Prom and summer.

“Yeah, enough of all this doom and gloom!” Mila said, smacking the table. “What’s the point of anything if we’re not enjoying ourselves? I mean, sure, talking about this future stuff is important, but we need to have fun things to look forward to as well, right?”

“Uh. Mila is actually saying something wise. Time really does fly by, huh?” Grace said teasingly, but nodded in agreement with her friend. “But yeah, she’s right. We have two big things to look forward to in the near future. Prom and summer vacation.”

“We ARE going to prom, right, guys?” Mila asked us, her tone leaving only the smallest space to argue.

Noelle chuckled with a wry smile. “Do we have to? I’m not good with big parties.”

“Same here,” Alice said. “I don’t know how to dance. I’ll just make a fool of myself.”

“We’ll just have to learn,” I told her with a resigned smile of my own. “I’m not big on parties, either, and I always thought I’d just ignore prom, but…” I moved my gaze to Mila, then Grace, then Sarah. “They like parties and prom is basically our last big high school party, right?”

“Relax, it’s not like that exaggerated stuff you see in the movies,” Sarah said.

Noelle tilted her head, confused. “You’ve… been to prom before?”

“No, but Grace helped organize the one from last year.”

“Oh? Did you?” I asked her.

“One of my friends was on the committee and asked me for help. Ended up doing more than I was asked, but it was kind of fun. Things went smoothly that year and I like to believe it was thanks to me,” Grace said proudly.

“Prom will be here in our own gym,” Alice said. “Some students ask for it to be at a fancier venue but the teachers argue that we have more than enough space, so we better use it. They’re hiring a DJ, there will be dancing, some food, tables for groups, soft drinks and I think even a few contests. The classic voting from prom queen and king, too.”

I winced at that last part, then looked around the room to all the girls. “W-Who do I vote for?”

“Not me, please,” Noelle said. “I’m very close to fulfilling my goal of going through high school without drawing much attention.”

“Aww, come on, Noelle! You’d make for a great prom queen!” Mila encouraged. “Besides, nobody REALLY cares much about that stuff. I think I remember something about the year before last. There was this really fat guy who thought everyone in school hated him, so two senior classes agreed to get him elected prom king along with the girl he liked. The guy had a good time, though I don’t know if anything happened between him and the girl.”

“Oh, I heard that, too!” Alice said, smiling. “They ended up meeting in university, apparently. They’re dating now.”

Sarah clapped her hands once. “And everyone lived happily ever after!”

“How do you even know that?” Mila asked, laughing.

“The girl’s younger sister is our treasurer. I’m telling you. People come to me with gossip I don’t ask for and I don’t know why.”

“I’m going to make a bet,” I said. “My sister is going to be prom queen.”

The girls went quiet, looked at each other, then collectively went, “Yeah, sounds about right.”

I mean, Isabelle and I don’t hang out much at school. Or outside school. Even if we had fixed things between us, we still made our lives separately. What do you think she does everyday? Well, she has like a million other friends.

“Anyway, that stuff aside, we can just go to prom as a group, right?” Sarah said. “Let’s go, dress up, have fun, mess around for the last time in high school, then leave and have our own celebration at a nice hotel.”

“Yeah! I already have a dress ready for prom!” Mila said, beaming.

Wha…?

Oh.

Oh no.

Ooooh nooo!

“Hold up! Mila, you… You’re not actually wearing that, right?” I asked her.

Mila burst out laughing, even holding her stomach. “Holy crap! You remember!?”

“What? What did we miss?” Grace asked, for once totally out of the loop.

“Our first date,” I told her. “Mila took me shopping and she tried on this seriously risque dress with a very low cut. She said she’d wear it to prom but I obviously thought she was joking.”

“Mila, you slut,” Sarah said, laughing.

“So… I can’t wear it? I thought you liked it!” Mila said, smirking teasingly.

“Can I veto that dress? She’s gonna upstage us all,” Grace said. “Unless…” She looked down at her own chest and heaved her tits.

“You know what? Wear whatever you like,” I told them, raising my hands in defeat. “Guys are gonna stare at you no matter what you wear. Just remember this is still technically a school thing.”

“What he said,” Alice said, smirking. “I’ll go for something modest and wear my see-through underwear for later that night.”

“Okay, fine…” Mila sighed. “So that’s prom. Anyone have any ideas for summer? You know, beyond crashing Sarah’s pool.”

Sarah and Alice shared a knowing look. “We kind of do,” the president said.

“There’s a resort where my mom used to work. In the middle of the mountains, fresh air, indoor and outdoor pools, game rooms, spa, gourmet meals…” Sarah said as she listed everything with her fingers. “But just before that there’s a one-day hike. A fucking gorgeous path through forests and green hills, passing by rivers and ponds and watching the white waterfalls… You guys NEED to see it.”

Noelle smiled at first, then began to fidget with a conflicted expression. “Um… That sounds incredible but also expensive. Shouldn’t we… You know, save our money?”

Alice sighed. “That’s what I thought too, but…”

“My parents want us to go,” Sarah said, “Mom insists she’ll get us a group discount and my dad says he’ll pay for the whole thing. A graduation gift, he says.”

“Okay, even I think that’s a bit too much,” Grace said, grimacing. “I think I could convince my dad to pay for part of it too, if not for the argument I’m sure we’re going to have. Can’t exactly ask for favors now.”

“Not to mention…” I stared. “Well, I don’t want to leave Diana out of those plans.”

“Of course!” Noelle said. “That goes without saying.”

Sarah sighed. “Well, give it some thought. If not that, then we can rent a cheaper cabin and go to the beach. It’s far, but it’d be cheaper than the resort.”

“I still have my savings from work,” I said. “I’m sure we can do something fun. I’m just not sure that luxury resort is… right for us right now.”

But then again, if working with Luke went well, then… maybe we could afford it. I needed to know a more specific number for how much the house was gonna cost, first.

But yeah, Mila had hit the nail in the head before. We needed things to look forward to, and boy was I looking forward to summer.

Patreon.