"What are you doing with your prom dress, sweetie?" My dad asks me as I'm hauling the large plastic bag through the living room toward my car the next morning. He's sitting in front of the couch with his laptop on the coffee table in front of him open with an empty Word document.

"We're doing a prom shoot today," I explain to him. "And I get a bump in my paycheck if I bring in my own prom dress. It didn't get any use yet so it might as well be used for this."

"That's good—have a great time at work," He calls to me as I'm opening the door to leave.

"Yeah, you too, Dad," I sigh, noticing that he's doing absolutely no writing on the laptop and all he's doing is watching TV but that's a fight for another time. We always fight about that, how he's not bringing in any money. My mom blames him for the fact that I have to work so hard as an extra because he doesn't have a real job. But writing is a real job! At least, that's what my dad always insists. Even though he hasn't published a book in over five years and he's right now staring at an empty Word document.

I lay the dress in the back of my car once I'm outside and then I'm driving off to the studio. Once I'm in the parking lot, I'm lugging my long, heavy prom dress to the entrance of the building. Once I'm back in wardrobe, I realize that the extras are already getting dressed so I find Marina, who is already wearing her short purple dress that poofs at the waist. There's a pair of silver pumps dangling from the tips of the fingers on her right hand.

"I don't look too shabby, right?" She wonders with a grin, twirling around.

"Yeah, you look amazing," I say with a small laugh. "Way to go."

"Thank you. Now go get dressed, I'm dying to see what your dress looks like," She says, urging me toward the room to get dressed in.

"Okay, okay," I laugh at her. "I'm going."

Once I get into the room, I get dressed in my long prom dress. It's strapless and gold at the top with winding gold throngs through to the bottom that turns into a teal color. It's a really gorgeous dress and I was really excited to wear it to prom, I was really excited for prom period. I had already started stripping a few weeks before prom, when I turned eighteen, and that really caused me to pull apart from my friends so prom was going to be my night to spend with my friends in high school. I even had a date and he was gorgeous and funny and nice. He didn't really appreciate it when I cancelled the day before prom.

Once I'm in the dress, I stuff my clothes into my bag and pull out my gold stilettoes. I've kept them since I bought them for prom too. I've done a lot of things to keep Kurt happy for as long as possible but I could never get myself to sell my prom outfit.

Once I put my bag away, I am quickly pushed into hair and makeup. We're on a tight schedule today. The director wants to get all of the prom shots done today, which is very tough but if we work quickly, it can happen.

The hairdresser curls my hair and then pins it into a bun on top of my head and the makeup artist adds some foundation, red lipstick, and eye makeup. I look like I'm really going to prom.

I like how I look when I'm looking at myself in the vanity mirror in the hair and makeup area but when Marina finds me in the extras lounge, she pulls me to a full body mirror so that I can see the full ensemble.

"You. Look. Unstoppable." Marina tells me with a wide grin. "Seriously amazing."

"I..." It's taking my breath away. I feel that same feeling that I felt when I was at the nightclub with Marina, dancing with that stranger. When he kissed my neck, I could pretend like it was love. And when I'm looking at myself in the mirror prepared for a fake prom, I can pretend like it's real. I can pretend like Kurt never got sick—that he was at home, helping me get ready for prom. No, he wouldn't be doing my makeup or helping me adjust my dress but he'd be standing at the bottom of the stairs with my parents, my mom holding a video camera, as they film me coming down the stairs. He'd open the door for my date, whose name was Aaron, and he would scare the guy shitless with empty threats about what would happen if he hurt me.

Looking in the mirror, it's so easy to pretend like this is real and not just an impossible fantasy.

Like I'm standing in my bedroom, looking at myself in the full body mirror I have beside my dresser with my mom looking in by the door to make sure that I don't need any help with my makeup or any hair emergencies. Telling me how grown up and beautiful that I look.

Like Aaron is waiting for me downstairs in his rented tux and a corsage to wrap around my wrist.

Like the biggest problem in my life is how to dance all night in six inch heels.

I can stand here and stare at my prom dress and pretend like this is all real forever but Marina puts a hand on my shoulder, shaking me out of my daydream.

"You alright there, Iris?" She asks me with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," I clear my throat. "Sorry, I just got a little bit distracted. I forgot how tight this dress was."

"You never got to go to your prom, did you?" She remembers that conversation that we had and she frowns at me sympathetically. That's not what I wanted.

"No," I sigh.

"That does really suck," She nods at me. "But, hey, that's no biggie. Prom isn't that great anyway, just a bunch of sweaty, horny, drunk teenagers dry humping in elegant gowns and cheap tuxes. You did not miss anything, I promise."

I try to give her a broad smile but I end up crying instead.

