Ok, this is a shorter one, but I don't have time to write more and don't know how soon I could finish it so I figured I'd update what I have. I already have like 3 more ideas for other stories haha. But don't worry, I'll finish this one first.

Well maybe, if I get more reviews!

There's some major drama coming up. So the more reviews you guys give me, the quicker we get to the gooooood stuff.

Thanks to everyone who's reading and reviewing. You guys are great!

"Your stuff looks so much better than Kara's. I swear to God, if that bitch photoshops one more picture of herself and calls it art- I'll puke." The disgust in Kayley's voice only raised Ashleigh's spirits more. Kara had never done anything to Kayley directly, but Kayley hated her by association.

The turn out to the art show was better than expected. Ashleigh received many compliments on her work, and for the moment, it kept her mind off of her prom problem. For the entire four hours Ashleigh was required to be there, she kept sneaking glances towards the entrance, half expecting to see Joe or his family walk through. She knew it was wishful thinking. Word wasn't completely out that the famous family had taken up residence in Baylor. Even when the news would "hit the stands," so-to-speak, the buzz would surely die down in less than a week. There weren't very many people in Baylor. Besides, the majority of the population were AARP members; not exactly budding Disney Channel fans.

"You have such a way with words, Kayley. If the nursing school thing doesn't work out for you, at least you have poetry as a fall back."

Kayley rolled her eyes and changed the subject. "So, when am I going to get to meet these famous Disney Channel boys, anyway? I want to meet them before they all hit puberty. You know how I like 'em, Ash." She punctuated this statement by wiggling her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

" Eww. You are so gross, you pedophile," said Ashleigh laughing. "And I'm pretty sure they've already hit puberty. At least two of them, I think. Well, maybe only one of them shaves. But I think Kara has more facial hair than the younger two." Both girls laughed pretty loud at themselves. They weren't really mean girls, just witty. At least, they thought they were, anyway.

"Speaking of," Kayley trailed off, nodding her head in the direction of the approaching enemy.

"Hey, tell me I was dreaming yesterday. That wasn't really Joe Jonas, was it?" Kara was only nice when it was convenient for her. This was one of those times.

"You were dreaming," answered Ashleigh civilly. They were in public, after all.

"Yeah, I think you've been watching a little too much Disney Channel, Kara," added Kayley with a semi-nice, semi-not, chuckle.

"Whatever you say, Kayley. I have to get back to my display. People like to ask me questions." With that Kara turned and headed back towards her display.

"Yeah, like 'what the hell is this shit?'" Kayley's remark caused another wave of laughter to pass over the girls. "Anyway, you read for pre-prom '08?" Big smiles spread across both the girls' faces. Pre-prom was a Baylor High tradition. The week before prom, someone or a few people always threw a big party. This year Ashleigh's house was going to be the main event. Her parent's had tickets to a Bruce Springsteen show a couple hours away and were spending the weekend out of town. With the house to herself, in a pretty secluded area, it made perfect sense.

"Are you kidding? I've been preparing for weeks. And stocking up. We're going to have enough booze to party for a week straight."

"That's what I like to hear," Kayley stated, sounding satisfied and content.

Throughout the course of the night, lots of Ashleigh's friends showed up, including Mike. He was overly apologetic, genuinely sorry that he couldn't take Ashleigh to prom.

Meanwhile, there was a similar prom conversation going on at the Jonas household.

"I don't know, Joe. I don't think mom and dad will go for that." Though Nick was the youngest, he was always the voice of reason.

"Come on, it's not like there's going to be a thousand screaming fans there. There's like twenty kids at the whole high school," Joe reasoned.

"Hey, it's not me you have to convince. I'm just telling you what I think they'll say," Nick defended himself from his sprawled out position on his bed. Joe was straddling

Nick's desk chair, resting his chin on his crossed arms.

"I know. I just feel really bad that her date fell through."

"You want to go to prom, don't you?" Nick asked with a smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"You're such a girl, Joe. You want to go to prom. Maybe if you ask our fairy godmother, she'll turn a pumpkin into a carriage for you and everything." Nick laughed at his own joke. Although he tried to hide it, Joe thought it was funny too.

"Well, maybe. I think it would be fun. I mean, I never thought I'd have the opportunity to go, and now I do." Nick answered only with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders. "Who says she'll even want to go with me," Joe continued more to himself than to Nick. "I don't quite know how she feels about me. She's hard to read. Listen to me. I'm being such a girl about this."

"Look," Nick began, "why don't you go write in your diary about it and then talk to mom and dad."

"Shut up," were Joe's parting words as he left his little brother's room to find his parents. He walked downstairs to the master bedroom, while rehearsing in his mind how he should go about asking his parents. Yes, he was eighteen and an adult and capable of making his own decisions, but even the littlest decisions could affect his entire family.

"It's open," called his mom after he knocked on the door.

"What's going on?" asked Joes dad, looking up from his newspaper. It was weird for Joe to see his parents relaxing. Something he hadn't seen them do for about three straight years now.

"I was just thinking. You know how you guys are always saying you want us to lead as close to normal lives as we can?"

"Nope. I do not recall saying that," Joe's dad joked, obviously aware that Joe was getting at something.

"Well," Joe continued, ignoring his dad's attempted joke, "suppose one of your sons wanted to attend a normal kid event. For the sake of this conversation, we'll call that event 'prom.'" Joe put air quotes around the last word.

"What are you talking about, Joe?" his mom asked, cutting right to the chase.

"Ashleigh's date ditched her. She was pretty upset about it. I thought maybe I could go with her, so she's not the only one going by herself. I would be careful. I already thought it out. Big Rob could go to keep an eye on things." Joe's eyes pleaded silently with his parents as they took it all in.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." his dad looked at his wife for back up.

"I think you're dad's right, hon."

"Please? There are only going to be like a hundred people there. It's not that big of a deal."

"Let us talk it over," compromised his mom, hating to disappoint her son. "Just don't get your hopes up."

Joe left and waited anxiously, suppressing the urge to barge in his parents' room and demand an answer. He tried passing the time with the TV in the living room but nothing could distract him. Finally after about an hour his parents came out. Eagerly, Joe turned around from his position on the couch.

"We're not saying yes yet, but let us call and talk to the principal. If everything checks out, then we don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to go." Joe's mom finished basically giving Joe permission and he jumped over the couch to hug her and his dad.

Ashleigh pulled in her driveway exhausted. It had been so long since she just had a day where she didn't have to do anything at all. She wanted to crawl in her bed, forget about prom and just sleep for a week. She got ready for bed and by eleven o'clock was lying under her covers, staring up at the ceiling.

In the neighboring house, Joe was awake too. Thinking of how he should ask her. He had butterflies in his stomach for the first time in a long time. He was excited and nervous at the same time. Rejection wasn't outside the realm of possibility. She might think he was being too forward or cocky. He began analyzing every conversation they had ever had, looking for hints of clues she might have dropped, trying to figure out how she felt about him.

Eventually they both fell asleep, thinking about each other.