Most Popular Boy
Disclaimers: I don't own them, I make no money off of them.
Warnings: Shonen ai, Sluttish Relena, Narrow-mindedness, Some Angst (?) 1+2+1 and stuff
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The day of the prom was quickly approaching and all the student clubs had agreed to help out Student Council and the Senior Class as far as prom committees go. Duo and Heero were helping by putting up decorations and such in the rented ballroom that was to be used three days from now.
"Hey Duo!"
Duo looked down from where he was currently securing a red velvet curtain to a rafter.
"HEY! Sup, Dorothy?"
"I just came to ask you about what I should wear for prom," came the reply from below.
Heero shrugged at Duo from where he sat atop another rafter doing the same job as Duo as if to give him permission to go. Duo smiled, pleased that Heero could read his thoughts now and hurried down to help the blonde with the odd eyebrows.
Heero finished affixing the heavy red curtain and looked around the ballroom. At the far end of it on the stage, or rather, at the back end of the stage, was a replica of an old brass pipe organ that was going to serve as a backdrop for where they were going to take pictures. He looked over to the balcony where things were being cleared so that the DJ they hired could install his equipment without any trouble, then looked over to where Trowa was busily hanging upside-down on a rafter checking the overhead lights. Heero smirked, far below him, Quatre looked pale as he watched Trowa's recklessness. Heero vaguely remembered being told about Trowa going to circus camp when he was little, something to do with his obsession with acrobatics and contortionists and general circus life.
Not long after, Duo came back to finish up his side of the work.
"Who was that?"
Duo didn't look up as he answered, "Oh, that was just Dorothy, the school dyke. She wanted help picking out a tuxedo."
"She's coming to prom in a tux?"
"Sure. Why not?"
Heero shrugged, "Whatever floats her boat."
"I said the same thing. She's still a girl at heart though, she was doting on what *I* was wearing for prom. Sheesh, even when they want to play the part of a guy, they're still hopelessly… girly!"
Heero shrugged it off and continues setting up another curtain.
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Three days passed quickly and votes had already been cast for prom king and queen. The candidates had been the same as they had for Homecoming, but this time, the voters had an option of adding an impromptu candidate on the ballot itself. None of the guys were really bothered with this fact though. They were all best friends and it didn't matter who won, they were just going to have fun.
The guys were again waiting at Quatre's house waiting for the ever-tardy girls to arrive so they could make their way to the prom. They were all dressed in fine black tuxedos, with the exception of Quatre, though, they were the same ones as for Homecoming. The difference now was that they each wore a mask. Wufei wore a mask that covered the area around his eyes, over the cheekbones, and eyebrows. Trowa had a half-mask that covered the left side of his face. Quatre had one that barely even covered his eyes at all. Heero had a mask that covered his face from forehead to nose, and Duo had one that only left his mouth visible. All of the masks were white to reflect the Phantom of the Opera theme they had come up with.
One by one, they girls came arrived and one by one, they were given corsages, courtesy of the Winners. Hilde had on a pale lilac colored dress with off the shoulder sleeves, an embroidered hemline, bell-like skirt and topped off with a thick plum sash (matching her current hair color) that tied in the back, tapering her waist. Soon Noin arrived wearing a sapphire colored gown with a high neck and moderately low back that clung to her upper body and flared out at the hips, giving her a more feminine look despite her muscular tone. Finally, Meiran came in wearing a crimson and black dress with a corseted top that laced in the back with black laces, bell sleeves, and black skirt. Each girl wore slim masks like Quatre's that barely covered their eyes each mask covered in glitter matching their respective gowns.
After greetings were given and received, they all climbed into Quatre's limo and made their way to the prom.
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(Inside the limo)
"Guys," Duo began, "there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time…"
All of Duo's friends looked at him expectantly and Heero just looked surprised. He didn't think Duo would ever actually tell his friends, well… at least not any time soon. Duo had made it clear that he didn't want anyone finding out about his tendencies.
"I've been coming to terms with the subject for a long time and now that I've finally accepted it myself, I wanted to share this with you all. You guys are like family to me and if you don't want to be my friends any more after this, I'll understand."
