Chapter Text
Highschool. For some people it was the most wonderful time of their lives, the time to spend with friends before everyone went their way, getting older and being passionate about what and who you love, being more and more appreciated for who you are, as the years go by. It was a breathing space, a place to learn, laugh and think about the most absurd things, like going to space for the heck of it, visiting the Titanic, buying lots of balloons to annoy your family, or setting up your favourite teachers, who definitely had a crush on each another.
It was the last month of school and prom was right around the corner. The students were in a hurry to organise everything, looking for a location, catering, suits and dresses and writing invitations to family, friends and teachers alike.
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A bell rang to announce the end of the lesson. It was the last lesson of the day, classical art and architecture, taught by the infamous Mr. Hoelle, known for his eccentric style and sometimes taking his snakes to classes "so they don't get bored".
"Okay, this is it for today. We're going to analyse some of Goya's pieces next time, so you can leave your art supplies at home.", he swung himself off the table, surprised that students were waiting to talk to him.
"Mr. Hoelle, we have an invitation for you!", one of them said excited, glancing over to their classmates who were quickly leaving the room, already giggling about what was going on. Crowley, on the other hand, looked confused.
"An invitation? To what kind of spectacular event are you lot inviting me then?"
"Well, to our prom of course. It's in three weeks, you need to wear something fancy and find a date.", the quiet chattering fell silent, the students thrilled to know what he would say.
"Wear something fancy, huh? That's going to be less of a problem than finding a date, can't I just have a good time alone?", he laughed, but it was nervous laughter. He'd never been particularly fond of talking about his, sadly, non-existent love life. No one could even remember if he ever talked about a partner. If yes, it must have been ages ago. He did fancy someone but that was definitely not something to talk about with his students.
"Nope! Everyone needs a date, we plan to have a teacher's dance and everyone has agreed that it's a marvellous idea, so you can't say no."
"A dance? I'm just going to ruin everything by stepping on the dancefloor-"
"How about Mr. Fell? I'm sure you know him, he's our literature teacher. He's constantly talking about how wonderful dancing is, which means he can teach you and you can go just go to prom with him. I don't think he has a date either, so that's perfect, isn't it?" Crowley almost choked on the stuffy air and his throat felt so incredibly dry, he struggled to sound like a perfectly healthy human.
"Oh ehh, sure I-, I mean if he's fine with-, well, me- I,", it sounded like someone struggling to understand what kind of present he had just received. His students smiled as if their plan had already worked perfectly.
"Great! We'll let him know!"
They left and a few minutes later Crowley realised that his students had just set him up with Azir. Maybe not on a proper date but it definitely felt as if the weight of the world lay on his shoulders. He only had this one chance, it had to be perfect.