"Hey, um, Troy, I'm home now and we really need-"
"It's not fair!" You were cut off as you walked into the house only to hear Troy screaming at the top of his lungs. "Why the hell is she doing that without a second thought?!"
You sighed, wondering just how much he knew about the whole situation. You then let out another sigh as you saw that the living room floor was covered in all kinds of snacks. There were so many things that you loved about Troy, but his way of eating what seemed like an entire Thanksgiving's worth of snacks whenever he was upset was not one of those things.
"Troy, yelling isn't going to help you calm down." You sighed again, knowing that things were going to get out of hand if you didn't take control of the situation soon. "Now, tell me what's wrong in the form that isn't yelling."
Troy sighed as well as he ran a hand through his hair and threw whatever he was just eating onto the floor. "Well, Mary and I had a fight this morning because I saw a picture of her with another guy and he had his arm around her and I got really pissed off and then she got really pissed off and now we just got having this really long call where we talked about how Mark's mom is taking money from her money that she's supposed to be using for her husband's treatments and is instead using the money for her own selfish desires."
"Oh my God, how on earth could she even have the nerve to do that?!" You asked, trying to make it sound like you had zero idea about the knowledge that Troy had just obtained, but failing miserably.
"Wait, you already knew?!" Troy saw through your lie and started getting angry again. "If you knew, then why didn't you try and stop it?"
"Oh, yeah, like Mark's mom is going to listen to me if I ever even attempted to talk her into using the money for its intended purpose and like Mary's parents would believe a complete and utter stranger when I say, "Hey, you know the lady you've been giving money to in order to fund her husband's treatments? Yeah, that's not what she's using the money for. She's using the money to fulfill her own selfish desires." They wouldn't believe me. They would think that I'm fucking insane."
"Fine, fine. I guess you have a point." Troy sighed as he picked up the snack he had been eating off the floor and started eating it again."Also, I heard you got asked to Prom today. Do I even have to ask who the lucky guy is?"
"N-No." You started blushing as you recalled how August had asked you to Prom.
"I hope he takes you somewhere nice for dinner before Prom. Otherwise, he'll be hearing from me." Troy laughed a bit.
You were about to respond when you heard a knock at the door. Before you could tell Troy that you would answer it, he got up and opened the door, a bright smile forming on his face when he saw who the source behind the knocking was.
"Hey." He grabbed ahold of the person's hand as they stepped inside. You resisted letting out a groan as you saw Mary entering the house. "I'm really glad that you came over."
"And I'm really glad that you invited me to come over." You immediately turned away when you saw her leaning towards Troy. While you had seen a side to her you never even knew existed today when she had that talk with Mark that you eavesdropped on, you still were unsure about how you felt about her being with Troy.

Troy laughed a bit as he led her over to the couch and they sat down together. You couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh as you noticed that Troy's five-foot-eight figure still towered over Mary's five-foot figure. Mary was already pretty tiny, but Troy's height made her seem even tinier.
"So, you two both mean a lot to me in different ways." Troy looked over at you as he said, "(Y/N), you are like the little sister that I never had and Mary," He then looked over at the now black and red haired girl. "You are unlike any girl that I've ever met. I can't explain why or how I'm drawn to you, but I've been captivated since the start."
You groaned at just how cheesy Troy sounded. You wanted so badly that he sounded like he was from a romantic movie and that real life wasn't a romance movie. Besides, the last thing that you wanted to hear was him delivering those kinds of lines to Mary out of all people.
"Right back at you." Mary smiled and leaned towards Troy once again, but this time you forced yourself to not look away, which was a pretty big mistake.
"Well, anyway..." Troy continued once he and Mary managed to pry themselves away from each other. "Since you both matter to me very much and you both have dates for Prom, which I'm trying my best to push into the back of my mind in Mary's case since I know that she has to go with someone else due to the circumstances of a situation that she shouldn't even be in in the first place, I would really like it if you two went dress shopping together."
"Wait, what?!" You and Mary asked in disbelief at the same time as you pointed to each other as both of you added, "With her?!"
"Yes, of course." Troy laughed like none of this was that big of a deal. "You really think that I'm going to be any good at picking out Prom dresses for the two of you? I don't even match my socks for crying out loud!" He lifted up the ends of his jeans slightly to show his mismatched socks. "Besides, girls like shopping together. Well, that's what I've noticed, at least. Hell, girls like going to the bathroom together so it isn't that strange that they like shopping together."
"Troy, it really isn't a good idea for Mary and I to go shopping together." You said, hoping to convince him to not force you to go Prom dress shopping with Mary. "We go together like oil and water."
"Yeah!" Mary agreed, marking the first time that you two have ever agreed on anything. "She's so right! Come on Troy, you can come and help me pick out a dress and you can let (Y/N) do her own Prom dress shopping on her own or with someone else if she wants to bring someone else along."
Troy sighed. "Fine, how about this? If you two go dress shopping together, I'll give both of you money for your dresses."
"Really?" Mary asked, a smile instantly forming on her face. "Well, in that case, I suppose I can go Prom dress shopping with (Y/N)." Her smile then turned into a smirk. "But I also want something else from you later."
You resisted the urge to let out a groan. You swore that the only thing Mary ever wanted from Troy is to get into his pants, instead of vice-versa like one would usually expect. And, of course, Troy was okay with this, which didn't surprise you in the slightest. Drugs and food weren't the only things he was addicted to.

