"I don't even want to go anymore," I said to Kylie, watching as Paulina finished her hair.

"So you've been saying," Kylie said, giving me a look. "And what have I been telling you?"

"That I'll have fun without him."

"You're going to have fun with us," she promised.

I just let out a long sigh as Kylie stood up, kissing Paulina's cheek and thanking her.

"Sit," Kylie ordered to me, pointing to the seat.

I did as I was told, staring in the mirror as Paulina started on my hair.

"You're going to look gorgeous," Paulina informed me.

"What good is that?" I asked her.

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"I don't even want to go."

"Go with your friends, have fun with them."

"Kylie is going with Landon."

"You don't like Landon?"

"Nobody likes Landon," I corrected. "But all of my friends have dates."

"And you don't?"

"He's not going."

"You don't need a boy to have fun," Paulina informed me. "All you need is a bottle of wine to have a good time."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I think I'll pass on that."

"And your girlfriends," she added. "Dates or no dates, they're still your girlfriends."

She was probably right.

I need to suck it up and have a good time.

I owed it to myself. And to Bryce.

~*~

"Are you coming?" my mom called. "You're going to make us late!"

I stared at the dress still hanging on my closet door before turning to look in the mirror.

This wasn't exactly how I imagined my Prom night.

But I was going to make the best of it.

I stepped into my Prom dress, a smile crossing my face as I stared at my reflection.

My hair was braided back into a curly bun, a few loose pieces falling around my face.

It was everything I imagined it to be.

Almost.

I made my way down the stairs, my dad scowling when he saw my dress.

He hated it. He'd hated it when I'd showed it to him after I'd bought it and when I'd tried it on for him.

A smile spread across my mom's face when she saw me, her hand reaching up to cover her heart.

"You look darling," mom said, shaking her head.

She took my hand in hers, twirling me around. "Absolutely stunning."

I looked over at my dad, waiting for him to say something.

Anything.

He let out a sigh, reaching out his arms and pulling me into a tight hug.

"You're still my little girl," he said, squeezing my tight. "I just don't want to see you all grown up."

"I'm not grown up daddy," I said, hugging him back. "I promise."

He kissed my forehead before releasing me, and I could almost swear that there was a hint of a tear in the corner of his eye. "Well go out and break hearts tonight then."

I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, so we're meeting the group downtown for pictures," mom stated. "But you have to leave now if you're going to see Bryce first."

"I know," I said, smoothing down my dress. "I'll meet you there."

She flashed me a smile before I left, driving over to Bryce's place.

His mom's car was parked in the driveway, so I rang the doorbell, waiting on his front doorstep instead of going around back and letting myself in.

Regina answered the door, and a smile crossed her face when she saw me standing there.

"Oh Sophie, you look gorgeous," she said, opening the door wider to let me in.

"Thank you," I said, following her inside.

Bryce was in the living room, along with a few of his teammates from his travel baseball team.

He was in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, and he clearly didn't know that I was here as he battled it out over COD with one of his buddies.

Laurence was the first one to notice me, and he had a hard time looking away to inform Bryce.

"Bryce, you have a guest!" Regina called out.

Bryce looked over his shoulder at me, and he quickly paused his game to hop to his feet.

"You're early," he stated, as he stared at me.

Well at my dress.

"You're late," I corrected.

He crossed the living room, taking me in his arms and giving me a quick kiss. "You look gorgeous."

I couldn't help but smile.

"Eyes off," he ordered to Laurence, before leading me into the kitchen.

He lifted me up off the floor, seating me on the kitchen counter.

"I hate that I'm going to miss this," Bryce said, his eyes sweeping my dress again.

"Me too," I said, reaching up to wipe a tear from my eye.

I didn't want him to see me cry.

Bryce reached up and wiped a tear for me, kissing my cheek. "Don't."

"I'm sorry."

He went over to his refrigerator.

"I really don't need any wine," I declined.

He raised an eyebrow at me as he pulled something out. "That's good to know."

Of course he wouldn't have been talking to Paulina.

"It's a long story."

And then he presented me with a corsage, still in the box. "For you."

"You bought me a corsage?"

He opened the box. "Your wrist?"

