October 12th

Skye arrived at school on Monday more confused than she probably had ever been in her entire lifetime. Everyone she walked past in the halls were all dressed up, some feeling familiar to her, but she couldn't get a grasp on it. She clearly missed some sort of memo, so she just had to find out well the hell was going on.

After homeroom, Skye walked into chemistry to see Levi also dressed up, and he looked at her in disappointment as she was not, hence all the confusion. She didn't get a ride to school from him this morning as Levi claimed he would be "running late", so she missed out on seeing this early in the morning and had no choice but to make her dad late to work by dropping her off.

"Why aren't you dressed up?" He asked her. "It's meme day."

"Meme day? You're telling me I missed out on dressing like a meme?" Skye questioned, growing a little pissed that she missed out on such an amazing opportunity. Her "Ms. Keisha" impression was far too spot on according to herself.

"Um, yeah! It's spirit week, duh." Levi replied. Ah, yes, spirit week. The classic high school tradition that occurred the week of homecoming and gave the people who cared an extra reason to have even more school spirit than they already have. Skye wasn't one for school spirit, but she would've taken this opportunity in seconds, but sadly she missed out on it.

"That's this week?" She asked with a frown on her face.

"Yeah, homecoming is on Friday." He said, which reminded Skye that she had to get a dress if she was going to go. She had always gone to school dances with Nikki, but this year's homecoming would be a million times more fun now that she had a group of friends to hang out with the whole night.

"Oh my god, I'm so unprepared." She groaned, covering her face with her hands for a moment. "What are you even supposed to be dressed up as anyway?"

"Dude, I'm the Salt Bae guy! You know..." Levi exclaimed, then proceeded to do the classic pose from the meme, which put Skye into a fit of laughter.

"You look ridiculous." She giggled. Ridiculously cute, that is, but Skye could never actually admit that.

"I think I look pretty good." He chuckled. "Besides, I might as well be dressed like a legend when they announce the nominees for homecoming court."

Yes, Levi had signed up for homecoming court. It was one of the things he was looking forward to for all of high school, and now that the moment had arrived, he immediately jumped to apply for the possibility of being a nominee. Skye had no interest in being involved, but she would support Levi's campaign for homecoming king no matter what.

"Oh, did you apply or something?" She questioned despite the answer obviously being yes.

"Hell yeah, I did!" Levi replied enthusiastically. "So did Hunter. They should announce the chosen nominees at the end of the day."

"Well, good luck," Skye said. She would have to wish Hunter good luck too when she saw him in Spanish, but she would be rooting for Levi more if she were being honest.

"Thanks." He blushed for the millionth time whenever he's around her. "Would've been cool if you ran too."

"Oh, no-"

"Ahem." Their teacher interrupted like always. "I think that's enough homecoming chatter for now, everyone."

Killing the mood, everybody settled down in their seats, and Skye let out a groan as she could never get through a conversation in that class, which annoyed Levi as well. "Every damn time."

•••

Having a bit of free time in English class, Skye and Levi managed to actually get through a conversation with the remaining time left until the bell. They had a habit of finishing their work early together, so their teacher always let them do whatever once they were done because she liked them so much. She even changed the seating chart to have them sit next to each other because either way, Levi would make his way to her seat anyway. It was pretty cute, to be honest.

With the topic of spirit week and homecoming still on everyone's mind, Levi took the opportunity to bring it up with an important question along with it while he had the time to do so. "So, I know you were down in the dumps about missing meme day-"

Skye quickly interrupted him and averted her eyes, letting out a sigh as she was reminded of what she missed out on yet again. "Don't remind me. I totally missed out on dressing up as the Ms. Keisha girl."

"Oh my god, I would've killed to see that." Levi snickered.

"Cause it would've been legendary!" Skye exclaimed. Now she was a little riled up talking about it, but they had plenty of time to talk all about the upcoming events for this week, which would be a chaotic one.

"Definitely." He replied, but got back on track with what he was originally going to say. "But, tomorrow is twinning Tuesday, so-"

"I'm sorry, twinning Tuesday?" She interrupted and raised an eyebrow. "What are we, kindergartners?"

While yes, it seemed very childish (because it is), Levi was very defensive about the whole thing. "It takes us back to a simpler time, Skye. Damn."

"Fine," Skye groaned. "you were saying?"

"I was going to propose with we twin with my jerseys tomorrow so you can live the rest of spirit week to the fullest." He said, but Skye was second-guessing the idea. It was different when she was at his games, but at school for over six hours? Everyone would stare, far more than they already did, and they would definitely run their mouths, which Skye feared.

