Chapter 4: Liv - Prom or Not?
"It's Monday!" That was the first thing I said when I woke up. I was excited because prom was this Friday and I was singing a song.
I used the bathroom, put on my make up, put on my black heels, a pink skirt, a matching head-band, and a white and black checked-looking shirt. I had toast again for breakfast, and when everyone was ready, we headed off for school.
During my free period before the start of school officially, I was in the halls talking to friends and catching up. All of a sudden Maddie's best-friend Willow passed me with a big net, looking for someone. I had a feeling I knew who she was looking for.
"Um... Hey Willow. You, uh, catching butterflies?" I teased.
"Nope. Catchin' Joeys. And when I net him, I'm going to ask him to prom!" she exclaimed. She had a slight obsession with my brother. She liked him a lot but he didn't like her back.
"Okay but if you catch him in a net, wouldn't that be, like, not asking him?" I asked her. It was kind of a rhetorical question but Willow answered it.
"We have a... complicated relationship." she told me. "So, uh, who are you going with?"
"My microphone. I'm performing a song at prom." I answered.
"No way! That's really cool!" she replied.
"Thanks! I'm still writing it though so I feel like having a date will be a distraction." I answered. That was partially true. But I also didn't really want to go with anyone... well except for maybe Holden.
Willow turned and caught someone in her net thinking it was Joey.
"Sorry Jeffery, move along, move along." she said.
"Um, Willow," I tried to pull the net from her hands. "Willow! Let it go." I said. She let it go with a sad face.
"You can't just throw a net around and expect to catch a boy you like." I let it go behind my shoulder. Willow gave me a look and pointed behind me. I turned. I had caught someone.
"Nice welcome for the new kid." Holden said, net over his head.
"Holden!" I nervous laughed. "I'm sorry! Willow, this is my new neighbor, Holden. He is super cu-ool. Cool." I saved myself. Willow still gave me a look and I prayed Holden didn't see it.
"Nice to meet ya, Super Cu-ool Holden." Willow greeted. I nervous laughed. Did she have to do that?
"So, uh, I have to check in with the office. Do you know where it is?" he asked me and Willow.
"It's that way." We both responded at the same time, but pointing different directions. Willow grabbed my hand and pointed it the right way.
"That way." I fixed. I just get flabbergasted around him. He started to walk away. "Okay, Bye!" I yelled after him. When a looked back at Willow, she was nodding at me with that face.
"What?" I asked, even though I knew.
"You like him!" she exclaimed.
"What? No I don't." I decided that to get her off the topic, I needed to set her mind on something more important.
"Whoa, is that Joey?" I pointed up the steps.
"He's mine!" Willow ran. I just smiled and walked away.
The next day, I was at my locker getting my books, when Holden walked up to me.
"Hey! Liv, thanks for showing me around yesterday." he said.
"Oh. It's no problem. I mean, once you know which water fountains have been sabotaged and will spray you in the face, Ridgewood is a cake walk." I responded.
"A friendly face doesn't hurt either." he told me. What is that supposed to mean? What do I say now?
Then, Andie came around the corner. Andie is like Maddie but not into basketball. She'd rather be at the junkyard, welding things together to make something that she thought was cool. And she had a cool fashion style. She was lugging a big... thing.
"Art sculpture coming through." She yelled. To get out of talking with Holden, I talked to Andie.
"Hey! Andie, this is Holden. He is super cu-he's new. He's super new here." I said, saving myself again. Gosh. I needed to get on it.
"Your art project reminds me of a Sebastian Oliver sculpture." Holden told Andie.
"Thanks! Oliver is my favorite." she said back.
"Seriously? Mine too!" He smiled and Andie and I wished he was smiling like that at me.
"Hey! You should totally help us out on the Prom Decorating Committee. Come on Holden, get involved in your new school!" I encouraged. But my head was like, Come on Holden, Get involved with me!
"I don't know, uh, let me check my schedule." He pulled out his phone. "Yep, just what I thought. Completely empty because I know absolutely no one else in the school." he told us.
"Cool. Lonely boy is in." Andie said.
"Great! We're meeting tomorrow after school. And, if you don't show up, I know where you live." I joked, fake punching him in the shoulder. I laughed, a little less nervous. Then, Joey ran past us, Willow tailing him with her net.
"Move it or lose it, people! I'm being chased!" Joey yelled.