"And I guess that I can go Prom dress shopping with Mary." You shrugged a bit, trying to change the subject. "I mean, it'd be pretty dumb to pass up the opportunity to get my Prom dress using someone else's money."
"Good. I'm glad to hear that." Troy smiled. "You two get ready and we'll go as soon as you both are ready to go."

*****

"So, you're going to Prom with August, huh?" Mary asked you as the two of you walked into the first clothing store that sold Prom dresses together. "I must say, the way he asked you was really cute. It certainly made a lot of girls jealous."
"Oh, I highly doubt that." You began blushing as you were once again reminded of how August asked you to Prom.
"Are you kidding? August is almost the very definition of a heartthrob." Mary ran a hand through her hair as she looked around at all of the dresses. "He's good-looking, dresses nicely, and plays guitar. The only thing that's missing is the flirty attitude. But that's probably because he's only flirty towards you."
"Y-Yeah, probably." You blushed even more and tried to hide it by shifting your attention over to the first dress that you laid eyes on, even though you didn't even like it. "He's a really nice guy. It's hard he is, or was rather, related to Julian. Those two were nothing alike."
"I know, right?" Mary agreed, marking the second time that you two had ever agreed on something. "I knew them in elementary school and they never once got along. They would always get sent to the office because of how bad their fights were."
Your eyes widened as you imagined August beating someone, his little brother nonetheless, down until he was stopped. While you weren't surprised that Julian had beat up his older brother because that's just the kind of person he was, August seemed like he was the type you had to make very, very angry in order for him to lash out.

"Wow, now I'm kinda glad that I didn't move here until middle school." You laughed a little as you continued looking at all of the different dresses that were available. "Those two got along way better than that during that time."
"You're telling me." Mary laughed a little as she became fixated on a dress that was black and red, just like her hair was.
"I bet that would look really good on you." You said to her, being one-hundred percent honest. "You should try it on."
"I'll only try it on if you try on that dress." She pointed to a dress that was (F/C), which was your favorite color.
"Deal." You shrugged a bit as you grabbed the dress. "It's my favorite color anyways so maybe I'll actually end up liking it."

*****

After you changed into the dress, you stared at your reflection in the mirror and wondered if you actually liked how you looked in the dress. While you absolutely adored the dress itself, your lack of self confidence caused you to question whether or not you actually looked good in the dress.
Maybe I should just ask Mary. She's been being surprisingly nice so maybe she'll give me some input.

