted. While they screamed with happiness I banged my head on the wall wishing for the day to be over. "Why me?" I muttered to no one in particular.

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

"Tobi!" Blake yelled louder. He acted like I couldn't hear him yell out the last five times. He was certainly deaf considering I had yelled at him telling him I was still getting ready.

The weeks had seemed to roll by like nothing. It was a depressing feeling because I realized that we were getting closer and closer to the end. The end but the start. Everyone was getting ready for what comes after high school. Blake was going to check-ups with Cali and continuously practiced soccer. Cole was trying to mask it but he was starting to become depressed yet excited. Jodee was suppose to be moving away soon, in fact she couldn't even spend the summer here, which really effected Cole's mood. But then he'd start thinking about Harvard and about his dream. Sometimes he'd sit on the couch with Lilly and as she read a fiction-romance while running her fingers through her son's hair he'd be reading her old college law book. And finally Shawn. Shawn was the happiest and most ecstatic one out of all of us. He just kept making songs up about moving to New York. He'd show us pictures of his new apartment. He wasn't much of a city person but he said he'd make it work. He was overly excited about starting his new life with Emily. As for myself and my brothers, we were spending more time together. I however kept spending most of my time with Mark. Knowing he'd leave in the middle of summer still giving me a few weeks with my brothers before college started. It was the end to a new beginning. And I didn't know how I felt about it because I didn't want it to end.

"Jesus Christ!" Blake yelled again. "Tobi!"

I slammed my hand against my drawer in frustration. "One second!"

I couldn't get the zipper on the back of my dress to fully zip. I was going to ask Lilly for help but she had already done my hair, nails, and make up. If I couldn't manage a zipper than I really shouldn't be allowed near a pair of pants. Lilly had curled my hair and pulled it back into a small bun that had loose strands. After curling and hair spraying she started doing my nails. I was completely and utterly amazed at how perfect she could do a french manicure. She would give me a smile every time she looked up at me and say, "I was a young girl once too, Tori." Which made me feel happy and stupid because I didn't know how to do half of these things. She then turned me around so I wasn't facing the mirror and did my make up. She said she wanted to see my full reaction when I saw myself. Of course she promised not to add too much or go overboard and I was thankful. When she turned me around I looked at myself in utter disbelief. I felt different...but in a beautiful sort of way. Like I was staring at my evil twin that wasn't so evil. Just the complete opposite.

"Do you like it?" Lilly had asked waiting for me to say something.

"I look..." I said unable to find the words.

"Stunning." Lilly smiled. "You look stunning. I can't wait to see you in your dress."

She hurried me upstairs making sure my family couldn't see me even though they were impatiently waiting in the living room. The boys were still getting ready even though it didn't take them as much effort. Dad and Sue were waiting anxiously but Lilly quickly hushed them and told me to go back upstairs and get dressed.

God, I thought. Where did the time go?

I couldn't believe it was already Prom. Soon it'd be graduation and after that...to the unknown. I was lucky to be passing all my classes. And the college I was entering had contacted us noticing my grades had taken an insane plummet into the earth. They were very considerate and said not to worry about not getting in. They realized I was in an accident and said it was fine. That day was stressful and scary. I thought I wasn't going to get into college.

"Tobi!" Blake yelled again before I heard him running up the steps. He bursted into my room my back towards him as I tried getting the zipper more than mid-way. "What the hell is taking you so long?"

I groaned and would have put my hands to my face if it hadn't been for Lilly telling me not to touch. "It won't," I said straining trying to pull the zipper higher. "Go up!"

Blake chuckled and I felt him push my hands back down to my sides as he pulled the zipper all the way up. "Maybe you're just fat." He said laughing softly.

"You're so rude." I turned around keeping my balance on one foot which was three times harder now that I was wearing heels. Blake stuffed his hands into his pockets leaving the bottom button of his tuxedo undone. I smiled looking up at him, "You look really handsome Cake."

He had been staring at his shoes but raised his eyes to meet mine. At first I thought I could see genuine happiness in his eyes before they were quickly masked by his smirk. He brought his hands up to pull on his bow tie, "I know. I look fucking hot."

"You're an ass." I said rolling my eyes as I grabbed the crutches that were right beside me and slowly made my way towards the door.

"Wait," Blake stepped in front of me blocking my way. He took a step back looking at me as a smile formed on his face. "You look fantastic Tobi."

I tried my best not to smile but Blake's smile was contagious even though I wasn't sure if it was genuine. "Really?" I asked looking down at myself.

"Really." Blake smiled stepping towards me and pulling me into a hug. I hugged him back letting my crutches fall causing a loud bang against the floor. We just laughed softly but didn't break away. "Thanks for being my one in a million," Blake said pulling away and kissing the top of my head. "You're the best sister ever Tobi. I promise to always be there for you, ok?"

I smiled leaning up to kiss his cheek. "I loathe only vital excuses you Cake."

He grinning chuckling softly, "I love you too sis."

He grabbed my crutches handing them over to me as we made our way downstairs. He helped me down the steps and as he did so I asked, "So when you're rich and famous and I have nothing to do you'll send your private plane to pick me up and we'll go to New York to meet up with Cole and Shawn and eat some kick ass pizza right?"

Blake laughed nodding his head, "That sounds like a great plan."

When we walked into the kitchen Cole and Shawn stood up along with Dad and Sue. They all smiled at me making me very self conscious of all the attention. I brought my crutch up and pretended to use it as a gun, "Stay back!"

Shawn played along as a narrator, "The furious gorilla, having failed at blending in with the rest of the crocodiles brought up her gun and started shooti-Ahhh!" Shawn screamed and started running around in circles around the living room. "The gorilla is shooting! I repeat the gorilla--I'm hit!" He fell to the ground with a loud thud before he started clawing his way towards me, "I only...wanted...to pet...a booby." He pretended to die as he laid on the floor spread out like an eagle.

"Get up Shawn," Lilly said kicking his foot lightly. "You're getting your tux dirty."

"You look awesome Tori!" Sue shouted running towards me. She hugged me around the waist smiling widely. "Do you think when I'm in high school I could have this dress for Prom?"

I chuckled, "Nah I'll go shopping with you and find you a better one."

"You know," Cole said a small smirk forming on his lips. "It definitely matches Mark's eyes."

"Huh," I said trying to act like I had never noticed. I looked down at my dress before meeting with Cole's eyes trying to make myself look oblivious. "I never would have thought..."

"Well at least she doesn't look like Peter Pan." Blake said. "Or Tinker Bell."

"Or the crocodile." Cole added.

