"Mom, don't over react. I'm still not sure of it." I explained, pleading her to not be angry anymore. But unfortunately, she was still furious.

Ed leaned over and chided in. "Nope. You said earlier that you will ditch prom and nothing could ever change your mind." He said mimicking me in a overrated way. He made me sound like Dracula, or his daughter, Mavis.

I shot him a glare. "Could you please shut up for one minute?!" I said angrily, but all he did was laugh. I ignored and him and turned to mom. "Mom, could we just please talk about this another time?" I pleaded, any minute I'll be on my knees.

I just wanted to lock my self in my room for the whole day. Or even the whole month if I get to have the chance.

She looked at me straight in the eye as if analyzing me. After about a minute, she finally raised her hands in defeat. "Fine." She said and I screamed so loud on the inside. "We'll talk about this a month before prom, okay?" She pointed her finger at me.

I smiled with victory. "Okay." My smile was as wide as the ocean that moment that Percy Jackson and Poseidon would surely be so proud of me.

Thankfully, mom then went to the kitchen before she changed her mind. I love mom so much, but when it comes to proms, dates, and relationships, she always gets pumped up. She even once told me that she dreams of Ed being my husband.

Oh mom. Please tell him that.

Last year, when I went home as second place at prom, she wanted to talk to the judges and demand why I didn't win. You could see in her eyes that she really wanted to run into school to demand an explanation. Luckily, Ed recorded a video of the time I was walking on the catwalk and it seemed mom realized that I really didn't deserve to win.

To me, I didn't even deserve to be nominated.

She said some encouraging words to me like, "You're still prettier than them." "You still have next year." "It's okay." They were really annoying. I wanted to say to her, "Mom, these things aren't just my thing." But I figured that I'll just hurt her because it is important to her.

When she was back in high school, she won prom queen, and dad won prom king. They were just strangers to each other that time. So, on their first dance, that's when they realized that liked each other.

I always wanted to know how they confessed to each other about their feelings, but sometimes I would get afraid to ask her because she might miss dad and cry. I never even asked her about his name because one thing a daughter would hate to see is her mother crying.

So prom really is important to both of my parents. If dad was here, he'd want me to win prom queen as well, even though I never really met him. Maybe they think that I would meet my soulmate on prom too, but I doubt it.

But how could I win prom queen when I don't look like one, I don't have what it takes, and I don't want to? I mean, look at me!

*looks at mirror and slams it*

I turned to Ed. "Thanks a lot." I said in a sarcastic way.

Being himself, he chuckled. "That's what you get when you mess the DEM!" He said acting cool. Unfortunately, he looked more cool that way so there was no way I could tease him.

I raised my eyebrow. "The DEM?" I asked looking absolutely clueless.

I tried to think words that have the acronym DEM. Da Everlasting Monster? Da Everyday Minion? Oh! Maybe, Doing Entertaining Mopping?

He slapped his hand on his forehead, showing how disappointed he was. "You're my best friend since kindergarten, and you don't kno... I mean really?"

"Don't act like a kid, stupid. Wait. Uhm, does it mean, Don't Eat Me?" I asked. I couldn't help but chuckle at my stupidity. How ironic how I called him stupid yet I was the one who acted like one.

He placed his hands on his face and looked up. He groaned. "For crying out loud Sidney, it's my initials!"

I stood dumbfounded.

DEM=Dylan Edward Matthews

I slapped my self. Never thought I could be so dumb. "Oh. Right." I laughed. "Sorry. It was obvious."

He shook his head. "You're very lucky that I love you and I can't stand being angry with you." He said and I couldn't help but smile.

"Aww. My Eddy is being a sweetie." I pinched his cheeks so hard that it turned red for a second. But he didn't have chubby cheeks. All I felt was his cheek muscle. If cheeks did ever have muscles.

"Uh, don't call me that." He said in disgust and scrunched his face. I didn't know why but he hated it when it I called him Eddy. I don't get him. It's cute!

"What? You don't want me to call you Eddy?" I crossed my arms, challenging him.

"Yes." He answered confidently.

I laughed wickedly. "Whatever you say, Eddy." I winked and bursted out laughing. He rushed forward, and tickled me.