"Out with it, Maxwell. We're not getting any younger," Wufei snapped good-naturedly.
Duo smiled a little, "You see… I'm into guys…"
"You're gay?" Hilde asked with a little shock.
"Well… I think I'm more bi, than gay. I mean I do still like girls, but I like guys, like that, too…" Duo nervously played with the silky black ribbon at the end of his braid afraid to look up at his friends' faces.
"Well, thank you for telling us," Quatre, ever the peacemaker, said. "It must have taken a lot to admit that to us out loud, but you're still Duo to us, so we don't mind."
Duo looked up and studied the expressions on his friends' faces, relieved to see nothing but acceptance there. He knew they'd never given Heero a hard time, but he thought it was because they were too civil to be mean to him if he was Duo's best friend. Now he knew better, now he knew they really didn't care about his preferences.
"Umm, Duo?" Noin spoke up, looking at Hilde nervously then back at him.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think we could videotape you and a guy make out some time?"
"What?!" Duo's eyes all but bugged out at the question, Heero wasn't looking any better. He knew they were all aware that he was gay, and they probably already figured out that he and Duo were more than just "friends," so he figured Noin and Hilde never asked that of *him* because they weren't as close as they were to Duo. Still, the thought made him smile. Heero knew that women were into shonen ai, so that wasn't the shocking part, what was shocking is that he had known two for the better part of a year and he hadn't known about it.
"Well… umm…"
"They get off on boy getting it on," Heero added as he looked out the window.
The two girls blushed and nodded, the guys were having trouble processing this, and Meiran was trying to figure out what could be so interesting about two guys making out.
Quatre looked like he wanted to say something and Trowa looked slightly uncomfortable but the awkwardness of the moment ended when they arrived at the ballroom.
Inside the ballroom, they were just getting ready to serve the dinner and the group made their way to their reserved table. They all pretty much left the conversation they had had in the car behind and settled into friendly chatter, talking about how well the preparations had come along.
Not long after the meal had finished, the dancing had begun. Wufei and Meiran went off to the dance floor and Quatre led Hilde in a dance as well. Trowa and Noin were busily talking about what they were going to do after high school and Heero merely settled back and watched the dancing go by. Soon enough, a pink ball of fluffy princess skirts made her way to their table and sat in Wufei's vacated seat to the right of Duo.
"Hey Duo," the pink one purred.
"Yes Relena?"
"I just wanted to congratulate you on winning Prom king."
"How would you know that? They haven't made the announcement yet."
"I just have a feeling about it. Dance with me?"
Duo sighed, "Fine."
He led Relena to the dance floor, giving Heero a last mournful look.
"You know," Relena said, "If you agree to come back with me to the hotel, things will run smoothly tonight."
"What are you talking about, Lena?"
She smiled in her own little evil way, "I'm just saying, if you come with me tonight, things don't have to get ugly."
"Are you threatening me?"
"No, not you. Never you… But I'm not sure that little man-slut Heero's going to fare as well…"
"Don't call him that."
"Why not?"
"Because… Lena… he's more than just a friend to me…"
"We'll just see about that then. If you're telling the truth, then you *both* deserve what's coming!"
She huffed off and left.
Heero saw Relena stalk off and Duo make his way back to their table.
"What happened?" Heero asked when Duo claimed his seat once again.
"She was threatening me. She said if I didn't agree to go back with her this evening to her hotel room, she was going to do something to you."
Heero looked annoyed, but not really afraid.
"Hey," Trowa said looking at a spot behind both Heero and Duo, "Duo, there's a doppelganger in our midst."
Both Heero and Duo turned around to look at the spot Trowa and Noin were intently staring at. To their utter shock, they spotted Relena dancing slowly with a guy with a long chestnut braid and Duo's exact suit. Four jaws dropped suddenly when the couple on the floor made their way to a corner behind one of the red velvet curtains in the middle of a very steamy kiss.
"What the…" Duo was pale, he was seeing his mirror image.
At about that time, Wufei and Quatre were making their way to their table dragging their dance partners with them.
