Intermission - Oliver’s promposal.

It smelled fishy from the get-go, but Mila didn't want to think too hard about it.

That Oliver went to eat lunch with the guys wasn't strange. Mila liked that he had his group of guy friends. From what she could see, it brought out a different side of him. Not better or worse than when he was with her and the others. It couldn't be measured like that. It was a whole other thing.

It also wasn't strange that Lena, Amanda and Mark asked them to go eat with them at the cafeteria. It had happened many times before.

What WAS a little strange was that they insisted Noelle and Alice came along, too. Not that there were any sort of issues between the student council girls and Mila's other friends, but they weren't really in the same circles.

Things got more confusing when they got to the cafeteria and Mark began to look for a table. There were a few good ones available, but he said those were no good. He found one closer to the wall and led their group there.

“And what's so special about this table, Mark?” Grace asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I, uh… wanted a table away from everyone else,” Mark said awkwardly. And yeah, he didn't really succeed. There were still other occupied tables around them.

“If you wanted privacy, we could've used our club room, you know?” Sarah said.

“Don't you guys research ghosts and stuff there?” Amanda asked. “Actually, did that ouija board stuff ever work?”

“It did,” Alice answered.

“Gah!” Amanda and Lena gasped in horror at the same time.

“Okay, forget we asked!” Lena insisted.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Mila asked Mark.

“Um… Do you… I mean, I…” Mark struggled, but it looked like he was trying to look past Mila and behind her. Mila was about to turn around to see what was happening, but then Mark finally finished his sentence.

“D-Do you think it would be lame if I went to prom alone?”

“Oh.”

The question sobered them all up. Was this eating up Mark lately?

Amanda looked a little surprised at the question and kept quiet as she looked away.

“U-Um… I don't think it would be lame,” Noelle said, shockingly being the first to answer. “I think what matters is if going is something you want to do, right? And if you feel comfortable going without a d-date.”

“What she said,” Sarah agreed. “But are you thinking of going alone because you don't want to ask anyone, don't dare to ask anyone or you don't have anyone to ask?”

“A bit of one and three, actually,” Mark said sheepishly. “It'd be nice to go with someone, yeah, but maybe that's not right for me right now. Sorry to bring this up all of sudden, it's just…”

“No, it's fine,” Grace said, smiling. “You used to act all tough before but now you're actually letting out your more sensible side. I think that's really brave, Mark.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Lena said with a very kind smile. “You used to get angry at even the smallest things, but now you’re a lot calmer.”

“Th-Thanks,” Mark said, now looking embarrassed.

“You haven't considered going with a friend?” Alice asked. “You know, non-romantically?”

Mark smirked and laughed. “Weirdly enough, even though I have plenty of girl friends,” he gestured to Mila, Grace, Sarah, Lena and Amanda, “all of them have dates already.”

“Oh. I'm sorry.”

“No, no! It's fine! I admit, I used to be really jealous of everyone around me getting into relationships, but now… I don't know. I’ve been doing my own thing and it feels good. Like, I know it’ll sound dumb, but I started keeping my room tidier and that alone makes me feel like I’ve grown up.”

“That’s not dumb at all,” Amanda told him, though she was looking down at the table instead of at him. “...” And that was all she said.

“A-Anyway,” Mark said, shrugging and raising his voice. “Really, sorry for bringing that up. I needed to buy some time but I ended up asking something too serious. Thanks, though. I feel a bit more confident now.”

“Wait, buy time?” Grace asked him.

“Buy time for what?” Mila asked him.

Then the girls looked behind themselves. There they saw Oliver accompanied by Thomas, Kevin and Ben, all of them casually entering the cafeteria while carrying music equipment. Oliver the electric guitar they had given him for Christmas, Thomas and Ben were carrying an amp each and Kevin was carrying a microphone and its stand.

“W-What the hell?” Sarah muttered.

The guys found the outlet closest to the table Mila and the group were eating at and began to set everything up. Thomas plugged the amps, Kevin set up the mic, Ben plugged the guitar and the mic to the amps and Oliver stood in front with his guitar strapped in front of him. Ben turned on both amps and Oliver started with a little test.

He did some quick strumming, tapped his finger over the mic and spoke into it, “Hello? Testing. One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five.”

By then everyone in the cafeteria had noticed. Everyone had their heads turned to him, some with confused expressions, some with mild amusement, some with actual excitement. Everyone, however, including the girls, were wondering what the hell this introverted, socially anxious boy was doing in the cafeteria in front of everyone.

Oliver began to play a melody. Gentle, soothing, uplifting. Arpeggio, Mila remembered it was called. When you put your fingers on the strings to make a chord but play the notes separately, one after the other instead of all at the same time. He played for a bit without saying anything more into the mic. Mila noticed it was silencing everyone, making them pay attention.

“It’s one of his originals, isn’t it?” Alice muttered, smiling and shivering.

“Y-Yeah,” Noelle said, giggling. “It’s making me all tingly.”

Mila felt it too. It was hard to explain. Her heart was racing, her face felt hot, her eyes were glued to Oliver. Then, once the entire cafeteria had gone quiet and all that was heard was his music, Oliver spoke.

“Good afternoon, Hyogen High,” he said, his voice firm and gentle. A cheerful smile on his face. He didn’t stop playing while he spoke. “I’m sorry for interrupting your lunch.” He paused after every sentence, leaving space for the melody he was playing. “But let me borrow just a bit of your time.” Another short pause. “For you see, I have a very important thing to ask. A question directed to the, OBJECTIVELY, five most beautiful, wonderful girls in this school.”

Mila’s face was now burning. She was shivering from glee and giddiness, and her cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling. Her fellows, she was sure, while not all reacting the same way, felt very similarly to her.

“Milana Aliev, Grace Valentine, Sarah West, Noelle Summers, Alice Knight,” he said just as his song picked up the pace. “I know it’s unconventional, but this lovestruck fool with a guitar has a question for all five of you that needs an answer. And such an important question, of course, demands a suitably flashy show. It’s why I’m here right now, to ask you this while the rest of the school is here to listen. And the question is…” He stopped playing and there was a very sudden, unexpected silence. “Prom?”

Mila and the others had to resist the urge to laugh. This was insane! The craziest thing Oliver had ever done! Well, no, not really, but Mila was SURE he wasn’t going to pull any kind of public promposal, let alone one in front of over half the student body! GOD, their boyfriend was the fucking best!

The girls looked at each other, synchronized, and in unison answered with a very loud and very clear “YES!”

With that answer, Oliver grabbed the mic again. “Okay, you heard them, people! These girls are coming with me. If you don’t like it, grab the coolest stick you can find and meet me at the back of the school. I’ll fight you all. Thank you and see you all at prom!”

There was loud laughter, cheering, whistling and even chants for an encore, but Oliver and the guys casually packed up and walked away like nothing happened, causing even more laughter.

“You know, if you wanted to **** him, saying no would’ve killed him on the spot,” Mark said.

“You!” Mila said, pointing her finger at him while her cheeks kept hurting from grinning so much. “You were in on it, too.”

“Obviously. My job was bringing you here and finding a table that was close to an outlet. He’s buying us pizza after school.”

He was also gonna get his dick sucked SO FUCKING HARD later. Holy shit, she loved that man to bits.