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“Pull it together, Morales.”
His fingers fumbled meticulously with the fabric around his neck, redoing it for perhaps the fifth time. It wasn’t perfect and he needed nothing but perfection tonight, yet the nervous sweat coating his fingers prevented him from achieving that.
“Fuck,” he huffed in frustration, pressing the heel of his palms against his skull. The sweat protruding from his scalp rubbed off, making him feel sticky.
Three knocks were heard from the other side of his door, and he called whoever stood on the other side in as he took a defeated seat on his bed.
The door creaked up, first revealing her curly hair before the concerned look on his mother’s face.
“Is everything okay, Papa?” she started, taking a few steps into his room, “It’s been longer than five minutes… again.”
“I can’t get the tie right. And I- I’m really worried this is predicting how the night will go. What if I totally screw up our,” he hesitated, choosing his words wisely, “friendship?”
His mother pouted as she approached the bed, causing Miles to glance up at her. From his gaze, he could tell her age was catching up to her appearance as thin gray hairs now protruded from her roots. She cupped her son’s face, her hands warm and smelling of her perfume and Miles’ body subconsciously relaxed.
“Look, you and this girl-”
“Margo,” he interrupted, making his mother smile softly.
“Right. Margo. You’ve been friends for a while. And you asked her out to this dance, right?” Miles lowered his gaze.
“Sureee…”
It went something like that.
It happened during a study session. Two of their classmates tapped out for the day to go home, leaving them alone to pass banter back and forth.
Like usual.
Like always.
Margo fiddled with her mushroom earrings as she drank from the juice box Miles had given her due to losing a bet earlier that week. As she scrolled through whatever she was occupied with on her laptop, Miles stared at the reminder email he received about prom tickets. Prom wasn’t anything serious to Miles. As a matter of fact, a lot of school dances weren’t and he failed to attend any through his years in high school.
Yet, this was his senior year prom. His friends already forced him to buy tickets, promising him a night he wouldn’t forget. They’d go together as a group, no dates needed. Just fun. Yet, the idea of teasing Margo prompted him to open his mouth.
“Got a date yet for prom?” he asked, disrupting the rare silence they shared. Margo perked up, more than usual as she stopped scrolling.
“Pfft- No. Why?” she asked, rolling her straw between her thumb and pointer finger. Her bracelets clanged together from the small movement, and Miles only shrugged. “Also, don’t you hate school dances?”
“Is it such a crime to ask? Plus, maybe I had a change of heart.” Margo rolled her eyes and he gave her a huge grin.
“Yes, and I doubt it. Why? Did you plan on asking me?”
“Maybe I did. May I didn’t.” Margo raised an eyebrow and his face felt hot with embarrassment. “But… if I was, you’d be l with in luck. I’m a really good dancer.”
Margo laughed, taking a sip of her juice box and turning her attention back to her computer.
“Sure, Miles. I’d love to go with you, too.”
Miles sighed softly. He liked Margo and looked forward to every day of school knowing he’ll get to see her. While he enjoyed their teasingly romantic banter, he wasn’t clear on if it wasn’t serious or not. It deeply confused him, but due to the fear of ruining what they shared, he prevented bringing it up.
“Look, Miles. If you like this… Margo, and she likes you too, then everything will be okay.” The words of his mother pulled him out of his mind. She let go of his face to redo the light green tie around his neck. She smoothed the fabric into his cream suit and adjusted his collar.
“You look so handsome,” she gushed, a pout on her lips as she sniffled.
“Mami…” Miles said with a frown, standing up to hug his mother. He didn’t want to see her cry.
“Sorry. I can’t help it. You’ve really grown up.” She kissed the side of his head once, twice, thrice, before pulling back. “Just be you, Miles. You’re going to have a great time.”
“Let’s hope you’re right, Mom.”
Another knock vibrated the bedroom door and Miles’ father opened the door.
“Hey, uh, your friends are here. Everything ready to go?” As his eyes darted between the two of them, his mother turned to him. Miles took another deep breath, repeating his mother’s words in his head.
“Yeah.”
He walked out of his room with his parents, a grin appearing on his face when he spotted his two best friends chatting with one another.
