Disclaimer: I don't own The Adventures of Pete & Pete or any of the characters in this story.

I dedicate this little tale to everyone who wanted older Pete and Ellen to get together for good.

She Is Staggering

Summer was nearly upon us. In just one short month, we'd hear the cheery jangle of Mr. Tastee's ice cream truck…get our hands on one of those bodacious blue tornado bars…spend long days at the pool…and go on one of our famous Wrigley family road trips. But this summer, there was one other thing to look forward to.

In just one short month, I'd be graduating from high school with my best friend, Ellen Hickle. I could hardly believe that after all these years, we were still just as close. It seems like just yesterday, we were almost driven apart by my dad and Mr. Hickle's insane prank war. After that was all said and done, we vowed to never let anyone keep us apart again. In fact, we were both going to the same college. Ellen was a shoo-in. I, personally, wasn't quite so sure that I would make it in. But after I found out that my brother, Pete, had a hand in writing the essay for my application, I knew I'd be alright. He can be very persuasive when he wants something…that's for sure.

The idea of college didn't really worry me. With Ellen by my side, and having years of experience living with a brother like Pete, I was sure that everything would be okay. What was worrying me had nothing to do with college. It had everything to do with high school, really—the rite of passage of every high school senior.

Prom.

I never imagined that this seemingly insignificant four letter word would strike fear in me. But in two weeks, the date would be upon me.

Speaking of dates, I still needed one to prom. The logical choice was to ask Ellen. She was always fun to hang around. Though we both weren't really that much into dancing, I'm sure we'd find a way to have a great time. My heart, on the other hand, was telling me to ask the woman who starred in all my daydreams, as of late: Penelope Ghiruto. She was perfect. Did you know that you can make 27 words out of her name? No? Well, you can. One of the words just happens to be 'Pete.' If that's not fate, I don't know what is.

I waited another week before I finally got up the courage to ask her to the prom. That is, another week before I broke down and asked Ellen for some advice on the matter. We were walking outside after class let out for the day. Ever the perceptive one, Ellen could tell something was bothering me.

"Pete, you know you can ask me anything," she said, nudging me with her arm. "I'm always here when you need me."

I let out a deep breath. "I know. Thanks, Ellen. I actually did want to ask you something." I gestured toward a bench along the sidewalk, and we sat down. "It's about prom."

"Oh yeah? What about?"

"Well first of all, I was curious…do you have a date yet?"

Her eyes widened, and if I'm not mistaken, one of them began to twitch. Weird. "No," she replied. "No date. You?"

I shook my head. "No. But that's what I wanted to ask you about. Ellen, we've been friends for so long, and you're one of the most important people in my life. But, I just have to ask…"

She let out a quiet gasp. "Yes, Pete?"

…"Your opinion."

For about 10 seconds, she just kind of stared at me, head tilted to the side. It almost looked like she wasn't even breathing. Ellen sure was acting strange today.

"Ellen?"

She remained motionless. I poked her in the arm to get her attention.

"ELLEN!?"

That snapped her out of it. She drew in a ragged breath and shook her head, almost as if to clear it. "Sorry? You said you wanted to ask for my opinion about prom?"

"Well, yeah," I said, shrugging my shoulders. I thought I had made myself clear. "I've wanted to ask Penelope to the prom, but I just don't know how to. Do you have any ideas?"

Ellen looked like a balloon that someone had suddenly just deflated. It was the weirdest thing. "Penelope Ghiruto? As in last stop on the bus home, vegetarian, 27 words within her name Penelope Ghiruto?"

"One in the same." I smiled just thinking about her. God, she was beautiful. "So…thoughts? You're my best friend, Ellen. Any ideas you might have would mean the world to me. If you help me, I'll…I'll do your laundry for a month at college."

She burst out laughing. I hoped whatever weirdness was going on with her today was passing. "Pete, I think you're going to want to take that back once you actually start doing my laundry. But…I'll help you. What are friends for, right?" For a split second, a shadow crossed her face, but she quickly replaced it with a smile.