I, Sidney Elizabeth Stewart, am very ticklish in terms of tickling on EVERY portion, peice, section and part of my body.

"Please. Not the armpit." I screamed in pity as he kept tickling me.

Just as I was about to run out of breath, he stopped. I rested my arms on his shoulders so I could breathe.

"Still calling me Eddy?" He asked.

I stopped for a moment, thinking dumb answers. "Yes?" I asked unsurely. And obviously, he tickled me more.

"Fine. Fine. I'll stop calling you Eddy." I raised my hands in defeat.

"Good." He said as he finally let go of me. He made a face of victory. Or should I say, a face of attractiveness.

Damn it. I'm his bestfriend, yet I'm acting like one of his fangirls. Yuck.

Still running out of breath, I gestured him to come closer to me. "C'mere." He obeyed. As soon as he reached me, I hugged him tight, while we were both still finding some good air. But me just hugging him was somehow enough.

He hugged me back.

You know that feeling when you close your eyes, it's like you see the galaxy, the stars and the universe? You know that feeling when your heart is beating so fast and loud it's like a bass drum on a band? You know that feeling when you just wanna close your eyes and stay like that forever? You know that feeling when you're so happy you can't even remember how to frown? You know that feeling when you love your best friend and you're just thinking about the two of you being still together 10 years from now?

Right now, those feelings, it's like they all collided and invaded my body.

What COULD I do?

What WOULD I do?

What SHOULD I do?

One thing is for sure.

I fell inlove with my best friend.

. . .

"It's almost 8." I reminded him as I glanced at the clock on the upper left side of my room. A clock that I seldom look at, since I was not time-conscious like him. "Don't you wanna go home?" I asked.

He made a thinking face. Looking at the corner of the ceiling, pouting, ang his fingers under his chin. "One more hour?" He suggested. But I could also refer to as pleading.

I rolled my eyes, then rubbed his hair like a dog. "Are you sure? We have school tomorrow." I reminded him.

After that hug thingy downstairs, we both went up to my room and rested for a bit. I made cookies while he made smoothies that was so delicious. We watched a movie afterwards and talked about how scary, yet hilarious Mr. Johnson looked that morning.

"Fine." He said as he stood up. "Sid, can we please please please not be late tomorrow?" He pleaded. This time, his face looked a bit serious.

"Why?" I asked as I fixed and cleaned up my messy bed. It's hard not having a messy bed when you've just had a huge pillow fight with your best friend.

He walked around the room. "You know. For a change." He shrugged, though being his best friend, I could tell he was hiding something. And being a good friend, I just have to find out what's bugging him.

I stopped what I was doing, and turned to look at him. "Mr. Johnson called your dad too, didn't he?" I guessed and crossed my arms in front of him.

He scratched the back of his head. "Well, yes." He said then I immediately groaned. "Wait wait. But he didn't yell at me this time." He defended. He held a grip on my wrist to stop me from punching something. Maybe a wall. Or a mirror. Or for safety precautions, the air.

"But he's still going to be mad at you." I complained. "Ed, please, stop picking me up every morning." I pleaded. I faced him and looked at him straight in his eyes. "I can't stand knowing your dad keeps on yelling at you just because of me."

"No!" He shot at me. That moment, he looked scary that I froze. "I don't care if he'll be mad at me, he'll scold me, or beat me up just because I can't be that perfect son he wants me to be. I'll pick you up because I want to. You're important to me, Sid." He stopped.

I waited.

"Because you're my best friend."

I stood there like a statue. It was one of the moments when I should be happy because he cared about me, but somehow I wasn't because I knew it was only because I'm just his best friend. JUST his bestfriend.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow." He said and started to leave while I was still standing like a stone. Right by the door, he stopped and turned around. "Try using alarm clocks. Maybe it will help you." He suggested and closed the door shut.

I sat on my bed and thought about how I had been the worst friend ever. I ran my fingers through my hair, held a grip on it, and covered it on my face. I heard his car engine turn on, and his tires screeched as he drove away. He was willing to face his father's blabber yet there I causing it because I was damn tardy.