Because no matter how long I stare at myself in this mirror and I pretend like I'm going to my real prom with my brother downstairs, coming home from wherever it is that he would live, it's not real. Because the reality is that I didn't go to my prom. My brother isn't healthy, he doesn't give the boys around me empty threats. Instead of going to my real prom, I was standing on a stage in my underwear in front of hundreds of strangers with dollar bills stuck to my legs.

"Okay, oh no," Marina mumbles, leaning over to the table beside the mirror. There's a box of tissues there so she grabs a few and puts them right under my eyes. "Makeup will kill you if you mess up their masterpiece. Seriously though, don't cry. Prom really isn't all that great, I promise."

I open my mouth to tell her that I'm really not that upset about missing prom, it's more that I'm so upset about missing the opportunity to go to prom, I suppose. I'm so upset that this alternate universe where I have the perfect prom with the perfect date, my mom videotaping, and my brother visiting just to scare my date, it's all fake. And that's really upsetting because I want it to be real so badly.

"I don't know if this makes things better or worse but Hudson Gray just walked through the door. And he's coming over here," She tells me, still holding the tissues to my eyes so that my tears don't smear my fresh makeup. That's a true friend right there.

"Worse," I decide quickly, not really able to stop crying though so I just hold the tissues to my cheeks so that Marina doesn't have to and I turn to go into the connected bathroom but I only have time to take one and a half steps before I hear Hudson's voice behind me.

"You don't look like you're ready for prom," He says, obviously talking to me. I turn back around and open my eyes to look at him but I keep the tissues on my face to soak up the tears and also as an attempt to hide most of my face from Hudson so that he can't see how oddly sad I am right now.

"It's not a real prom, it doesn't matter," I mumble with a loud sniffle. I'm taking deep breaths now and calming myself down from my random little fit but Marina was right about the makeup people not being happy with me if they have to redo my makeup because I was crying so I keep the tissues on my face just in case more tears start to come.

"She never got to go to her real prom," Marina fills him in, not knowing that he already knows that because I told him yesterday. "But I think that Iris really just wants to be alone right now."

"No, it's fine," I insist, realizing how ridiculous this must seem to them—thinking that I'm this sad just because I didn't go to my prom. "I'm fine."

To prove what I just said, I drop my hands to my sides and throw away the wet tissues. Looking back to the mirror, I can see that there's a little bit of a smudge from where the tissues were resting under my eyes but it's not drastic and I can just use the pad of my thumb to fix that later.

"Hey, that's no big deal," Hudson tells me with a small smile that I think is supposed to look encouraging. "I didn't go to prom either. I mean, there was a prom for the homeschooled kids but I didn't actually go."

"You were probably filming a movie or something," I say with a hiccup as I'm recovering from the crying session that I'm now getting over. My chin quivers a little bit but I hold down the rest of my ridiculous sobs.

"Yeah," He admits.

"That's so not the same thing," Marina hisses at him as she has a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to get me to feel better. I don't know if that helps but it sure as hell doesn't hurt for her to be there.

"It's fine," I say abruptly before I look at Hudson again, who is still looking at me and frowning. He looks confused, like he doesn't know what to do to help me feel better and I think that's sweet. It's nice of him to want to be able to help me out of my emotional turmoil. "Did you come in here to talk to me?"

It takes him a moment to register that I'm talking to him but when he realizes that, he clears his throat and nods. "Yeah, I did. I wanted to see your prom dress and I'm even more impressed than I thought that I'd be. You look amazing."

Even though I was just crying, I can't hold back a small smile from that comment. "Thanks."

"Well, if you're feeling better, I guess that I'll give you two some privacy," Marina offers me a sly grin as she's backing away from where I'm standing with Hudson by the mirror and she walks deeper into the crowded room. I notice a lot of people in the lounge giving me and Hudson a weird look, probably trying to figure out why he's in here talking to me because he's a celebrity and I'm just an extra. If they find out, I hope that one of those bystanders tell me because I still can't figure that one out.

"I guess you look alright too," I add, my voice a little shaky and raspy from the crying. Hudson does look pretty handsome in his tux and his hair all combed to the side and off of his forehead. He looks like he's ready for prom.

"I only look alright?" He wonders with raised eyebrows. "I look fabulous. I'll let it slide though, because you're sad. But you've been warned."

"My mistake," I chuckle, detecting that he's obviously joking in an attempt to cheer me up and it's actually kind of working. Who would've guessed?

"Yeah, it's alright. Anyway, do you have plans tonight?" He asks me, glancing down at his phone before looking back up at me.

"No, I don't," I sigh and feeling a little bit nervous now for some reason, I look down at my gold-painted nails and start picking at the polish, which I know is bad because it'll start making my nails look stupid.

"Good."

"The roof again?"

"Iris, I'm insulted that you think that I'm so predictable."

