Hawkin High School's prom was held at the convention center. Jane and her friends were the first to arrive. The doors to the convention room hadn't even been opened yet. Lucas vanished shortly after they arrived. "I don't think I've ever been here," Max whispered. Jane often forgot that Max had only moved here right before junior year. It felt like Jane knew her for years.
"I've only been here two other times," Jane said. "I think this is going to be where we're going to be graduating next month."
Max nodded, and the doors to the convention room open. They enter the room that had a blue lighting scheme. Half of the room had circular tables with cloths on them, and the other side was a dance floor that had a stage. On the stage was a DJ who was currently tending his booth.
"Are there any seniors in the house?" the DJ shouted.
"I mean, this is senior prom, so yeah," Jane said. The DJ repeated himself, and half of the convention room cheered in response. Jane wondered if they did that to get the DJ to be quiet, or if the others were really getting into this.
Jane sat at one of the empty circular tables. Max, Bruno, and Dustin sat with her while the others vanished on the dance floor. They watched the dance battle between the girl's soccer team and the cheer team. The cheer team naturally dominated since they had more training with gymnastics and dance.
It took about an hour for the first slow song to play. Bruno extended his hand to Jane. "May I have this dance, my fair lady?" Bruno asked, in a fake fancy British accent. Jane took his hand and he led her to the dance floor. She wrapped his arms around her waist, and Jane wrapped her arms around his neck. They began to awkwardly dance.
Jane spotted Will and Mike, who were slow dancing nearby. Jane gave Will a fake smile when he looked at her. She was trying to enjoy her evening with Bruno, but she wished that she was dancing with Max. She hoped that no one noticed.
Once the song was over, the principal walked onto the stage. "It is time for the crowning of the homecoming court," he announced. James Dante gave him an envelope that had the names of the king and queen in it. Even though Will seemed to have forgiven him, Jane still cringed every time he saw his face. The principal opened the envelope and read the names. "Maxine Mayfield and Lucas Sinclair!"
Max had an awkward look on her face. Lucas walked to the stage, but Max ran out of the building. Jane followed her, realizing this was what Lucas had been planning since spring break. This was his master plan to win Max back.
Jane saw that Max was sitting on a bench. Jane sat beside her. Max didn't look up, but she knew that it was Jane who came after her. "I should have known he would do something like this," Max said. "He never got over the breakup. How did he even get everyone to vote for us?"
"I think that he rigged the votes when he arrived," Jane sighed.
"Why can't he respect that I don't want to be with him?" Max asked. "I was thinking about ending things before New Years'. I just used the long-distance thing as an excuse to do it. And I think the boys are on his side."
"I'm sure that they will understand if you explain your point of view to them," Jane said. Max then grabbed Jane's hand and looked into her eyes.
"Jay, I've been thinking a lot since that night in Terre Haute," Max explained. "I realized that, when I'm with you, I feel something that I hadn't felt since the beginning of me and Lucas's relationship. I love you, and I want to be with you."
Jane thought about how this might be too soon. She always thought that you had to wait at least two years before dating your friend's ex, but she didn't care about that at that moment. "I love you too," Jane said. Max then leaned in and smacked their lips together. Max held Jane's face until they pulled apart.
"We should head back to the dance," Jane suggested. "We have a lot to explain to the boys."
"Yeah," Max said. They then intertwined their fingers and started to walk back to the building, preparing themselves for the hundreds of awkward questions they'll be getting.