••

Tonight was the fateful night of prom. With worry evident in her eyes, Zelda stared at her dress, not daring to put it on just yet.

A sigh escaped her lips, and she began to regret even deciding to attend prom this year. True, she was going with Link, which was a dream come true in her case, but still...another part of her didn't want to go at all, despite how lucky she had gotten with her date.

Nonetheless, she had to go now. Disappointing her friends and even her date would be even worse than sheltering herself from the outside world, so she began to undress out of her casual attire.

It was a Saturday night, perfect for the students to attend the dance without any interruptions. On Zelda's behalf, she had nothing to do tonight, but then again, she rarely left her house, anyways.

After undressing, she struggled to put on the gorgeous yellow colored dress that Mipha had helped pick out three weeks ago at the mall. She had finished getting into her outfit, immediately looking in the mirror at her appearance. There was a lot to be done to finish off her look, but for once in her life, Zelda felt confident and beautiful. Wistfully, she skipped out of her room and into her bathroom, grabbing her toothbrush and brushing her teeth briskly.

She had already taken a shower just hours before, and if she took one now, Zelda knew good and well she'd spend too much time drying her hair. It was always a painful task to dry that thick hair of hers, making the amount of time she spent blow drying it a whopping twenty minutes.

With the task of brushing her teeth being completed, she grabbed her hairbrush and brushed out any tangles and knots in her hair. Grabbing necessary ponytails and bobby pins, she attempted to tie her hair up in a fancy, wavy bun for this occasion, but was failing miserably in her task.

Concluding this, she ran downstairs and asked her mother for help. Zelda felt a bit embarrassed doing this, but she really couldn't get the bun to look nice and the way she wanted.

Luck was on her side, favoring her hair tonight and allowing it to look even fancier than she had intended. Mother was very talented in doing her hair—she always had been, and Zelda was thankful for that.

Thanking her mother with a smile, Zelda closed her bathroom door again and opened the drawer that held her small collection of makeup. She didn't have any designer makeup or all the popular ones, but just simple lipstick and such.

Doing her own makeup was a very hard task for her, as she rarely put much on everyday, compared to most of the people at Hyrule High. They could enjoy whatever they wanted, but Zelda occasionally felt left out whenever they were decked out in well-done makeup, while she only sported mascara and such.

Finishing her makeup rather quickly—and still managing to make it look nice, and not messy—she zoomed out of her bathroom and returned to her bedroom for a moment.

Grabbing her phone, she began to frantically text Midna and Mipha in their tiny group chat on the messaging app, asking them if they needed to be picked up or anything.

Tapping anxiously on her bedside table, Midna was the first to reply to her question.

: lol nope

: I got my own car remember

: I know you loser

: I just thought it'd be fun if we all drove there together in my car or something

: hi friends

: oh

: what do u think about this mipha-kun

: don't......don't do that

: anyways, I think it'd be fun if we did that. I can ask my dad if you're allowed to pick me up, he'll probably say yes.

: oh goody

: mipha-kun

: can you

Neither of her friends answered for a good four minutes, but when they did, Zelda immediately read their texts.

: ok! my dad said yes to this so just pick me up in like five minutes I'm feelin glamorous and stuff 😎

: my parents are cool with it too, just come by my place in five minutes you raddish

: ok

: no need for insults

With a smile on her face, Zelda turned off her phone and grabbed her purse. She never really used this purse, since she always had a pocket of some sort to store her phone in, but with this dress she didn't have that advantage. Putting her phone into the brown, leather bag, she left her room and trotted downstairs.

"Leaving already?" Father signed to Zelda, with a sympathetic smile on his face.

Zelda just nodded, grabbing three ibuprofens and taking them—it was her time of the month, and her insides were producing excruciatingly painful cramps.

"Who are you going with again?" Mother signed the question, just entering the kitchen. "Isn't it...that one guy who came here once? What was his name...Flink-"

"Link," Zelda briefly signed, briskly hugging both of her parents with a grin on her face.

"Aw," Mother cooed aloud, and although Zelda couldn't hear her, she knew exactly what her mom was doing. Pink dust was lightly painted across her cheeks.

"Is he picking you up, or...?" Father asked.

"No," Zelda said simply. "He said we could just meet up there. Besides, I'm going to be picking up Midna and Mipha; I'm taking them there."

Receiving her parents approval of this, Zelda grinned and began to make her way out of her home.

The moment she stepped outside, a splotch of rain hit the back of her hand. Zelda grumbled, walking back inside and grabbing an umbrella, returning to her car after that.

Closing the door and buckling her seatbelt, she began to wonder why the weather was like this currently. Just yesterday it was below thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit (zero in Celsius)—and it was snowing!—but now, the weather felt humid and it was going to rain soon.