"You are so predictable," I counter, trying to sound like I'm teasing him but my tired, monotone voice makes it seem like I'm completely serious. So to show him that I'm just joking around, I glance up at him and force a small smile onto my lips for a brief moment before looking back down at my nails.

"Well, we won't go to the roof. I've got better plans," He assures me before he puts a hand on my shoulder, making me jump a little bit and look up at him again. "And if you need anything, just come find me, alright? Anytime during the day."

"I'll be fine, but thanks," I tell him, blinking a few times to keep my tears from falling again. "I know that I look ridiculous right now but I'm usually pretty good at keeping it together."

He squeezes my shoulder a little tighter. "Nobody's good at keeping it together all of the time. Now, I have to get back to set to go over some lines before we start shooting but remember what I said. I mean it. If you need anything, alright?"

I nod at him, not wanting to accept his offer but I know that things will go a lot easier of I just say okay and we move on. I have a lot of pride, and it hurts to do so but it just has to happen. "Okay, sure. Thanks."

Releasing my shoulder, he offers me a wide grin, winks at me, and then he's turning to disappear out of the room. Just before he gets out, a group of girls stops him and asks for an autograph. He obliges and I start looking for Marina.

Once it's time to start shooting and I'm standing in a group of extras dressed in elegant gowns and tuxes, I'm feeling a lot better than I did in the extras lounge. No more pretending.

When Ronald calls 'Action!' I start silently laughing and dancing with the other extras that are my 'friends'. Marina is slow dancing with the boy that she's been talking to lately. Jeffery is his name, Marina told me that last night. Nothing's happening between them, but she's hopeful that that will change soon.

After I get tired of fake dancing, I decide to go sit down at one of the tables in the back of the scene and nod my head to an invisible beat as I watch all of the other people fake dancing and listen to the actors saying their lines at the front of the set with all of the cameras.

This scene is toward the end of the movie, and what's happening right now is Aspen's character, Bridget, is talking to Dalton's character, Kyle. After Bridget had broken up with Kyle and he went on this huge exciting trip to get over her, she is coming back to him during prom to beg for him back. She misses him, she wants him back. She wants everything to go back to normal.

I wonder how anybody can do that, to ruin somebody so catastrophically and then change their mind. I know that Bridget is just a character but that's still a real situation. There is enough pain in the world without people creating pain out of thin air. I understand that love can go away and sure, if you don't love somebody anymore of course you should break up with them. But to destroy somebody by telling them that you don't love them anymore and then to change your mind and then to expect that person to forget all of the pain that you caused? What a load of bullshit.

We're going to be working through our lunch to try and stay on schedule so the costume people hand out these bib things that we have to wear when we eat so that we don't get our elegant prom wear dirty with lunch. They ordered a butt load of pizzas for the entire cast and crew so when the cast is busy resetting the set or conversing with the main stars of the movie, I sneak away with Marina to put on a bib and grab a piece of pizza.

I assure her that I'm feeling better than I was this morning even though I'm not really feeling 100%. I do feel better, like I at least have my emotions under control. And I'm not feeling sad really, just kind of tired. Watching this fake night go by full of things that I'd never had.

I'm tired and I'm sure that if anybody paid attention to me on screen, they'd notice how tired I look but I'm in the way back of the shot so I don't even know if my face will make it onto screen in this scene.

The day goes by slowly and all I'm doing is sitting at a round table or dancing with a group of extras as I listen to the same dialogue for hours on end as they redo and redo every scene with different camera angles and different tones of voices with the actors and all of that different stuff.

I'm also wondering about what type of thing Hudson has planned for me at the end of the day. Even though I'm feeling exhausted by this day, I do feel eager to hang out with him at the end of it.

Eventually, the end of the day does come and I've run through many scenarios in my head about what Hudson has planned but I really have no idea. With my gold heels hanging from my fingers, I walk into the extras lounge so that we can get dressed in regular clothes to end the day.

However, when I get to my bag that has my clothes in it, I see a yellow sticky note on top of it that reads:

Iris Morton: I will meet Hudson by the video village. And I'll be wearing the prom dress because I look incredible in it.

I smile at that for some reason and my immediate thought about what he has planned is that he's going to try and recreate a prom of two people for me because I was so upset this morning. There's a prom setting, a prom dress, he has a tuxedo, so it'd make sense.

"What's that?" Marina wonders as I toss the letter into my bag before switching my gold stilettoes to my sneakers because there's no way that I can spend another minute in those heels. They're very beautiful but they can be painful after so long of walking in them.

"A little memo," I say with a small shrug. "From Hudson. We're hanging out tonight, I guess."

"Alright, well you two have fun. I'm exhausted, so I'm going to head out. I'll see you tomorrow," Marina says goodbye, offering me a wave as she heads off to get dressed and to go home.

