-xoxo-

Bridge This Gap

-xoxo-

Prom night. Essentially the most hyped up night of every high schooler's life. Anyone who was everyone went; the one evening where students of all cliques could manage to stay in the same room together and not want to kill each other. This was Middleburg High School's lame excuse for a prom dance, with the theme apparently being "a rainbow unicorn puked all over the gym" and the music system occasionally failing. Teenagers lingered in between the sidelines and the makeshift dancefloor, when a few were brave enough to shimmy to the beat of the music.

One of those teenagers who stayed on the sidelines, brave enough to save the world but not dance in public, was Penn Zero. He had dug out his father's two-sizes too big tuxedo, and was wearing beat-up Converse instead of dress shoes, while his hair had refused to cooperate. Obviously, Penn didn't care too much about appearance for this; he worked with what he had.

And he was alone.

Boone had claimed he had "very important things to do" for this evening (Penn had found out he was pulling an all-nighter playing Call of Duty), and Sashi wasn't picking up her phone. He never had time, or courage - for that matter, to ask out any of the girls at school, either. Not that any of them ever really paid attention to him, anyway.

It just felt a little weird to be all alone at the biggest dance of the school year…

Sure, he had next year to go. This was his first chance at prom, and he had two times to attend. But he didn't know what compelled him to get up off of the couch and come to this boring event.

After all, this punch he had tried earlier was diluted and the snacks on the table looked stale.

He contemplated leaving. He had been here for only half an hour and he had spent ten dollars on a ticket, he might as well try to enjoy it. He had already walked around the perimeter of the gymnasium, looking for anything to entertain him, but no dice.

Penn figured he would just go to Boone's place and join him in a few rounds of video games…

...however, Penn was surprised when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, and opened a text, from Sashi, surprisingly. She usually preferred calls over texts.

What's with all of the calls? You didn't leave messages.

Penn instantly replied. wanted 2 know what u were doin. its prom nite.

Okay, so yes, he was very lazy when it came to texting and didn't have her impeccable typing grammar. But at least her reply was scary fast.

I know.

That was it. A little too brief for his tastes. so what r u doin?

The loading symbol twirled around for a few moments, signaling that Sashi was typing something, but it was either ridiculously long or she kept changing the message. Penn figured out when he finally received her perplexing reply.

Walk around the gym again, stupid ;P.

Penn raised an eyebrow. Sashi was here too? Why hadn't she approached him? She had to have seen him if she had given him this clue…

...so he followed the directions. He started to pace around the indoor track, looking on the dancefloor for her. Knowing Sashi, she would be here ironically, in jeans and sneakers while the rest of the girls would huff at her. And she wouldn't care. Penn chuckled at the thought, but was surprised yet again when he heard a voice speak up-

"Wrong direction."

He whipped around on his heels, nearly tripping, but not from the speed of his turn around. Rather, because of the sight before him.

"Wow, Sash, you look-"

"If you say 'like a real girl', I will take off one of my high heels and stab you in the eye," Sashi grumbled. "Repeatedly."

Penn cleared his throat, and dodged her gaze. Okay, perhaps he had that in mind. "I was going to say beautiful," he said. And it was true. It wasn't what he expected her to show up in, but nonetheless, the long dark purple shimmering dress looked perfect on her, showing curves she had never exposed before. She had her hair tied up in a bun with a few strands loose and her brown doe eyes looked so much prettier when they weren't hidden behind the specs.

"Oh," Sashi said softly, as her expression lit up with a blush. To be honest, Penn wasn't sure if he had ever seen her blush before. "Um… t-thank you, Penn. That was sweet of you to say."

"Yeah, well," Penn scratched the back of his neck. "It's true. Were you too busy getting all fancy, and that's why you never picked up your phone?"

Sashi playfully rolled her eyes, and gave the slightest nod.

He smiled and looked at her for a moment; how she was sitting in the metal fold-up chair all on her lonesome, her hands folded in her lap, just looking at everyone else having a good time. He couldn't help but wonder why she was alone…

"Did your date ditch you?" he asked.

