"I'm coming!" I screamed down to Zoe. "How do I look?" I huffed as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Out of breath." She joked. "Kidding, you're absolutely gorgeous. Ten bucks says he'll tell you the same thing."

I opened the door to see Theo stood in his black suit and red tie. "Wow." He paused. "You look gorgeous."

"Pay up." Zoe coughed from behind me.

"Thank you." I ignored her. "You look great, too."

No matter how many times I see Theo in a suit, he always manages to outdo himself. I swear suits were designed just for him.

"Ready to go?"

"Eh, excuse me? Pictures?" Zoe whipped out her phone. "Stand in the doorway, yeah, to the left-"

I shuffled around, trying not to trip over my satin red dress. "Perfect, guys." Zoe smiled. I swear I saw tears in her eyes.

"I got you this-" Theo pulled a black box from his suit pocket. "Corsages aren't really your thing, and you only wear them once so..."

He opened the box to show a charm bracelet. "There's a flower on it, if that counts as a corsage."

"Theo-" I was lost for words. "It's perfect."

He wrapped the silver chain around my wrist and I heard another camera click.

"Zoe-"

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed. "Guys, you're all grown up."

"Stop, please," I begged, tearing up too, "I can't ruin my make-up."

"Oh shut up." She laughed.

"Let the poor kids go." Spencer came into the room, wrapping his arms around Zoe.

"They just look so cute." Zoe's voice cracked as she failed to compose herself, gripping on to Spence's arms that were wrapped around her stomach.

"You look lovely." He agreed. I began to cry-laugh, and watched as the two boys shared a glance of sarcastic eye rolls.

"Don't worry babe- I got this." He cleared his throat, and put on his best 'Zoe' impression. "Have fun, stay safe, send me lots of pics and text me after."

"Top notch." Theo gave him a thumbs up. "Couldn't tell the difference."

"Shut up, you two." Zoe sniffed. "Seriously though, have fun and do text me."

"We will."

I held Theo's arm as he helped me down the front porch steps to his car. "Excited?"

"Nervous." I admit as I sat in his passenger seat.

"Why? You look amazing."

I scoffed with a smile. "Not about my appearance, just about seeing people we've been avoiding for months."

"We can say 'hi' to our friends and dip, if that's what you want. Just say the words and we can run."

"Thank you. But I'll be fine, we deserve this. Let's go have fun."

We pulled up outside of school for what hopefully will be the last time. A large

banner spread across the front of the school, labelled:

"Ready?"

"Let's go."

We headed into the crowd of students, painted blue and purple with the lights. Dua Lipa blared on the speakers as we moved with the crowd, heading towards the photographer.

We stood in front of a bright flash and got a few photos before we both decided that they were enough. "I didn't know they made the flash that bright." Theo rubbed his eyes.

"There they are!"

I dragged Theo across the dance floor to our small but mighty group of friends.

"T and C!"

Jake greeted Theodore with a handshake while his date opened her arms wide for me.

"You look gorgeous!" Katie gasped.

"Look at you!" I spun her around to admire her glittery, navy dress as we pulled away from our hug. "You two look so cute."

"We do, don't we?" She smiled happily. Katie has really struggled the past few months. After Theo and I told the headmistress about thing 1 and thing 2's little bet, they took it out on Katie. Not even a week after Matt and Theo's fight, a rumour of Katie's pregnancy spread across the school.

It took a lot of time to force the rumours down, but we've all been here for her, Jake especially.

His large Afro has been tamed into small braids, making him appear a lot older and blend in with the crowd of Graduates. "Hey Young-ster, he looking after you?"

"Always." I smiled as I stood by Theo's side.

"How do you even come up with these nicknames?" Katie joked. "T&C? What like 'terms and conditions'?"

"No, like 'Theo and Camila'. T-and-C."

"I get it, but I don't."

"It's best not to ask." Theo chuckled.

"Hope we didn't miss anything." Scott slapped the back of Theo's head with one hand, his other interlaced with his date - Lucy.