As I was burying my face on my hair, a queer idea immediately popped on my head. I hurriedly opened the door of my room and ran to mom's room as fast I could. When I finally reached her door, I knocked immediately. "Mom? Are you there? Open the door please. Mom? Mom!" I called impatiently.

Thankfully, she opened it in just a few seconds. "Yes, Sidney?" She asked. She had a little smile on her face, and I thanked God because I knew she somehow finally forgot about prom.

"Do you have an alarm clock?" I asked.

Her eyes grew wide open. "That's the first." She said obviously surprised. Even I, myself was surprised. She looked at me for a few seconds, until she finally regained herself. "Wait here. I think I have one on your dad's closet." She excused herself and went back inside her room.

I tapped my foot as I waited for her to come back out. It was the actually the first time that I asked for an alarm clock, ever, so I couldn't blame mom for being surprised. All I knew that moment was that I needed the alarm clock. I needed it, for Ed.

It felt like hours of waiting (not really) until she finally came back. "Here." She said and handed me an alarm clock that was probably as old as Mr. Johnson. Or probably older.

I studied it and noticed that every part of it, precisely EVERY part of it, was rusted. I guessed that its old color was gold because of some faded parts. But it sure was a very rusted gold. "Are you sure this works?" I asked mom unsurely, looking at the alarm clock like it was an UFO.

Unidentified Fractured Object.

She sighed. "Yes. And you'll find it very useful because it's so loud, I'm pretty sure it'll wake you up." She assured me, which made me creep out. I hope it won't break my ears.

I raised my eyebrow, showing her an, "Are you sure?" face.

Okay. Imagine an old golden alarm clock. Now imagine that it was like from 300 years ago. Full of rust. Faded gold. Old fashioned style. Some of the numbers faded. Now imagine it like it was passed to 5 generations, and that generation doesn't know how to take good care of a clock. Get the picture? That's what the alarm clock looks like. You can't blame me.

"Try it." She suggested. I shrugged. I was hesitant for a moment, but I figured that there's no harm in trying. If my ears burst, then atleast I won't have to listen to mom's rant about prom anymore.

I set the alarm clock a minute away from the current time and waited. I tapped my foot, and tapped, and tapped, and tapped, and tapped, and tapped, until an annoying ring almost broke my ears.

"Krriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!"

"Ow!" I screamed as I covered my ears. "Make it stop! Make it stop!" I begged. Mom reached for the alarm clock and turned it off. She faced me with a huge grin on her face. "That's a monster." I shrieked in terror as I pointed at the alarm clock, but then returned my hands back on my ears. They hurt so bad, I would've thought they bled.

"Yeah. The reason why I kept it away." She shrugged. Inside my mind, I screamed, Are you the hell serious?! But instead I just gave her a dead look. "But you gotta admit, Sid. It's the only way you could wake up early." She said, and I couldn't deny that she indeed did have a point. If there was something that could wake me up immeadiately and have me running to the bathroom as fast as Flash, it would be this very old, loud, and ancient alarm clock.

"Okay mom. Thanks." I just said and ran back to my room. When I got to my room, I set the alarm and tried to go to sleep. But of course, as if Mr. Sandy Man hated me, I couldn't.

I decided to look at the stars and hoping that it would make me feel sleepy. Sometimes stars do that to me. For me, every night, it's the most beautiful thing you could see on the sky. They're just amazing. Especially when they're scattering like the sand on the beach.

When I walked towards the window, the first thing that caught my eye was a car in front of the house. And it was not our car.

I would've not mind it, but I was intrigued by a shadow of a man beside it. And as creepy as it was, he was looking right at me. I could tell that he was old because of his posture, but it was the only thing I could guess because it was too dark to make out anything.

When he realized we were staring at each other, he immediately went inside his car and drove away.

I was a bit worried because there was a big possibility that the man was a bad person, but I decided not to bother about it much further. The police patrols around my neighboorhood would take care of him.

I took a few more minutes of staring at the stars before I finally got back to my bed and tried to sleep, but it seemed like Mr. Sandy Man hated me so bad.