Zelda had a tiny fear of driving in the rain. Praying to Hylia for her safety tonight, she turned on the car's engine and pulled out of her driveway. Driving out of her neighborhood, she made her way to Midna's house first, since she knew the location of that place so well.

As she pulled up to her best friend's house, a familiar girl with an orange dress scrambled out of her home, umbrella tightly held in her hands.

Midna rushed over to Zelda's car, popping open the door on the other side and plopping down into the passenger's seat. Before closing the door, Midna closed her umbrella and tried to shake some of the rainwater off of it, but that proved to be no help.

Zelda just grabbed the umbrella and sat it underneath Midna's feet, not really caring about how her car looked—besides, it was rainwater. It'd dry eventually.

Letting out a sigh, Midna closed the door and glanced at Zelda.

"Aren't you excited?" Midna asked, noticing her friend's slightly fearful expression.

Zelda nodded tapped her fingers rhythmically on the steering wheel, trying to think of a suitable answer for her slight fear tonight. "I hate driving in the rain," she admitted. "Plus, I'm kind of scared for what'll happen tonight."

Midna raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I don't know. Anything could happen...that's why I'm nervous, I guess," Zelda signed, putting her car back into drive and looking at the directions to Mipha's house.

They arrived there shortly, since apparently, Mipha lived in the same neighborhood that Midna did. Mipha's entrance was very similar to Midna's, holding her umbrella with all her might and dashing towards Zelda's car.

Jumping into the back seat, she closed her umbrella and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness my dress is okay," she signed to both of her friends, staring at her blue dress, which she had expected to collect mud at the bottoms while running over here.

Zelda sped off again, now driving towards their school. As she drove, her mind thought more and more about the events that could possibly play out tonight. She had become a more positive person over time, but that didn't mean all her negative thoughts had been completely erased from her head. Tapping on the steering wheel a few more times, the huge streetlights blinded her as they pulled into the parking lot of their infamous school.

Worry filled her sapphire eyes once she laid them on the building, glancing at Midna and then at Mipha for some reassurance. They both seemed the least bit worried about all of this. In fact, they were conversing happily with each other, both wearing grins on their faces.

They don't have any dates, though, Zelda reminded herself, allowing her brain to calm down after realizing this. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing that they didn't, but it explained their carefreeness tonight.

All the girls grabbed their umbrellas, warily stepping out into the now heavy rain. What a dreary day to host prom, Zelda thought, wanting to stare up at the skies, but the fear of her mascara running prevented her from doing so.

They quickly ran up to the school's building, sighing in relief once they had gotten under a shelter from the rain. Other students were here as well, entering the building or recovering from the rain fiasco.

Midna and Mipha were already talking to each other, and Zelda cleared her throat to gain their attention.

She smiled. "I'm going to wait for Link inside. You guys go on ahead," she signed.

Her two friends stared dumbly at her for a few seconds, before nodding. Mipha began to walk into the building, however, Midna stayed behind with Zelda.

"Good luck tonight," Midna reassured her friend, gently patting her shoulder and making Zelda grin a bit.

"Who knows? Maybe you guys will kiss—"

"How about you and Mipha, though? I see how you look at her," Zelda tried to tease.

Midna blushed and shook her head. "Oh, be quiet, you! Go have fun with your hot date."

"Shut up!" Zelda laughed at this, watching Midna zoom into the school to find Mipha again.

The wind was beginning to pick up, causing Zelda to shiver a bit. Attempting to cover her exposed skin up with her arms failed, so she just retreated into the school's building. The moment she entered, she was in a hallway with only a few students occupying it. It mainly consisted of lonely girls and boys waiting for something, or it was duos walking inside the auditorium—where prom was being held.

Taking a deep breath, Zelda made her way to the entrance of the party. Before she could set foot in the multi-colored room, her entire body froze and she could not move a muscle. It was definitely the feeling of anxiety clawing on her back, and Zelda wished she could use a magical spell of sorts to whisk away her worries. Unfortunately, whatever magic that could've existed in Hyrule was not hers, and she had no way of curing her anxiety.

Gathering up every ounce of courage she could scavenge from herself, Zelda slowly entered the center of the party. Everywhere, students were dancing along to whatever music was playing, something Zelda wished she could experience tonight. Nonetheless, she would still have fun, even if she couldn't dance properly like everyone else.

Slipping through the crowds of people, Zelda retreated to the corner of the room where the refreshments and snacks were being served on a long, white sheeted table. Even though there were bustles of students hanging around this area, she felt much more at ease when she wasn't in the middle of everything.

Crossing her arms over one another, it was now time to play the waiting game. When would Link arrive? That was the only question lingering in the back of Zelda's mind, which only increased her anxiety.

Out of nowhere, a familiar redhead popped up beside Zelda, holding a petite glass of red punch. Cocking her head to her left, Zelda was utterly disgusted when she saw that horrendous red pompadour that could only belong to Groose.

