Hi there! I hope you all are still patiently waiting for today's update, cuz here it is! :) I also hope that all you gleeks who watched this week's episode (the season finale) enjoyed it and are looking forward to when the 6th (and final) season of Glee comes along (though I have a feeling that we'll have quite a show on our hands with that season, not to mention we'll still have to continue dealing with it without Cory). Anyway, in this chapter, prom night has finally arrived, and before long, the New Directions get the party started with their performances, one of which will heal a long standing rift between three good friends. Sound good? I certainly hope so! :) Here's to also hoping you read, enjoy, and review! :)

But first, the mailbag:

GarethGlee14: You're in luck! Here's the next chapter! And don't you worry, Sid will be back in everyone's good graces by the end of this story.

Cookie05: I'm glad you at least found the previous chapter interesting. And again, I'm sorry about the length. I'll try my hardest to avoid any further incidents in that regard. Anyway, here's to hoping you enjoy this chapter, regardless of it's length.

FinchelFan728: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I am happy that my story is proving such a box of memories for you :). Also, I'm glad you find the situation with Kimberly and Sid (or whatever the situation you found intrigue in was) intriguing.

Cazred11: I'm glad that you once again had so much to say (to the point that you had to leave a part 2 in a PM). I hope you still continue to enjoy this story, starting with this new chapter (the first of three prom related chapters :D), and continuing to the end. And I hope you continue to leave your reviews (I especially like the long ones you've been leaving lately, and I don't mind how they're starting to show up late; after all, I definitely prefer long and detailed ones that come late then shallow and short ones that come the instant I finish posting the chapter).

Again, I do not own Glee. Nor do I own any of the songs in this chapter (or story period).

On with the fic!

Chapter 51:

Prom Night

Daniel couldn't help but smile as he stood outside the doors to the gym alongside Diana on Friday night. Prom night had finally arrived, and now it was time to get the show on the road. "After all," Daniel thought to himself with a smile. "As Finn Hudson said, the show must go all over the place or something."

Chuckling to himself in his mind, Daniel proceeded to inspect himself one more time, closely examining his current attire. He was dressed up in a light gray suit that matched his slightly darker gray eyes perfectly. This suit, in combination with his freshly combed jet black hair blowing around in the wind, made him look very dashing indeed.

He felt Diana's hand on his shoulder, and he smiled as he looked at her, for she herself looked absolutely stunning in his opinion. She was dressed in a forest green, floor-length, sleeveless dress that accentuated her light emerald green eyes flawlessly and went very well with her golden yellow blonde hair.

The couple smiled at each other, and proceeded to wrap their arms around each other's shoulders as they turned around to face the direction where the school exit to the parking lot was located. They sighed in contentment as they waited for their friends in the glee club to show up so that they could enter the gym together like they'd all agreed upon.

Right at that moment, they heard a familiar voice to their left say, "Yello."

Daniel and Diana looked to their left, and smiled as they saw none other than Calvin, whom they'd heard speaking, standing a few feet or so away alongside Susan and Hobbes. At the sight of their friends, they couldn't help but nod their heads in approval of their outfits. Susan was dressed in a dark violet purple floor-length dress that complimented her slightly tanned skin, straight black hair, and blue eyes surprisingly well. Calvin, meanwhile, was dressed in a snazzy emerald green suit. At the sight of Calvin's attire, Daniel silently whistled to himself. On most other guys, a suit like that would almost certainly make them look foolish. But on Calvin, it looked strangely appropriate, almost as if Calvin had been born to wear it. Calvin smiled, raised his right hand up in the air, and made a clawed gesture as if to say, "Looks good huh?" Meanwhile, Hobbes had his fur freshly brushed and combed, his fangs freshly brushed, his claws freshly polished, and an immaculate collar studded with Daniel could have sworn were diamonds. As if in reaction to Daniel looking at his collar, the German shepherd barked once, and then started happily panting.

Calvin smiled, patted Hobbes on the head, and then looked back at Daniel before saying, "I dare say, you certainly look quite the impeccable gentleman tonight dude."

"Thanks," said Daniel, who then pointed at Calvin and said, "Though I should also mention that you look surprisingly stylish right now considering the kind of suit you're wearing."

Calvin chuckled, rubbed his fingers through his golden hair, which was in its usual spiked up style, and said, "What can I say? Green's just my color dude."

"You can say that again," said Susan as she linked her arm with Calvin's, looked at Diana, and smiled at her best gal pal before saying, "On another note, I dare say that dress looks really good on you Diana."

Diana blushed, looked down at her dress, and then looked back at Susan before saying, "Thanks Susan. I'm happy to hear that you think that. And for that matter, you look absolutely dressed for royalty in that dress you're wearing."

Susan chuckled, looked down at her deep purple dress, and proceeded to drape her arm over Calvin's shoulders before saying, "Thanks Diana. I'll definitely admit, purple certainly does suit me well for this occasion. After all, it is both the color of love and affection, and the color of royalty."

"You've got that right," said Calvin with a smile of his own. "And while we're at it, the colors of our outfits are also especially appropriate for us considering that they're the major colors of our big time Teen Titans OTP."

Susan looked back at Calvin with a wide smile, and responded, "Damn right. BBRae all the way."

"No love for RobStar?" Diana asked with her eyebrows raised in a joking way.

Calvin and Susan chuckled, and looked at Daniel and Diana.

"Please," said Susan. "Of course we love RobStar."

"That's right," said Calvin. "We ship them right there alongside BBRae."

"That's good to hear," said Daniel.

The four gleeks chuckled, and then turned their heads to see if they could find any more of their gleek friends heading towards them. As they watched for any signs of their fellow gleeks, the four gleeks began to wonder just why their friends appeared to be taking so long to arrive.

"Good grief," said Calvin as he continued to stare in the direction of the parking lot. "At this rate it will be time for the prom court results to be announced by the time they get here."