Shawn let out an exaggerated sigh before standing up and grabbing Cole by his shoulders racking him back and forth. "Did you not hear me? She's a gorilla in disguise! She's meant to fool you!" Shawn then looked at me from head to toe. "She's a very nice looking gorilla though."

Dad made his way towards me. He hadn't said anything just looked at me with a proud smile. Blake joined his brothers as dad stepped in front of me never taking his eyes off mine. "Hey daddy," I said smiling up at him.

He took a deep breath cupping the side of my face. "Look at the beautiful young lady you've become..." He kissed my forehead hugging me close to his chest. I thought I might have cried seeing dad like this. I thought he was going to cry seeing me like this. He didn't mean to say I grew up physically more like mentally. After everything dad and I have been through I was happy to see him happy. To see him rejoice every time he came home. And whenever we talked about it he said he preferred me coming home knowing I was loved by more than just our family but our extended family. Dad took another deep breath that came out shaky. "I thought I was going to lose you. I love you so much Tor-Bo. Don't ever forget it, ok?"

I nodded in his chest. "I love you too dad."

He sniffled softly. "What am I going to do without you next year?" He asked.

I bit my lip unsure what to tell him. Obviously he knew this day was going to come but I don't think he ever wanted it to. Sue and I are his foundation and although now he's with Lilly we know that every moment--happy or sad--dad and I spent together was somewhat sacred. We held each other up through the hard times and laughed together when the dark clouds subsided. But dad knows that after mom died I could hear him crying every night after he put Sue and I to sleep. He knows I spent time locked in the bathroom with the shower turned on as I cried in the corner. We both suffered long and hard for him to get custody over Sue and I and when he finally did, it was the first time after moms death that I felt like a family again. I swallowed hard at the memories that flashed right before my eyes. "Get by I guess." I said to him with a small smile.

"And how am I suppose to do that?" Dad asked pulling back. He had watery eyes filled with un-shed tears and I tried my best to hold mine back as well so Lilly wouldn't get mad at me for ruining the make-up. "I've been taking care you for the longest time...what am I going to do when you're gone? Who's going to play that stupid air force video game with me and laugh when I crash the plane?"

I didn't know how to reply. I simply stared at him as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'm only going to live a few hours away..."

He nodded breaking a small smile, "So you'll come down every weekend for the laundry?"

I laughed shaking my head, "No dad. But at least I know that if something bad happens I can always count on you to be there."

He noded grinning softly, "So I have permission to arrest anyone of your friends if they do something?"

"I think it's bad enough you arrested my brothers." I said rolling my eyes. "But yes. As long as I give the go to word."

Dad smirked, "Like I would be waiting for a go to word."

Lilly, who had been talking to the boys, unaware of the conversation dad and I were having stepped between us smiling widely. "Come on boys! I want to take a picture of the four of you before your dates arrive." She set us in front of the fireplace and structured us like she was a professional photographer. I was at the very end with Shawn behind me followed by Cole and finally Blake. I don't know how many pictures we took but if it weren't for Shawn who kept making us laugh all the pictures would have been forced smiles. Even Suzie joined in with the pictures feeling excluded from us.

When Lilly was done she quickly went through the pictures smiling down at the camera. She then looked up at us smiling widely, "So are you guys picking up your dates or are they coming here?"

"We're picking the girls up." Cole said sitting on the arm of the couch while crossing his arms over his chest. An annoyed smirk appeared on his face as he looked at his shoes. "Jodee said I better pick her up like the princess she is."

"That's historically incorrect." Shawn frowned. "We all know that princesses aren't picked up by the prince. Princesses go to the castle where the prince lives. Because if a prince goes to the house of a princess...well...next thing you know royal babies are sprouting out like multi-colored bunnies and I'm one hundred percent sure that the prince doesn't view the princesses' house as a house."

Cole frowned deeply, "Are you saying we're about to pick all our girlfriends up from a brothel?"

"Exactly!" Shawn grinned before frowning, "Wait..."

"Well then society has it all wrong." Dad said chuckling softly. He glanced over to me and crossed his arms, "When's Mark suppose to be here with the limo?"

"Probably soon." I remarked shortly quickly looking at the time. Even though we were picking up the girls from their homes, Mark had insisted he come over instead of us going to get him. Therefore my brothers decided that they'd send the limousine to his house to pick him up before it got us. It sounded complicated at first but then once we had figured it all out it wasn't. Right now the four of us were just waiting for the limo to pull up.

"Alright plan," Shawn said huddling all of us together. "When Mark gets here Cole will open the door. Blake will greet Mark in the kitchen. And then I'll jump out of the refriger--wait no I don't fit there--I'll jump out of the pantry. Tori you'll be upstairs pretending you're dead and then you'll come downstairs and jum--wait you can't jump--you can just walk in I guess. It defeats the whole idea but whatever. Jeez Tori, why do you have to be wounded on this mission? You shouldn't even be here."

I rolled my eyes and shoved him lightly. "Shut up Shawn."

He only grinned before fixing the collar of his tuxedo. "Don't you mean Parris. As in Shawn Parris."

"Yeah Tori didn't you hear." Cole chuckled.

Blake added on, "We're Parris Cubed."

The three gave each other high fives in the weirdest way possible. Blake and Cole gave each other a regular high five but then Shawn jumped between them spinning around like a helicopter and hit both Blake and Cole in the forehead. They both exclaimed in pain before Shawn said, "Wow. That is not how I expected it to go."

While Blake held onto Shawn as Cole tickled him to death, the doorbell rang causing all of us to look up. Lilly screeched like a little girl, "Oh my gosh Tori's date is here!"

"Hon," Dad said putting his hand on Lilly's shoulder. "I know this is exciting and all but control yourself or Tori might hide underneath her bed."

"Right," Lilly put on an apologetic smile. "I'm going to go to the bathroom and compose myself."

Shawn gave me one look, wiggling his eyebrows, before bolting to the door. "No you don't!" Cole yelled diving in and tripping Shawn onto his stomach. Shawn tried clawing out of Cole's grasp. "This is Tori's date not yours!" Cole sat up keeping a tight grip on Shawn's ankles.

"Must not let grizzly bear in!" Shawn remarked trying desperately hard to kick Cole in the face. "Must see bear wearing a monkey suit! Because that's so flipping ironic!"

The doorbell rang again but there was no way Mark wasn't hearing all of this. Blake handed me my crutches before picking Shawn up by the arms and holding them behind his back. Cole finally let go of Shawn's ankles and stood up with his brothers. "We'll go out through the garage. I expect you at the limo in five minutes." Blake said giving me a small smile.

Sue handed me my crutches and kissed my cheek. "Have fun and tell me everything when you get back."