"Hey, um, Mary, can you tell me how you feel about me wearing this-?"
You were cut off when you saw Mary standing outside the changing room that she had just been in while staring down at her dress.
"Wow, Mary..." You trailed off as you looked the black and red haired girl up and down. "You look really beautiful." The words slipped out of your mouth without a second thought.
Mary looked up at you and her eyes widened. "No, (Y/N), you're the one who looks beautiful. That dress was made for you. It suits you so perfectly."
"No way. I look terrible in this." You looked down at the dress you loved so much when you first laid eyes on it, but loathed it when you wore it because you didn't do it justice. "You're the one who looks beautiful here."
Mary shook her head. "Nope, that's most definitely not the case. In every situation, you're the one who ranks superior in beauty, appearance-wise and personality-wise." She paused for a moment as she messed with the bottom of the dress she was wearing. "I've also done a lot things that I regret. A lot of things." She then let out a small sigh. "And I'm honestly trying to do better. I'm trying not to let all of this pent-up anger that I have fuel my actions." She paused for a moment as she let out another sigh. "And I've been doing better recently. I gave Mark a long talk about how he should put a stop to his mother stealing my family's money so that she can use it for herself instead of its intended purpose and I actually managed to convince him to do it, but he's waiting until after Prom. He said that if he did it before Prom, then he wouldn't be allowed to go so I guess I can understand why he decided on waiting."
"Wait, his mother's stealing money from your family?!" You asked, trying to make it sound like you had just found out about this.
"Yep, she sure is." Mary nodded. "Also, you don't have to pretend like you didn't know. I know that you heard everything I said to Mark after August asked you to Prom. And it's okay. I don't mind that you found out. Mark and I are breaking up after Prom and after he confronts his mom about this whole situation. Both of us are extremely unhappy in our relationship, our completely fake relationship, mind you, and besides, both of us have feelings for other people."
"Mark has feelings for someone else?"
"Of course he does." Mary said, laughing like she couldn't believe that you were clueless as to who Mark had feelings for. "Why do you think you ran into him holding a bouquet of flowers? He was going to ask you to forgive him for everything he's done these past few months before he asked you to Prom, but he stopped himself because he saw August ask you to Prom and you tell him that you would go with him."
"Oh my God." You whispered, hardly believing what you were hearing right now. "He's probably so crushed right now. I... I have to go and talk to him."
"Wait a second, do you have feelings for him too?"
You were silent as you thought about Mary's question. It was true that you loved everything about Mark, everything from the flower crowns he wore and the art he created to all of his flaws, which somehow still seemed to be perfect. It was also true that the thought of going to Prom with Mark made you way more excited than the thought of going to Prom with August.
Well, it looks like I've gone and fallen for the pretty boy.
"Yeah, I do." Much to your surprise, the words slipped from your mouth without a single stutter and with quite a lot of confidence. "I really do."
"Oh my God, that's really great to hear!" Mary smiled brightly as she jumped up and down slightly. You swore that the real Mary had been kidnapped by aliens and had been replaced with the Mary that was standing next to you, the Mary that, rather than warning you to stay away from Mark, was excited that you had feelings for him and that he returned those feelings. Although you wanted to believe you were witnessing a genuine change in Mary, you couldn't help but think there was some ulterior motive behind her kindness, like she would go back to being the Mary you've known her to be up until this point. But, at the same time, you also wanted to believe that Mary genuinely wanted to become a better person and she started by agreeing to go dress shopping with you and complimenting you in the process when she very well could've just insulted you and broken you down like she had done in the past.
You decided that you would believe that Mary was genuinely trying to become a better person after giving your feelings about Mary's recent kindness a few moments of thought. She hasn't really done or said anything that would point to her having an ulterior motive for being so kind towards you.