"No kidding," said Susan with an annoyed glare as she also gazed in the direction of the parking lot. "Honestly, I would certainly expect for Cyborg and Sarah Slut to be late; but seriously, what's taking everyone else so long?"

Right at that moment, they heard Zack's voice saying from their right, "Sorry we're late guys."

Daniel, Diana, Calvin, and Susan turned their heads to their right, and saw none other than Zack and Charlotte rush up to them. Zack, in stark contrast to the ostentatiously bright colored attire that his two fellow prom king nominees were wearing, was dressed in a simple black tuxedo-like suit. His hair, however, was the polar opposite in its usual afro style he liked to style it in. As for Charlotte, she was dressed in a skin-tight, light blue, knee-length dress that appeared to make it rather difficult for her to run very quickly. By the time Charlotte managed to catch up to Zack, Zack had already managed to catch his breath, and Charlotte was forced to pant tiredly as she held onto Zack's shoulder for support.

"I seriously wish my mom would have let me pick something else," said Charlotte. "I mean honestly, does the fact that I'm both head cheerio and a nominee for prom queen require me to dress so provocatively?"

Zack took a look at Charlotte, closely examined her dress, and found himself silently agreeing with her. "I don't think I'll comment on that," he said diplomatically. The other four gleeks in front of them wisely remained silent.

At least, almost all four of them remained silent. Calvin, however, chuckled, smirked at Charlotte with a wolfish grin on his face, and said, "I'm surprised you even knew that word."

Charlotte glared at Calvin upon hearing this, clenched her fist, and with great effort, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled before saying, "I am going to pretend that you did not just say that."

Zack turned his head to look at Calvin with a disapproving frown on his face and his right eyebrow raised. Calvin smiled nonchalantly and raised his hands up in a carefree gesture.

At that moment, the four sophomore gleeks showed up, and they smiled when they saw their six friends that had already beaten them to the area.

"Wassup ya'll!?" Darren yelled.

At the sound of Darren's voice, the six upperclassmen gleeks turned around to face the direction they'd heard it come from, and smiled widely upon sight of their our sophomore friends in the glee club. Zack's smile, however, showed slight signs of embarrassment as well. Much like Daniel and Calvin, the outfits that Darren and Dunlap were wearing were not exactly what were typically considered traditional men's formal wear for occasions like this. Dunlap was dressed in the same snow white suit that he'd been wearing at Regionals, and Darren was wearing a blood red dress suit that matched his hair color perfectly, and even came with a small red cape on the back of his dress shirt. As if to further add to the colors display, Naomi was dressed in the same crimson dress she'd worn at the Regionals competition while Amber was wearing a golden yellow dress that looked surprisingly good on her and highlighted her matching blonde hair flawlessly. Upon taking a good look at the colorful outfits that his friends and girlfriend were wearing, he looked once again at his own dark black and simple outfit. "Looks like I might have missed the memo," he thought to himself.

Smiling, the four sophomores walked up to their friends and were promptly placed on the receiving end of joyous hugs from the six upperclassmen. Laughing in pleasure, the sophomore gleeks returned their six friends' hugs, and Dunlap and Darren even gave Calvin and Dunlap (respectively) hearty slaps on their backs.

"Good to see you here dudes," said Calvin as he let go of Dunlap. "You two certainly look stylish tonight."

Dunlap chuckled, gave Calvin a fist bump, and said, "Thanks. You look pretty snazzy yourself I might add. Need I mention that you're practically the only person I can think of who can pull off a green dress suit so nicely without looking like a clown?"

Calvin chuckled, clasped his hands together behind his head, and responded, "What can I say? It's the God's honest truth."

At the sound of that, the majority of the other gleeks present chuckled. Charlotte rolled her eyes, still rather irritated by the more provocative nature of the dress her mother had picked out for her and also by Calvin's remark about her vocabulary.

At that moment, Amber looked at Charlotte with her eyebrow raised. "Interesting outfit choice," she then said to Charlotte. "You do realize that this isn't a gentleman's club right?"

At the sound of this second comment about her outfit, Charlotte gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and said to Amber, "Why don't you tell that to my mother?"

Amber raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, backed away from Charlotte by a few steps, and then noticed that Naomi had a confused look on her face. While Naomi was able to determine through her blurry view that Charlotte was dressed in a light blue dress she was unable to notice how provocative it looked. Deciding that it was best that Naomi not receive too unpleasant an image in her mind before prom started, Amber said to Naomi, "You don't wanna know." Naomi thought to herself, took a closer look at Charlotte, and then decided that Amber was likely right.

Charlotte took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down, and then she and the other gleeks joined up as one and turned to face the direction where they could see the parking lot just in time to see Cody and Bailey walking up towards them. Bailey was wearing a silver-white dress that contrasted with her dark complexion in an artful way. Cody, meanwhile, was dressed in a simple dark black suit very similar to the one that Zack was wearing. When Zack noticed this, he smirked as he thought to himself, "I'll bet he'll have a heart attack when he sees how all the other guys are dressed."

Sure enough, Cody briefly stopped walking and gave a stunned look upon sight of how all the boys in the glee club apart from Zack and himself were dressed in brightly colored outfits that were a far cry from the dark and lackluster costumes that he and Zack were wearing. "Dang," Cody thought to himself. "They sure look a whole lot more prepared for partying at prom tonight than I do."

Zack, meanwhile, smirked as he saw Cody's face and thought to himself, "Thank goodness I'm not the only one who appears to have missed the latest men's fashion memo."

After a few minutes, Cody finally noticed Zack's smirking at him from the corner of his eyes, and he glared before saying, "Have you finished staring? Or am I going to have to literally kick that grin off your face?"