"Uh, are you sure?" She asked. "You could easily match with Xavier or something. You don't have to pick me."

"I'm very much sure. I choose you." Levi insisted, making Skye blush and giggle a little. It made her feel like such a girly girl, which she couldn't stand.

"You make it sound like I'm a Pokémon." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, you're right." He chuckled. "It's kind of funny though."

"So, I'm Pikachu and you're Ash?" Skye questioned.

"Totally," Levi replied.

Just to mess with him, Skye felt like teasing Levi a little, telling him that she wouldn't match with him at school tomorrow knowing that he wouldn't be happy to hear it. It was merely fair game considering they tease each other back and forth, and this time it was Skye's turn. "Uh, I think I'll pass on matching tomorrow then."

Immediately getting upset by it, Levi starts to beg for her to change her mind, which made Skye crack up. "Wait, no, no, no, no, no. Please, Skye, please."

"Oh my god, this is gold!" She hollered into laughter, which made the working students around her give her a look. Levi didn't mind who stared, he just wanted Skye to say yes.

"Skye, I will not hesitate to get on my knees right now." He warned.

"Dude, this is English class!" Skye exclaimed, averting her eyes to her classmates who continued to look at them like they were crazy.

Following with his word, Levi got down on his knees in front of Skye and begged, hoping that this would make her agree to twinning Tuesday no matter how silly it was. "Match with me, please? I'm begging."

"Why do you wanna match with me so bad?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Cause we'd look cute? I don't know, Skye, I just wanna match!" Levi exclaimed.

Skye purposefully waited a moment to respond, letting the anticipation eat Levi alive, but in the end, she gave him the answer he wanted, which she was going to give anyway, but the teasing was fun. "Fine, but you so owe me."

"Thank you, oh my god." He said, letting out a sigh of relief and getting back into his chair. Realizing the show was over, their surrounding classmates turned their attention back to what they were supposed to be doing.

"Remember, you owe me." She persisted, but Levi wouldn't have any issue with remembering. He refused to let Skye down, ever.

"I won't forget, I swear," Levi replied.

The bell then rang, meaning Skye would have to head off to calculus and Levi would have to go to history, so that was the end of their conversation for now. "Good, I'll see you at lunch?"

"Yeah, can't wait for cheeseburgers of questionable quality." Levi joked. Well, it wasn't exactly a joke. The school lunch meat was pretty suspicious.

"Yum," Skye said sarcastically, then the two grabbed their backpacks and walked out of the classroom.

•••

Skye and Levi sat down together at lunchtime as always, and Levi continued on the topic of spirit week, this time bringing up a whole different part of it. Now that the twinning Tuesday debacle was over, there was plenty more to cover, and Levi wanted to try his best to get Skye involved with it.

"Hey, do you wanna go to the mall with me tomorrow?" He asked her. "I have to scope for tacky tourist Thursday."

"Who makes this shit up?" She laughed, covering her mouth with her hand to hide how much she was laughing right now.

"Student council..." Levi frowned. Wait until Skye hears about wacky Wednesday. She would have a heart attack if Levi told her about that.

"Well, they suck at ideas," Skye said harshly, which she would regret very quickly.

"I'll let Danny know then." He smirked.

Skye's jaw immediately dropped as she had no clue Danny was involved in student council, but she definitely didn't want him to know she said that. Homeroom would be different in a bad way if he knew. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no! Don't tell him I said that! I was joking!"

"You're lying through your teeth, Simmons. I know it." Levi teased. Yeah, it was his turn now, and Skye hated it.

"Okay, yes, the ideas suck, but don't crush Danny's heart like that!" She begged. Yes, Skye was begging. She couldn't believe it herself, but it was happening.

"I don't know..." He lied. The truth is, even Danny knew how silly the ideas were. Levi just found how Skye reacted to finding out Danny was in student council absolutely hilarious.

Unaware that Levi was totally bullshitting, Skye grabs Levi's shirt collar from the other side of the table, pulling his face towards hers and giving him a threatening stare. "Don't tell him."

"Okay, I won't." Levi stuttered, eyes widened and cheeks burning as their faces were incredibly close right now.

"Great." She said and let go of him, getting back to the topic of going to the mall like that little moment didn't just happen. "Anyways, you said something about going to the mall?"

"Uh, yeah, do you wanna go?" He asked, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"Would you care if I shopped for a dress as well?" Skye questioned, feeling it would be respectful to ask as he was the one driving her around.

"I don't mind," Levi replied, blushing at the thought of Skye showing him dress options. There was no way he could survive her undeniable cuteness, except this time on a heightened level.

"Okay, I'll go." She said. "What about practice?"

