Chapter 3
1277 Words
Meryl flipped her hand and draped the curtain over the window bars. The other girls in the class were chatting excitedly, moving things around. Warren was leaning on Gus, trying to talk him out of his anxiety.
She walked by them with a party popper and was pulled back by Gus.
“Meryl, help me!”
“You decided to do this, not me. Why should I help you?”
“B-But… But we’re best friends!”
“Fine. I’ll give you a piece of advice then. If you want to do it, then go for it. If you don’t, then cancel this whole thing. It’s not too late. I mean, the gym is a prime example.”
“Don’t listen to her, Gus. She’s still mad about the gym incident with Sheila. Just relax, I’m sure she would say yes.”
“You guys don’t know her. She’s very random.”
“We’ve been friends since kindergarten. I’m sure she would say…. no.” Meryl smirked as Gus panicked.
“Meryl!” they both exclaimed. She shrugged and walked closer to the door. She pulled out her phone and texted her best friend. She waved her phone at the boys when she was done.
“She’s already on her way so it’s too late to back out now.”
Gus gulped nervously, receiving a comforting pat on the back from Warren. They moved in position and waited for Coraline to arrive. The class doors swung open as Coraline burst inside like the ball of energy she was, a party popper popping in her face.
A neon sign that read ‘Will you go to prom with me?’ was held high by Warren and another boy from their class. The girls held party poppers, some of which went off when she entered and the rest waiting till she answered. Gus was on one knee, smiling anxiously.
Coraline was very surprised, still in shock for a few minutes. Her eyes wandered to Meryl, who nodded reassuringly.
“Yes, I’ll go to prom with you.”
Party poppers went off and screams of excitement filled the class. The prom couple locked in a hug and Gus was probably thanking Coraline for saying yes. At least that was what Meryl thought he was saying.
She cheered too, happy for her best friend but soon retired to the back since there was so much noise and excitement. She bumped into someone else and made out their face in the dim light.
“Oh, Isabella, hi.”
“Meryl. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. Just waiting till all the excitement comes down.”
“That’s just like you.” Isabella chuckled lightly.
Isabella was one of the older students in their school. She moved from the city recently too and was friends with Meryl. In fact, she was Meryl’s date to the last dance. She was friendly and nice, but she often kept to herself.
“You haven’t been promposed to yet?”
“No, not one. Want to go again together this year?”
“Um, about that… Warren asked me to go with him.”
“Warren? Since when are you two close?!”
“We started talking recently and he’s not that bad. He took me dress shopping the other day.”
“Huh… I was not expecting that. But anyways, congratulations.”
“Thank you. I feel bad though.”
“It’s fine. I’ll find someone else. Just enjoy your prom and think about making good memories.”
“I will,” she replied, smiling warmly.
Meryl goes to take down the curtains and sighs deeply when she gets down. Despite what she said to Isabella, she knew she wasn’t going to get asked to prom. Nobody has asked her since the beginning of the school year, all of her friends and the boys she found eligible were already taken. There was really no hope for her.
“What’s with that glum look on your face?”
She looks up to see a face identical to the face that annoyed her earlier that morning. Sheldon looked very similar to his twin sister and was even more annoying. He specially went out of his way to annoy Meryl.
“Yeah… even if all the men in the world died, I wouldn’t consider you.”
“How rude! I feel the same way too!”
“You don’t know how happy that makes me feel.”
“Your face is annoying!”
“Your entire presence gives me physical discomfort.”
“Children, children, there’s no need to fight. Look, daddy’s here,” Warren cuts in, putting a hand in their middle.
“You!” Meryl says, glaring fiercely at Warren.
“Me?” He points to himself, confused.
“You sly! You asked Isabella to prom!”
“I don’t see a problem with that. Unless you wanted me to go with you. Aw, if you wanted me to go with you, you should’ve just asked.”
“My carcass would rather disintegrate than go anywhere with you. I wanted to go with Isabella.”
“Oh my! I never knew you were…” Warren flicked his wrist in a downward exaggerated movement which annoyed Meryl.
“Come to think of it, I think I heard some rumors last years that you were gay, Meryl,” Sheldon cut in, rubbing his chin and pretending to be thoughtful.
“No one asked your opinion, city boy!”
“I’m sorry, is that supposed to be an insult?”
“Talking to you lowers my IQ. I’m going to where there are hopefully less idiots.”
“Good luck finding a place without yourself in it!”
“You’re as dumb as that comeback, Warren!” she yelled back. When school closed, Meryl was leaning on her car, listening to Caroline while she waited for Lukas. Gus was at practice with Warren and the football team.
“… Do I have to get a new dress? Why didn’t he ask earlier?”
“He’s the one who would have to struggle, not you. Don’t stress about it.”
“You only do prom once, Meryl! Don’t be so nonchalant.”
“I hear there are dinners and wild parties in college.”
“You can only do high school and high school prom once, Meryl! You’re not feeling it because you don’t have a date. This is why I didn’t want to accept it.”
“Coraline, you don’t have to worry about me or Gus matching your dress. I texted him the color and sent him a sample picture so I’m sure you guys would match. You and I will enjoy this prom.”
“Yesh,” she replied with her mouth squeezed at her cheeks by Meryl. The latter spotted her younger sibling coming through and let go of Coraline.
“I’ve got to go or Jessie will yell at me for being late. Text me?”
“Sure!”
Lukas entered the car and immediately went for his sister’s metaphorical throat.
“Got a prom date yet, sis?”
“I’ll kill you.”
“Is that a no? Aw, sucks to be you.”
“Get out of my car.”
“I can be your date if you like. Don’t worry, all it’ll cost is 50 bucks.”
“I don’t want my prom date to be someone who cried about cooties in middle school when a girl kissed him for the first time.”
“Sis!”
“You’re still too young to defeat me, idiot.”
- Writer