Zack raised his hands in a 'surrender' gesture, and backed off with a nonchalant smile on his face. Upon sight of Zack no longer directing that damned smirk towards him, Cody noticeably relaxed. Bailey sighed in relief, and then turned around to examine her gal pals in the glee club. Upon sight of the outfits that her friends were wearing, Bailey couldn't help but smile in approval, for she definitely had to admit that they certainly looked beautiful in the dresses they'd picked. Even Amber looked surprisingly ravishing in her yellow dress considering how such a dress didn't typically go very well when worn by blondes. But then she got an eyeful of Charlotte, and whistled with an amused look on her face before saying, "I'll say. Who invited Ke$ha?"

Charlotte clenched her fists, glared more than a little irritably at Bailey, and tensely stated, "If I hear one more remark about my dress, I swear, I'm going to start throwing punches."

At the sound of that comment, Cody and Bailey looked each other in the eyes, briefly wondering whether or not Charlotte was bluffing. Then they took a good look at Charlotte's posture and facial expression, and decided that it was best that they not find out, and they moved sideways to join up with their more companionable friends among the gleeks.

It was right at that moment when none other than Raj came up towards them from the parking lot with Kimberly following close behind him. At the sight of the Indian American gleek and the Korean American cheerio, the other gleeks smiled. However, the smiles on Cody and Bailey's faces seemed very distant and depressed compared to the genuinely happy smiles on the faces of the others. In fact, even Charlotte's smile was genuine. Even in the midst of her bitchy, love drunk over Daniel, and anti-glee club mentality phase, she'd always found a slight chink in her armor when it came to Raj. Like the other gleeks, she'd found him rather funny and admired how he'd very often been able to think up just the right joke or similar for of humor that could get everyone to laugh. Zack also took a close look at Raj, and noticed that he too was dressed up in a simple black tuxedo-like suit. In fact, he was even walking with a long black cane and had a black top hat on his head. At the sight of this, Zack shook his head from side to side with a bemused smile on his face, and thought to himself, "Why is it that all the non-Caucasian boy gleeks are the ones who are dressed up in stereotypical men's formal attire for this occasion?"

As Cody and Bailey looked at Raj and Kimberly, they both thought of how separate they'd appeared to have drifted since the fateful day when tensions had finally reached their highest level on the last day of the 'idols' week. Cody felt saddened as he looked at Raj, for even now he still missed the brother from another mother that he'd used to see in Raj, and was desperately wishing that that boy could rise up again from deep within where the current Raj had him locked up. Bailey, meanwhile, was staring distantly both at Raj and at Kimberly. Like Cody, she missed seeing the Raj that she and Cody had known before the day Raj had briefly taken a leave of absence from the New Directions, and in fact before he'd dated her. As for Kimberly, she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of lingering jealousy upon sight of the girl that she'd seen Raj cheat on her with, and she found her mouth briefly quivering into a jealous snarl before hastily recovering.

Raj noticed this brief slip in Bailey's façade, turned his head to Kimberly, and said, "Hey Kim, would you mind if I stayed here and talked with my friends before heading in? You're free to enter without me and wait inside if you wish."

Kimberly took one look at Bailey, looked back at Raj, and then smiled. "Sounds like a plan. I'll see you there." At that, Kimberly turned away from Raj and the other gleeks and made her way over to the doors leading into the gym, her dark blue floor-length dress sweeping around in the air currents from some nearby fans just enough to add to her air of natural beauty, but not so much as to cause it to billow upward and cause an awkward incident.

With Kimberly no longer in the area, Cody, Bailey, and Raj remained standing where they were for another few minutes, staring longingly and distantly at each other. All of them could see the pain in each other's eyes as they thought of the way things had been and longed for their current lives to be like that once more. The other ten gleeks could also see this in their friends' body language and facial expressions, and found themselves sighing as they found themselves hoping that things could work out between them in the end.

At that moment, Calvin and Daniel had had enough of waiting outside. They wanted to go into the gym and get their prom groove on right now. "Come on dudes!" Calvin yelled. "What are we waiting for?! Let's get the party started!"

"You heard him guys," said Daniel. "Gleeks, go!" And with that remark having been made, the thirteen gleeks quickly focused their attention on prom, and all entered the gym one by one.

Almost immediately after the gleeks entered the gym, they all came to a stop and gaped at the scene that lay before them. In the past years at McKinley High school, there had been many crazy themes at prom. However, this year, things were literally wild. In assorted areas of the gym designed to resemble enclosures, stood several different kinds of animatronic animals. As Calvin looked around in awe, he was able to identify all of them. Among the animatronic creatures located at the front and other areas of the gym were crocodiles, grizzly bears, lions, great white sharks, elephants, hippos, giraffes, gorillas, komodo dragons, wolves, sea lions, camels, anteaters, reticulated pythons, ostriches, wild boars, penguins, rhinos, baboons, tigers, moose, vultures, kangaroos, bald eagles, bison, and zebras. And in the back nearby the stage, he could see animatronic t-rexes, animatronic saber-toothed tigers (aka. Smilodons), and even ten animatronic dragons. The dragons were each a different color, and each breathed out a different elemental breath attack that turned out to be holographic upon closer inspection. While the majority of the gleeks merely stared at the scene with amusement, Calvin looked both stunned and awed at the same time.

Eventually, with a very obviously overjoyed look on his face, Calvin grabbed his hair with his hands and laughed happily as he gazed at the way the gym had been decorated. The other gleeks looked at Calvin in surprise as they heard him laughing and saw him acting like a ten year old who'd gotten his dream-birthday party. "What's gotten into you?" Susan asked in confusion.

Calvin placed his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, gestured with his arm to indicate the entire gym, and said, "Don't you see the way the gym's decorated? It's practically a miniaturized version of my imaginary zoo!"

Upon hearing this comment, all the gleeks realized why Calvin was truly so happy about seeing the way the gym had been decorated for prom. According to what he'd once told them and the New Directions alumni the week after Valentine's week, he had an imaginary zoo located deep within his mind that he sometimes imagined going to, and which had about 493 or so different kinds of animals, some of which were extinct or imaginary. He'd even drawn maps of it on a computer program and printed them out for his friends to see. Now, seeing the way the gym was decorated, the gleeks could definitely realize that the gym definitely did indeed appear to look like a miniaturized version of the zoo in Calvin's mind.

