"Do I have to go?" she moaned.
Allison turned to her, shocked, "Of course you do Lydia, it's PROM!" She threw her hands in the air before reaching out and clasping her friends arms, "It's a rite of passage, it's practically the law that you have to attend your senior prom."
Lydia couldn't help but smile at her best friends over exaggeration, "It is not!" she retorted, "and besides," she shrugged and her smile faded, "I don't have anyone to go with."
Allison sighed and let go of her, "Then we'll go as girl dates, no guys what so ever."
"Oh like you'll be able to stick to that," she grinned, "how many times have you already been asked?"
"Three." Lydia looked at her with scepticism, "Okay, five." she relinquished, "But I haven't said yes to any of them. I don't want to go with just some guy, I want to go with the guy. And if I can't go with him, then I want to enjoy what will hopefully be one of the best nights of my teenage life with my best friend." She took Lydia's hands in hers, "You."
Lydia took back her hands and crossed her arms, "So I'm the backup plan?" She said with a hint of a smile, she couldn't be mad at Allison for even a second, and Allison knew that. "And besides," she continued, "I have two months. I could easily find a guy in that time."
"Oh come on." Allison laughed, "You know I don't mean it like that and you definitely know I have absolutely no chance of going to prom with the guy I want to go with. Neither of us do."
Lydia knew exactly what she meant; the two hottest guys in school would never even talk to them, let alone go to prom with them. She grinned however, "But there's no harm in dreaming."
With that the bell rang and she grimaced. She reached out and grabbed Allison's hand, "Come on, we don't wanna be late. Again. You know how pissed coach was last time."
Allison laughed as Lydia dragged her down the hall towards their next class. "That was unavoidable. I…"
"Unavoidable?" Lydia grinned and shook her head, she stopped and turned to look at Allison, "Making out with Isaac Lahey in the boys locker room was 'unavoidable." She scoffed, "Right. Do you know how many girls he's likely to have had in there? And not just making out either, uhh." She shuddered.
She turned away from Allison and froze. Walking down the hallway towards them was the lacrosse team, just back from practice and looking hot as hell. But her focus was on one in particular, as was Allison's. The co-captains of the team, and the hottest guys in school.
Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski.
Time seemed to slow down as he walked towards her, but she knew it was just her imagination. She felt as though she couldn't breathe, couldn't think straight. And when he smiled, she could have sworn her heart stopped beating.
"You're staring," came a voice from behind her, "again." She squeaked and whirled around to find Mason leaning against one of the lockers, he grinned.
"Damn it Mason, I told you not to sneak up on me like that." She playfully punched his arm as he broke down laughing. "And I was not staring." She felt her face go red as the blood rushed to her cheeks.
"You most definitely were." He pushed off the locker and reached out to put his arm around her shoulders, "But don't worry, I don't think anyone else noticed, except, you know, the entire lacrosse team."
She looked back over her shoulder and realised that the corridor was now empty, the lacrosse team having filed into the boy's locker room just down the hall. She sighed and turned her head to look at Mason, "On the bright side, at least he noticed me. Right?"
"Sorry to crush your dreams, but I highly doubt it." Allison chimed in from behind her, "We are just another two high school girls with crushes on the lacrosse team." She placed her hand on Lydia's arm comfortingly, "We might as well be invisible."
Lydia turned to Allison, shrugging off Mason's arm, "Says the girl who's made out with one of the hottest guys on the lacrosse team. I think you're a little less invisible than me."
Allison laughed and wrapped an arm around Lydia, "Okay I deserved that. But that was one time and then I found out what kind of guy he really was." She pulled Lydia forward towards their next class, "The kind of guy that will get with any girl he can purely for bragging rights."
"Bragging rights." Lydia couldn't suppress a laugh, "So what are most guys in it for? Back massages and babies."
"They don't intentionally sign up for those things, but they kind of come as part of the package, if you're the right kind of guy."Allison turned her head and winked at her.
They turned the corner and headed into economics. She and Allison took their seats on the row one from the back, most people were already here but a few were still MIA. She watched the stragglers file in through the door. Just as she thought the last ones had arrived, Scott and Stiles sauntered in laughing at something one of them had probably said.
"Nice of you to grace us with your presence." Coach Finstock called, his voice dripping sarcasm. "McCall, Stilinski, take a seat. TODAY!" He shouted as they lingered in the doorway. Scott thumped Stiles on the back and they made their way to the only two remaining seats in the classroom, which just so happened to be the ones directly behind her and Allison. She stared straight ahead at coach and tried to keep her heartbeat low.
It didn't work.
As soon as she heard him sit behind her she couldn't concentrate on anything other than his steady breathing. He was just inches away from her and she knew if she turned around he would be within reaching distance. She clasped her hands if front of her and kept her eyes on the blackboard. Coach was writing on it about some assignment he had planned for them.
As he finished writing he turned around and spoke up, "This assignment is to be done by next week, and you'll be working in pairs." Lydia turned to look at Allison, but before she could say anything, Coach continued, "You won't be picking your own partners however. Rows one and three turn around, say hello to your partner for this assignment." Lydia froze and she swore she could have had a heart attack there and then if it hadn't been for Allison's hand on her shouder.
For the next week, she was going to be working with the boy she'd been in love with for more than ten years, the boy who didn't even know she existed. Until now. She swivelled in her chair and took a deep breathe, it was now or never. She steadied her heart and held out her hand, "Lydia. I guess we're going to be assignment buddies for the next week."
He smiled at her and she caught her breathe, "Stiles, but I'm guessing you probably already knew that." He took her hand and shook it, "Nice to meet you Lydia, and it does look that way doesn't it."