"I wanted to get the door." Dad whined.

"Make sure you take a lot of pictures and selfies!" Lilly called after me as I opened the front door and took a step out.

"I never thought I'd get out of this house." I muttered before looking up at Mark. When I did look up at him what caught my attention wasn't the tuxedo which fit him nicely considering it was rented. It wasn't even the nicely polished shoes or the perfectly combed hair. Not even the small white rose corsage he held in his hands. It was his smile. God, his smile. I think I stopped breathing the moment I made eye contact with him and saw how big he was smiling.

"You look..." He slowly scanned me from head to toe. Never taking the smile off his face. At one point he started shaking his head and ran his hand down his face. Finally he breathed out, "You look perfect."

I bit the inside of my lip holding back a smile that was probably as wide as his. Everything I was scared of seemed to be washed away like a river just decided to take it down its course for me to never see again. "You don't look to bad yourself." I finally managed to say but had to look at the ground because I felt like that little school girl again as I suppressed a giggle.

"I've never seen green look so good on someone." Mark took a step closer to me and I looked back up at him. This time focusing on his eyes. If he could see his eyes he would have probably taken that comment back. Mark brushed his fingers against mine before I quickly lifted one arm balancing myself against my crutch. He kept smiling as he put the corsage around my wrist and even when he was done he kept my hand in his.

He was about to kiss me. He had leaned forward to place a kiss against my lips but all of a sudden we heard the limo honk and I saw my brothers sitting with the window down wearing devilish smiles as they all waved at Mark and I. "Come on," I said to Mark as I tried not to laugh while the three wiggled their eyebrows.

Mark helped me down the steps and into the limo where Shawn was already playing with random buttons. "What's this do?" Shawn said clicking a blue button near the stereo. Suddenly hard rock music started playing before Shawn quickly shut it off. "You'd think the people before us would have been playing Madonna."

I stayed seated between Mark and Cole. Cole had his arm over my shoulders preventing me from leaning into Mark. Mark kept a straight faces entwining his fingers with mine, content holding my hand. "So who are we getting right now?" Mark asked as Shawn continued to play with the buttons. At one point he got a disco light to turn on as the stereo started playing music you tend to hear when someone wants to 'set the mood.' He quickly turned that off as well.

"Cali's place." Blake said continuing to look out the window. He looked nervous and frightened. His leg kept bouncing up and down and his hand had tightened around the corsage. I wanted to reassure him but I wasn't sure what to reassure him about. He just looked confused. Like he wasn't understanding a very long physics equation. I wanted to tell him it'd be ok. If only I knew what he was thinking though.

Cali's house wasn't far away from ours. Well it wasn't exactly a house since she was staying with her brother. It was more of a building complex. Almost like it was motel style considering there were apartment on the ground floor and then stairs that led up three or four stories. It didn't take long before the limo pulled up right in front of Cali's apartment building. Blake took a deep breath. I thought he was sweating. Before I could look closer he stepped out of the limo and walked up to the door which was luckily on ground floor. We all leaned towards the side of the car where Blake and Cali would be visible. Shawn rolled the window down and we all went quiet observing if we could potentially hear what they were going to say.

Blake knocked on the door and stood to the side stuffing his hands in his pockets. He turned to look at us and we all gave him a thumbs up which he returned with his middle finger. "He's so screwed." Cole said chuckling.

I turned my head looking at him. "You have triplet telepathy. What's he thinking?"

"You don't need telepathy to know he's about to crap his pants." Mark said holding back a laugh.

"I agree with furry over there." Shawn added. A young man opened the front door causing Blake to look up from his shoes. His shoulders sagged down and for a second he seemed disappointed. Then it was clouded by his tense stance as he stood up straight.

There's the Blake I know, I thought to myself as I grinned.

It took me a moment to recognize the man but I finally recalled that it was Cali's brother. He had Cali's hair and nose. Unlike Cali though he wore glasses and a Superman T-Shirt. I remember before he left for college I would see him whenever I'd go to Cali's house. Cali used to hate him. They were complete opposites. Whereas Cali was all about her social life the only social life her brother had was online. He and I would get along sometimes. He played video games as do I. Except I was more of a console girl and he absolutely loves his PC. I guess Cali and him have had time to bond considering he has been letting her stay at his complex.

Cali's brother waved at us when he saw we were all eagerly waiting. He quickly spoke a few words with Blake before we saw Cali appear. Her brother kissed her head softly before watching as Blake took Cali by the hand and walked her towards us. I think we all tried not to stare but it was quite hard. Cali had a visible bump now. It had been about two weeks since we went dress shopping and in the past two weeks her bump had only grown. Maybe under the dark lights at the dance no one will notice but right now we all did.

The chauffeur asked Cole where we would be heading next and Cole quickly gave the address telling me it was Jodee's place. Blake opened the door for Cali who quickly came in smiling widely. "Hey guys," She said scooting towards one of the seats at the end of the car. Blake followed pursuit and soon enough we were driving to Jodee's apartment. "How's everyone doing?" Cali asked us. She had a peppy smile and I had to admit it was great seeing it again. I thought I had lost the old super fun and crazy Cali.

"Amazing!" Shawn shouted finding a secret compartment under the seat. "I just found the jackpot of all chocolates."

"Please don't take any Shawn. They might cost extra." Cole muttered.

Shawn looked up his face stuffed with Hershey bars. "What?" He said with his mouth full. "Too late."

I looked back at Blake who was staring down at his hands. He held the corsage he meant to give to Cali between his hands and just stared at it. It seemed like he was deep in thought by the way he rocked with the limo and his eyes remained adamantly on the corsage. I lightly kicked his foot while Cali and Mark were talking about how much they hate a teacher. Blake shot his eyes up at mine when he realized I was trying to get his attention. 'What?' He mouthed to me.

I looked down at the corsage and back at him. 'Give it to her.' I mouthed back.

I noticed him mouth a curse word but quickly turned away as Blake coughed into his fist. "Hey Cali," He said catching her attention. "I sorta forgot to give this to you."

Cali smiled. Obviously she had noticed Blake had forgotten but for a split second you could believe she didn't even see the corsage in Blake's hand. Blake handed it to her and she quickly put it on. It was a light pink rose that went along with her dress. "Thanks Blake." She smiled up at him moving her hand to hold his and suddenly it became awkward and tense as we all waited for Blake to reply.

"Ummm..." Blake stuttered looking down at their hands. He passed from looking like a deer caught in the headlights to a deer being hit by a car in an average for three seconds.

"Tell her she looks pretty." Shawn coughed pitifully in her hand. Cali shot him a small smile before turning back to face Blake.