Calvin, very clearly happy, said, "This is so awesome!"

"I'm glad you think so," said a familiar voice from behind the gleeks. The gleeks turned around, and sure enough, there stood Mr. Schuester.

"Damn you Mr. Schue," said Zack. "How do you manage to always do that?"

"Years of experience, and a performer always knows when to make an entrance," said the teacher.

"That is certainly true," said Diana.

"Thanks Diana," said Mr. Schuester, who then looked at Calvin and said, "The gym sure looks very much like a minimized version of your imaginary mental zoo huh?"

"Yep," said Calvin. He then looked around the gym again and said, "How did the school even know about it? Better yet, how did the school even afford to get the gym like this?"

"They received the information, and the funds, from me, Emma, and sixteen other . . . wealthy benefactors."

At the sound of this, the thirteen gleeks looked each other in the eyes. They had a feeling that they knew exactly who those 'wealthy benefactors' that Mr. Schuester had mentioned were.

At that moment, they heard another familiar voice from not too far away say, "Well if it isn't the resident generation of misfits."

"Good to see you to coach," Charlotte said without even looking.

Chuckling, none other than Sue Sylvester herself came out from behind a fake palm tree. Upon sight of the gleeks, she said, "Well I hope you're ready for another boring night people."

"Har, har, har," said the gleeks sarcastically.

Then Sue got an eyeful of what Charlotte was wearing and said, "Well Charlotte, I daresay you certainly have dressed appropriately for a head cheerio nominee for the prom court crown."

Charlotte groaned, and said, "You and my mother."

Sue chuckled, and said, "Already I'm bored. I guess I'd better get back to guarding the punch. Wouldn't want the new era of Puckerman to get his filthy concoctions into it." As Sue turned and left the area to head back to the punch bowl, Zack stared unobtrusively in her direction with an amused 'oh really?' look on his face and his eyebrows raised. He had plans in the matter of taking part in the unspoken 'Puckerman' tradition of spiking the punch.

At that moment, Mr. Schuester turned his head to face the gleeks once more, and then said, "Well everyone, I say you might as well go ahead and start enjoying yourselves. We wouldn't want you to still be in a pre-entrance mood when your time to perform comes."

At the sound of this suggestion, the thirteen gleeks promptly turned away from Mr. Schuester and headed off deeper into the gym to get their prom groove on. Calvin in particular, seemed absolutely ecstatic as he, Susan, and Hobbes practically stampeded through the crowds of other students to get to the center of the gym and also look at all the animatronic animals along the way.

As they watched the enthusiastic couple and their German shepherd companion barrel their way through the gym, their fellow prom court nominees sighed, and shook their heads from side to side as they watched with a sentimental look on their faces. "Looking at them now, it's as if their childhood never ended," said Daniel.

"So true, so true," said Diana, who promptly linked her arm with Daniel's.

"Well it's never too bad to hold onto your inner child," said Zack. "Hell, I can swear that at times I feel as if there's still a young child inside me." Charlotte smiled as she heard this, and proceeded to link her own arm with Zack's, an action that did not go unnoticed by Diana and Daniel. Meanwhile, the four sophomores proceeded to split off from the rest of the gleeks and head over to mingle with the other students (all of whom were at least a year or two older than them since they were the only sophomores currently at prom) on the dance floor, as did Cody and Bailey. Raj remained standing where he was even as the other four prom court nominees eventually proceeded to follow Calvin, Susan, and Hobbes. He was calmly waiting for Kimberly to show up and come over to him.

"Waiting for someone?"

At the sound of the familiar voice, Raj turned his head, and smiled upon sight of none other than Kimberly standing right behind him. "Not anymore," he replied.

Smiling, Kimberly made her way over to Raj, her dress billowing around her feet as she moved. Upon reaching the same area as Raj, she proceeded to embrace him, and Raj returned the gesture. As they stood there hugging, they took the time to drink in each other's presence, not wanting to let go.

Eventually, they were forced to come back down to Earth when they heard a voice from back at the entrance to the gym say, "Are these two blokes among the performers?"

Kimberly and Raj broke apart from their embrace, turned to face the entrance, and saw Donovan and Ashley standing nearby holding onto none other than Cameron and Sid, respectively, by their arms.

Raj gave a thumbs-up signal and nodded his head. "They're with us, let them in."

Upon hearing this, Donovan and Ashley took one last look at the two boys they were holding, and then let go. In a flash, Cameron and Sid ran straight over to where Raj and Kimberly were standing. Sid and Cameron stood at attention when they reached Raj and Kimberly, to the point that they even gave a mock army salute to them. The fact that they were currently both dressed in simple tuxedo-like outfits made these actions look rather comical.

"Sid Webber, reporting for duty," said Sid.

"Cameron Michaels, reporting for duty," said Cameron.

Raj and Kimberly shook their heads from side to side with bemused looks on their faces, looked each other in the eyes, and then looked back at the two gay boys before chuckling. "Welcome to prom boys," said Kimberly. "You've made it right on time."

"That you have," said Raj, who then smiled, and said to Sid, "and you're with Cameron, just as I ordered. Good on you."

Sid chuckled, linked his arm with Cameron's, and said, "What can I say? It's time I gave him a chance to prove me wrong for once."

Cameron chuckled, gave his boyfriend a hearty slap on the back, and stated, "Damn right it is." He then looked at Raj and said, "So Raj, what's the plan?"

Raj placed his hand on the blonde boy's shoulder and said, "Easy now Cameron. You and Sid still have plenty of time to dance and enjoy yourselves. We still have a couple of hours or so before the prom court elections are made, and our performance won't be occurring until those are out of the way. So relax dudes. It's time to start the party!"