I let out an excited yelp and pulled Ellen up into a hug. She squealed in surprise and smacked me in the arm. "Get off me you goof! I can't help you if you suffocate me to death."

She did have a point. I released her from my arms and instead, held out my hand. "Alright then. Deal?"

Ellen smiled and shook on it. "Deal."

"Great! Well, I'd better go. Pete's building an Artenna in the backyard, and he wanted me to help him."

"An Artenna? Don't you mean an antenna?"

I grinned sheepishly. "No. Artie…antenna…it's like the best of both worlds. Ever since Artie left, Pete's been trying to find different ways to keep track of his whereabouts."

"I see," Ellen nodded in understanding. We all missed Artie, but Pete probably missed him most of all. "Well, let me know how that goes. I'll brainstorm a little tonight, too, and give you a call with what I come up with about Penelope."

"Thanks, Ellen." I turned and started walking. "I owe you big time," I called behind me.

"A month of laundry, don't forget," she yelled back.

I gulped. Forget when I actually started doing her laundry. I think perhaps I was starting to regret promising her that now.

Soon after, Ellen called me and let me know her thoughts on Operation Prom, and a week later, I put them into action. I called Ellen to fill her in on how everything went.

"Hello, Hickle residence. Ellen speaking."

"ELLEN!"

Well, more like shouted at Ellen to fill her in on how everything went.

She laughed. "I'm assuming it went well?"

"Yes, yes! She said yes!"

"That's great, Pete! I knew it would work."

So did I. Ellen firmly believed that all girls wanted to be wooed the old-fashioned way. You know, flowers, candles…that type of thing. But we added a twist. The night before, I set up everything I needed to outside Penelope's house. When all the lights went out, I came out of my hiding place to execute Phase One. Here's how it all went:

Phase One—Get Penelope's attention by throwing pebbles at her window.

Phase Two—Allow a few seconds for Penelope to take in the sight of me standing in the center of a heart; the heart being made out of a bunch of sparklers I put on her lawn.

Phase Three—Hold up my sign that has one simple word on it: "PROM?"

Phase Four—Wait for Penelope's answer, then pull out my bouquet of roses, sprayed with a substance Pete created himself to make sure they don't catch on fire from the sparklers.

Well, it worked. She ran outside, and it was like time slowed down. I could count the degrees of her beautiful smile, the number of freckles on the bridge of her nose… With a big hug and kiss on the cheek, she accepted. I had a date.

"Ellen, I couldn't have done this without you." We lapsed into comfortable silence for a few seconds. "So, I'll see you there, right?"

"Um…well actually, Pete, I don't think I'll be able to make it."

What? Surely she was kidding.

"But why? I thought you were interested in going?"

She let out a deep breath. "I was, but…I realized I was really behind in getting everything ready for college. Plus, there's studying for finals, graduation…"

I was really confused. "Ellen, all that can wait. This is prom. If this is about the fact that there's dancing, don't worry. I fully plan on us raiding the refreshment table instead. I hear they go all out…Krebbin' Donuts, Krebs Ahoy, and your favorite sparkling apple cider: Krebinelli's."

"Well, I do love Krebinelli's…"

"Does this mean you'll go?"

"Pete, I really can't."

"Ellen, come on..."

"Pete, stop! Why are you pushing this? I told you, I need to start getting myself prepared for college, finals, life..." She paused for a few seconds. What came out of her mouth next, however, was unexpected. "And you know, maybe instead of mooning all over Penelope Ghiruto, you should, too!"

Um…what?

"Excuse me? I have not been mooning over Penelope."

"Oh please," she scoffed. "That's all I ever hear about. How great she is, how her hair smells so good…and if I have to hear one more time about how you can make 27 words out of her name…"

I shook my head, bewildered. I thought Ellen liked Penelope. Why else would she help me ask her to the prom?

"Ellen, where is this all coming from?"

"Nowhere. I'm just tired of hearing about her, that's all."

"You know, you've been acting weird all week. This isn't the Ellen I know. I want the old Ellen back."

"Well maybe I'm just not the same person anymore," she shouted.