"Yeah," Blake said. "You look really nice."

We all raised eyebrows at Blake for being so dumb. He was stuck. Like a fly in a honey trap. Desperately trying to find a way to get out and he simply didn't know how. I wasn't used to seeing Blake be so nervous. He wasn't confident right now and whenever Cali wasn't looking all he'd do is stare at her stomach. "You're a terrible boyfriend." Shawn said to Blake. Cole and I slapped Shawn's arms as our mouths dropped.

"You don't say that Shawn." I hissed through clenched teeth.

Cali put her hand on Blake's arm. "He gets points for trying." She defended him.

Blake squeezed her hand. "Thanks."

"Oh! I see. Blake is like my participation trophies." Shawn giggled before sighing dramatically as we stopped at another stoplight. He quickly moved from one side of the limo to the other like a crazed dog looking for his master. "This is taking so long," He said taking an angry bite from his chocolate bar. "I just want to see Em."

"She's going to look gorgeous." Cali said smiling.

Shawn turned to look at her. He started beaming like someone had just said his favorite team had won the championships. "Really?" He asked both Cali and I causing us to nod. Shawn put the chocolate bar to his chest and signed heavenly as he sank against his seat. "She's my unicorn."

"You're going to get your tux dirty with chocolate." Cole said.

"Yes mother."

Mark leaned his head onto mine quietly whispering in my ear, "Isn't this just so much fun?" I knew he was kidding around and by the way he chuckled softly.

I held back a laugh before shrugging, "Kinda makes you wish we took the Jeep, huh?"

"As long as I'm with you I don't care." He smiled before looking up as we stopped in front of a different apartment complex.

Cole automatically started smiling. He quickly got out of the limo speed walking towards Jodee's door. We couldn't see what was happening. And it took about two minutes before Jodee and Cole walked back towards us hand in hand. Cole kept looking down at Jodee's dress as he chewed his lip. He held the door open as Jodee purposely bent over to slide into the limo. I looked at Cole through the window and saw him biting his fist. He muttered a curse word under his breath before getting back in.

"Now the party may commence." Jodee said flipping on the music causing us to laugh.

Shawn flipped it back off. "No party commences until my girlfriend is among us."

"Yeah Cole," Jodee hit Cole's chest. "No party commences until Em is here."

Cole pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is going to be a long night."

"Only if you make it one." Jodee retorted causally before realizing she was in an enclosed area with other people. We all smirked up at her and Cole, the guys giving Cole looks as Cali and I raised our eyebrows at Jodee. "I didn't say anything I don't know what you're looking at." Jodee crossed her arms over her chest looking away.

Cole smirked grabbing her hand causing Jodee to start drawing circles on his wrist, "Whatever you say Jojo."

We all started having separate conversations all at once. The chauffeur never bothered us not even when Shawn and Jodee started having a screaming match over which are the best cookies. "Cole tell him my cookies are heaven on earth!" Jodee said lightly hitting Cole's arm to get his attention.

"Nuh uh!" Shawn retorted crossing his arms over his chest. "My unicorn poop cookies are majestic. Tell her Cole."

Cole looked stuck between two interconnecting forces. He stared between them muttering an, "Umm..."

Shawn's eyes widened. "How dare you hesitate! I am your brother."

Jodee smirked like she had already won even though she hadn't. "But I'm his girlfriend. He'll do anything to make me happy." She took his hand running her finger on his wrist again. "Ain't that right Coley Woley?"

Shawn's eyes followed Jodee's finger as it kept making circles on Cole's wrist. I was wondering what was so special because I remembered Cole doing that the night before the soccer match when he was nervous about Jodee. Shawn jumped up hitting his head against the roof of the car. "Cole is that a tattoo?" Shawn yelled louder than he needed to.

Well, I thought to myself. That explains it.

Cole let go of Jodee's hand and brought the arm of his tux up slightly to show his wrist. "You haven't seen it?" He asked showing up the inside of his wrist where to the right there was a small heart. It was so small it could probably fit on a thumbnail. Jodee kept smiling at it holding up her wrist also to show she had the same tattoo in the small place.

"Cole lost a bet so I gave him that." Jodee said with a shrug. Their hands entwined again and Jodee relaxed against Cole. "Don't worry. I made it small enough and high enough that a suit can cover it up. He could put a band-aid or make-up over it if he has a big case he has to handle."

"Out of all the people in the limo to get a tattoo," Mark said looking between Cole and Blake. "I would have thought that Blake would get one."

"Do you think I could a tattoo for Herbert?" Shawn said putting his hand on his butt causing me remember he has a strawberry shaped birthmark. "I could make him have a face."

"No please don't do that." I said scrunching up my face like I smelled something bad. "Em would be creeped out."

At the thought of Em, Shawn quickly looked out the window and noticed we had pulled into her neighborhood. He suddenly got very excited and started hitting the chair and hopping from one side of the limo to the other. He pressed his hands and face against the windows and watched as every house rolled by. The way he acted was equivalent to the way a child acts when they see the big Disney sign the first time they go to the parks. "We're here, we're here, we're here." Shawn said as he saw Em's house. We were all suppose to get out of the limo here to take a picture as a group so as soon as Shawn bolted out of the door we all followed.

Shawn ran up the steps and rang the doorbell. He didn't bother to look behind him as we all filed out of the limo. Instead, he impatiently looked at his fake watch and bounced his leg. His shoulders sagged down in disappointment when he saw it was Em's aunt that answered the door. The loud noise of the garage door opening caused us all to look for a moment. "Don't worry Shawn Em's not sick." She said when she saw Shawn's face. "She's leaving through the garage for the pictures."

"Hey guys!" Em said seeing us first. She was smiling greatly and holding the front of the dress up as she walked towards us. Her hair was perfectly curled as the locks ran down her shoulders. There was a small amount of sparkle in her hair to go with her dress. Shawn rounded the corner and stopped abruptly in his tracks. The smile on his face faded as he stood there staring at Em. The hand that wasn't holding the corsage became a fist and his knuckles turned white. When I looked up at Em I could tell she looked worried. She looked down at her dress then gave Shawn a small smile. "You ok, Shawn?" She asked quietly.

"And I'm the bad boyfriend." Blake muttered so quietly only I seemed to hear. I would have elbowed him the gut if he had been in my range. But Blake had taken Shawn's reaction the wrong way. Some people would say he looked angry and confused but really he simply stared at Em like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Shawn made eye-contact with Em and suddenly his eyes pooled with water and a smile spread across his face. Em's eyes went wide not sure what was going on. None of us understood what was going on and unless you're ever in Shawn's mind you wouldn't be able to understand this child. Em took a step towards Shawn who was slowly sitting down. He brought his knees to his chest and hugged himself looking up at Em. "You're so beautiful." Shawn said tears rolling down his face. "I can't even stand."

