Once again, we were at Rocky's house. My dad and Jacob's mom waited with Rocky's parents as the two of us girls got ourselves put together. My dad was glad that Rocky got me to agree to go to prom. He was hoping that I wouldn't let whatever happened with Stevien make me miss out on fun activities of my senior year. As he said, "You only have one senior year.... unless you fail it the first time around." He always laughed when he said that.

Rocky's dress was black on the top that transitioned into emerald green. It had a single shoulder strap on the left side and was covered in sequenced stripes from shoulder to floor. It had a slit on the left leg that went halfway up her thigh with a slight gathering at her left waist. She looked stunning. Her hair was pulled back in a low messy bun with loose wisps of hair framing her face. Her makeup was simple, though her smokey green eyeshadow made her beautiful eyes pop even more than normal.

My dress was also an ombre color, though in reverse of Rocky's dress. Where her dress went from black at the top to full emerald green at the bottom, mine started emerald at the top and ended up black at the bottom. It had a sweetheart neckline with straps going up and over my shoulders giving it an almost crisscrossed look. The floor-length dress was full at the bottom but fitted on top. The back came together in the middle of my back with multiple hook-and-eye clasps. Between where the straps met in the back and the satin emerald sashing around my waist, there was a gap that almost formed a diamond shape. The material was simply stunning. Aside from the satin sashing around my waist, the dress sparkled like the stars in the sky. I think that is why I was so drawn to the dress. I felt like I was amongst the stars while I was wearing it. The best part about my dress was that it had pockets, deep pockets. Rocky finished my look with the same smokey eye shadowing that she had, giving my gray eyes a bit of green color. My hair was simply pulled back into a long, curled ponytail. Rocky had taken strands and wrapped them around the ponytail giving the effect of only my hair holding itself up. She finished the look as she took wisps of hair out to frame my face.

As we were nearly done, we heard the doorbell ring, signaling Jacob's arrival. He brought his mom's SUV so that we would all have "plenty of room for the big dresses," as he put it. Rocky and I put our shoes on and walked down the stairs. Rocky's slit made it easy for her to navigate the steps, but my full-skirted dress made my navigation a little trickier. I took my time and once I reached the landing, I looked for my father. He was once again in tears at seeing me all dressed up. I rarely dressed up, but I liked to think that I cleaned up nicely.

"Oh, Lottie. You look exquisite in that dress." My dad said. I once again pulled out a tissue from my pocket for him, getting a feeling of déjà vu. I had forgotten that this is where Stevien picked me up last year for prom. The thought of that made my heart begin to race. I knew I couldn't have a panic attack, so I looked at my dad.

"Five."

"Oh!" Dad said. "Do you have a cola that Lottie could drink?" He asked Rocky's dad.

"Yeah, sure. I will go get it." He replied.

"Lottie, deep breaths in and out," Dad said taking me outside onto the front porch for fresh air.

After I finished my deep breaths, I leaned onto dad's shoulder and just cried.

"Oh, no sweetheart. Please don't cry. I know that you have had a rough year, but I promise, you will get through it. This is supposed to be a fun night with friends. Please, don't cry. I want you to enjoy this time in your life. It is a great time but challenging. I know that you will get through it. You are going to do great things with your life, Lottie. But I will tell you what. If you feel like leaving before Rocky and Jacob are ready, call me and I will come right away. How does that sound?" He softly asked.

"Thanks, dad. I know I haven't exactly been myself lately but thank you for still being there for me. I was just thinking of things that happened in the past year and how much has changed and how much will change soon. I just got overwhelmed with it. I'm sorry for crying all over your shirt. Did I smear my makeup at all?" I asked as I hugged him again.

"Let me see." He said as he held me back at arm's length to get a better view. "Surprisingly, your makeup looks fine, but I think mine is a bit worse for the wear." He said to get a laugh out of me, and he succeeded. I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face again.

"There's my beautiful daughter. You truly look like your mother. She was beautiful and so are you. I am so glad that you look like her rather than me." He laughed at that thought. "Could you imagine if you looked like me? Man talk about having a rough time."