"Coach cancelled practice today and tomorrow cause he's sick, but it's super stressful for the team with the homecoming game on Saturday." He sighed. Skye immediately noticed his mood change as it was mentioned, so she felt pretty bad.

"Homecoming game?" She questioned.

"Yeah, and the parade," Levi said.

"Gross." Skye scoffed, which Levi couldn't even blame her for. It would be a very tiring time for Levi, the football team, and the cheerleaders.

"For once I agree." He groaned. "The parade is literally in the morning and then the game is right after."

"Would you hate me if I skipped on it?" She asked. Skye hated to let him down like this, shockingly enough. "I might change my mind, but I don't know."

"No, I wouldn't blame you. Save yourself, honestly." Levi insisted, which made Skye feel relieved.

"Aye, you're the best." She grinned.

"No, you are." He teased.

"Okay, I'm gonna stop this before we start acting like those couples who say "no, you hang up" back and forth." Skye cringed. Brutal, but true.

"No, you hang up," Levi said jokingly, but Skye didn't see it as a joke.

"Oh my god, shut up!" She yelled.

"No, you!" He exclaimed, then immediately realized what he said "no, you" to, and regretted it so much. "Wait, I take that back-"

"Levi Rudy Daniels!" Skye gasped. Yes, she knew his middle name. It was only a matter of time that he would learn hers, but it would be quite the task to find that out.

"Who told you my middle name?" Levi asked, slamming his hands onto the table.

Skye slammed her hands onto the table as well, eyeing him down with no fear whatsoever. "Hunter told me in Spanish class, what are you gonna do about it?"

"Kick his ass." He replied in a childish tone. Levi would never, although sometimes he wanted to kick Hunter's ass, but he still wouldn't do it.

"Not on my watch," Skye said.

"Damn you," Levi grunted.

"Now you're the one who's lying through their teeth." She teased. Her turn again. Who knew when Levi would take his turn, but it would most likely be very, very soon.

"You got me." He frowned, crossing his arms and averting his eyes away from Skye in shame.

"I know."

"Do you still wanna go to the mall?" Levi asked with a pout.

"Yes, Levi, I still wanna go to the mall," Skye replied, which made Levi very happy. He didn't think he would enjoy going alone. Who does enjoy going to the mall alone?

"Cool, cool."

"And I can't wait to go." She grinned at him. Levi blushed once again, stuttering with his words as he struggled to form a response to that. He loved to hear that she was excited to go, but he didn't know what to say without it sounding flirty. Oh well.

In better news, the homecoming king and queen nominees were announced at the end of the day while Skye and Levi were in art class. Just as they hoped, Levi scored a nominee, and so did Hunter. When they got to the nominees for queen, however, Skye was not pleased to hear them, but she shook off hearing Nikki's name on the list and put her focus on hoping Levi wins.

With homecoming in only four days, there was a lot in store before, during, and even after the highly anticipated dance of the year.

•••

Dear Future Me,

For the first time in a VERY long time, everything seems to feel okay. Actually, I feel okay for once. I am okay, and it feels pretty damn good.

I have a group of friends who look after me, even though Levi seems to look after me the most. I don't mind it though. We have our banter, but we make a pretty good pair. Speaking of, we're twinning for school tomorrow as corny as that sounds. I've never been one for spirit week, but for some reason, I'm cool with participating.

I'm starting to think Levi is having an effect on me. I don't know how to explain it, future me, but it's happening. Maybe by the time you're reading this, you'll actually understand why, but for now, I do not.

Eh, I'll figure it out eventually, but for now? I gotta put my focus on homecoming. It's this Friday and I have to look good. By the way, props to Levi and Hunter for getting nominated for homecoming king! Manifesting that Levi wins, that's for sure. I shall not mention the nominations for queen though. Let's not think about that right now... or ever.

I'll provide an update later, or technically right now as you get to turn the next page since this is the future when you're reading this. Lucky you.

Sincerely,

Past Me.

•••

MARIA TALKS!

happy inauguration day!! today could simply not be a greater day and we're finally gonna have some normalcy in the white house. the dog days are over. president joe biden and vice president kamala harris everybody <3

i have been very much looking forward to this part of the story, aka the homecoming era, and when i say you're not prepared- you're truly not prepared.

stay tuned for skye and levi going to the mall together, it's definitely not going to be a boring one that's for sure

peace out (and don't forget to vote cause i only got 12 votes on the last two chapters that's a big fat yikes) 🙈

thank you so much for 2k reads tho!! i'll take all the love i can get so let's appreciate these milestones whether big or small <3 much love to those who have been supporting my pride and joy MWAH