I offered him my left wrist, and he slipped the yellow rose around my arm.

"Of course I bought you a corsage," he said, lifting me down off the counter and back onto the floor. "What kind of boyfriend do you take me for?"

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he pressed his lips to mine as his arms snaked around my waist.

I never wanted to let go.

But apparently Bryce didn't have the same feelings.

"You're going to be late," he whispered, before planting one last kiss on my lips and then stepping away. He shoved his hands into his pockets with a sigh, offering me a smile. "You look beautiful."

"I'll be thinking about you."

"I want you to go and have fun," he encouraged.

"I wanted this to be our night," I said, quietly. "I wanted this for us."

Just one night where we didn't have to worry about anything else, where the brain alien and the cancer and the worry and the stress and all of it could take a backseat.

One night where I could be the Princess and he could be my Prince Charming. And he could sweep me off my feet.

Just one night to embrace the normality.

"I know."

~*~

"It's quaint," I said, as I looked around the Prom theme.

Cabaret was different. And that was shown through the décor.

Kylie just rolled her eyes, her arm looped through Landon's. "That's one word for it."

"Vote for your Prom King and Queen," the Dean of Students encouraged.

I didn't know too many Seniors, but I recognized one of the names as someone from the baseball team for the guys, and I took Kylie's advice for the girl.

"Sophie Allen?" Carlos asked me, his eyes sweeping my dress.

"That's me," I said, exchanging glances with Caroline.

He seemed to be at a loss for words.

"It's nice to see you," I said, patting him on the back before making my way over to our table, where some of the girls had already dropped their stuff.

"I think he was trying to hit on you," Caroline informed me, with a slight laugh.

I just shrugged. "He's on the baseball team. He can burp the alphabet. I know way too much about him."

Caroline chuckled as I dropped my handbag on the table, kicking off my heels.

It wasn't too hard to spot Clayton in the crowd. He was on the dance floor, a redhead grinding on him.

"Clayton Johnson, always keeping it classy," Caroline commented.

I just rolled my eyes.

"Ready babe?" Randall asked, coming up behind Caroline and I.

Caroline nodded. "You coming Sophie?"

"Yeah, in a minute."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded, and she flashed me a sympathetic smile before letting Randall take her out to the dance floor.

I leaned against the table, observing the couples out on the dance floor, moving to the beat of the song.

I miss Bryce.

"Stop moping," Kylie ordered, appearing out of nowhere.

"I'm not moping."

She took my arm, dragging me out to the dance floor, alongside of my group of friends.

All of which had dates.

Kylie ditched Landon to dance with me, Caroline following suit with Randall after a few minutes.

"You guys don't have to spend Prom making me feel better," I declined. "I'm fine."

"You're moping," Kylie informed me. "And nobody wants to see their best friend sad on their Prom night."

I wasn't sad.

I just wanted to share tonight with the one boy who's always stood by my side.

But I sucked it up for my friends, dancing with them and smiling enough to allow them to think that I was having a good time.

That my attitude had changed.

"And now we're going to slow things down a bit," the DJ announced, before playing a slow song, I Hope You Find It by Miley Cyrus.

I stepped off to the side, watching as the couples dominated the dance floor, and listening to the boos from the rest of the student population.

"May I have this dance?" Sam Powell asked me.

He was the back-up pitcher for the baseball team.

He also had a girlfriend, who I could see across the dance floor. She smiled at me and offered me a wave.

"Shouldn't you be dancing with Lizzie?" I asked.

"I think you could use it."

And so I accepted his offer, stepping out onto the dance floor with him.

Sam had always been more reserved, but he wasn't a half-bad pitcher.

"Bryce couldn't make it tonight?" Sam asked me, wrapping an arm around my mid-back.

Not too high to where the dance was awkward, but not too low to insinuate anything.

I shook my head.

"Well you shouldn't let that ruin your night."

"I'm not."

"You're lying. Anyone can tell that you're having a shitty night."

"It's not bad," I defended. "It's just not how I expected it to be."

"Well then reinvent it."

And then the song ended, and the beat picked back up again.

"Have a good night," Sam said, flashing me a smile before rejoining his girlfriend.