"Maybe you're not," I shouted back.

"And since you obviously don't like the new Ellen, maybe we shouldn't be friends anymore!"

"Yeah, maybe you're right!"

"Goodbye, Pete!"

Click.

I stared at the phone in disbelief, the dial tone buzzing loudly. I felt as though I had just been kicked in the stomach with a pair of my trusty ProKreb sneakers. Of course I still wanted Ellen in my life. The words that had come out of my mouth were absolutely not how I wanted things to go. But her roller coaster personality this week had been getting on my nerves. In some ways, however, perhaps she was right. Perhaps we all were different people now. But I couldn't dwell on that. I had a week to get myself together for prom…and a night with Penelope Ghiruto.

Saturday, May 29th.

The day of reckoning…prom day…whatever you want to call it. It had been a long week of waiting. Plus, Ellen still wasn't speaking to me, which made things harder. I resolved to talk to her after prom, when my brain wasn't so scrambled. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have put her in the middle of my prom troubles. I was 18 years old, and I could have probably figured out a way to ask Penelope without anyone's help. But I wanted everything to be perfect. The perfect night with the perfect girl…

Who was now sitting next to me in my car on the way to the prom. We had made it past the awkward before-prom pictures with our parents. But I must admit my mom was a lifesaver. The batteries died on Penelope's mom's camera. Using the metal plate in her head, my mom was able to redirect energy from the air in our house to the batteries, recharge them, and make their camera usable again! Though I did notice our house lights were a little dimmer when we left…

"So are you excited," Penelope asked, drawing me out of my musings.

"Definitely! You look great, by the way."

"I know, right? This dress is amazing. My mom and I got it at Krebstrom. I almost got something else, but..."

I tuned her out as she started talking about fashion. That stuff really didn't interest me. But I nodded in all the right places and pretended I was into it. Unfortunately, Penelope caught on.

"Pete, are you listening to me?"

I jerked out of my trance. "Huh? Oh, sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So, switching topics…are you excited to dance? I've been learning some new moves in my dance class and…"

Oh. My. God.

Remember earlier when I told you that Ellen and I weren't much into dancing? Well, I forgot to tell Penelope. I guess there was no time like the present.

"Um, actually Penelope," I started, looking anywhere but at her, "I was kind of hoping we'd hang out by the snacks for a little while. I, uh, really don't dance much," I admitted sheepishly.

"You don't dance much?"

"More like not at all…actually."

"Oh."

Oh.

I never knew that one little word could sound so terrible. I had to rectify this.

"But maybe I could try."

I chanced a glance at Penelope, and saw a smile light up her face. "Really," she squealed. "Thank you, Pete! It'll be fun, you'll see!"

…Yeah, but if I had known just how bad it was going to turn out, I would never had suggested trying it.

We tried fast dancing first. There wasn't much to it, right? Wrong. I kept stepping on Penelope's toes. I could tell she was getting annoyed with me and soon, she suggested waiting for a group dance. It was simple, she said. Just follow what everyone else is doing.

So a short time later, I found myself on the dance floor, attempting to do the supposedly harmless "Macarena." After a few rotations, I felt like I was kind of getting the hang of it! Until, well…you know in the song where you sort of wiggle around, go "Hey Macarena", and jump sideways to do it again? Well, I…wiggled, shouted, "Hey Macarena" with everyone else, and jumped. Only, I jumped sideways into Penelope and we fell to the floor.

"Ow, Pete! What the hell is wrong with you," she shouted as I struggled to untangle my legs from her long dress.

"God, I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you." I finally got myself untangled and stood up, though I had no idea that when I stood up, my foot ended up planted right on the hem of her dress. As I took her hands to help her up, I heard a loud rip. I'm pretty sure we both stopped breathing at that point.

Penelope looked murderous. "Pete…please tell me that wasn't my dress."

"Um…" I chanced a look down to inspect the damage. It was about a 6-inch rip, but I tried to downplay it. In my haste to make it seem like no big deal, I quoted a line from one of my favorite movies, "Monty Python and the Holy Kreb."