At the sound of this, Sid and Cameron looked each other in the eyes with smirks on their faces, and then promptly rushed off to join the other students who were already dancing. Raj and Kimberly chuckled, looked each other in the eyes, and then looked back at the dancing students out of the corners of their eyes.

"Want to dance?" Raj asked, extending his hand out to Kimberly to escort her to the area where all the dancers were as he asked this question.

Kimberly smiled, took Raj's hand, and responded, "Thought you'd never ask." At that, the couple proceeded over to where the other students were dancing. They were definitely ready to get this show on the road.

. . . . .

Half an hour later, it was finally time for the gleeks to start their round of performances for the prom. The time for performances came at an awkward time for Darren and Amber, for Amber was the first one up to perform and they'd been hoping to spend a few more minutes slow dancing together. Eventually, Darren decided that it would be better for Amber to go ahead and get her duties out of the way so that they could worry about slow dancing some more later on, and he patted her on the shoulder, indicating she could go ahead.

Reassured by Darren's gesture, Amber proceeded to make her way to the stage. As he watched his girlfriend head over to the stage to perform, Darren smiled, for even now she still looked like a true treasure to him. Unbeknownst to him, her ex from the hockey team, Marcus Wayland, was also watching. He glared as he watched Amber walking away from his rival so happily. He knew how much she loved the ginger haired boy that he now viewed with such intense bitterness and hatred for winning her away from him.

Marcus clenched his fists, for he still felt very bitter indeed about how Amber had been pushed away from him through his own actions, how Darren had been there to both take her in as his new girlfriend and to send him packing later on, and also because of how when he'd finally swallowed his pride and tried to make amends the week after the New Directions alumni had left Lima, she'd still chosen Darren over him. Now, all he could do was just stand around and watch as Amber and Darren continued to enjoy themselves while unknowingly rubbing their happiness together in his face.

As Marcus continued to jealously watch Darren and Amber, Amber came up onto the stage, told the band what song she'd be singing, and picked up a small country-style guitar before walking up to the microphone, tapping it to get everyone's attention, and saying, "Good evening everyone. I hope you're all enjoying this 'wild' prom tonight, because things are about to get super fun." The audience of prom celebrators cheered upon hearing this.

Amber smiled, and continued, "This song I'm about to perform is dedicated to my very good friend, Darren McCrimmon, who also happens to be both my boyfriend, and my prom date. Darren, this is for you. I hope you're listening, because I mean every word."

At the sound of this, Darren smiled, placed his hand over his heart, and bowed his head in respect. Marcus, however, groaned sadly like a dog, and lowered his head in shame and regret. "That could have been me," he thought to himself, his blue eyes starting to fill up with tears as he thought of how brutishly he'd treated her.

Still completely unaware of Marcus being anywhere in the area, Amber proceeded to experimentally strum her guitar once, and then she snapped her fingers at the band members, who promptly started to play the tune for the song she'd picked. When the time was right, Amber sang, and the performance went like this:

Elevator buttons and morning air
Strangers' silence makes me wanna take the stairs
If you were here we'd laugh about their vacant stares
But right now my time is theirs
Seems like there's always someone who disapproves
They'll judge it like they know about me and you
And the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do
The jury's out, but my choice is you
So don't you worry your pretty little mind
People throw rocks at things that shine
And life makes love look hard
The stakes are high, the water's rough
But this love is ours
You never know what people have up their sleeves
Ghosts from your past gonna jump out at me
Lurking in the shadows with their lip gloss smiles
But I don't care 'cause right now you're mine
And you'll say
Don't you worry your pretty little mind
People throw rocks at things that shine
And life makes love look hard
The stakes are high, the water's rough
But this love is ours
And it's not theirs to speculate
If it's wrong and
Your hands are tough
But they are where mine belong and
I'll fight their doubt and give you faith
With this song for you
Cause I love the gap between your teeth
And I love the riddles that you speak
And any snide remarks from my father about your tattoos will be ignored
'Cause my heart is yours
So don't you worry your pretty little mind
People throw rocks at things that shine
And life makes love look hard
Don't you worry your pretty little mind
People throw rocks at things that shine
But they can't take what's ours
They can't take what's ours
The stakes are high, the water's rough
But this love is ours

The applause that followed was music to Amber's ears, and she giggled as she bowed, basking in the applause. Of course, the loudest applause to Amber came from Darren, who was clapping nonstop and whooping in pride. And as all this happened, Marcus sighed, rubbed his fingers through his curly brown hair, and proceeded to leave the gym. It was clear that he was wasting his time at prom this year, and that the efforts he'd gone to in order to sneak his way in to watch Amber were for nothing. It was likewise clear that Amber truly didn't need him in her life anymore, and he was better off going with someone his own age instead of someone a year younger than him the way Amber was.

Still completely unaware of Marcus having ever even been there, Amber left the stage happily waving at the audience, and beckoning for Darren to come over. Not only was his turn to perform directly after hers, but she also wanted nothing more than to be treated to one of his congratulatory hugs. And this Darren did indeed do, much to Amber's delight. As soon as Darren had finished giving Amber the congratulatory hug he owed her, he proceeded to confidently make his way onto the stage.

