Lola traced her fingers across the tight seam of her prom dress as she was helped out of the limo by Frankie. She had purchased the dress two weeks ago and it fit perfectly that day. At this point in her pregnancy, however, Lola was growing bigger practically every day. Her prom dress fit — but probably only for tonight. One magical night was really all she needed her prom dress for anyway… that was at least what she kept trying to tell herself.
"Everything is perfect…" Frankie came up behind Lola, gripping her shoulders with enthusiasm.
Lola observed her surroundings as she and her best friend walked up to the prom. For once, prom wasn't being held in the smelly gym. Instead, the student council had somehow pulled off a beautiful fairytale themed prom in the woods. It was everything she could've dreamed of. She just wished she could be attending this event feeling like Cinderella rather than the pumpkin carriage she rode in on.
"I don't know about perfect." Lola spoke, not quite self-assured. She thought that months of mental preparation and the perfect dress would be enough armor for her to get through the fear of judgment that was clouding over her prom excitement, but there was still just a mental block there. Despite being with her best friend, knowing that the love of her life was on the other side of that entrance warm and happy and ready to greet her, this moment was still scary. She had spent years dreaming of her perfect prom, and that ideal definitely didn't include being in her third trimester.
"Are you sure the dress looks okay?" Lola questioned, turning her body to the side and looking down self-consciously. She had asked that question dozens of times throughout the entire process of getting ready as well as when they took prom pictures, but she was still convinced that she looked ridiculous.
Before Frankie could provide her usual dose of reassurance, another voice chimed in. Esme. "You look hot." Esme spoke with her usual lack of decorum. "Anyone who talks shit about you, Lola, I'll have their heads medieval-style." She paused, looking to Frankie for approval. "...That's the theme of the prom, right?"
Frankie laughed, reaching over and straightening Esme's tight midnight blue dress which had gotten slightly bunched up at her waist. "Uh, Fairytale." She politely corrected Esme. "So… close, not quite."
"Same thing." Esme shrugged. "Now come on, let's go in!" She pranced toward the entrance excitedly, approaching Hunter and Yael who were taking tickets. "Look at the little outfits! I have to take blackmail pics." Esme played with the fringe on Hunter's costume and giggled. Hunter, of course, was less amused.
Frankie smiled, following Esme for a moment before looking back to Lola. "Come on, Lo. I promise the scary parts are over. It's prom time!"
The scary parts were definitely far from over for Lola. She still had a long road ahead of her. Frankie was right, though. Tonight was prom. This was something she had been looking forward to for as long as she could remember. Lola swallowed her anxiety like a gigantic horse pill and attempted to focus on the great things directly ahead of her. Everything else was tomorrow Lola's problem.
"Okay. Let's go." Lola decided out loud, squashing her fears and doing her best to leave her sense of fear at the front door.
"You first, Lo. Your prince awaits." Frankie said, motioning for Lola to walk ahead of her and Esme.
Frankie and Esme's steps were as coordinated as their dresses and corsages. Lola never would have guessed that Frankie and Esme would become such a seamless pair. When would she learn to stop being so shocked at the off-the-wall things that happened at Degrassi? Crazier things had happened after all — Lola and Miles ending up together with a baby, for one example.
Lola, Frankie and Esme turned their prom tickets over and officially entered the event. Frankie excitedly pointed to a photo booth, which looked fun but was absolutely packed with Degrassi students.
"We definitely have to make some memories tonight." Frankie made note of the photo booth out loud to ensure that Lola knew it needed to be done.
Way ahead of you, Lola thought. She was excited to make some memories, but she was also just antsy to reunite with Miles. She hadn't seen him since they had taken prom photos at the cantina a couple hours earlier. The separation anxiety was starting to become real.
Winston was the first person Lola recognized from across the crowd. "Lola, Frankie! Over here!" Esme scoffed at not being included by Winston, but Frankie quickly and quietly reassured her that it wasn't intentional. The three girls walked across the dance floor and met Winston in the middle.
"Where's Miles?" Lola asked, her hand absentmindedly gravitating toward her stomach. Force of habit. "He said he'd meet me on the dance floor…"
"Oh, he just needed to finish setting a few things up. Thanks for letting me steal him after prom pictures for some manual labor. This prom sure was a beast to set up… I swear, he was just right behind me…" Winston had begun rambling, which caused Frankie to set a hand on his shoulder.
"Relax, Chewy. It looks beautiful." Frankie said. "He'll be here any second, I'm sure."