Em smiled making her way towards Shawn. When she stood in front of him she seemed to contemplate whether to get down or not. Finally she sighed and said, "I'd kneel to be eye-level with you Shawn. But I'm afraid I won't be able to get back up."

Shawn laughed softly and stood up slowly. "May I?" He held up the corsage never breaking eye-contact with Em as he put it on her wrist. They just stared at each other. Probably forgetting we were standing close to them.

"Stop looking at me like that." Em said smiling as she looked at the ground. "You're going to make me cry."

"And you'd still be this beautiful." Shawn pulled her chin up with his finger. Em's breath caught as he snaked his arm around her waist and placed his forehead on hers.

Em smiled, "I thought you were going to wear a white tuxedo."

Shawn grinned, "I was going to wear a blue one but my brothers and Mark convinced me out of it."

"Shame," Em faked a pout. "To think I thought we were going to be weird together."

Shawn laughed softly, "I'll still be weird."

Em pushed forward kissing Shawn softly. "I expect nothing less from the man I love."

"Let's get married. Right now." Shawn said smiling. "We can go to the zoo and get a few penguins. And if they don't let us then we can borrow them. All together we can go to the courthouse and get the papers. Plus, I've already got a gorilla and a grizzly bear. Also a really annoying king and scholar but don't worry because they'll have to deal with being my groomsmen. Foo-Foo might be upset I didn't invite him because I promised he'd be my man of honor but it's ok. He'll forgive me eventually."

Em laughed, "You don't even have a ring for me."

"Then we can go get one." Shawn grinned. "Toys-R-Us has great rings."

Em was about to say something before she was interrupted by her aunt. "My niece isn't allowed to get married before college." She said raising an eyebrow at Shawn.

Shawn grinned, "It's ok Melissa. I'll just marry her in the fall."

Melissa rolled her eyes and looked over at our group. I noticed that Blake, Cole, and Mark had moved over together towards the side. They all had their arms crossed over their chests and glared at Shawn. "What?" Shawn asked them also noticing. Em turned around to face us but Shawn quickly hugged her back to his chest.

"You're making us look terrible." Cole said.

"First your Promposal." Mark added.

"Now this?" Blake shook his head. "We look like freaking jerks."

"Well when you have a queen as a girlfriend you have to treat her right." Shawn stuck his tongue out at the guys.

Jodee, Cali, and I started to laugh as Em blushed. We were all about to say something when Melissa pulled us all together to take pictures. I don't know how long we took pictures and how many different poses we did. But finally she let us go. Getting Em inside the limo was a challenge. Her dress was so poofy I had to pull her in as Jodee pushed. It was hilariously embarrassing for Em. But once we were all settled, Jodee turned up the music and we made our way to the city.

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

The lights sparkled. That's what I noticed the moment we walked into the big building. The lights were sparkling. I watched them as we walked down the hallways towards the music. I wasn't sure if the lights themselves blinked to look like the sparkled or if something was around the bulb allowing them to look like a fairy trail. Nevertheless they made me smile as we made our way to the party.

Everyone was right though. Prom was overrated but it brought a smile on my face when I noticed all my friends were here. Our group had all gone out to get dinner before arriving to the actual party. And even though we were a bit late it was better than getting here when there wasn't a soul. By the time we arrived everything as at full swing. People noticed us all walk in and some even waved. Jodee dragged Cole to the dance floor. Shawn and Em joined them after looking around. Cali saw the chocolate fountain and bolted after it with Blake following her. Mark gave me a small smile and pointed at a few seats that were empty.

We made our way to the small table that was decorated with a white cover and a candle in the middle. Our seats were perfectly situated far enough from the dance floor that we could hear each other talk but close enough so we could enjoy the music. "So," Mark said grinning at me. "I brought Uno, Phase 10, and Gold Fish."

I laughed and we quickly decided to play Phase 10. Every so often some of our friends would come up to us and we'd hold a small conversation before they'd go and do something else. Blake and Cali joined our game after a while. Apparently people had been staring at Cali and she was starting to feel self conscious. Mark and I decided to switch our game to Uno. It was strange because even though Mark and I weren't dancing or fooling around, I was still having fun. A lot of fun actually. We kept messing around with each other and when Cali and Blake joined in it turned into more fun as we started placing stupid bets and dares.

"I'm not doing that." Mark said crossing his arms over his chest as Blake dared him.

"Come on it'd be hilarious." Blake smirked. "Scared?"

"Actually yes," Mark glared at Blake. "Because if I get caught I won't be able to walk on stage to receive my diploma and I've been in school the last fourteen years of my life to get that stupid paper. I'm not spiking the chocolate fountain. How the heck does one even spike the chocolate fountain?"

"Just add alcohol to the bottom." Blake said.

"I don't have alcohol." Mark whisper yelled.

Cali looked up from her set of cards. "No," she said begging towards Blake. "Don't spike the chocolate fountain. I'm not allowed alcohol and that chocolate is so damn good."

Blake swallowed hard before laying back in his chair. I smirked towards Blake nearly laughing knowing he had messed up. He sent me a fake glare. "I was just kidding Tobi."

I snorted, "Sure you were Cake."

We were probably here an hour. I wasn't exactly sure how long maybe a little bit more but I was getting lost in the games and music. The DJ suddenly went on the speaker and we all turned to look at him. Shawn was at his side before he quickly made his way back to the dance floor. The DJ frowned at a napkin that Shawn had scribbled something on. "Um..." The DJ said before looking up at us. "I have a very special song request from a Mr. Parris." He sighed loudly before playing the Chicken Dance.

There were two different kinds of people that handled this situation. Half of the students glared at Shawn like he was stupid and crazy while the other half danced to it while laughing. Shawn got very very into the song. Never in my life had I seen anyone chicken dance so hard. People were taking videos and without a doubt I knew this was going to end up on YouTube. Some students decided to sit down and just wait this song out. I could see Shawn drag Cole beside him and they both started to chicken dance.

"Go join them!" I shouted at Blake who was merely watching his brothers. "Go and complete the trio Cake."

He smirked at me laying back on his chair. "I dance Tori but you wouldn't catch me dead chicken dancing."

"What are the odds you'd go and chicken dance?"Mark looked up at Blake and grinned. There was a small battle happening between the two. I never understood what their relationship was because one minute they are absolute friends and the next they hate each other and want to see the other fail. "You scared Blake?"