"Tis but a scratch!"

Probably not a good idea, when I looked back on it.

"That's it," Penelope hissed. "I need to take a break and sit down. Can I trust you to get me some Kreben Up and NOT screw that up, too?"

With that, she stalked over to one of the tables and sat down. I stood in place for a few seconds, hanging my head dejectedly. This wasn't how tonight was supposed to go. But I guess the least I could do was get her the drink she wanted. Slowly, I walked over to the refreshment table.

"One Kreben Up, please," I said, not even lifting my head up.

"Coming right up, dipstick."

I snapped my eyes up to meet the smirking ones of my little brother. "Pete? What are you doing here?"

He shrugged his shoulders, the picture of innocence. But I knew better. "They needed some extra hands to help out. I volunteered. End of story. Now, why are you looking so down, brother?"

"Do you really need to ask?" We both glanced over at Penelope, who was surrounded by her group of friends at a table, gesturing wildly at her ripped dress.

"Man, I am so sorry things aren't going so well, my brother. I know she's like your dream girl, right? Well, how about I make Miss Penelope Ghiruto something really special," he asked with a big smile, really laying it on thick.

Something was up.

"Pete, no!" I practically threw the glass out of his hands. "Whatever you're planning, just no! This isn't like April Fool's Day."

"Oh, Pete…Pete, Pete, Pete…who says I'm planning anything?"

I pretended to think for a minute. "Gee, the fact that you're here? It's senior prom. NOT senior prom plus 14 year old Pete."

"I told you, I'm just here to help out!"

"Sure you are. Well then don't mind me," I said, perching myself on the table, "I'm just going to sit here and watch you pour the drink."

Pete scoffed. "You really don't trust me?"

"Not tonight. Everything needs to be perfect. Well, as close to perfect as possible. I need to make sure that happens!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Pete then made a show of lifting up the cup so I could see it, and turned it upside down to prove nothing was inside it. He poured the Kreben Up into the cup at such an angle that it almost looked elegant. Then, he took a plastic drink sword (where did that come from!?), speared a lemon and lime wedge on it, and dunked it in the drink. Finally, he took a tiny umbrella (again, where did that come from?) and stuck it on the side of the cup.

At this point, it had taken nearly 5 minutes to make the drink. I was getting a little impatient. "Can you be a little quicker?"

"Of course, sir," Pete said, incorporating what sounded like a British accent into his voice. "Only one more final touch."

I watched wide-eyed as Pete took out a small silver tray, set a doily on it, put the drink on the tray, and draped a napkin over his arm. It was over the top and totally ridiculous.

But I had to admit it looked good. Maybe this would set me on the right track with Penelope again.

"Lead the way, sir!"

We formed a small procession and walked over to where Penelope was seated. She saw me first since I was in front of Pete, and she gave me what could only be described as a death stare. "It's about time. Where's my drink?"

"Oh, right here!" I gestured towards Pete and stepped to the side.

What happened next was like something out of a horror movie. As soon as Pete took a step, his shoelace caught on a chair leg and he stumbled forward, sending the drink hurtling towards Penelope…and right into her chest.

Considering the screaming that started next, maybe it was a horror movie.

The front of Penelope's dress was soaking wet. I'm pretty sure even the tips of her hair had gotten splashed, too. She thrust a shaking hand in my face. "YOU…YOU…"

She was so mad, it was like she had lost the ability to speak.

"YOU AND ME…WE'RE DONE!"

Or maybe not.

"I should have known this was a bad idea! Girls like me don't go out with losers like you. You probably bruised my toes for as many times as you stepped on them, you knocked me over, ripped my dress, and your stupid little brother spilled soda on me. This is the worst night of my life!" She stormed away in a huff. Her friends trailed behind her, spouting words of encouragement.

During this exchange, I had become frozen in place, in total disbelief at how quickly my 'Night to Remember' had gone downhill. I'd remember it alright, but for all the wrong reasons.

I was broken out of my trance, however, by a chuckle behind me. I whirled around, finding Pete shaking with laughter. I knew he was up to something. I just knew it.