Lola stood in the middle of the dance floor and took in her surroundings. Big tents and twinkly lights, magic mirrors and tables with gorgeous place settings underneath gigantic chandeliers… "This really is perfect." Her eyes caught on a big banner with the words 'Happily Ever After'. That made her think of Miles and how far they had come. All she wanted was a happily ever after.
"You're perfect." Lola's favorite voice entered her eardrums. Miles Hollingsworth had officially arrived.
She turned around quickly and met her tall, lanky Prince Charming face-to chest. Lola looked up and her eyes locked with Miles'.
"Hello, my princess." Miles spoke softly. He paused for a moment, then reached his hand down and placed it on Lola's baby bump. "And good evening to our little royal baby." His features twisted up into a giant, genuine smile, kissing Lola before pulling away and conjuring up something sparkly from behind his back. "This is for you."
Lola's eyes widened as she examined what Miles was offering her. It was the most beautiful tiara she had ever seen — traditionally styled and silver with beautiful sparkling vintage diamonds and sapphires throughout. It looked like something royalty would wear. It also looked like it had to cost at least a thousand dollars.
"I can't take this." Lola said, though her instincts and heart were screaming for her to grab it and put it on her head and dance around like a Disney princess. "It's too much. You must have spent a fortune." Miles' family had money, but it didn't mean Lola was comfortable with him throwing it around willy nilly for prom accessories. They needed to be responsible now.
Miles shook his head, pulling Lola to the side of the dance floor to avoid drawing more attention than they already naturally had. "No, look at it. Don't you recognize this tiara?"
"Have you… shown it to me before?" Lola was honestly lost. She couldn't keep her eyes off the tiara, though. Something about it was familiar now that Miles mentioned it. She had seen this tiara before. She just couldn't quite place it.
Miles reached into his pocket and pulled out an old, slightly tattered photograph. As soon as Lola laid eyes on it, she gasped.
"It's from your mom. She wore it to her wedding, her mother wore it to her wedding… I guess it's considered like an heirloom or something?" Miles explained before handing the photo to Lola and allowing her to look at it more closely.
Lola's eyes fixated on the aged photograph of her mother and father at their wedding. She hadn't seen this photo in years. At one point it sat in Lola's family living room framed front and center. Lola used to stare at this photograph and the others from her parents' wedding day and dream of the day that she got to wear a gorgeous dress and fancy jewelry and a tiara and have the happiest day of her life like her parents did.
When Lola was little she would ask her parents or whoever babysat her to retell the stories that old family photos represented. She always liked the different ways that her family members remembered things — like how her abuelo could only recall the food served at the reception while her abuela could recite the vows nearly by heart. The way her father recalled this photo and others of her mother had always been young Lola's favorite, though — he would always gush about how beautiful Lola's mother looked and how lucky he felt to be by her side. Her parents were like a real life fairytale to Lola — until Lola grew up and had to discover fairytales weren't real.
Lola had grown to dislike family photos as the years passed and she watched her parents fall out of love. There was a point where Lola put the wedding photo away and neither parent ever seemed to notice or ask where it went. That was the moment she knew that the bond her parents shared had officially broken. How could you not want to constantly look back on the happiest day of your life?
Now, though, she looked at that photo in a new light. It made her smile. Miles made her smile. He really knew her and loved her and accepted every single piece of her. Even though nothing was ever going to be perfect, Miles still made her feel like she was in a fairytale. Tears welled up in Lola's eyes as she took the tiara into her hands and placed it on her head, not caring in the moment how much it messed up her perfectly styled prom hair. She was just happy to be here with the boy she loved so much.
"I didn't know you could look more beautiful." Miles spoke smooth as ever, placing a hand on Lola's cheek and wiping away her happy tears. "Do you maybe wanna dance?" he asked, and Lola pulled him into a tight hug.
"Always with you." Lola reached up and pulled the tiara off her head. "But first… can you fix my hair?" She knew it didn't really matter, but something in her brain kept nagging about it. This night was turning out to be perfect after all. Her hair deserved to be too.
Miles chuckled and took the tiara into his hands again. "Absolutely." He smoothed out the ruffled hairs and placed the tiara perfectly on top of her head. Then, he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Now let's dance. All three of us."
Lola couldn't tell if she was feeling butterflies in her stomach or the baby kicking. Probably both. She allowed Miles to lead her onto the dance floor and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Happy prom, Miles Hollingsworth," she whispered in his ear.