With my bag over my shoulder, I walk back toward the set. Everybody's gone already, which is extremely strange because even after the director ends the day with our huddle, the camera crew and tech people stay behind to pack up and/or shut down the computers, cameras, and other equipment. It's almost a little bit eerie but I'm confident that it all has to do with Hudson. I'm about to turn the corner so that I can see the prom set that we were using today but just before I do that, I hear some very familiar lyrics as a song starts playing.

And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow

Turning the corner, I see Hudson standing in the middle of the wide open set with a plastic little box in his hand and a wide, handsome grin on his face as he sings along with the song playing from some invisible speakers somewhere. Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. It's an iconic song and I've heard it played ironically throughout my lifetime. No, I was not named after the song—I'm actually older than the song by two years, but at birthday parties and anywhere else they can fit it in, my family and friends always find a way to sing that song to me. Even though the word "Iris" never is even said in the song.

My dad even sang it to me as a lullaby when I was little.

"That's so funny," I say sarcastically and I want to sound unimpressed but I know that there's a smile on my face that's completely impossible to hide. "Because my name is Iris and the song title is... yeah, that's great. Really creative."

He doesn't respond to me, he just keeps singing along to the familiar song.

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When I get close enough to Hudson, I see that inside of the plastic box, there's a light blue floral corsage that goes around my wrist. How sweet. He's still singing as I raise my wrist and he slides the fake flowers onto my wrist. I can understand now why he took up acting instead of singing.

Without stopping the singing, he tosses the plastic container aside and grabs my hand in his before finally stopping. The song continues to play through the speakers.

"Care to dance?"

I nibble on my lip because I do want to but I've been dancing all day. I'm exhausted. My feet and knees ache, this dress has been digging into my rib cage for the past two hours, and I'm grumpy. I do just want to go home but Hudson is looking at me with what looks to be a puppy dog face, his eyes wide and his mouth drooping just a little bit. So I humor him. I interlock my fingers behind his neck and he puts his arms on my waist but we're still standing kind of far apart. We are only friends after all.

"You didn't have to do this," I mumble to him as we just say back and forth to the beat of this incredibly familiar song.

"No, I didn't," He agrees with me. "But you were all sad this morning so I thought that I'd do something to cheer you up. Is it working?"

"I'm over what happened this morning," I tell him. "But I do appreciate the extravagance. Kicking out the entire crew and everything."

"Yeah, they weren't happy about that," He adds with a laugh.

I laugh too. "And I wasn't really all that upset about not making it to prom, it's just... it's more than that."

"Oh?"

I pinch my lips together and shake my head at him. He wants me to elaborate but I don't want to talk about Kurt right now. I don't want to talk about anything right now, nothing serious anyway.

"So if this is our prom, that makes you my date," I change the subject on him. "I don't know how I feel about that."

"You should feel honored," Hudson assures me, joking I hope.

"But how can I go to prom with you if you haven't even met my dad?" I wonder jokingly. "I don't think that he'd like you very much."

"What? No, your dad would love me. I'm great with adults," He insists. "And I know that I didn't get a limo but if you really want the full affect, I can have one here within the hour."

"For the full affect, we'd have to get a hotel room and sneak some wine coolers from our parents' alcohol stash," I tell him as the song ends but Hudson keeps us swaying until the next song starts.

"If you want to get a hotel room, I am all for that," He grins at me and I look away. Not blushing but it's almost there at the insinuation that comes with his statement. I shouldn't have even brought up the hotel room so I guess that I brought this on myself.

"No, that's alright," I tell him in a mumbling voice. "This isn't a real prom anyway, and you're not my real date."

"I could be though," He responds quickly, staring at me with his piercing sky blue eyes as if he's studying me, waiting for my reaction.

I don't know what he means by that. Does he want this to be a real date? Does he want me to kiss him or something? Or does he want to go on a real date in the future? Or is he just caught up in the moment? Or am I really just overthinking those four words that just came out of his mouth? What the hell did he mean by that?

"We aren't in high school anymore," I remind him, my voice becoming shakier and quieter with every word. "And prom was two years ago. This is a nice replacement but it isn't real."

"I know," He nods slowly.

I now have absolutely no idea what's going on. But he doesn't say anything else and he doesn't look away from me, staring straight into my eyes as if he's trying to bore a hole right through me, or maybe he's trying to read my mind through my eyes. I hate to break it to him- but it's not that easy to read a person's thoughts.

However, no matter what he's trying to do, he successfully makes my throat go dry. A pit starts forming in the bottom of my stomach and it feels like that nervous feeling that I used to get right before I went up on stage or at the beginning of my career as an extra when I'd get nervous being on camera. I felt nervous butterflies starting to fly around in my belly and I did not like it one bit. Then again, in the words of Kurt, it could just be because the world is falling.