mitochondriaaya | Well then...

The unfortunate thing about senior year was...Aya was fourteen. Fourteen. Through most of it anyway. She'd be fifteen a week before graduation. Prom was...three weeks before graduation. It was suppose to be a big deal, and she kind of wistfully thought about going but...

Well.

She was fourteen.

She'd kind of resigned herself to a night of video games, especially when the day loomed closer and closer, when Tadyin had caught her at the lockers. He was in her math class, and yes, she'd beaten up his kid brother in grade school but the boy had deserved it and...

...well...

Tadyin was a good guy. He was still in the awkward adolescent phase where his knees and elbows almost seemed bigger than the rest of him, but his smile was real, and real nervous as he fiddled with his back pack. "Aya?...Um, Aya..."

She shut her locker with a soft click and waited, knowing he'd spit it out eventually. He probably wanted her to watch his kid sister or something. Or help with homework. His question, of course, couldn't have floored her more.

"You see, I know you belong to to Braig and Dilan, but they're not students here anymore and all seniors should go to the prom you know? And I was thinking, well, other guys are going to be jerks, but you should go? You want to go right? I'd be happy to take you and you know you might like it, and I can have you home by ten, which I know is early for a prom but you won't want to see these people be idiots that late and you want to go right?"

She felt kind of bad, just blinking at him for a moment. It must have been embarrassing enough, just asking the kid to go, but to be left hanging as she thought it over? That was harsh. She could tell he was getting ready to bolt by the time she reached out to tug on his coat sleeve "I'd like to go. Thank you, for asking. Thank you so much."

He really was cute when he smiled. "I can be over to pick you up at six? It's at the hotel, next town over, but it won't take long to get there, promise."

She just smiled, and nodded, and watched him leave...she was thinking, hell, she didn't really know what she was thinking. When she got home, she practically flew in the front door of Braig's house, grin on her face. "I'M GOING TO PROM!!"

...

...

...

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DANCE!!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

sliceitwithwind

"Okay, okay." Dilan laughs, "We'll teach you."

From:

mitochondriaaya

Aya paused at Dilan's answer, then grinned and barreled over the back of the couch to hug the boys "Hey, when did you guys get back?! Yes, you'll teach me. Real dancing, not what the guys at school call dancing..."

From:

sliceitwithwind

"Last night." Dilan chirps, "And we're going to stay until you graduate. We got dispensation." to help Braig's mom plan party, and all.

From:

mitochondriaaya

"And I didn't get to find out until I got home from school today?! What were you doing, sleeping or something?" shame on them! Lots of shame! "Staying is good though. It means we can go dress shopping!" they had...three days.

From:

sliceitwithwind

"You and Braig can go dress shopping. I am going to not go dress shopping. My taste is worse than yours." Dilan points out, reaching out casually and dragging her over the couch into his lap, "We got in at, like, one in the morning. And then, yes. We slept."

From:

mitochondriaaya

Aya settled in comfortably, kicking her feet over Braig's lap as a matter of course. "I'm afraid to leave you at loose ends while Braig tortures me." she confided. "You might do something drastic, then I'd miss prom." she was teasing. Mostly.

...yeah, maybe she wouldn't give them the name of her date.

"If I was really mean I'd ask you for a duck tape dress."

From:

sliceitwithwind

"I could make a duct-tape dress..." Dilan says, thoughtfully, "Want me to? You'd look good in teal duct-tape."

From:

mitochondriaaya

Aya looked at up at Dilan's face with a hint of surprised panic. She'd meant it as a joke! "It'd be abuse to ask you guys to make a prom dress in three days I'm sure." she pointed out.

Then again...all of them could go on the trip to the hardware store...

From:

sliceitwithwind

"Nah. The girls will help." he says cheerfully, "Lemme just call one of 'em and see if she's got a good dress pattern..."

From:

mitochondriaaya

This would be the point she ended up covering her face and trying very hard to wish back the last few minutes of conversation. Yep.

And she didn't need Braig's smirking either. That didn't help.

"Okay, good news. I'm going to prom. Everything else is...just details right?" she tried to convince herself while kicking Braig. She wasn't in a position to kick Dilan.

From:

sliceitwithwind

Dilan grins and leans back again, "Yeahhhhhh. So. Who're you going with?" Braig asks while kicking her back.

From:

mitochondriaaya

Aya yeeped and tried to catch one of Braig's feet. It reduced the kick factor! "A boy, from high school, he's already scared of you and already assured me he's not an idiot."

From:

sliceitwithwind

"Yeah, well." Braig isn't sure that he's scared enough.

"What're your measurements, monkey?"

From:

mitochondriaaya

"Yeah, well?" Aya prompted, giving a warning pinch to the foot she'd managed to catch.

"Ummm, dunno? I can tell you clothing sizes? Or I can dig around and see if I remembered to actually write them down..."

From:

sliceitwithwind

"Possibly not enough." Braig explains, "We've only got one monkey."

"...They're gonna come over and measure."

From:

mitochondriaaya

"People survive prom every year, Braig. I'm not going to be any different." Aya pointed out, not releasing his foot, but not threatening to pinch again.

"...okay? I'm sure we have snacks to go around. It'll be fun!"

From:

sliceitwithwind

"'Course not. You've got us."

"You, point-ear, I'm trying not to piss off the monkey."

From:

mitochondriaaya

"If you promise to behave, and not send him running, I'll tell you his name after our first dance lesson. Deal?" she took promises very seriously. She also knew they'd get the info one way or the other and she preferred her terms.

From:

sliceitwithwind

"Hmmm." Braig frowns a little, "Alright. But if he does anything, all bets are off."

From:

mitochondriaaya

"If he does anything, I'll break his bones like a good little girl. I promise." she sighed and gave his foot a tickle for good measure before releasing him. Of course, it really didn't occur to her that their definition of 'anything' and hers were very different.

"I guess we have to go to a hardware store now huh? See what colors we have to work with before we get all excited about dress ideas?"

From:

sliceitwithwind

Braig, the bastard, is not ticklish.

"Nah." Dilan says, "They've got the perfect colour, see?" he wanders into the kitchen and comes back out with aqua duct-tape.

From:

mitochondriaaya

Yes, but she couldn't justify pinching again without due cause?

Aya blinked over the back of the couch "Why do we own aqua duct tape?" was her main concern. Sure, it was a pretty color but...it was duck tape. She'd never seen it before? "And what colors go with it?"

From:

sliceitwithwind

"Because Braig's dad uses it to mark places that are obviously leaking for the plumber to come look at." Dilan says with a grin, "Since he's not allowed to repair things without supervision, and we don't live here anymore."

"Black, white, silver." Braig starts listing, "That shimmery shawl Trisana got you for Christmas..."

From:

mitochondriaaya

"And I haven't seen it since I'm afraid the junk drawer will eat me." she summed up. Mystery solved! "So maybe...that over black? And it's okay to have a non-duck tape shawl with a duck tape dress?"