"You have to go over to his house and tell him that you feel the same way about him!" Mary was growing more excited as each moment passed by, evidenced both by her tone and her smile growing brighter and brighter. "You also have to go to Prom with him!"
"That's not going to happen." You shook your head. "I already said I would go to Prom with August and plus, how are Mark and I going to go to Prom without his mom finding out? If Mark and I go to Prom together and his mom finds out, she's going to be infuriated. Besides, I couldn't go to Mark's house even if I tried. His mom more than likely wouldn't let me get more than ten feet near it."
"Yeah, only if she's there." A smirk formed on Mary's face.
"What are you saying?"
"I can get her out of the house." The smirk on Mary's face grew. "That woman absolutely adores me and she's basically at my beck and call. If I call her saying that I want her to help me pick out a Prom dress, she'll get here and help me pick out a Prom dress."
"Okay, but what about August?" You asked, the guitar-playing and shaggy-haired boy suddenly flashing in your mind. "I already told him that I would go to Prom with him and I'd feel really bad canceling on him."
Suddenly, you heard your phone ringing from inside of the changing room. Upon hearing it, you rushed into the changing room and grabbed your phone. The screen showed that August was calling. You immediately answered the call and placed the phone up to your ear.
"Hey." You said into the phone, smiling a bit. "What's up?"
"Okay, so, I'm gonna cut right to the chase." August sounded completely serious as he spoke. "I've got good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"
"Bad news." You immediately replied without a second thought. You always thought that it was better to hear the bad news rather than the good news first because it usually made you more excited for the good news than it would if you had decided to hear the good news first.
"How did I know you were going to say that?" August asked as he let out a sigh. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "The bad news is that we aren't able to go to Prom together."
"What?!" Unlike with Mary when she told you that Mark's mother was stealing money from her family, you didn't have to hide your shock from August. "Why not?"
"Well, the reason ties into the good news."
"Okay... What's the good news then?"
"Apparently someone took a video of me playing guitar during one of the times I was playing guitar to earn some money and they posted said video to YouTube and it's gone viral!" August could hardly contain his excitement as he gave you his good news. "It's gone so viral that a record label contacted me saying they want me to come out to L.A. so that they can sign me to their label and make me a star because they liked my guitar playing and my singing voice!"
"That's amazing!" You smiled and covered your mouth with one hand due to how excited you were for him. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! There's no way that you can pass this up!"
"Yeah, but I also really want to Prom with you..." August's excitement almost immediately turned into sadness. "And if I go, I'll be gone for a long time. The record label wants me to write and record some songs and do a lot of concerts so that I can get people to know who I am and establish myself as a solo artist that sings and plays the guitar."
"August, you cannot pass this opportunity up." You made sure that you sounded dead serious so that he would be convinced not to pass up the opportunity he had been given just because he wanted to go to Prom with you. "This may never happen to you again. You have to take it and go to L.A."
"But if I go to L.A., how on earth am I going to have a relationship with you?" August seemed to grow sadder and sadder as time went on. "I was planning on asking you to be my girlfriend after Prom ended because I really like you, (Y/N). I really, really like you."
You sighed. "Are you really going to choose me over achieving and living out your dream?" You didn't bother waiting for a response and added, "I'm not going anywhere. If you go, I'll still be around. Trust me when I say that if you decide not to let the record label sign you, you're going to come to regret that decision. You need to go to L.A. and seize this opportunity while you still can."
"If you go, will you wait for me?" August asked, sounding like he was going to cry at any second. "Because I might be gone for just over a year or even a few years. When I come back, are you willing to allow me to be your boyfriend?"
"We'll have to see when you get back." You ran your fingers through your hair as you stared at your reflection in the mirror of the changing room. "A lot can change in just over a year and things sure as hell can change within a few years' time. Whether or not we'll end up being together depends on the circumstances we're both in when you return. Regardless of that, you need to take this wonderful opportunity that you've been given because instead of having the potential to make one person happy, you have the potential to make hundreds, thousands, even millions of people happy. How wonderful would it be to step outside and have people get excited just by seeing you? In your case, I think that that would be the greatest feeling in the world."
"Of course it would be!" Thankfully, August was back to being excited rather than being sad. "I love making people happy! It's the greatest thing in the world!"
"I knew you would agree with me." You smiled brightly to yourself before adding, "When will you be leaving for L.A.?"
"The day before Prom." August sighed. "So I'd really like to spend as much time as I possibly can with you before I go. And I can't hang out with you tonight because I have to give guitar lessons to the friend that I told you about."
"Don't worry, I'm busy too." You assured him. "I'm out shopping for Prom dresses."
"Did you find any that you like?"
"I'm wearing the one that I'm planning on getting, actually."
"Can you send me a picture?"
"I will after you hang up." You laughed a little.
"Okay, I'll hang up then. Oh, by the way, I wanted to tell you this before I hang up and eagerly await the picture of your Prom dress." August paused for a moment. "If you end up going to Prom with someone else, I just want you to know that I won't be upset."
You resisted the urge to let out a sigh of relief and distracted yourself from this urge by responding to him. "Um, okay. I'll keep that in mind, I guess."
"See you tomorrow, (Y/N). I'll be waiting for that picture."
Without waiting for a response, he ended the call. As soon as you ended the call, you proceeded to take what felt like a million and one pictures before you took one that you were at least somewhat satisfied with. You then sent said picture to August, not bothering to add a message to it, instead opting to close the changing room door behind you so that you could change out of the dress and back into your regular clothes.
Wow, absolutely beautiful. I love it. Your phone buzzed with a text from August.
Thanks. You quickly typed back as you left the changing room.