I checked the clock, and it said 11:30. Great. Now how on earth could I wake up early now? I ranted to myself as my head fell back on my pillow. I had a staring contest with the ceiling for about half an hour until my phone began ringing.

I picked it up from my drawer and checked the caller ID.

Calling: Ed

I immediately pressed the answer button without hesitation.

Before I could even say hi, he immedaitely said, "I knew it. You're still awake." I then heard him chuckle. Typical Ed.

"What?" I asked, smiling a bit. It was almost midnight yet he still made me smile in just 6 simple words.

I heard him sigh. "I knew you wouldn't do what I asked. You're still going to be late tomorrow. It's midnight yet you're still awake." He said in a tone like he was sad, but I could tell he was playing me.

"I wasn't awake." I lied and pretented to yawn. "I was asleep but woke up when I heard my phone ring." I bit my lip hoping he would buy it.

"Oh. I'm sorry." He said and I screamed inside without a sound. Ha! I fooled him. Cue the ninja moves. "Goodnight then." He said and hung up. Okay, cue the back to lame sleepy moves.

I then placed my phone back on my drawer and closed my eyes until I was finally asleep. Which took almost another 30 minutes.

. . .

"Krrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnng!"

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" I screamed and covered my ears.

"Krrrriiiiiiinnnnnnnnnng"

"Aaaaaah" I hurriedly looked for the alarm clock, and when I did, I immediately turned it off. When the ringing was finally gone, I sighed in relief.

I sat on my bed for a while, fighting myself to not fall asleep again. After like a few minutes, I stood up and went to the bathroom.

I looked at the mirror as I entered. I looked at my messy hair, my sleepy eyes, my pale lips, and my cheeks with a bit of saliva. I asked myself, Is this what Ed sees in me every morning? I groaned. If I had known I looked like it every morning, I would've woken up way before Ed got there. He must've laughed at me every morning.

I hurriedly washed my face and started cleaning my self.

After about half an hour, I was finally done and immediately went back to my bedroom, only in my towel. As I opened the door, I screamed when I saw him sitting on my bed.

"Aaaaaah! Get out!" I screamed.

He whistled. "Whe-ew. You didn't tell me you were this sexy, Sid." He teased.

I shot him a glare. "Get the hell out, you pervert!" I threw him the closest thing I could find in my room. A ponytail.

Wow. That must've hurt him so bad, Sidney. Are you sure he doesn't need to go to the hospital?

He laughed. He raised his arms. "Fine. I'll get out. Hurry up." He said, still couldn't stop laughing. When he finally left the room, I buried my face on a pillow out of embarassment.

When I finally regained myself, I hurriedly took out my uniform from my closet and changed as quickly as I could, hoping Ed wouldn't enter the room again.

After I was finally fully dressed, that was when I realized the obvious. I hurriedly changed so Ed wouldn't come in, BUT I COULD HAVE JUST LOCKED THE STUPID DOOR.

I slapped my self, wondering what was happening to me. Was that what love could do? Or was I just really plain dumb? Nah, I think I was just being stupid.

As I was combing my hair, a knock came from the door. "You done yet? We're gonna be late." Ed called. I hurriedly picked up my things and ran to the door. Before I opened it, I checked my watch.

I slapped myself and groaned.

"You said we were gonna be late!" I screamed. "It's an hour before first period! And the school is 5 minutes away!" I complained.

I opened the door, and there he was, smirking. "Late for being early." He shrugged.

I punched his arm and laughed at his spongebob reference. "Uh. I hate you."

He waved his fingers as if saying no. "The more you hate is the more you love." He winked. Out of words, I rolled my eyes. "Why are you up early? And why do you have a really old alarm clock on your bed?" He asked.

I shrugged. "You said I should try alarm clocks. I did. It's the only one we have so I have no choice but have my ears broken every morning from now on. I must've forgotten to set the time correctly." After I said that, he smiled. I raised my eyebrow. "What are you smiling about?" I asked.

He chuckled then shook his head. "Nothing. Let's go." He laid his arms around my neck and we both went downstairs, and walked together to school.

. . .

Third chapter. Woot woot.

If some of you are thinking that I'm crazy, then I pledge guilty. 😂😂

Z.