I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the hallway, his protests ringing in my ears. Once I had him outside, I let loose on him.

"How could you do this to me? You knew I had a crush on Penelope for ages. You knew I wanted this to be the perfect night."

Pete glared at me, rubbing his arm where I grabbed it. "I did this for your own good, blowhole!"

"Oh yeah? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throttle you right now!"

He stuck his chin up defiantly. Only one word left his mouth.

"Ellen."

I frowned at him. "What does Ellen have to do with this?"

"Everything."

"You're going to have to be a little more specific than that, Pete."

"Well, maybe if you took your head out of your butt, you'd understand what I was getting at."

This time, it was Pete who grabbed my arm and pulled me over to a nearby bulletin board. It had a ton of candid pictures on it from different moments during the year.

"Look," he said, pointing at the pictures. "Are you with Penelope in any of these?"

I looked closely. There was one of Ellen and I right after our marching band had won the state championship. We looked exhausted from hours of practicing, but had the biggest, cheesiest grins on our faces. There was another picture of Ellen and I sitting next to each other at our usual lunch table, flanked by all of our friends. The final picture was the real kicker. Ellen had just come down from the stage at the beginning of the year after being sworn in as student body treasurer. I remember that day because I was so proud of her. I immediately stood up and gave her a hug after all was said and done. Someone had caught that on camera.

There were ZERO pictures of Penelope and me together. All of the pictures were of Ellen and me. Everything important in my life had included Ellen. When I thought about it, what had Penelope been a part of?

Pete was right. Ellen did have to do with everything. Not only that, she was everything.

Up until this point, she had been a girl who was my friend, not my girlfriend. Sure, there were a few times when I though we could be more. At that time, however, I don't think I was ready for more. And I wasn't about to force something I wasn't ready for. But now…I don't know.

Maybe there was a reason it never worked out with these other girls. Ellen was always the one who was there for me. She knew me better than any other girl, and I was an idiot for thinking otherwise. Ellen was fun and sweet and interesting and...everything Penelope wasn't.

"So butt munch, what are you going to do now?"

I looked up to see Pete with his arms crossed, an expectant look on his face. "I think…I need to go talk to Ellen. I need to go talk to her now," I exclaimed, suddenly bursting with desperation.

I ran down the hall to go outside to the parking lot, but stopped short when I heard Pete call my name. I turned around to see him standing with his feet together, saluting me with a perfect 45 degree angle. "Good luck," he shouted. "And don't screw this up!"

I saluted back. "Thanks, Pete. Really. Thank you." With that, I sprinted to my car and sped towards my destiny.

Several minutes later, I pulled up in front of the Hickle residence. To be honest, I had no idea what I was going to say or how I was going to say it. I just knew we needed to talk. I got out of my car with my heart in my throat, walked up to the door, and knocked.

After what seemed like forever, Ellen's dad opened the door.

"Hi, Mr. Hickle. Is Ellen home," I asked.

"Hey there, Pete," he replied cheerfully. "No, I'm sorry. Ellen's at the prom. I thought you would have seen her."

My mouth dropped open in surprise. "She's at the prom? She told me she wasn't going. Something about needing to prepare for finals…?"

He rolled his eyes. "She told me the same thing, but I said, 'Sweetheart, prom doesn't come around all the time. You need to go! Carpe Diem! Grab life by the shoulders and dance with him!'"

"Him? Is she there with someone," I asked, my voice borderline frantic.

"No, no. She just said she was going to meet some friends there. Why, does she have some fancy fellow that I don't know about," he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

That was precisely what I thought I might be ready to do something about, but I didn't want to jump the gun and get everyone hyped over something that may not happen. I just shrugged my shoulders as nonchalantly as I could. "Not that I know of."

"Alrighty, well, if you want to catch her, you should probably be on your way back to the prom," said Mr. Hickle. "It was nice talking to you, Pete."

I agreed. Time was slipping away from me and I needed as much of it as I could get. "Sure. Thanks, Mr. Hickle."