Blake glared at Mark. "No."

"Then what are the odds?"

Blake looked back really quick to see the people that were dancing. He then turned back to Mark, "Twenty."

On the count of three both of them said a number. Blake said a one and Mark guessed a three. To all of our disappointment, except for Blake's, he wasn't going to go chicken dance. "You should still go do it." Mark said. "There's not much left in the song anyways."

"Why don't you go do it?" Blake shot back.

"I will if Tori wants me to." Mark looked over at me giving me smile. "What'd you say? You ok with me going out there and making a fool of myself?"

I nodded kissing his cheek. "Go for it."

Mark grinned before standing up and walking towards the dance floor. Blake watched him and at one point Mark turned around and gave Blake a smirk before he blended in with all the other chicken dancers. Cole and Shawn invited Mark next to them as the three shook their butts. Blake stood up to so fast his chair nearly fell back. He muttered a bad word under his breath before he joined everyone else. Cali and I stood up and laughed as we saw the four of them shaking their butts, clapping their hands, and flapping their arms.

When the song ended the boys, including Cole and Shawn, made their way back towards our table as another song geared up. Blake took his seat pretending that the last minute didn't happen even though we were all laughing at him. "You should dance like that more often." I said laughing at my brother. "Nice going Cake."

"So why did you pick that song?" Jodee asked Shawn.

Shawn shrugged, "Em and I got into a fight whether the cupid shuffle or the chicken dance was better. I think I just proved my point."

Em shook her head. "But the cupid shuffle is still fun."

"But I got a nice view of Cole's butt during the chicken dance." Jodee said laughing.

Cole grinned pulling Jodee to his side. "Did y'all all see how my Jojo was moving there? Jesus, I gotta hit a club with this girl. Every guy was staring."

Shawn twirled Em around grinning. "I think everyone's been staring at our dates tonight Cole. We did a nice job."

"Yeah we did." They fist bumped before turning their attention back to their girlfriends. Blake chuckled staring at his brothers as they grabbed seats to join our table. We all talked between each other and everyone on the dance floor soon took a table with friends as the DJ turned the music down. Coach got up on stage giving everyone a grin. I had forgotten that he had told us he was going to be our 'host' for Prom King and Queen. I hadn't had a chance to look at the ballot because it was given out while I was in the coma. And I never got around to asking people who the candidates were considering they were going to be the two most popular people of the school and I didn't really care who won.

Coach grinned at all of us. He grabbed the microphone and just continued grinning. "Hi." He said after a minute. "I'm Coach Walker for those who don't know me." He had a small envelope in his hand and held it up so we could all see. "I have all of y'alls votes for who the cutest couple in the school is. Because let's be honest King and Queen is always the cutest couple."

Just about everyone turned to look at our table. I smiled at Shawn and Em who grinned and pretended not to notice the staring crowd. "Were you two on the ballot?" I asked.

Shawn nodded for the both of them. "Yeah but we voted for a different couple."

I glanced over at Blake and Cali raising an eyebrow, "Are you two on the ballot?"

"Blake is," Cali said whispering as Coach talked. "But not me."

I glanced at Blake who was smiling widely at me. He leaned forwards whispering to me quietly, "I told everyone to vote for you Tobi. You're kinda sorta going to win." My eyes went wide and I had this insane urge to kill him. I think he noticed how afraid and mad I was because he put his hand over mine and smiled at me. "It'll be ok Tobi."

I put my hands on my forehead leaning on my elbows as I covered my eyes from everyone's view. This was not ok with me. I felt panic start to reach down into my gut as I noticed everyone was here. I didn't care if I was receiving anything. I didn't care if people looked at me. I had gotten used to it after my brothers and I came clean about me living with them. But what I did care about were the crutches and how they made me feel inferior compared to everyone else. I started feeling self conscious again about what I would do. King and Queen are suppose to have a dance together but if I can't dance, then what? I started praying they wouldn't call my name.

"Cake?" I asked getting his attention. "Did you...did you really ask people to vote for me?"

Blake leaned forward and nodded. "Yeah. Because you're our sister. It wasn't that hard to convince people either. We just said you're a Parris like us and that you were in that accident. That it would mean a lot to us if you won. Cole and Shawn agreed to it and did the same thing."

"And no one told me?" I hissed. "I wouldn't have shown up if you had told me I was on the ballot and you basically rigged it."

Blake smirked, "That's why we told everyone to keep it a secret."

I glanced at Mark who had a small smile. "You knew too?"

He sighed but nodded nevertheless. "You can't be mad at me Tori. It took a lot for them to convince me not to tell you. Plus, I figured it'd be nice seeing you win Queen."

"I feel like I'm going to throw up." I said honestly while putting my hand on my stomach. A part of me was really hoping I didn't win. I was hoping that people hadn't done what the Trips said for once and just gone with their own decision. Then there was another part of me that wanted to win. That it would be kind of cool and a nice memory. But then I'd remember the feeling in the pit of my stomach and my first thought would appear again.

Mark leaned over whispering in my ear, "You look beautiful Tori. Don't worry about it ok. Just forget people are even out there. Take a deep breath baby." Mark took my hand and started rubbing circles in the inside of my palm. He seemed to calm my breathing as kept hushing me whenever I tried to say anything so he just continued to say soothing things in my ear.

After Coach gave another joke, clearly stalling to make us even more anxious, he finally told everyone to hush as he started opening up the envelope. My breath caught I swear I didn't breathe in those few seconds where everyone heard the seal break. Coach coughed into his hand looking at the paper in front of him. "Your King and Queen this year is," Coach grinned. "Blake Parris and Tori Linean!"

The applause was loud enough to cover up the loud BANG! my head made when it hit against the table. Blake laughed, obviously happy. "Tobi come on!" He said happily. "We won let's go!"

I looked up noticing everyone was grinning including Coach. Mark rubbed my back softly kissing my cheek as he handed me my crutches. I tried my best to look confident as Blake put his arm around my shoulder. The big spotlight was shining down at our table and everyone of my brothers and friends was cheering us on. The soccer team started chanting our names and I heard Sunshine, Trent, and Hayden whistling and calling my name. I smiled.

I smiled.

Oh my god this is awesome, I thought to myself. Looking at all my friends and how happy Blake seemed I realized I shouldn't be afraid at all. Then a different realization hit me, why was I afraid in the first place?

I wasn't ever going to see these people again. I mean maybe I would at our high school reunion which would be in twenty years but my true friends were always going to be my true friends. They were going to be the ones I talked to after high school. The ones I'd see and hang out with. Everyone else was just everyone else. I looked up at Blake finally understanding why he did everything. Why he loved the attention. Because it was fun. It was grand. People noticed you and they would always remember you even if you don't remember them. But that's what we want to do right? We want to make an impact on someone else's life or memories that allows them to always remember you.