No sooner had he reached the microphone and informed the band of what song he'd be playing, when he drew out his guitar, strummed it experimentally, and then performed the following song:

We are dead to rights born and raised
We are thick and thin 'til our last days
So hold me close and I'll surrender to your heart
You know how to give and how to take
You see every hope I locked away
So pull me close and surrender to my heart
Before the flame goes out tonight
Yeah, we'll live until we die
So come out, come out, come out
Won't you turn my soul into a raging fire?
Come out, come out, come out
'Til we lose control into a raging fire
Into a raging fire
Come out, come out, come out
Won't you turn my soul into a raging fire?
You know time will give and time will take
All the memories made will wash away
Even though we've changed, I'm still here with you
If you listen close, you'll hear the sound
Of all the ghosts that bring us down
Hold on to what makes you feel
Don't let go, it's what makes you real
If the flame goes out tonight
Yeah, we'll live until we die
So come out, come out, come out
Won't you turn my soul into a raging fire?
Come out, come out, come out
'Til we lose control into a raging fire
Into a raging fire
Come out, come out, come out
Won't you turn my soul into a raging fire?
Let the world leave us behind,
Let your heart be next to mine
Before the flame goes out tonight,
We can live until we die
Come out, come out, come out
Won't you turn my soul into a raging fire?
Come out, come out, come out
Won't you turn my soul into a raging fire?
Come out, come out, come out
'Til we lose control into a raging fire
Into a raging fire

The instant Darren's performance finished, the audience howled in applause. Darren chuckled, ran his fingers through his matter ginger hair, and proceeded to step down from the stage and make his way back to Amber, who joyously embraced him. At that, they proceeded to make their way back to the dance floor.

It was now Naomi's turn to perform, and Dunlap made sure to carefully escort her onto the stage and up to the microphone before exiting the stage and taking a seat within the area in front of the stage. This same seat, in fact, had been where Darren had sat for Amber's performance and where Amber had sat for Darren's performance. Now Dunlap was sitting there, a smile on his pale white face and his red eyes agleam as he waited for his girlfriend to show the prom audience what she had for them.

When the time was right, Naomi smiled as best as she could at the audience, and promptly began her performance. The song she sang went like this:

Kiss me out of the bearded barley
Nightly, beside the green, green grass
Swing, swing, swing the spinning step
You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress

Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Lead me out on the moonlit floor, lift your open hand
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance
Silver moon's sparkling, so kiss me

Kiss me down by the broken tree house
Swing me upon its hanging tire
Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat
We'll take the trail marked on your father's map

Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Lead me out on the moonlit floor, lift your open hand
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance
Silver moon's sparkling, so kiss me

Kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Lead me out on the moonlit floor, lift your open hand
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance
Silver moon's sparkling, so kiss me
So kiss me, so kiss me, so kiss me

The applause that followed couldn't have sounded better to Naomi's ears. However, she had eyes only for the silver white blur with two blurry red spots near the top from which she heard the loudest applause coming. Smiling, she carefully made her way to the stairs leading off the stage. At this point, Dunlap proceeded to help her the rest of the way down from the stage and to the seat where he'd been sitting.

After reaching the seat, Dunlap helped get Naomi settled into it before running off to get on stage for his performance for the evening. He couldn't wait to perform the song he'd chosen. The minutes flew by until he was finally standing at the microphone, ready to start performing. When the time was right, he snapped his fingers, and the band started playing the appropriate tune for the song he'd chosen. And when the time came to sing, the resulting performance that followed with Dunlap singing, Naomi watching, and the other gleeks dancing around on the dance floor while listening, went like this:

My head is stuck in the clouds
She begs me to come down
Says, "Boy, quit foolin' around"
I told her, "I love the view from up here
Warm sun and wind in my ear
We'll watch the world from above
As it turns to the rhythm of love"
We may only have tonight
But till the morning sun, you're mine
All mine
Play the music low
And sway to the rhythm of love
My heart beats like a drum
A guitar string to the strum
A beautiful song to be sung
She's got blue eyes deep like the sea
That roll back when she's laughing at me
She rises up like the tide
The moment her lips meet mine
We may only have tonight
But till the morning sun, you're mine
All mine
Play the music low
And sway to the rhythm of love
When the moon is low
We can dance in slow motion
And all your tears will subside
All your tears will dry
And long after I've gone
You'll still be humming along
And I will keep you in my mind
The way you make love so fine
We may only have tonight
But till the morning sun, you're mine
All mine
Play the music low
And sway to the rhythm of love
Play the music low
And sway to the rhythm of love
Yeah, sway to the rhythm of love

The audience roared joyously in applause the instant Dunlap's performance finished. Dunlap couldn't have felt happier than he did at that moment. Chuckling and laughing in joy, he stretched his arms out to the ceiling, basking in the applause, particularly the extra loud form of applause that came from Naomi. Eventually, Dunlap had had enough of his basking, and he left the stage, helped Naomi up from her chair, and proceeded to escort her back to the dance floor so they could slow dance once more.

. . . . .

Ten minutes or so later, Cody was feeling uncertain as to whether or not he was ready to do his performance. In an effort to rebuild the camaraderie between Raj, Bailey, and himself, they had decided on doing a trio performance at prom. However, in the midst of all their practice sessions, things had never gone very smoothly. Now, it would soon be time for the performance, and Cody was very nervous about how it would go down.

Bailey was also feeling nervous. She knew that tensions had definitely been very high in the midst of all their practice sessions. Now she could only hope that their performance that night would be even remotely pleasant. She heard Cody sigh beside her, and she turned around to see Cody hanging his head. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "You ok?" she asked when he turned his head to look at her.

Cody sighed, and replied, "No. We're going to blow this performance, and I know it."

"Now, now," said Bailey. "Let's not be that pessimistic. I'm sure will do fine."

"Yeah, but we could do a whole lot better," said Cody. "I just wish that I hadn't jacked everything up between us. If I hadn't been such a douchebag, we'd at least be able to truce our way through this performance without screwing it up entirely."

"It wasn't entirely your fault that things have become the way they are," Bailey said calmly. "And Raj has admitted to being partially at fault for all this current drama himself."

"I know," said Cody. "But I still feel guilty as Hell over my part in it. Damn, I wish that at least one of us could have been able to develop the courage or thought up some way to really lay this drama to rest before now."

Little did Cody and Bailey know that Raj himself was watching them from the stage. He gulped, and hung his head as he thought of the role he'd played in setting up the current drama and tension between them, and his guilt over it. In fact, he hadn't really been sure about whether or not he should even be doing what he was about to do. However, Kimberly had told him that it was the best thing he could do now to finally put it all to rest in time to not screw up the performance that he, Cody, and Bailey were supposed to be doing that night before the prom court elections. And now couldn't be a more perfect time for what he was about to do. After all, the four sophomore gleeks had already performed, and there were now just enough minutes for him to get this little task out of the way before it was time for the scheduled performance to go on.