"Thanks," I said, although I'm sure he couldn't hear me any longer.

After a few more songs, they died down the music to announce Prom King and Queen.

I stood next to Kylie, who was bouncing up and down, cheering for her Senior friend to win Queen.

I didn't know any of the candidates, so I didn't feel any sort of personal connection.

Kylie's friend won Prom Queen, and the cheers erupted around the room.

A lacrosse player won Prom King, and they had their dance in the middle of the dance floor.

To Endlessly by The Cab.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

This was our song.

Nothing hurt worse than watching these two people dance together to Bryce and I's song, more and more couples slowly joining them.

And I was all alone.

And then I felt my arm being jerked, and I looked over to see Clayton Johnson dragging me onto the dance floor.

"Excuse you," I said, wrenching my arm away from him.

He wrapped his arm around me, but unlike Sam, his arm was much, much lower.

"Excuse you," I repeated, pushing him away.

"What are you doing?" Clayton asked me.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Go home."

"Fuck off."

He rolled his eyes, pulling me close to him again. "In the most sincere way possible," he added. "You're unhappy. Go and be where you really want to be."

And then he released me, going back to his redheaded date.

Clayton was right. I didn't need to be here.

Prom wasn't important to me. It was just a fancy event filled with pretentious people.

The only person I wanted to spend Prom with was currently at his house, probably playing video games or curled up on the couch with his dog.

And that's where I really wanted to be.

So I left Prom, heading over to Bryce's house. I called him on the way, but he didn't pick up.

So it was probably as I figured, he was either really into his video game or sleeping on the couch with Dawson.

I swung into his driveway, parking behind his unused car before letting myself into the front door.

His mom wasn't home, so I didn't worry too much about it.

"Bryce?" I called out.

I ditched my heels in the foyer before making my way into the living room.

I went to call out his name again, but the words died on my lips as I saw the scene before me.

The lights were turned off and there were lights strung up around the living room, illuminating the room. The furniture had been removed from the room, and music was playing from the speakers on the wall, currently All of the Stars by Ed Sheeran.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

And Bryce was standing in the middle of the living room, his hands shoved in his pockets of his tuxedo, a smile on his face.

"What is this?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

I could feel the tears in my eyes, my lower jaw trembling.

"I heard that you weren't having a good time tonight," Bryce said, with a smile. "So I thought that maybe I could change that for you."

Tears were now streaming down my cheeks as I slowly shook my head. "How?"

He just opened up his arms, and I crossed the living room, falling into his arms.

"This was weeks in planning," Bryce informed me. "Just as soon as I found out that I couldn't take you to Prom, I knew I had to do something special for you."

I'm in love with this boy.

And then the rest of Bryce's baseball boys came into the living room, all dressed in tuxedos.

"I think we're a little uneven," I said, stepping back from Bryce with a laugh as I wiped my eyes.

"Well we had to call in some reinforcements," Bryce said, nodding behind me.

I turned to see Clayton and his redhead behind me, as well as Kylie and Landon and Caroline and Randall.

And behind them were a group of girls, who I assume were here for Bryce's baseball boys.

"There's a lot of people here," I said, turning back around to face Bryce.

"They're all sanitized," Bryce promised. "There's a sanitizer stop out in the foyer, which you probably bypassed."

"Should I go back?"

"No you shouldn't go back." He pulled me close to him, pressing his lips lightly to mine. "You're stuck with me for the rest of the night."

"I think that I can live with that."

I pressed my face into Bryce's chest and he wrapped his arms around me, holding me close.

And so although we were surrounded by plenty of other people, all chattering and dancing to the current song, it was just the two of us in this moment.

And it doesn't get any better than this.

So what did you guys think about Sophie's lead up to Prom? What about the advice given to her by her hairdresser? What about Bryce pre-Prom? Did it break your heart? And then Prom itself? What about Bryce's little surprise for Sophie, were you surprised? I know a lot of you expected me to go uber cliche, so I hope it wasn't too bad for you.

So I'm currently in Georgia for a wedding. And it's freezing. And the Q&A video has been uploading since 2:00 this afternoon and it's only at 50%. And did I mention that it's ? So yeah, welcome to Georgia.