"Oh! Before you go…" He reached behind the door and put a small pamphlet into my hand: What Do You Want to Do with the Rest of Your Life? "Just in case you're still undecided about a major in college. This has some really great information, Pete. Check it out!"

Ever the guidance counselor, Mr. Hickle was never in short supply of career pamphlets.

I let out an awkward chuckle. "Thanks. Will do, Mr. Hickle."

As I walked quickly back to my car, started it, and drove back to the school, I started to brainstorm in my mind where to look for Ellen first. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen her. Maybe she had arrived just as I was leaving? But as I looked at my watch, I knew I had to act fast. There was just one more hour left before prom ended.

I made it to the school quickly and ran back into the gym, weaving my way through dancers at warp speed. I caught sight of Penelope dancing with some other guy. It didn't upset me, though. Honestly, it only reinforced the fact that Penelope wasn't the girl I thought she was. If only I had realized that sooner! But now was not the time to dwell on that. I needed to find Ellen.

After scouring the gym with no sign of her, I began to get worried. What if she wasn't actually at the prom, but only told her dad she'd go to make him happy? No, no, I told myself. She wouldn't lie to her dad. But where else might she go that I hadn't considered?

Just like that, the answer came to me. Our secret spot on the roof, of course! Why hadn't I thought of that before? Ellen and I liked to go up there to unwind in peace if we felt like the world was closing in on us. Just don't tell anyone about it. It's sort of against school rules…

I ran into the hallway that housed the hidden staircase and ducked upstairs before anyone caught me. Taking one last deep breath, I wrenched open the door, turned the corner, and stopped in my tracks at the sight before me.

Ellen was leaned up against the railing of the roof, looking over the side. But it wasn't the sight of her that surprised me—it was how beautiful she looked. Ellen was always beautiful, but Pete was right. I needed to stop being so stubborn, and realize that what I was looking for was in front of me the whole time. And what I was looking at was simply stunning.

I allowed myself a few moments to take in the sight of Ellen. She had a long, billowy dark blue dress on. She did always look good in blue. She also had grown out her hair again this past year, and it swished ever so slightly in the light breeze that was drifting through the air.

Finally, I broke the silence. "Hey, Ellen."

She started at the sudden noise. "Pete, what are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be downstairs with Penelope," she asked, iciness still present in her voice.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, it's our spot isn't it? And…Penelope is otherwise occupied with someone else."

"That's a shame. You two seemed so perfect for each other," she said sarcastically.

"Is it a shame? If anything, tonight proved to me that we're not so perfect for each other, and not because she's dancing with someone else." I moved closer to her. "Ellen, I need to talk to you."

"So go ahead. It's a free country."

"How long have we known each other," I asked after a moment.

"I don't know. I'd say probably our whole lives, or close to it."

I smiled as a memory came to mind. "Do you remember the time we went street bowling and we used my dad's special bowling ball?"

Ellen snorted. "Yeah. He was so mad, he chased us into the next county."

My smile grew bigger. "Or how about when Pete got x-ray vision after staring at the lunar eclipse too long?"

This time, Ellen laughed. "And you were so paranoid that Pete could see my underwear, so you made me wear a lead smock. That was so sweet of you."

We grew quiet for a few moments before she spoke again. "Pete, what's this about?"

"It's just…we've been through so much together, made so many memories." I paused, looking right at her. It was now or never. "I want to keep doing that, Ellen."

She snapped her head up to meet my gaze, a look of confusion on her face. "What are you saying?"

My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, but my voice never wavered. "Ellen, I want us to give things another shot. I might not have been ready before, but I'm ready now. I'm just sorry it's taken this long to realize it."

While I was talking, Ellen's eyes were completely frozen on mine. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke. "But why," she asked shakily. "Why do you want to be with me?"

"Because there's never a dull moment with us. You somehow find my corny jokes funny. You play the French horn like no one's business. You're obsession with metallurgy is actually kind of adorable. You're probably the smartest woman I know…just don't tell my mom. You're not afraid to stick up for what you believe in. And I have to admit," I began as I moved even closer, "the fact that you know how to wrestle is pretty hot."