"Hey." She gave us a sheepish smile, "you all look great."

"So do you!"

Her bright emerald dress matched her green eyes beautifully, and her ginger hair fell straight down her back.

"You ladies want a drink?" Jake proposed.

"Yes, please!" Katie and I groaned in sync.

"We'll be back in a second."

"Wanna ditch our dates and go dance?"

"Obviously." Katie grabbed my hand as I grabbed Lucy's and we practically ran to the dance floor.

I've never really had a lot of friends, or girls I could call my best friends, but over the past few months we've grown closer, making me regret not getting to know them sooner.

Though Katie has decided to tap a gap year before college, she intends on going to Stanford too, so I guess this isn't the end of our friendship.

Lucy on the other hand, being the brainiac she is, is heading straight to Harvard.

We danced as well as we could in our heels and dresses, which was easy for Katie but Lucy and I struggled and ended up bopping instead.

Two songs later the boys finally found us, each with drinks in their hands.

"Here." Theo handed me a plastic cup full of red liquid. "Don't drink too much," he whispered, "I want you to be in your right mind when I take your dress off later."

I smiled into my cup and gave him a nod, trying to keep myself composed around our friends. "Dance with me?"

"Sure." I finished my drink and dragged Theo further into the crowd, wrapping my arms over his shoulders.

His hands met my waist and we swayed slowly to the upbeat music.

"All good so far?" He asked.

"Yeah, actually."

"Can't believe this is it. It's finally over." What a pessimist.

"You're thinking about it wrong. This is just the beginning."

"Yeah- you're right. I actually have something to tell you..."

I tilted my head to the side, "Go on..?"

He leant forward with a smile on his face, "I got in."

"What?" I stopped dancing. His smile spreading further matching the one growing on my face.

"I... got... in." He practically sang.

I immediately threw myself into his arms. "I knew you would! I knew it!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. You knew." He squeezed me back.

I finally pulled away to let him explain, "Saint Mary's, California. I got a scholarship - for basketball. It's a one hour, six minutes drive from you in Stanford, but I can make it fifty minutes in my car-"

I didn't even let him finish before hugging him again. "I'm so, so, so proud of you."

"Me too." He chuckled. "Honestly didn't think I could, but it's happening."

We parted and continued dancing when the song changed to something more upbeat. I looked around to see my friends across the room and Theo in front of me and I genuinely don't think I have ever been happier than I am, right here, right now.

"How long until the awards are announced?" He asked while I rocked my hips under his grip.

"About twenty minutes."

"Plenty of time - come on."

He grabbed my hands and I held tightly to his bicep as her pushed us through the crowd, out of the gym hall and down the corridor.

The sound of the music dimmed and the clatter of my heels became more noticeable. "Where are we going?"

"You don't know?"

We took a few more steps before I realised where we were heading. The janitors' closet.

"One last time?"

"One last time." I pretended to complain, knowing well that I want to as much as he does.

I jogged slightly ahead of him to make it a race, but struggled terribly. I finally reached the door and looked left and right out of habit before opening it.

I was still mid chuckle as I went to step in, before locking eyes with Matthew, who had his hands, quite literally, all over Joey. "What-"

"The fuck?" Theo finished my sentence for me.

Joey and Matthew stood before us, both with messy hair and slightly out of breath. Matt's tie was hanging off and Joey's shirt was completely unbuttoned.

"I-"

"Shit." Joey was obviously stoned yet I've never seen him look so awake.

I could barely pull my eyes from the scene but eventually did, just to meet Theo's. I couldn't hold it in any longer, and the biggest, most evil sounding laugh left my mouth. "After all that? All the shit you put us through just because you two were flirting? God that's poetic."

"Well shit-" Theo laughed with me, "I thought you two would never figure it out!"

"Are you done?" Matt finally spoke up as he fixed his tie. Joey stood blankly, both his hands resting over his crotch area. Ew.

"No," I cackled, "one sec-"

"Come on, babe," Theo grabbed my creasing sides, "let's find a room that isn't contaminated with dickheads."