Taking a deep breath and throwing caution to the wind, Raj tapped the microphone. In a flash, everyone in the gym turned to face the gym. Cody and Bailey couldn't help but gape at the stage with their eyes widened when they saw that Raj was on stage, and they panicked mentally as they began to think that their performance was about to begin.

Then Raj said, "Good evening everybody. I know that the performance that Cody, Bailey, and I are supposed to make tonight isn't until another few minutes, but I wanted to do a little something special for them beforehand."

At the sound of this, Cody and Bailey raised their eyebrows and looked at each other in confusion. What was Raj up to?

"Over the last few days," Raj said. "Things have just not been very good between us. Hell, for the last few months there's been nothing but tension and drama between us. But now, with a little advice and help from another very good friend of mine, I've realized that it's time for me to stop holding onto and fearing the past. It's time for me to lay it to rest and let it go. Only then, can my friendship with my two performance partners truly be the way it was before all the drama. Cody and Bailey, this is for you. I hope you forgive me for all the trouble I've caused between us."

Upon saying this, he turned his head to face Brad the piano player, and nodded his head. Brad nodded back, and proceeded to start playing a tune that the audience was quick to recognize despite how it was in a different key from the original version. As everyone in the gym, particularly Cody, Bailey, and Kimberly, looked on, Raj began to sing, and the resulting performance went like this:

Same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now
Our song on the radio but it don't sound the same
When our friends talk about you, all it does is just tear me down
'Cause my heart breaks a little when I hear your name
It all just sounds like oooooh…
Mmm, too young, too dumb to realize
That I should've bought you flowers
And held your hand
Should've gave you all my hours
When I had the chance
Take you to every party
'Cause all you ever wanted to do was dance
Now my baby's dancing
But she's dancing with another man
My pride, my ego, my needs, and my selfish ways
Caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life
Now I never, never get to clean up the mess I made, ohh…
And it haunts me every time I close my eyes
It all just sounds like oooooh…
Mmm, too young, too dumb to realize
That I should've bought you flowers
And held your hand
Should've gave you all my hours
When I had the chance
Take you to every party
'Cause all you ever wanted to do was dance
Now my baby's dancing
But she's dancing with another man
Although it hurts
I'll be the first to say that I was wrong
Oh, I know I'm probably much too late
To try and apologize for my mistakes
But I just want you to know
I hope he buys you flowers
I hope he holds your hand
Give you all his hours
When he has the chance
Take you to every party
'Cause I remember how much you loved to dance
Do all the things I should have done
When I was your man
Do all the things I should have done
When I was your man

The instant Raj finished his song and the music stopped, the audience roared in applause. Even Bailey, Cody, and Kimberly were clapping, but their clapping was far more slow then the rapid clapping that all the other students and faculty in the gym were doing, and the almost teary-eyed smiles on their faces more than made up for the fact that they were completely silent while clapping.

Raj smiled upon sight of this, lifted the microphone he was using back up to his mouth, and said, "Thank you everyone. I hope you all enjoyed this. I especially hope that you enjoyed it Bailey and Cody. I know that the past between us before now cannot be rewritten, but now, it can at least be put to rest. It's time for us to put our past behind us and look ahead to the future. This is my last year here, and you're right Cody; I should end my time here on the best of terms with you and Bailey. Now if you and Bailey know what's good for you, you'd better get your asses on this stage and join me for our scheduled performance this night. I don't know about you, but I say it's time to get the party started!"

That was all Cody and Bailey needed to hear, and after looking each other in the eyes with smiles on their faces, they barreled over to the stage and joined Raj. As they stood there together on the stage, Raj proceeded to hand two other microphones to Cody and Bailey. "I'm glad you guys could make it," said Raj.

Cody smiled, and said, "I can't thank you enough Raj."

Raj chuckled, hung his head in embarrassment, and said, "I'm not the one you should be thanking. Ironically, it's Kimberly you should be thanking."

Cody and Bailey raised their eyebrows.

"It was her idea for me to do what I just did to truly give you a deep apology and lay our past to rest. If it hadn't been for her idea and encouragement, I would never have had the guts to do what I just did. For that, I'm definitely thanking her."

Upon hearing this explanation, Cody and Bailey smiled warmly, looked in Kimberly's direction, and smiled again upon seeing the smile on the Korean American girl's face as she gave Raj a double-thumbs-up. "You're right," said Bailey. "We'd definitely better thank her together after we get our groove on."

"Damn right," said Cody.

Raj chuckled, tipped his head as he leaned on his black cane, pushed his hat upwards slightly, and then said, "Well I don't know about you two, but I say that it's time we briefly stopped all this chit-chat and got this show on the road."

Cody and Bailey grinned toothily at Raj, and said in unison, "You got it boss."

In a flash, with the same smile on all their faces, they turned around to face the audience, lifted up their microphones, and said in unison, "Alright people, time to get the party started!"