Ellen had tears streaming down her face at this point, though she barked out a laugh when I mentioned that last part. "What? I'm just a man for God's sake," was my simple explanation. This only made her laugh harder, and soon, we were both doubled over, clutching our stomachs as we gasped for air.

After a few moments, however, I continued. "You're interesting, talented, and just plain fun. Penelope...well, she isn't. I'm sorry I was such a clueless idiot. Even if Pete hadn't knocked some sense into me downstairs, the night would have probably ended badly anyway."

"Pete was here," Ellen asked. "Strange."

"Considering it's Pete, I don't think it's so strange," I said with a chuckle. "But...long story short, he dumped Penelope's drink on her. This of course was after I ripped her dress and knocked her over."

Ellen cracked up again. "What were you doing that you knocked her over?"

I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed. "Um, the Macarena..."

"Oh man," she snorted. "I almost feel bad for Penelope. Not because of her dress, but because she had to witness your dancing."

"Like yours is any better," I quipped, laughing with her. As our laughter died down, I reached over and took her hand. "You see, Ellen? We have fun together. Being with you would be as easy as breathing."

She was silent for a moment. "Pete, can I say a few things first?"

"Of course."

"I didn't really need to study and prepare for finals," she admitted, hanging her head slightly. "I lied, and I'm sorry."

"But why?"

"I was jealous of you and Penelope. I didn't want to be the third wheel, and I..." She paused, her eyes welling up again. "I wanted to be the one you asked to prom."

I gasped. "You did? But why did you help me with Penelope?"

She took a deep breath. "Because I love you, Pete." She said it so matter-of-factly that I wanted to weep with joy. "And at the end of the day, I just want you to be happy."

I shook my head in disbelief. "You love me?"

A look of determination on her face, she grasped my neck in one hand and pulled my lips down to meet hers. My hands found purchase on her waist as I tugged her as close to me as possible. I had forgotten how sweet she tasted, but this kiss was even sweeter than the previous ones. Why? I could feel her love with every press of her lips, with all the emotion she was pouring into our kiss. When we'd occasionally break apart for air, I'd whisper my own words of love in return, causing the prettiest smile to appear on her face.

But I realized eventually that I still needed Ellen's official response. "So what do you say? You and me?"

She held my face close to hers and whispered one word. "Yes."

My smile probably cracked my face it was so big. But all I wanted to do was kiss Ellen again, and as we resumed kissing, we subconsciously started swaying to the beat of the music wafting through the air from the open door to the gym.

Are you crazy man?
You didn't notice her?
You must be blind.
'Cause all I do now
Is think about how
She will be mine.

I couldn't stand up.
I couldn't sit down.
One look at her and I stumble around…

It occurred to me that we weren't "stumbling around," we were dancing. Incredible. Two of the klutziest people. But I guess what we needed all along was the right partner. Ellen was mine, and I couldn't be happier.

In case you hadn't already guessed it, Ellen was pissed at Pete because she wanted to be with him and he was being clueless and stupid. She was just too scared to say anything...very unlike the Ellen in the series. The Ellen on TV always came off as very headstrong to me and very sure of herself. But love makes you do crazy things. In addition, what did you guys think of little Pete being the voice of reason? Usually it's big Pete, but it seemed more appropriate in this situation for big Pete to get swept up in the craziness of prom.

Of course I had to use Polaris in this ("She is Staggering"). I hope you all enjoyed my sweet little one-shot! I just recently re-discovered Pete & Pete, and it was like the door to my childhood had been reopened. Now that 15 or so years have passed since I last saw the show, I understand a lot more of it, and can appreciate and connect with it even more!

FYI, the KrebStar products mentioned are actually used in the show, with the exception of Krebs Ahoy (Chips Ahoy), Krebinelli's (Martinelli's), Krebstrom (Nordstrom), and Monty Python and the Holy Kreb (Grail). I made up those four…I think. I didn't find any information stating otherwise.

I'd love your feedback on my little tale. Please review.