*****

After you had changed out of your dress and explained to Mary what August had told you during the phone call that you two had shared, she said, "Well, I'm very happy for him. He deserves to be famous. Not only is he a phenomenal guitar player, but he also has a wonderful singing voice that I'm sure a lot of people could listen to all day."
"I know I could." You freely admitted, shrugging a bit. "But anyways, what's the full plan with Mark? How are him and I going to go to Prom without his mother finding out? Assuming that he agrees to go to Prom with me, of course."
"Okay, I'm going to lay out the whole plan for you right now so listen carefully." Mary placed both of her hands on your shoulders and looked you dead in the eyes. "The first step in the plan is to get Mark's mother out of the house so that you can go over to his house and not have to worry about her. I'm going to get her out of the house by telling her that I want her to come to the mall and help me pick out my Prom dress, making sure that I'm really taking my time. Afterwards, I'm going to tell her that we should go out to eat to buy you even more time to spend with your pretty boy. When she's heading home, I'll send you a text warning you that she's on her way home, but I'll need your phone number in order to do that so you're going to have to give it to me once I'm completely finished laying out the plan to you." She paused for a moment. "In order to get you to Mark's house, I'm going to call the driver of the limo that my family has to use at their disposal twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week so that he can take you over there." She paused for a moment once more. "And as for Prom night, I haven't exactly planned that out yet so you're going to have to wait a while before I can give you the plan for that night."
"Mary, thank you so much for doing this." You meant every word you said because you wouldn't be able to pull this off without her. "I really owe you for doing this for me."
"You don't owe me anything, (Y/N)." Mary handed you her phone and you immediately started putting your phone number into it. "If anything, this is the least I can do to at least try to make up for all that mean stuff I did and said to you. I'm sorry for that, by the way. Looking back, I really was a bitch. If I could, I'd go back in time so that I can treat you way better than I actually did."
"I accept your apology." You smiled a bit as you handed her phone back to her and held your hand out towards her. "Friends? Or no longer unspoken arch enemies at the very least?"
"Yeah, of course." Mary smiled back at you as she grabbed ahold of your hand and shook it for a couple of seconds before she let go. "You're pretty cool. I only wish that I realized that sooner. Now, let's go score you that Prom date now, shall we?"

*****

After Mary made a couple of phone calls and changed out of her dress while you bought the dress that you wanted using the money that Troy had given you, you walked with the girl that you once considered to be the person you hated the most out of anyone that you knew out to the limo that she had generously decided to let you use in order to get to Mark's house.

"Alright, you're all good to go." Mary said after she had finished up a quick conversation with the limo driver. "I told the limo driver who you were and the situation that we were in. Also, if you ever want to travel in style, you know who to call."
"But I don't even have your number."
"Well, let's go ahead and change that, shall we?"
"Yeah, okay, sure." You found yourself smiling like an idiot as you unlocked your phone before handing it over to Mary. She typed for a couple of moment before she handed it back to you.
"There. Now you have my number." She returned the smile. "Now you have no excuse not to travel in style when you're in the mood for it."
"Thank you again, Mary." You placed your phone back into your pocket as you kept that idiotic smile on your face. "You really have no idea how much this means to me."
"It's no problem really." Mary's smile brightened. "Now, get in there and go get the pretty boy. His mother's on the way here as we speak and if you aren't gone by the time she gets here, the plan's completely ruined."
"Okay, okay, I'm getting in." You laughed as you opened the door to the limo before you stepped inside.