Blake helped me up the stage where Coach gave me a hug. He placed the tiara on my head and the sash around me. Then he put the big red crown on Blake's head. "You I expected to win." Coach said to Blake. "Don't forget your good ol' Coach when you hit the big leagues alright kid?"

Blake shook his hand, "Never Coach."

Coach glanced over at me while I smiled and waved at Em, Jodee, and Cali who were all yelling and clapping as loud as they could. "So," Coach said into the microphone. "King and Queen dance?"

Everyone in the crowd seemed to scream loudly except for the juniors who of course didn't really care about the crowning because they didn't know us. I glanced at Blake, "I can't dance Cake."

He grinned even more, "But you can sing."

I snorted, "I'm not singing in front of them."

"Yeah you are." Blake grabbed the mic. He looked out into the crowd and I followed his eyes watching as Cole and Shawn stood up and walked towards us. "We're going to change it up a bit tonight," Blake said into the mic. Cole and Shawn climbed up onto the stage. I swear these three have absolutely no shame whatsoever. "Our sister can't dance sadly." Blake added and I quickly hit him with the end of my crutch causing a small amount of laughs. "But she and my brother Cole have been working on a song."

Shawn grabbed the microphone from Blake, "We're going to go High School Musical on y'all."

When I saw Cole pull out a guitar I realized this was planned. This was why Cole pushed me so hard into learning a song and playing guitar with him the last couple weeks. I thought he did it just because he knew I was bored but no. He did it because our brothers decided they were going to this. "How long have you three been planning this?" I asked.

Cole grinned at me putting the guitar strap across his body. "Ever since we found out you couldn't walk."

Shawn got me a small stool where I sat down. "I get to beat on the bongos." He said super excited as he held up the small pair of bongos. "This is awesome."

I love performing. But I've never sang in front of a such a big audience. I had performed in front of the soccer team but that was just improv. I wasn't actually trying and it was all out of fun and games. Then whenever I'd sing I was either alone or only with one or two friends. I glanced outward and met my eyes with Mark's. He gave me a thumbs up and reassuring smile. I took a deep breath as Blake handed me the microphone. "I've been practicing." He said to me. "You know what song right?"

I nodded at him glancing at Cole. The three of them also grabbed a few stools and put them together as a circle around me. Cole at the end to strum the guitar and Shawn at the other end to hit on the small set of bongos he had. I took a deep breath wishing they had given me a warning so I could have at least warmed up my voice. But now I didn't care. Now it was just me and my brothers. Everyone silenced as Cole began strumming the guitar to Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran.

"All I knew," I sang causing a big uproar through my friends only giving me more confidence as I sat up straighter while singing. "This morning when I woke. Is I know something now, know something now I didn't before."

I glanced at Blake as I was singing. He smiled back at me as I got lost in the song while he waited for our duet. When it finally started he reached his hand to hold mine as we both sang together, "I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now. I just wanna know you, know you, know you." When Cole hit the right note both Blake and I seemed to put our heart in the song while we sang. Maybe we weren't great but I didn't care. Because in twenty years I was going to look back at this and be happy. Remember that I was really happy. Shawn hit the bongos harder and laughed in the air while Cole looked at Blake and I a smile across his face.

I tapped my hand on my leg as Blake's verse came up. "And all my walls stood tall painted blue. And I'll take them down, take them down and open up the door for you." He sang directly towards me and I quickly put he microphone back to my lips and sang back to him. The four of us just seemed to forget that everyone in the audience was there. We were all looking at each other and I had never sang so emotionally in my life. Every note came from the back of my throat and even though my voice cracked at one point we all smiled at the small mistake and continued. Blake forgot the lines at one part so the four of us started to sing. Together. But even when it was only Blake and I singing Cole and Shawn would make up the chorus. And it was awesome.

At the end of the song we all sang the last verse together. With Shawn's terrible screeching, Cole struggling to remember the words, Blake's alright voice, and my high pitched singing in the back. "Everything..." We sang as Cole hit the last note while Shawn hit the last beat. "Has changed."

As all the students yelled and shouted in approval, my brothers and I jumped up in happiness like we just won a contest. We were hooting and shouting and the three hugged me at the same time as we were all laughing. "God I was terrible." Blake said laughing.

"Please I was a dying Thumping Perplexed Umphing Rhino." Shawn giggled.

"I don't know what that is but yeah you were terrible." Cole laughed. "I barely even sang I was too busy trying not to screw up my fingers."

"I almost fell off the stool at one point." I added to the conversation as we made our way off stage. Blake smiled helping me down the steps. As we made our way back to our seats everyone around us gave us claps and pats on the back or thumbs up. When I sat down Mark lent over and kissed me softly on the lips.

"That was awesome Tori." He said to me grinning. He then looked at my brothers. "Nice job guys."

"I didn't know y'all could sing." Cali said smiling up towards Blake.

"I can't." Blake said chuckling. He took his crown off and set it on Cali's head. She turned red and smiled softly.

Jodee put her arms around Cole's torso and smiled. "Did I ever tell you I have a thing for guys that play guitar?"

He grinned down at her. "Did I ever tell you I have a thing for girls that wear translucent black dresses?"

I'm pretty sure they started making out but everyone turned away so we wouldn't have to witness such a thing. "Look at my bongos." Shawn giggled. He started tapping on them furiously. Adding a made up song along with the beat. "Bongos are awesome. Yeah! Bongos are cool. Yeah! Bongos bongos bongos."

He stopped playing them when a slow song came on from the DJ. He smiled at Em and asked her for a dance which she happily returned. Everyone went out onto the dance floor except for Mark and I as we watched them all dance. Mark pulled my chair to the side as he moved his so we were facing each other. "You look great in a tiara." He said smiling. My hand reached up to my head where I had forgotten I was wearing the crown. I went to take it off but Mark stopped me. "I like it. You really do look like a queen."

I smiled at him and was about to say something when the soccer team came up to my table. "We don't need to break you two apart right?" Sunshine said grinning. His girlfriend was under his arm and she looked up at him with admiration. From what he's told the team they'd been dating since sophomore year and are already planning a life together. He'd shown us pictures of Rue but I had underestimated how pretty she was. Long black hair with a few red highlights and an eyebrow ring. "We have the Trips permission to do so, you know."

I rolled my eyes, "Leave us alone Sunshine."

"Get a room then." Trent laughed. I realized that the team was planning to leave right now. "We're headed to a different party," Trent said to me. "You're welcomed to come. With your date too if you would like." He said glancing at Mark.