He didn't know she even had a date to prom…

Sashi shook her head. "I didn't have a date," she said simply. "What about you?"

Penn stammered, and fiddled with his tuxedo coat. "Uh, n-no," he admitted. "I just came here to get out of the house and see what all of the fuss was. It's not what everyone was talking about, that's for sure."

"Is Boone here?" Sashi asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Nah," Penn said, with a soft chuckle. "He decided to stay home and play video games. I gotta admit, he had the right idea." He looked at her again, with contemptment and curiosity. "Why are you here? I didn't pine you for the school dance type. You never went before."

"One of the biggest nights in our high school years," she replied, giving a halfhearted shrug. "I came for the same reason as you, I suppose. Wanted to see what the big deal was. But now-" She looked down at her shoes. "I don't know what to do."

Penn let out a murmur, with a nod. A catchy song was billowing out of the speakers, the lights were lit up with every color of the rainbow and even though the decorations were tacky, he was starting to think it wasn't all that bad. The snack table was really the only downside of this night. And yet, here they both were. They were at the way end of the gym, doing nothing. Sashi wasn't her usual bold self, she was in the background for once. As for Penn, he was used to the awkwardness. He didn't want to humiliate himself by dancing in front of everyone, anyway. He was terrible at it. So why were they even here, aside from their mutual lame excuse?

"Uh, so," Penn sat down next to her, tapping the seat to the erratic beat of the music. He had nothing else to say. He was so many ideas buzzing in his mind, but all he could focus on was how stupid he was to come here, and yet at the same time, his typically tomboyish best friend looked like a total knockout.

Then the realization hit him. They weren't kids anymore. They were high schoolers. They were at their Junior Prom. They were growing up.

Penn and Sashi weren't those kids who messed around on the playground when they had first met in the second grade. She didn't call him 'fireball' because of his ridiculous hair, and he had been years since he had pushed her off of the swings (to be fair, he only did that once). They were growing up faster than they could ever imagine, and they were becoming the heroes their younger selves used to admire and dream about. Yet at the same time, they were just trying to be regular teenagers. Tonight was one of the nights that they were doing the latter.

"Penn?" Sashi spoke up.

"Y-yeah?" he stammered in reply.

"Are you alright?" she asked, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "You seem frozen."

"Sorry," he replied, easing up his position in the seat. "Just… thinking. That's all." He released a deep breath that he didn't realize he was holding, and Penn looked at her yet again. Sashi was bestowing the cutest little smile-

-why was he thinking that? She had smiled before, and sure, he was happy to see one of his best friends happy. She had worn dresses once in a while, but he usually teased her about it. He could admit when a girl looked pretty, even if it was Sashi, and the thought had crossed Penn's mind before… but it never stuck there, not like it was now.

Sashi gave a small nod. "Well," she said softly. She cleared her throat, and adjusted the short sleeves of her dress, holding the skirt off of the floor a little as she stood up. "It was nice seeing you tonight."

Penn stood up a little too fast, but he kept his eyes on Sashi. "You're going home already?" he inquired.

Sashi shrugged apathetically. "Might as well," she replied. "I don't dance."

"Neither do I," Penn confessed. Then a idea hit him like lightning and spilled out like rain from a storm cloud that followed. "Wanna try it together?"

He didn't recognize the smirk on her face; which made him uneasy of her reaction.

"Penn Zero," Sashi declared. "That is by far the dumbest idea you've ever had." But then, after a moment of silence, she grinned. "Let's do it." As they took a few steps towards the dancefloor, she glanced to him, softly laughing to herself. "But if I trip, promise to catch me?"

Penn chuckled. "I always do, Sash," he assured.

There was a upbeat 80's style pop song with too much rhyming in its' chorus playing. If they were listening to it casually, they would have turned it off immediately, but right now, it was perfect for dancing like idiots. Now, yes, if he had been on his own, like earlier, Penn would not have been grooving to this bubblegum pop song in public, but since he had a friend by his side, one that was dancing just as badly as him, it wasn't so bad. Sashi could definitely move when it came to beating villains up on missions, but her dance moves were a little offkey. The songs kept changing as they continued to dance. From electronic rock, hip-hop, to top 40 hits with nonsense lyrics and everything in between, it seemed that Penn and Sasi weren't caring as their classmates danced in the so-called normal way.

