** Dedicated to @prisca_08 for your continuous support and pushing me to update!! **

Wes waved as I approached chemistry class. He was leaning against his lockers, books slung by his side. "Hey there," he said.

"Hey. How was your weekend?" I asked, despite it being Thursday already.

"Not too bad. I went to my little sister's piano recital on Saturday night, and then dinner with the family on Sunday," he said.

"Cute. How old's your sister?"

"She's eight. She's a piano prodigy or something," he grinned.

"Very cool." I'd tried the piano once when I was younger, but it wasn't my thing. There was way too much coordination required. That, and I had patience thinner than a strand of hair.

"Are you coming to the Fundraising Gala on Saturday?" He asked. I nodded.

"What about you?"

"Yeah. Guess I'll see you there," he smiled.

Elaine came down through the hallway, giving me an exaggerated wave.

"Excited for bio?" I laughed.

She pretended to gag and rolled her eyes before continuing to zip down the hallway. I laughed to myself, looking back in time just to catch Wes looking at me like I was insane.

Having finished our practical segment of the last topic, we moved back to having lectures on the content again. As I was on my way out of class, Wes stopped me by the door.

"I almost forgot," he began. "I'm having a party at mine on Sunday night, do you and Holden want to come?"

"Probably," I replied, doubting that Holden would turn down any party invite. "I'll double check with Holden and let you know."

"Cool."

I got to the next class – physics – ten minutes early, settling in to wait for Parker to get there. I hadn't managed to run into him at all. The other students slowly came in and Parker entered a few minutes before Mr Michaels did. He sat down behind me calmly as if he hadn't had a dress and cheque delivered to my house the afternoon before.

I spun around in my chair. "What was the dress for?" I whispered, trying to keep my voice down.

"Interest. I thought the note made it pretty clear," he replied nonchalantly.

"That dress looked expensive. I don't charge exorbitant interest rates. I give you back the dress, you get me an ice cream and we can call it even."

He chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Pizza. It wasn't that expensive. Besides, did it fit? If not, I can get it altered."

"It fit fine. Thanks," I replied glumly. In fact, it fit like a glove. Damn well perfectly. I couldn't have picked a better dress for myself if I had tried. "How did you know it would fit?" I interrogated.

"I've seen you soaking wet in a thin shirt," he smirked. My expression probably said it all because he soon amended the statement. "And Stephanie helped me."

Mr Michaels started up the projector. Two columns appeared with names on the left and percentages on the right.

"You might have already heard from last year's seniors, but I like to keep my class competitive. These are your current standings as of the first month. There's still plenty of time to change your marks," Mr Michaels announced.

I scanned the list for my name. I was currently seventh in the class with an average of ninety four percent. My heart sank.

"What's up?" Parker asked.

"Nothing," I said quickly. He continued staring at me dumbfounded face. I lowered my voice a little, "Well, at my old school I was always first or second," I admitted.

"Well, ninety four percent is still really good. Honestly, top twenty at Pemberton is pretty impressive already," he said. I nodded slowly, checking the list for his name.

Parker was second in the class. Second. His average was ninety eight point five percent.

"You're second!?" I exclaimed.

"Wow, don't sound so surprised," he said. Was there anything these kids couldn't do? I looked back at the list to see who was first. Stephanie took the top spot with an average of ninety nine. Holden was in sixth at ninety four point two five.

A quarter of a percent!?

"So are you thinking of going into the physics field later?" I asked Parker.

"Probably not," he replied. "Physics is okay."

"So what are you thinking of doing in college?"

"Probably commerce of some sort, then just take over the company."

"Oh."

Holden sat down next to me, his chair clattering against mine, five minutes late. He took one look at the listings, unsurprised and opened up his laptop. I turned back around to face the front.

"So, is your outfit for Saturday sorted?" Holden asked. I nodded.

"By the way, Wes invited us to his house party this Sunday."

"Wes, hey? Since when did Wesley become 'Wes'?" Parker chimed in.

"Jealous I don't have a nickname for you?"

"Don't flatter yourself Pizza. I'm just curious because he's a tool."

"I'll go if you go, you party animal," Holden grinned.

"Party animal? I just think it might be fun," I said.

"Moving onto Wes after me? That is such a downgrade," Holden said wistfully.

I rolled my eyes.

--

Elaine was sprawled across my bed after school, going through endless websites looking for a dress to wear to the gala. "Can't you just get someone to design a dress for you?" I asked.

"I need ideas first," she groaned. "I can't just tell them to randomly make me a dress."

"So, tell me honestly, is the gala any fun?"

"Not really. It's where the cream of the crop come together to judge you. Hard. It's the one day of the year I actually have to behave, and that's not because I care what they think, but because I refuse to let them run their mouths about my parents." She sat up. "You seem overly calm. What dress are you wearing?"

I went to the closet and pulled out the dress that Parker had given me.

"Goddamn, that is a beautiful dress," Elaine said breathlessly.

"It wasn't that expensive," I lied, trying to side step the fact that Parker had bought it, and not me.

"That looks exactly like – " she began.

"Exactly like what?"

"Nah. Don't worry, my memory's patchy as hell anyway," she laughed. "But come here and help me choose a dress!"

By dinnertime we had decided on either red or champagne in a loose, slip-style dress with a v-neck that wasn't too low.

My phone pinged and I opened the new message. There were two photos that Holden had sent me of himself. He was wearing a white shirt in both, but different ties. One was dark blue and the other was dark green.

H: Which tie matches your dress better?

D: Either.

After all, my dress was black.

"Wow, you guys make me want to puke," Elaine laughed. "You should tell him I like the black one better though."

D: Elaine says she likes the black one better lol

H: Hi elaine :)

"He doesn't seem too bad, but I'm still not convinced," she declared. "Are you going to Wes' party on Sunday?"

"Yeah, I think so. You're going right?"

"Nah. I have a family thing. Besides, Clarissa will be there, and I'd like to end my weekend on a good note."

Elaine left before dinner, insisting that her parents would die of boredom without her at home. My mum had to work overtime to catch up on some stuff, leaving me to eat dinner alone.

There was only a day left until the gala, and soon, post-Holden, my life could go back to normal.

----

Thanks for reading guys! Thank you as always for your patience in waiting for updates! Please continue to support the story by voting and commenting!!

This was a filler/10 chapter. Uni has left me exhausted lately. I was super intent on learning from previous writing experience to pace this story correctly and keep it interesting, but in the last few chapters I feel like it has gone off track a little.

This chapter will probably be removed in the future because it isn't 100% necessary, but that can wait until editing ;)