I had practically collected myself by the time we made it to the science lab. I closed the blinds as Theo locked the door. "Let's try that again."

He picked me up by my thighs and placed me down on one of the desks. My legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer to me. Our lips collided heavily, but not with aggression, I think we were both still containing our giggles. My hands frantically gripped the back of his neck and his hair while his hands roamed all over my waist, hips and thighs, sliding easily across the fabric of my dress.

He reached down the find the slit in my dress, smiling into the kiss as he made contact with my bare skin. My hands found his red tie and began to loosen it, just to be interrupted by the speakers' announcement.

"Can all present pupils please make their way back to the gym hall for the awards ceremony. Thank you."

We pulled away from our kiss, resting our foreheads together for a second.

"No one wants us to have fun tonight." He sighed, moving his hands to my waist to pick me up off the desk.

"No one wants us to have fun right now,we're gonna leg-it out of here after you collect your millions of trophies." I grabbed his hand and we made our way back to the hall.

We sat down at a table with our friends, casually chatting for a few minutes before there were three taps on a microphone and static noise blaring from the speakers.

"Can everyone hear me okay? yea, okay. Perfect." Daniella stood in a glittery pink dress, centre of the stage, clutching a handful of cards.

"First of all, I'd like to thank you all for being here tonight and want to say congratulations to us all, who have finally graduated."

A few cheers and claps spread around the room.

"I won't bore you with the script I was given by the teachers and just get straight to the awards."

"Thank you!" Someone from the back of the room shouted, on behalf of us all.

"So, to start of strong, we have... the female athlete of the year. And of course, the award goes to... Katie Stanford."

The whole room clapped but the majority of the claps and screams came from our little table. She stood up nervously and mouthed 'how the fuck?' at me before strutting up stage. I clapped until my hands hurt as a smile spread across my face.

Dani handed her a small golden trophy and I laughed as we watched her pose with it for the school photographer.

Dani whispered something in Katie's ear and handed her the microphone, making Katie stand like a deer with headlights.

"Um..." she brought the microphone to her lips. "I'd just like to say thanks to... my Dad, for the athletic genes, thanks to Coach and I'd like to say a big 'fuck you' to those of you who have made me feel like Satan's offspring these last few months. So yeah, thanks."

"Woooo!" Jake roared.

"Next up: our male athlete of the year..." Dani tugged a small piece of paper from the card, giving a small smirk before announcing, "Theodore DeMarco!"

Ear piercing shouts from his teammates, and me, filled the room. To no ones surprise, Jake began a chant, "DeMarco-"

"Polo!" The basketball team shouted back.

"DeMarco..."

"Polo!"

Theo gave me one of his boyish smiles before heading up to the stage, high-five-ing Katie as she made her way back towards us.

He stepped up on stage and we watched as Dani handed him a trophy identical to Katie's, and seconds later, the microphone.

He did his awkward little grin, but I could tell he was taming a much larger smile.

"Well I don't think I could top Katie's speech-" he spluttered a giggle. "Thank you all for being so shit that you make me look good-"

"Watch your mouth, 'Marco!" Scott shouted across the room, making us all chuckle.

"I'm joking- sorry, anyways, yeah." He locked eyes with me. "Thank you, and I wish you all the best of luck next year and all the years after that."

His speech earned him a room full of claps and he made his way back to our table.

"Congratulations." I gave him a kiss to the cheek when he sat next to me.

"Thank you." He smiled genuinely.

We sat and watched them hand out awards for most class subjects, cheering loudly once again as Lucy received an 'all-round science student' award.

"Let me get a picture of you two with your trophies!" I practically pushed Lucy and Katie today, feeling like a proud mother.

"And last but not least..." Dani's voice echoed around the room. "This prom's King and Queen."

I snapped the picture quick and turned back to the stage. "Our 2022 Prom King is..." she smiled brightly at the card in her hand. "Get your ass back up here- Theodore DeMarco!"