“Miles!” Gwen sang, cutting off Ganke to welcome him into a hug. Miles entered her arms, giving her a squeeze before pulling back to twirl her. She wore a velvet button-up and bowtie with a black handkerchief skirt around her waist and velvet boots on her feet. To top it off, she wore a beat-up tophat and Miles could tell she spent hours in front of her dresser due to the vivid makeup that now coated her face.
“Gwen! Are you the Mad Hatter? You look amazing!”
“Thank you! See, Ganke! I told you people would recognize me! Alice in Wonderland will forever be known.”
Ganke rolled his eyes, fixing the cowboy hat on his head.
“I feel like I’m more recognizable,” he pushed, gesturing to his outfit.
“Hmm. I actually can’t put a finger on it. It’s definitely… recognizable though!” Miles teased as Gwen began giggling. Ganke frowned.
“Every day, you guys bully me. Maybe I should find new friends,” he jokingly threatened. Miles threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly.
“C’mon! If you didn’t like us, you would have stopped talking to us years ago, Woody~”
Ganke pushed him away and Miles only giggled, before seeing his parents in the corner of his eye.
“Alright, let's get a few pictures before you guys go!” his mother spoke up, gesturing for the three of them to stand close to one another and pose.
Students continued to stroll their way into the venue as the DJ scrambled to find music to match the awkwardness of the beginning of the party.
No one touched the dance floor, everyone sat at tables, and friends occasionally squealed across the room before running towards each other to embrace one another in a hug.
Miles watched this go on, swirling his mocktail against the table he sat at. He checked his watch again, the display only changing a minute since the last time he checked. After his entire high school career of being late to everything, this was the first he was on time. All because he wanted to impress his... Friend? Crush? Really pretty girl who he had no idea if she was still coming?
He took another swig of his drink, hearing Gwen snicker beside him before placing a supportive hand on his back.
“She’ll be here. Don’t fret. No one would miss prom,” she hummed.
“I know. She still hasn’t checked my messages and we kind of planned going together on a whim. Communication was awful, especially on my part.”
“I mean, I’m sure she expected you’d show up late. Like you always do,” Ganke retorted, popping a few grapes in his mouth.
Miles groaned, placing his head down on the table. He could feel the sweat he produced from nerves, soaking onto the table cloth from his forehead. Gwen gave his back a few more pats before removing her hand.
Pulling his phone off the table, he once again checked his messages with Margo and just like before, he was left on delivered.
Prom had now officially started forty minutes ago.
Miles picked his head off the table, about to suggest they mingle with other classmates instead of waiting when he heard Gwen gasp and felt her repeatedly tap his shoulder. He whipped his head to face the entrance, his breath hitching in his throat as his eyes fell onto her.
Suddenly, his feelings towards her weren’t so confusing.
Margo stopped at the entrance, her large light green ball gown sweeping the floor and swaying with each small movement. Her hair was tied up in a high puff, allowing a tiara to sit gracefully on her crown. As the lights from the dance floor occasionally hit her, Miles could see the glitter on her skin gleaming, making her glow. Now, he understood why she wanted them to dress up as Tiana and Naveen.
She looked stunning as a princess.
“She’s looking for you,” Ganke spoke, snapping Miles out of his staring. He shot straight out of his seat and frantically waved to get her attention. It only took mere seconds for her eyes to land on him. As she sauntered over, Miles noticed Hobie and Pavitr behind her. With the horns on top of his head, he could tell that Hobie was dressed as Magnificent, and with the black round ears and face paint on Pavitr, it was easy to see that he chose Mickey Mouse.
As they reached the table, Miles scrambled for the corsage his mother helped him pick out. He didn’t know much about flowers but he did know that Margo loved purple.
“H-Hey,” he stuttered once she stood before him. From this close, she was absolutely breathtaking. “I have your corsage! Also, you look amazing.”
Margo smiled and stuck her arm out, allowing Miles to slide it onto her wrist.
“Thanks. You look really nice in a suit,” she replied, opening her purse and pulling out a boutonniere made up of yellow flowers. “May I?” she giggled, gesturing to the pocket on his suit.