*****

Before you stepped out of the limo, you took a deep breath, telling yourself over and over again that everything was going to be okay and that you were perfectly capable of asking Mark if he wanted to go to Prom with you. Even though it was much easier said than done, you convinced yourself that you weren't going to back down, even if rejection awaited you.

You took another deep breath before you knocked on the door. Every moment that passed by where Mark didn't answer the door, you could hear your heart pounding get louder and louder until it was so loud that you wondered if any of the neighbors could hear it.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as the door opened and Mark stepped out from behind the door. As always, he was wearing his flower crown because it just wouldn't be Mark Fischbach if he wasn't wearing a flower crown. He was also wearing his red flannel shirt that he seemed to love so much based on how much he wore it and ripped jeans. Although their personalities were quite different from each other, Mark and August definitely shared similarities when it came to what they liked to wear.
"Um, hi, Mark." You instantly wanted the ground to create a hole beneath your feet and swallow you whole after hearing how awkward you sounded. It was like you were speaking to a stranger rather than someone you actually used to be really close with. "I'm here because-"
He interrupted you by putting his hand up before he began writing on his dry erase board. You decided to allow him to "say" whatever it was that he wanted to "say" so badly that he felt the need to interrupt you before you even finished saying what it was that you wanted to say.

The few moments that Mark spent writing away on his dry erase board were agonizing and you were relieved you saw him turn it over so that you could read what he had written. He had a lot to say so his handwriting was extremely small, so small that you had to squint your eyes and look at the board extremely closely in order to be able to actually read it.

(Y/N), I'm really glad that you came here. I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for suddenly cutting you off from my life without any sort of explanation whatsoever. You probably know by now, but my mom's been stealing money from Mary's family because she convinced them to help us pay for my dad's treatments, but she's actually using the money for herself and not giving so much as a penny to my father. She also set Mary and I up together to act as a fake couple because she doesn't like you. I don't know why she doesn't like you because I've never questioned her as to why she didn't like you, but I don't care whether she likes you or not. What matters are my feelings towards you. And I really cherish you as a friend. I always have and I always will. So, again, I'm really sorry for everything that I've done these past few months that have end up hurting you. I know that you probably won't forgive me for everything I did, but I wanted to apologize nonetheless because you deserve an apology.

"I forgive you, Mark." You smiled as you looked him straight in the eyes, those deep brown eyes that you loved so much. While you were a little upset that he didn't admit that he liked you as more than a friend, you were satisfied with hearing that he appreciated having you as a friend, even after everything that happened.

At that moment, Mark dropped his dry erase board down on the ground and hugged you the tightest he's ever hugged you before, even when he had a panic attack after you two had left the mall. You continued to smile as you returned the tight hug, not realizing how much you had truly missed him up until this moment.

Once you two managed to pull yourselves away from each other, you took another deep breath as you prepared to ask Mark the question that was the main reason why you were standing outside of his house right now.
"Mark, can I ask you something?" You tried so hard to hide the nervousness in your voice, but failed miserably.
He nodded as he adjusted his flower crown ever so gently, like he thought that the fake flowers would break if he wasn't careful enough.
"So, I, um, don't have a Prom date anymore." You began. "And don't worry. It's not because August decided to just blow me off for no reason. He has a reason and it's a damn good reason."
Mark nodded again, signaling for you to continue on. He didn't seem like he was convinced that August had a good reason, but he was willing to listen nonetheless.
"Someone took a video of him playing guitar while he was out trying to earn money by doing it and they uploaded said video to YouTube and it went viral." You continued to explain why August was no longer your Prom date. "Not only that, but a record label saw the video and they contacted him saying that they wanted him to fly out to L.A. so that they could sign him to their label and have him record, write some songs, and play concerts so that they could make him into a star. He's leaving a day before Prom and I'm really happy for him." You paused for a moment before you added, "So, that's why I no longer have a Prom date."
Why are you telling me this? Instead of picking his dry erase board up from the ground, Mark opted to use sign language to communicate instead.
You took a deep breath for what felt like the millionth time before you decided to finally ask Mark what you've been wanting to ask him ever since you realized that you had feelings for him.
"Mark, will you go to Prom with me?"