The Prom Night Planner

3. Serena

The doorbell rings twice. It's probably the pizza delivery. Ariana goes to the door while I scroll down Jayce's profile. Back then, we were friends on f*******:, but then when he left school I was furious at him. I unfriended him from my profile and ever since he never tried to undo it.

Ahh! Old and freaking memories. I sigh and check out the first picture of him on his profile in which he has worn white zip up hoodie with fitted pants. His hair is arranged in a spiky way. His back is leaning against the bright sky-blue wall behind him with his hands in his pants' front pockets. The whole picture background is actually sky blue, making him stand out.

The background, picture quality and his posture evidently explain his paid photographer has captured that photo for him. He's looking like those clean cut, hot magazine cover models. I further see there are around 1400 likes and some 1000 comments on his post. Most of them are females, complimenting him how hot, mouth-watering and attractive he looks.

A strange feeling of irritation settles in my stomach as I read those comments with humourless chuckles. Girls are treating him as he's the only handsome vocalist alive. My eyes pop out the moment I see the count of his f*******: friend, nearly 2000. He possibly would have been getting hundreds of messages daily. He also has a f*******: fan page and in my defense, I like to mention I'm not following that page.

I scroll down further and see the second post. It's another picture of him in which he looks normal and a regular guy maybe because it is taken from a phone. He's with his friends Arthur and Brandon. I know them. They are from his batch. Two years ago, all three of them stayed together most of the time in school. Now Arthur and Brandon are in college. I guess they are still in touch with each other.

This picture has also hundreds of likes and comments. I'm about to move to the next post when the fresh aroma of mushroom pizza hits my nostrils and then I feel Ariana's presence beside me, "Ahan, you're checking out Jayce's profile. Do you miss him?"

I shoot her a disbelieving look, putting the phone down, "What? I have better things to do."

"Come on, Serena. You don't have to lie to me."

I snatch the pizza box from her and toss back the device, "I'm not lying. It's true."

"Okay. Then why out of all people you chose to stalk his profile?"

"I was just curious." I shrug, open the box and grab one slice. I pass the box to Ariana.

"Then why didn't you date anyone after him?" She persists.

It has been six months now Jayce has returned to school, but my face-to-face meetings with him happened few times. He stays away from me and I do the same. He's also in Final Year and has almost similar courses as me except the elective ones. I was surprised to see him again. My wounds freshened. I couldn't make myself to be normal to him because it was just mystifying to encounter the person I thought I would never see again.

"Because I don't want any boy-drama in my life. I want to spend my time in school in peace." I answer, "Now stop talking about him."

"Okay." She says in defeat.

We enjoy our pizza in silence for next few minutes. If Arian's Mom would be here, she would have passed out after seeing the dispersed litter all around. There are empty cans, bowls and now a large pizza box. And the smell of food that can irritate her as well. Ariana's Mom is polite, it' s not like she's a modern version of Cindrella's step mother, but she's a strict woman maybe because she's a widow and managing the internal and external affairs of the house as the only adult. That's why Ariana can't dare to invite me to her place in her Mom's presence.

"I want Lucas to ask me for the prom." Ariana breaks the silence

"You should try now." I say with stuffed mouth, wiping off the sauce from my lips with the back of my hand, "Before you regret for the rest of your life. Prom is important and you should go to the prom with the person you love." Afterwards, I stand on my feet and straighten my tee shirt.

"You're right." Ariana says thoughtfully.

"I better go now or else Mom will be mad at me. I'll see you tomorrow."

She also rises from the couch. The pizza sauce is all over her mouth, but I do not bother telling her because it doesn't matter. I know I'm looking the same. We can't help it when it comes to pizzas. We love them and eat like it's the only thing we know at that moment. Haha!

"Okay. Don't forget to prepare for the expected pop quiz of World History. It's day after tomorrow."

"No way." I react, widening my eyes, "When did it happen?" I'm about to move my fingers in my hairs to arrange them, but I stop when I think my hands are smelling like tomato ketchup and I don't want my hair to have the same odour.

She shakes her head twice at my oblivious state, "In last class, remember Mr. Miller told us to stay prepare for the quiz?"

"Did he?"

She nods in response.

"Ari, you're telling me now about this when it's just a day away? I've no time for the preparation." I panic.

These teachers will be death of me, I swear. Tests and quizzes are endless and don't even get me started about the surprise tests.

I'm going to flunk this quiz, certainly.



I change into my hello kitty pyjama and grey short tee shirt. It's my night outfit. When I'm at home I usually stay in my Pyjamas and my hairs are tied into ponytail. Using some makeup wipes, I remove my makeup and then tie my brunette hairs with yellow hair elastic. Through my fingers I comb my front short tendrils and arrange them on my forehead.

The colour of my eyes is similar to iron grey. In sunlight they seem glassy grey. My skin colour is close to sand. I have bulbous tipped nose, round face so it makes my jawline not very edgy which I take it as one of my flaws because you know, beauty experts consider sharp jawlines for a perfect face shape. But I've observed typically the celebs with round face doesn't have a defined jawline for instance Mila Kunis, Emma Stone or Olivia Munn.