“Y-Yeah of course.” Margo carefully tucked the flowers into the suit pocket, patting it down to ensure it was secured before removing her hands.
“There. Sorry about being late. I just assumed you’d be late so…” she trailed off and Hobie laughed.
“Runnin’ on black people time. A bit cheeky of us, eh?”
“I let Margo handle the time stuff,” Pavitr interjected.
“It’s no worries at all,” Miles laughed, shaking his head. “I would have probably done the same. What matters is that you’re here.” Miles smiled softly at Margo, who in turn, fiddled with a piece of fabric from her dress.
“Oh, I got you a-” Miles started again, going to reach over to the cup he had picked up for Margo when he went to get his own drink. However, once in his hands, the wet, condensation coating made him realize the ice had melted and most likely watered down the beverage. “Well, this was one of the mocktails they were serving. The ice melted though.. I’ll grab you another one!”
“Oh, it’s-”
“I’ll be back!”
Miles rushed back to the drink bar, waiting in the tiny line that had formed due to newcomers. He tapped his foot impatiently as he slowly inched to the front. Soon, he asked for a new drink and was able to return to Margo, who was now chatting with the others.
“I got your drink,” he chimed in smoothly, sticking it out for her.
Margo took the cup with a soft smile.
“Thanks.” She took a small sip before nodding. “Ooh, okay. I can see why you wanted me to have it while it’s still cold.”
“They got drinks out, mate? Where at?” Hobie asked.
Miles pointed to the drink bar on the opposite side of the room.
“There’s snacks on the right side of the bar as well. They’re alright.”
“Wanna grab some with me?” he asked Pavitr who agreed immediately. The two left as Gwen spotted a few of her friends making it towards the dancefloor and excused herself. Ganke then stepped away to use the restroom, leaving the princess and the prince by themselves.
“So…” Miles started.
“So…?” Margo repeated, taking another sip from her cup.
“I’m a little shocked at some people’s outfits. Some really stuck to the Disney theme and got creative.” They shared a glance around the room to gander at their peers before their eyes met. Miles held her gaze, his face heating up from the attention. He broke it momentarily to take another look at her outfit, a smirk spreading on his lips.
“But yours? You truly look like a princess.” And he meant it. Margo always was attractive to him, but seeing her like this? It made him feel ridiculous that he ever doubted his feelings towards her.
“I could say the same about you. It’s a shame this is probably the only time I’ll see you in a suit.”
Miles chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly from her flirtatious comment.
“Oh, this old thing? It was nothing.” Which was a blatant lie. He scoured multiple shopping outlets for this suit, once again wanting to make this night perfect. They had planned which Disney characters they wanted to dress as, Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen, however, Margo refused to send over anything but inspiration boards from Pinterest. It was a shopping nightmare for Miles.
There was a bit of silence between them again, and Miles began to panic. Silence wasn’t good, at least he didn’t think so.
“How’d you guys get here? Like did you drive a limo or take someone’s car?” Scrambling, he was scrambling for anything but silence at this point.
“We took Pav’s car. Much nicer. We don’t got limo money.”
“Right.” He was failing. Definitely failing.
“Well-”
“Hey, do you just wanna dance?” Margo asked, placing the cup down and holding out her hand. “Don’t be so nervous. I picked you as my prom date, didn’t I?”
Miles bit his bottom lip, placing his hand into her own as the words prom date bounced around in his head.
“Was it that obvious?”
“Very obvious. C’mon. Our friends are waiting for us.” As she led him to the dance floor, he felt his nerves begin to calm down. She was right. Perhaps he was getting in his head a little too much. She could have chosen anyone else to be by her side and she chose him.
With the way she gripped his hand, he felt that she would continue to choose him in every lifetime. And Miles would do the same.
“Show me those dance moves you were talking about before~” Margo teased once she reached their small group of friends and Miles dramatically pretended to crack his fingers.
“I’m not sure you’re ready for me to outdo you on the dance floor.”
“Oh, you’re on.” Fits of giggles erupted from the pair as they danced the night away for hours. With each song, they grew closer and closer, and by the end of the night, they were in each other’s arms, swaying back and forth to the slow melodies.
They needed no words to share how they felt about each other at that moment.