"Dad," I said with a smile, knowing he was trying to keep my spirits lifted. "Do you think we should go back inside now?"

"Yes. We should. You have a dinner and dance to go to, Cinderella." He replied as he wrapped his arm over my shoulder and led me back inside.

"Sorry about that," I said as I looked at everyone once we were back inside. "Rocky, you may have to fix my makeup, sorry."

"That's alright. Besides, it doesn't look bad from here, just a few spots to touch up." Rocky said as she smiled at me before heading up to get the makeup.

It took Rocky five minutes to fix my makeup. After she was done, we took our pictures. Dad made sure to bring his camera. He wanted to make sure that there were plenty of pictures to spare. Rocky took pictures with Jacob first, then Jacob and I, followed by Rocky and me. Finally, the three of us stood together, Rocky to Jacob's right while I stood on his left. The three of us looked like something out of a fashion magazine. Rocky had pulled together our look through Jacob. He was dressed in an all-black tux, a black button-up shirt, and sharp, black dress shoes. His look was complete with a sparkling emerald green necktie. Rocky always had a good sense of fashion, but it clearly showed when the three of us stood together.

After our parents were done with their photoshoot, we headed to the school for the prom procession followed by the dinner and dance. The procession took a while as we had expected, but what I had not expected was to follow directly behind Stevien and Beth-Ann. I was trying my best to not let her get under my skin tonight but the onslaught of little, sly, and snarky comments she was making, made it difficult. Rocky, being the best person in the world, stood between the two of us, while Jacob was talking to Stevien. Soon Beth-Ann and Stevien were the next to be called and Rocky just couldn't take her snide remarks any longer.

"Beth-Ann," Rocky called her over while curving her index finger in a beckoning action. "I just wanted to say that I hope you realize that your attitude towards others will not get you far in the world outside of high school. You may have the rest of the school bending to your will, but when you get out of here and try to make it in the real world, you are in for a real wake-up call. And my best friend here, she is going places that you can only dream of." She said just as Beth-Ann's name was called. "Have a wonderful evening Beth-Ann," Rocky called out as Beth-Ann and Stevien headed towards the stage.

"Raquelle Leopold!?" I exclaimed.

"What?" Rocky asked innocently. "I couldn't take her snide remarks any longer. Girl, you are ten if not one hundred times the woman that she will ever be, and don't you forget it." She said as we were called out to the stage.

"Thank you, Rocky," I said with the biggest smile plastered to my face. It was the first time in months that I had a genuinely huge smile and knowing that Rocky had my back made this cringe-worthy night more bearable than I thought it ever could be.

I managed to stay at the whole dance this time. I was determined to not let Beth-Ann chase me away from this dance as she had last year. Rocky, Jacob, and I had fun together. I knew that I would have to take breaks from the loud music, so I took regular walks in the hall outside of the gym for fresh, calm air. On one of those walks, Stevien passed me in the hall on my way back into the gym.

"Eliotte, you look nice." He said to me. I was so taken aback that I almost couldn't speak but managed to find my small voice.

"Thank you Stevien. You do, too," I replied as he walked away. I quickly found Rocky sitting at our table and told her what happened.

"Maybe he is finally coming to his senses." She said jokingly.

"Maybe, but I am not going to hold my breath for anything else to happen. He seems to have pretty much written me out of his life." I responded before Rocky grabbed my hands.

"Oh no, you don't. Girl, we are getting up and dancing. Now." Rocky commanded as she dragged me out to the dance floor, on the outside of the speakers, she knew I was starting to slip back into my shell. Jacob joined us when he saw Rocky pulling me along.

"What's wrong?" Jacob asked, practically yelling over the music.

"Nothing. Really." I answered trying to block out what happened.

"Yeah, someone, who shall not be named, paid her a compliment. So now, we are going to dance." Rocky filled him in as a new song began. I felt content to be there with Rocky and Jacob. I was thankful to have them in my corner, and I slowly felt my tension dissolve away with the beat of the music. I danced and danced until a few songs, I felt like someone was staring at me. With my nerves quickly coming back with a vengeance, I looked around to find the staring eyes. My breath hitched a little when I noticed who it was: Stevien.

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