However, these beautiful females still can't vanquish my wish of having edgy jawlines. About my shape of lips, I have slightly down-turned lips. The upper lip is smaller than the lower. Sometimes just for change, I make my lips look thin through lip liners. But I'm not one of those cake-faced girls. I prefer light makeup and nude shades for my regular days. For special occasions, I do watch YouTube makeup tutorials to learn some new techniques and colour combos.

And about my stature and weight; I'm about 5 ft. 5 inches tall and weight is almost 110 pounds. I don't look dumpy, but I don't look undernourished either. I don't have a physique like those skin-and-bone models. I'm not a belle or hot cover girl. I see myself as just regular, average looking teenager. People at first glance generally see me as nerd, outgoing, humble, ambivert and reliable.

"Serena, come out of the room and help me in dining right now."

It's my Mom.

She's preparing dinner for all three of us; me, my Dad and herself. She loves cooking. That's the reason she doesn't want to hand over this task to our servants. In my house, we have two servants. They do all of the household duties except cooking because Mom wants to cook for her husband and me by herself.

"Coming." I shout back.

I hurry out of the room after slipping my feet into waffle, fur slippers. The apartment we have is not kind of deluxe houses, but it's not impoverished either. It has three bedrooms, a big lounge where I'm right now arranging plates, spoons and other essential crockery for dinner and it also has a living room. I won't say my family is super rich, but we have never faced financial problems at least not since I've been here. Mom and Dad earning well enough to send me to good college.

"You know, you should help your Mom sometimes at Kitchen." Mom comes to the dinner table with a tray balanced in her hands, "Do I have to call you every time?"

I groan under breath, "Mom, I'm busy too. It's my Final Year. I was preparing for my upcoming pop quiz."

It's not a lie. I was going through my notes earlier.

Dad joins us too. Once the table is set, we all settle down at our spots and grab the plates to ourselves. "I'm so sorry, Darling." Mom apologizes, "Quiz of which subject?"

"World History." I respond exasperatingly.

Mom is brunette like me, but she has dark coffee eyes, however, my Dad's eye colour is similar to mine. I'm their only child so I guess that's the reason I've taken physical attributes from both of them; Dad's height, lips shape, skin colour and Mom's nose, hands and fingers' shape and her hair.

I take the piece of beef steak on my plate and start digging my fork in it. Mom is an expert cook. She knows a lot of good recipes and tries them for us.

"Don't stress yourself too much. Sleep early." Mom says.

I look up and smile at her. Dad put his fork down and criss-crossed his fingers on the table, "So, are you sure you want to be a part of prom's planning? We've already signed the contract with your school."

I nod, "Yes, Dad. I can do it. I know enough."

Mom argues, "But this can disturb your studies. Your exams will be very near at that time."

"Mom, trust me."

I've been working at Dad's office for a year now. I don't earn money there, but only learn how the company functions and the budgeting, negotiations and a lot more. For now, Dad has only limited the company to just corporate meetings, conferences and formal/informal parties, but he is planning to expand.

"Darling, why do you want to take unnecessary burdens? I can understand your excitement for the prom. But you should enjoy yourself like other students. Planning a whole event can be very stressful and exhausting."

"It's my chance." I say thoughtfully, entangling the fork in my fingers. I switch my gaze from Mom to Dad, "Planning a prom is easy for me since I know what people of my age would like. This is the best chance to execute what I've learned up till now. And besides, Mom I'm not alone. Dad's whole team will work with me."

"Hmm." Dad glances at Mom, nodding, "She's saying right. Office staff will be with her throughout the time." He looks at me again, "But Serena, I'm not asking you to reconsider your decision because I doubt your skills. I'll let you handle the project, but I want to know, are you sure with the career path you've chosen? I mean it's now time you should make a choice."

I know what he's referring too. I'm eighteen and it's time to choose the career path he just mentioned, but I've already thought about it. My vision is clear.

"I don't want you to feel pressured that you're my only daughter so you should be supporting me in my business." Dad adds on, "I want you to follow your own dreams. If you like some other discipline, go for it. We'll cheer for you, right?"

Dad turns to Mom and she motions her head in agreement, "Of course. Follow your own interests."

"Dad, I like your work." I say in a serious tone, "I want to do my majors in recreation and event management and I'm not saying this out of any obligation. I'm more into creativity than other dry disciplines. If I wouldn't be interested, I wouldn't be working in your office as a trainee. I want to learn and get some experience."

A warm smile spreads across his face. Mom caresses my shoulder. I understood through their gestures they have agreed with me. My area of interest is in organizational communication and creativity, but I also want to learn to supervise the event management team. I've decided my next big life-goal.

"Okay, my baby girl." Dad begins speaking, "From tomorrow your official training will start. Report to me after school, I'll give you the briefing for your first ever project; your very own Prom Night."

Strawberry love to you, Dad.