"We asked the Trips," Hayden said. He didn't have a date tonight and for a moment I felt bad for him. But he continued to smile making me wonder if it was real or fake. "But they said they didn't want to go."

I shook my head. "I think I'm going to stay too."

"Alright then." Sunshine grinned at me giving me a small wave as he and his girlfriend walked away. "Have fun you two."

As the soccer team walked away they all gave me smile or wave. I'd see them on graduation day and after that who knows. They were great friends but not permanent friends. I glanced back at Mark who was grinning widely. "What?" I asked. He pointed at the ceiling making me listen carefully to the song.

You and Me by Lighthouse.

"It's our song." Mark said. He stood up putting his hand out for me to take. "May I have the honors of this dance?"

I smiled up at him sadly. "I can't dance."

"I'll hold you up." He said grabbing my waist so I was standing in front of him. "Or you can step on my foot."

"Mark..." I was probably never going to work but nevertheless he held my hand as I slowly hopped to the edge of the dance floor. A part of me was happy Mark wanted to dance while the other was afraid I'd fall on my face.

"One dance." Mark put his forehead against mine. "Put your foot on mine I don't care."

"This isn't going to work." I muttered quietly.

"Just do it." He commanded me. I sighed deeply and jumped onto his foot making sure the heel wasn't on his toe. His arms wrapped around my waist tightly securing me to his body. When he lifted his foot off the ground he moved it just a little to the left. Swaying us back and forth like we were dancing. We both started laughing at how weird we probably looked but I didn't care at this point. This night had been perfect for me. And now it was like the final cherry on top.

Mark tried twirling me around but to do so I had to hop back on the ground. I nearly fell on him when I did the three-sixty. We both started laughing and went back to the slow swaying. Mark kissed me softly putting his forehead against mine. "Bet you're happy you came to Prom, huh?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

"Did you have fun?" Mark asked.

I nodded again, "A lot more fun than I thought I would."

"I think letting you win on Phase 10 really helped out your ego."

I rolled my eyes. "You did not let me win."

"You keep telling yourself that." Mark winked at me before I placed my head on his shoulder closing my eyes to enjoy the slow dancing. He swayed us softly and I for one thought I was going to fall asleep but I didn't. We stayed like this the rest of the night. Slowly more and more people left until finally there were only a few. Including Mark and I with everyone that came in our limo. Finally, Blake made his way towards us.

"The DJ said he's only going to play one more song." He said to Mark and I before looking down at me. "Cole, Shawn, and I were wondering if you could dance with us the last song."

I looked up at Mark and he smiled softly at me. "Go for it." He held me out to Blake and made his way to the table where all the girls were at.

Blake smiled as Cole and Shawn joined us. They formed a circle around me and traded me off. Spinning me around, catching me so I wouldn't fall, and sway me before passing me over to the next brother. "Didn't you win Prom King last year?" I asked Blake when it was my turn with him.

He smirked, "Yeah but I was a junior then."

"How does that even work?"

"Beats me." He laughed softly looking at the floor as we danced for a few seconds.

Behind his head my fingers were interlocked together so I wouldn't fall over. I took his father's ring off my finger. The one he had given me to hold a truce between us the night of Thanksgiving. The night we truly became friends. "I want you to have it back." I said to him holding it in front of his face.

He looked between the ring and I and shook his head. "It's yours. From what I did remember?"

"Yeah," I nodded before smiling softly up at him. I knew it meant a lot to Blake and although I had grown fond of the ring it wasn't meant to be mine. It was meant to be his and I would much rather see him wearing it. "But I feel like you've redeemed yourself enough. It means a lot to you Blake. I want you to have it back."

He smiled at me before taking the ring. He looked at loss of words and only smiled. "Thanks Tobi."

"You're welcome." I kissed his cheek before grinning. "Now pass me over to Shawn."

"Do you think I could kill a ninja with my bongos?" Shawn asked me the moment I ended up in his arms. "I think that'd be so cool."

"Maybe beat them on the bongos to death." I said laughing softly.

"I was thinking more of the lines of smashing it over their heads." Shawn chuckled. "Or maybe get a baguette and hit them over their shoulders until they collapse."

"Don't ever change." I said to him grinning.

He smiled back, "I won't."

Shawn and I danced until he handed me over to Cole who was patiently waiting. He smiled at me and kissed the top of my head. "Did you like my guitar playing sissy?" He asked.

I nodded, "Sounds like you practiced a lot."

"I did." He smiled. "You sounded amazing by the way."

"Thanks." I said blushing slightly. "It was a lot of fun too."

"Who knows? Maybe one day you'll go professional."

I laughed at that. "I sincerely doubt it."

"You're a Parris now Tori." Cole said grinning. "We always wish to be extraordinary. And extraordinary is what we are."

I looked up at Cole but he wasn't looking at me anymore. He was staring at the floor below us. A small smile playing at his lips. When he turned us around I glanced at Blake and Shawn who were watching with small smiles as well. Cole was right. This was extraordinary. They are extraordinary. Not because of what they do but of who they are. How much they made me smile and feel loved. And how much I managed to love them back. It doesn't matter what the Parris brothers do because they always do it together. And now I was part of this group. This extraordinary group. And I love it. I love them.

Dancing with them under the lights, listening to the DJ as he stopped playing songs because his time was up, and even was people walked away they still danced with me. And that was ok. Because we were all together and that's all that mattered. We were together and even though in a year we'd be separated we will always find our way back to each. I consider them my best friends. I could go and talk to them just about anything and they'd help me figure it out. We were a family now.

I've loved Blake, Cole, and Shawn for a long time and realized that I'll always love them. Forever. Because their my brothers. And they love me even more because they spent more time with me and I did when them. They worried about me when something bad happened and they were there protecting me and edging me to move forward. They might call me a Parris but to me their a Linean and they always will be. That's a promise I can keep. Because it's a promise I'll never be able to break.

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The story is almost done you guys :( so sad. I will work hard to publish it though. Like legit publish.

Anyways, hope y'all liked it :) Please comment. It really does make me smile hearing y'alls comments. I don't have much to say except...well I hope you liked the chapter.

I'll try to post the next one as soon as possible but I am really busy. At least I hope this quenches your thirst for a bit. I did double update the two parts in one day ;) I think that's a super accomplishment considering this chapter is about 46,000 words long. And by Chapter I mean Sparkling Lights. Each Part is about 20,000 words.

But yeah please make me smile and comment thoughts, ideas, I don't know whatever. Thanks for being so patient with me. I love you all so much :)

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