"Joey! Come back! I have to catch you!" Willow yelled back.
It was Wednesday after school, and me and Holden were putting up a banner on the backdrop of the stage.
"Hey, uh, thanks for helping out. They say you don't really, like, know someone until you've decorated a pretend castle with them." I said, trying to break the ice.
"My pleasure. Oh, hey! I hear you're singing a song at prom!" he replied.
"Yeah! Yes! I am! Um, I'm actually still in the process of writing it but, I think I know what it's going to be about. He chuckled.
"It's not about some new guy at school you can't stop thinking about is it?" He asked, jokingly I think. I still laughed nervously and tried to cover.
"No! It's not." I tried. But alas, yes. Yes it is.
"Yo, tape me!" Andie said, reaching her hand back but not looking at us because she was focused on her artistic sign. Holden threw her a role and at the last second, she turned and caught it.
"Wow. Nice catch!" Holden said, walking over to her. I walked over too. It was a good catch.
"When you have five brothers who throw things at you, catching becomes more like a defense mechanism instead of fun." she explained.
Maddie came into the gym, bouncing a basketball. She stopped and looked up.
"What? Why are there chandeliers where my hoops should be? I need to shoot this ball!" she exclaimed. I walked over to her.
"Um, Maddie? Are you okay?" I asked my sister.
"No, I'm sorry. I just am trying to blow off some Diggie's-in-the-Arctic Circle-and-now-I-have-to-go-to-the-prom-with-my-weird-cousin-and-his-crow-who-lives-in-his-jacket." Maddie explained. I laughed. Holden walked over to us.
"Hey Liv, Maddie. Um can I get the scissors? I need to cut the curtain ends by the entrance." Holden asked. I handed him a pair.
"Here." I said and handed them to him and instead of grabbing the scissors, he grabbed my hand. I looked up in surprise. So did he. We stared a little too long, until he scooted his hand down so I could let go.
"Okay, bye!" I laughed nervously as he walked away. I turned back and Maddie was smiling at me in a weird way.
"Oh not you too." I said.
"Livy's got a boyfriend!" my sister exclaimed.
"Cut it out! Okay?" I paused. "Do you think he likes me?" I asked.
"I think you like him or I wouldn't be saying 'Livy's got a boyfriend!'" she said.
"Stop it!" I told her.
"Okay so what's the plan? You going to ask him out to prom?"
"What? No! Ha! Maddie that's a terrible plan. No, my plan has been already set in motion. I've introduced him to Andie, I'll ask her to fish around and see if he digs me, and if he does, she'll tell him that the digging is mutual and BAM, prom! It's really quite simple." I explained.
"Okay. So, you're going to go through all that when he only has tomorrow and possibly Friday morning and afternoon to ask you when you could just cease the moment and go ask him now? Isn't that what you always tell me to do?" Maddie asked me.
"Well... yeah but, Maddie this is different. These are my feelings and they're way scarier." I answered.
"Liv, it's quite obvious that he's really into you. Just go ask him." Maddie encouraged.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm just going to go ask him." I said. I was ready. I was confident. I was... ruined when Andie came over, jumping all happy-like.
"I'm going to the prom with Holden!" she exclaimed. I'll admit, I was bummed but she was my best friend so i had t o be happy for her. She started squealing like a dying duck.
"What was that?" Maddie asked.
"I'm trying to do the excited girl squeal but I've never done it before." she admitted.
"Wow! Andie! This is so big! You're going to the prom with Holden! I'm so happy for you! How did this happen?" I asked her.
"I just asked him. I like him so I ceased the moment, like you always say!" she explained. "Thank you for introducing me Liv, I'm going to the prom with Holden!" she said.
"Andie's go a boyfriend, Andie's got a boyfriend!" I said as she skipped away. "Andie's got a boyfriend." I said sadly to Maddie. She held her arms out to me and I hugged her, silently crying. My head said: Livy doesn't have a boyfriend.
****So yeah! I decided to cut it Prom-a-Rooney in half. Sorry if this chapter was a tad too long. I tried to change some of the words in the dialogue out, and use new things and cut some stuff out since I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS, OR EVEN THE PLOT LINE. The only thing I "own" is that Liv didn't know Holden before. Next chapter insight: Holden's POV of the rest of Prom. As always, I hope you liked this chapter and my next one will be out soon! Thanks For Reading! :D****