The instant the trio shouted this, they all snapped their fingers in front of the band at the same time, and the band almost instantaneously began to play an upbeat party tune that everyone in the audience that had gathered around the front of the stage recognized within seconds. Seconds later, when the time was right, Cody and Raj started moving around as if they were about to start dancing, and Bailey started singing. The resulting performance went like this:

(Bailey)

Yeah, Young Money, Nicki Minaj, Justin (Cody: yarr)
(Raj (leaning from side to side and slamming cane down on the stage floor))
Show you off, tonight I wanna show you off (eh, eh, eh)
What you got, a billion could've never bought (eh, eh, eh)
(Raj (pulling on his cane, and it separates in two))
We gonna party like it's 3012 tonight
(slaps two cane halves together like cymbols)

I wanna show you all the finer things in life
(Puts cane back together)

So just forget about the world, we're young tonight
(lifts up cane and spins it around before slamming it bottom end first on the stage floor)

I'm coming for ya, I'm coming for ya
(spinning cane around like a martial artist spinning a staff)
Cause all I need
Is a beauty and a beat
Who can make my life complete
(Cody, Bailey, and Raj together)

It's all about you,
When the music makes you move
Baby, do it like you do
Cause...
[Beat break]
(Cody (leaning from side to side and moving his arms around in a similar fashion))
Body rock, girl, I can feel your body rock (eh, eh, eh)
(Takes a cross-legged bow, straightens up, backs away with arms pointing at audience, and then does a twirl)

Take a bow, you're on the hottest ticket now, oh (Bailey and Raj: eh, eh, eh)
(Cody and Raj (sitting on backwards seats so that they are facing the audience and doing sideways motions))

We gonna party like it's 3012 tonight

(Position themselves so they are standing on chairs with their left feet on the chair tops and their right feet on seating portions, and then artfully cause the chairs to tumble and they jump off and prance over to Bailey)
I wanna show you all the finer things in life
(Raj faces Bailey from her right and Cody from her left. Bailey snaps her fingers and they pretend to fall on their backs. Cody and Raj jump up on their feet.)

So just forget about the world, we're young tonight
(Cody (points at audience, and then twirls around))

I'm coming for ya, I'm coming for ya
(leans to right side, and finishes line by turning to face sideways and rubbing hand through his hair)
Cause all I need

(Leans from side to side rapidly and starts twirling)
Is a beauty and a beat

(Continues to twirl around)
Who can make my life complete
(Cody, Bailey, and Raj together)

It's all about you,
When the music makes you move
Baby, do it like you do
(Bailey)
(Cody gestures at watch on his wrist)

In time, ink lines,

(Raj does a wiggling index finger motion and then holds his cane so that it resembles a diagonal line)

Bitches couldn't get on my incline

(Raj raises his hands in the air as if basking and then points at himself with both fingers)

World tours, it's mine

(Cody does counting motion with his fingers and then does a 'picture frame' gesture)

Ten little letters, on a big sign
(Raj points at himself and gives a cheeky smile)

Justin Bieber,

(Cody smirks and rubs his hair back with his hand)

You know I'mma hit 'em with the ether
(Cody positions his arm as if they are the open jaws of a crocodile and Raj sticks his cane within their grasp)

Buns out, wiener,

(Cody snaps his arms on cane and Raj pretends to struggle to get it out of Cody's 'croc jaw' hold)

But I gotta keep an eye out for Selener
(Cody and Raj dance around Bailey while Bailey continues to sing)

Beauty, beauty and the beast
Beauty from the east, beautiful confessions of the priest
Beast, beauty from the streets, we don't get deceased
Every time a beauty on the beats
(Cody)
(Bailey: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's go, let's go)
Body rock, girl, I wanna feel your body rock
(Cody (him, Raj, and Bailey once again do their arms on shoulders and dancing around dance for their trio part))
Cause all... (Raj: all I need is love) I need
Is a beauty and a beat
Who can make my life complete (Raj: oh)
It's all... (Raj: all I need is you) about you,
When the music makes you move
Baby, do it like you do
Cause...
[Beat break]

No sooner had the performance finally ended, when the entire audience gathered around the stage erupted into applause. Smiling, the newly rekindled friends placed their arms over each other's shoulders and bowed to the audience. As they straightened up, they looked each other in the eyes, and smiled as they realized that their old camaraderie was now truly at the strength it had once been at once again.

Smiling still, the trio proceeded to exit the stage and head on over to where Kimberly was. It was time for them to thank her and have a nice long talk with her. After all, in spite of how she had played a pivotal role in the drama between them being born in the first place, she had also played a major-league role in their friendship being restored as well. And they knew that it was time that she became a friend to all of them. And so, the trio made their way over to the Korean American low ranking cheerio, eager to thank her and set up a long lasting friendship with her between all of them. In fact, since they now had to wait about fifteen minutes before the final prom court elections finally came around, they had plenty of time to get things smoothly sailing. And they were looking forward to it.

And there you have it people! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and leave lots of reviews! :) I especially you enjoyed the song choices. I really put a lot of thinking and consideration into making the choices for which songs would be used, and I feel pretty proud of myself for my choices. On that note, I hope that you don't find the Beauty and a Beat segment hard to follow, but I just had the whole dance/visual performance part of it very clearly thought out in my head and I wanted to give you all a chance to see it like I was able to, so I apologize in advance if my efforts make it hard to follow. On another note, I also hope you found the prom theme I came up with intriguing. In fact, Calvin's imaginary zoo is in fact a nod to how I myself, an autistic, have an imaginary zoo of my own in my mind that is exactly like Calvin's (and like his, mine is far larger than it's representation at the McKinley High Prom). On yet another note, notice how I had Susan call Charlotte Sarah Slut and Zack Cyborg? Yes, those nicknames are indeed a nod to Cyborg the Teen Titan (who I've compared to Zack before in this story) and Sarah Simms (Cyborg's love interest in the comics). On another note (again), I hope you're all happy with how all the enmity, tension, and distance between Cody, Bailey, and Raj is now officially over, and that they will now all be good friends with Kimberly. Finally, any idea as to who the sixteen other 'wealthy benefactors' who provided the funding needed to decorate the gym for the chosen prom theme are? I have a feeling it shouldn't be too hard for you to guess the correct answer :) Well anyway, once again, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and that you leave plenty of reviews.

Coming up next: With the four sophomore gleeks and the newly repaired friendship gleek trio having made their performances scheduled to occur before the announcement of the prom court victors, it is now time for the six prom court nominee gleeks to make their performances. However, they soon end up viewing their performances under an unexpected new light when a new element (namely, a competition) they never would've seen coming is thrown into the mix for their prom campaigns.