I instantly cheered and clapped louder than anyone in the room. He made his way back up to the stage again, standing to the left of Dani.

And of course, our 2022 Prom Queen is..." she whipped out the card and I watched Theo lean over her shoulder to read it. He dropped his head and laughed as Dani leant closer to the mic. "Camila Young!"

My jaw, quite literally, dropped. I felt Katie's hands shaking my shoulder while she screamed down my ears. I met eyes with Theo, who was clapping into the microphone, making himself the loudest in the room.

I walked up the unstable steps of the stage, standing the other side of Dani. The lights were blinding but I was squinting anyway with how much I was grinning.

Theo did a low curtsy to allow Daniella to place a plastic crown on his curly hair, but his eyes remained on me the full time.

I was next, and a few seconds later, I had a mini pink and silver tiara resting on my head.

"Let's hear it for our King and Queen!"

I could distinctively hear Katie's 'woos' but I ignored the noise as I wrapped my hands over Theo's shoulders. He placed a small kiss on my lips and picked up one of my legs, leaning me down dramatically, making me almost drop my tiara.

We stood back up and he leant down to my ear. "Can we leg-it now?"

"Yes." I whispered back. Almost instantly, Theo swept me off my feet. He threw me over his shoulder and carefully but quickly walked down the steps of the stage.

"Um- can we get pictures?" We heard Dani say but completely ignored her.

As soon as his feet hit the gym hall's floor he began to run. "Thank you!" I shouted at the hundreds of people watching us make our exit.

A few clatters of heels and dress shoes later, our little table had been emptied. I watched as the other two couples ran after us. Lucy stopped momentarily to whip off her shoes before handing them to Scott. We all made a bid for our cars in fits of giggles.

"Where to?" I asked my panting friends.

"Have you guys got fake ID's?" Katie questioned.

A lot of yes's spread around the group apart from an apart 'no' from Lucy.

"I've got a spare." Katie winked. "Who's up for some karaoke?"

"Seriously, Kay?" Scott groaned. "We did not just dramatically leave a dance to go dance somewhere else."

"You don't have to dance," Katie reassured him. "Just sing."

"Oh yeah, because that's so much better."

"Come on, it will be fun." Lucy bat her eyelashes and after a few seconds he caved.

"Ok, what's the address?"

While on the drive to this bar Katie is raving about, she was also brainstorming.

"Engaged?" Camila asked when all six of us met in the street-lamp lit car park.

"Yes." She smirked. "For one, it gives us a good excuse to celebrate you two being King and Queen, and for two, it lets them know we aren't high schoolers that just ditched prom, we're adults who are getting engaged and being old and shit."

"It's not a bad idea, babe." Jake agreed.

"I mean..." Camila turned to me, obviously liking the sound of the plan.

She slipped off her silver promise ring and handed it to me. With a joking sigh, I took it, and instantly dropped to one knee.

This is not how I imagined our proposal to go, but it's close enough.

She looked down at me, trying to contain a giggle, but it was obvious by the glint in her eyes. Camila put on the fakest gasp, raising one hand to cover her open mouth while the other stretched down to me.

"Camila Young, I can't imagine a world without you in it." I began reciting the most cringe worthy speech I physically could. "And I would love nothing more than to be your husband. Will you marry me?"

"Oh my gosh! Yes! Of course!"

I slipped the ring on her wedding-ring finger, hoping one day I can redo this properly because that speech was dreadful.

With a swift kiss and laughs, we all made out way the the entrance of the bar.

A neon light hung above the door, reading 'Barb's Booze-Shack' in pink lettering.

"This isn't a lesbian bar, is it, Katie?"

"Don't get too excited just yet, Scotty. Keep it in your pants."

She pushed open the door and we all followed, pouring into a very large an open room, much bigger than I'd imagined. It seemed more like a half empty club than a bar.

Though the girls in bright coloured clothes dancing around the room were apparent, we spotted a couple boyfriends sat at tables or the bar watching, which relieved Scott of his worries.