Heck, Sashi was even pulling out an air guitar and mouthing the lyrics here and there. Penn decided to accompany her with air drums and pretend back-up vocals. They were a frenzy, a little tornado on the dancefloor. It was a thousand times better than spending the night alone, lingering in the school gymnasium or staying home doing nothing as fun as this.

Finally, after what seemed like the hundredth catchy song since they had got on the dancefloor, they were standing face-to-face grinning like they had won the lottery, even if they looked disheveled from their dancing. Sashi's hair had fallen out of place, but it made her look better. Meanwhile, Penn had managed to unbutton his tuxedo jacket so he could feel more loose and casual. And did he ever. Maybe this was what prom was about. Not the glitz and the glamour and the sparkles, but the small talk about the evening. That was what mattered. He wasn't going to remember the dumb songs he danced to, but he would only remember that he danced like a fool to them with Sashi Kobayashi, who was his best friend and also bad at dancing, but they moved to the beat like nobody's business.

"You're not that bad at dancing," she observed. "Even if it looks like you're having a full body seizure sometimes."

Typical Sashi statement: a compliment hidden in a tease. Penn couldn't help but laugh and smile. Maybe he was drunk on the beat of the music, or high on the sensation of too much dancing, or it could be just pure serenity and happiness keeping him this way.

"Thanks. But I think I have to say the same about you," Penn retorted.

Sashi rolled her eyes, and playfully punched him in the arm lightly. They stood there for a moment, now stuck in the crowd. The song was much slower now, a piano ballad with sappy lyrics. Everyone else had found someone, and the twosomes were all swaying to the beat…

...except them. Penn and Sashi seemed to be glued to the floor by awkwardness now.

Yet Penn had no idea what mighty force was making him hold his hand out to her.

"We might as well," he said softly.

"Yeah," Sashi whispered. She hesitated a little, and then took his hand. The only times they really ever held hands was when they were trying to rescue one another from certain doom. Not casual, like this. "I'm scared to see what your waltzing is."

Penn chuckled. "I'm sure it's not as bad as my regular dancing," he said halfheartedly.

Sashi had both of his hands in her own, not exactly in the 'proper' dance position, but Penn didn't know what he was doing, and neither did she. So she let it go. They weren't a couple, anyway. They didn't need to waltz. They were just friends messing around. So she took one step back, and he stepped forward.

"Pretty sure guys lead," Penn spoke up.

"I know, I was just giving you a headstart," Sashi retorted, with a tiny smirk. "Your move."

Once again, the usual Sashi. Always one step ahead, figuratively and literally. Penn wavered a little, nearly stumbling as he tried to lead them into a somewhat waltz. They moved slow, but at the same time, erratic. Sashi would get confused for a moment, but then look down to follow his footsteps before he even took them, while Penn was too focused on trying not to trip. They didn't even notice the song change, but the theme stayed the same; another heartmelting fuzzy love song. It was clear to see they both felt awkward on the dancefloor, with all of the couples, when they were simply friends goofing off…

"We're terrible at this," Penn finally admitted, with a laugh.

Sashi bashfully grinned, and gave a gentle chuckle. "Now that we've danced, do you want to get out of here?" she asked.

Penn's smile faltered just a little. "Want to go hang out somewhere else before the night's over?" he offered.

For a moment, he could have sworn he saw her blush again, but there was also a bit of a spark in her eyes-

-and she nodded.

"That would be nice," Sashi murmured.

Penn was surprised, as she made her way out of the crowd, she kept her hand in his, taking him out with her. Prom night was turning out to be okay, after all.

author's note: DID YOU THINK THIS WAS THE END? Mwahaha, nope. This is the first part of my twoshot for my precious otp of this dorky show. Penn needs someone stable to keep him on his feet, and Sashi is an adorable little badass. They're perfect for each other. *clears throat* Enough fangirling. Let me know what you thought of this so far :).

Chapter Two should be up soon!