"Listen, Zelda," Groose signed to her immediately after sitting his punch down on the nearby table. "I need to talk to you. It's really important—"

"Groose, I've had enough of your act," Zelda cut him off, anger evident in those sapphire eyes of hers. "Haven't I made it obvious enough that I don't want to have a romantic relationship with you?"

Groose blinked a few times. "I know that. That's what I wanna talk about, actually."

"I don't want to hear it," Zelda signed, turning her heels and beginning to stomp off, but was quickly halted when Groose grabbed her wrist. She turned around abruptly, yanking her arm away from the red haired teen.

"I don't like you anymore," Groose stated the fact with a flat expression. "I like someone else now. So, I'm not going to come after you every single day. I know you're happy with Link, but a certain someone doesn't seem to acknowledge that. I'm sorry for bothering you so much over these past few months—I hope you can forgive me."

Lana, Zelda thought.

"Well, I accept your apology," Zelda said, a hopeful expression appearing on Groose's face.

"Partially," Zelda finished off, and his positive expression died down a bit.

"Thanks, I guess," Groose signed, seeing the blue haired devil out of the corner of his eye. She was glaring at him, shaking her head back and forth in a disapproving way.

Lana was forcing Groose to dance with Zelda, because if Zelda wasn't occupied with someone else, Link would end up dancing the night away with her. And Lana couldn't stand for that, evidently, and this was her only way to get Link to dance with her.

A sigh escaped Groose's lips, and he faced Zelda fully once more.

"Lana—Lana wants me to do this, and if I back down, who knows what she could do?" Groose said, gesturing for Zelda to dance with him. "Just for about five minutes—to make Lana happy."

Zelda smirked. "Do you like Lana?"

Shaking his head, Groose's face flushed up at Zelda's assumption. "Definitely not."

Rolling her eyes, she warily placed her hands in his and got into position. Groose led her out a bit farther into the brightly colored dance floors, only then beginning to dance with her.

Zelda avoided Groose's face the entire time, and he did the same thing as well. Neither of them were interested in doing this, but Groose was kind of forced into this act. Zelda felt some pity for him—why did Lana have to manipulate with him as if he was an object? She began to wonder why Groose had even fallen for Lana in the first place. She was cruel and sick, but, love is a weird thing and can work in such marveling, yet strange ways.

"Groose, can this end, please?" Zelda hastily asked, giving him a desperate look.

Groose immediately nodded.

Before they removed their hands from one another, Link entered the room. All dressed in a fancy suit and hair slightly messy, he stared at Zelda and Groose as they waltzed together, a painful feeling of heartbreak stabbing his heart.

He knew he shouldn't overreact like this, but he couldn't help it. Zelda had happily agreed to attending this stupid dance with him, and now she was dancing with Groose?

Link had not been feeling very well during the time span of him asking Zelda to prom and now. He had been just fine the day after he asked her, but the next morning, that impending sadness returned. There was no major cause to his sudden depression, it just happened out of nowhere.

Typical, it always happened. But this time, Link had finally found so much hope that his happiness would not be short lived this time.

How wrong he was.

Lana bounced up to him, wearing a sparkly blue dress and with two pigtails in her hair. Link thought that she did stand out a bit, but nothing compared to the small glance of Zelda he had seen just seconds prior to now.

"Link! Let's dance!" she cheered, holding out her arms to him.

"Zelda—why is she..." Link breathed out, his heart hammering against his ribcage and his stomach twisting up in numerous, uncomfortable knots. Not the weird feeling he got around Zelda—definitely not, this was excruciating to live through.

"I don't know," Lana drawled out, obviously faking her sympathy towards this situation. "Just dance with me. If Zelda won't hang out with you tonight, then she isn't worthy of you."

Link choked on the very air he was breathing—how clumsy—and his head was racing with a million different thoughts.

Zelda let go of Groose's hands. "I'll go fetch Lana for you," she said with a wink, turning her head to face Link, who was being intruded by Lana herself.

Worriedly, Zelda began to pace over to Link, but she was far too late.

Link had already turned his heel, dashing out of the auditorium and down the hallways.

This planted a seed full of only fear in Zelda's stomach. Feeling her heart rate began to gradually pick up, she grabbed Lana's wrist as they stood by the exit.

Since Lana wouldn't be able to understand a lick of sign language, Zelda furrowed her brows and harshly threw a finger in Groose's direction. Lana stared at her quizzically until she dashed away.

The loud thuds emitting from the auditorium rang throughout Zelda's ears, like a taunting melody of some kind. It twisted her stomach into thousands of uncomfortable knots.

Zelda opened the exiting doors of the school, running out into the rain. It was even heavier than it was prior to now, but that was the lead of her worries.

She could faintly see the silhouette of Link making his way somewhere, which she quickly followed.

Everything that Zelda sought to be perfect tonight was utterly, and sadly, being destroyed right before her very eyes.

••