"Trowa! Did you see?! Duo is-" Quatre was cut off in the middle of the sentence when he saw Duo staring at the spot where they had watched Relena disappear with someone they thought to be Duo just moments before.
"Just *what* is going on?!" Wufei demanded.
He didn't get a reply as apparently Relena had re-joined the world of the living (no Duo look-alike in sight) and was now announcing the prom king and queen. It was no surprise that Duo had won king and he now waited patiently, mask in place, as Relena placed a crown on his head and a black cape on his shoulders. She leaned in to kiss his cheek and whispered in a hushed tone, "I wasn't going to do this after you reconsidered tonight, but he still needs to pay for keeping you away from me as long as he has."
Duo was about to ask her what the hell she was talking about when she announced the prom queen.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you've all been waiting for. This year's prom queen is none other than-"
She paused for effect, taking her time in opening the little envelope in her hands with the results. She looked at it, smiled triumphantly, and took a breath.
"Heero Yuy."
There was silence. She had a very smug looking smile on her face. Heero was rooted to the spot looking deathly pale. He hated attention, especially this kind of attention. Sure, he didn't mind people knowing he was gay, but he didn't like to flaunt his sexuality.
"Come along, Heero," Relena said in a sugary voice, "the people have voted, you are this year's prom queen. Not that you weren't already a Queen before, it's just that now you'll actually have a crown to prove it!"
Heero swallowed, still unable to move.
Duo came back to his senses and snatched the sparkly little tiara away from Relena and the pretty maroon cape that went with it and made his way to where Heero was standing looking shell shocked. He gently placed the cape on Heero's shoulders and the tiara atop his head, giving him a tiny little kiss on the cheek then held out his hand.
"May I have this dance?"
Heero stared, then nodded dumbly as he was pulled into an embrace when the DJ snapped out of it and played the piece he had prepared for the king and queen.
The rest of the crowd was still in a confused state by the time the song had ended and the next on had begun. They were unsure of what to do. This is exactly why Relena was feared, they didn't want to be put through this sort of situation so they began looking towards the club leaders to follow their example. Wufei and Meiran just began dancing again, much to the relief of some of the students. Then they spotted Trowa and Quatre dancing with each other as well as sharing a kiss. Hilde and Noin looked at each other and shrugged.
"What are you all looking at?" Hilde asked testily, "Grab a friend or whatever and start dancing! This is the last dace we're going to get and we're supposed to have *FUN* this evening."
With that, she and Noin began dancing with each other, obviously only doing so because their male escorts had begun dancing with *each other.*
All went well until Relena's shrill cry caught everyone's attention.
In the middle of the dance floor, Relena was having a confrontation with Heero and Duo.
"How could you do that to me?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Lena," Duo looked annoyed and confused.
"The *hell* you don't! One minute you're making out with me behind the curtains and the next you're necking with this… cheep… *fag*!"
"Look, Lena, I don't know who you were making out with, but it was definitely NOT me."
"Give it up, Duo. Everyone saw you."
There were several nods and whispers from the crowd that had now formed around the trio.
"Actually, Relena, they all saw *me* kissing you," another voice from the crowd rang out.
The crowd parted to reveal Duo's doppelganger amongst them. The double came into the circle and took off the mask, which was the exact same one that Duo wore.
Relena's scream reverberated off the walls as Dorothy's face was revealed to the school. She had dyed her hair darker to be able to pull off this stunt. She had been after Relena for years, but it seemed that impersonating Duo was the only way to get the girl's attention. Since she couldn't chance her face, the mask had provided the perfect cover.
Relena was wiping her mouth with a gloved hand and backing away from them all when a lout ripping sound was heard.
To Relena's shock and Dorothy's pleasure, Relena's dress was accidentally being stepped on so that the skirts had ripped at the seams and she was now wearing the bodice of her dress with the skirts in a pool around her feet revealing the thong and garter set she had on for tonight's hotel activities.
Everyone started laughing as she ran from the ballroom, skirts clutched to her body, in tears. Dorothy gave one rueful smile at the king and queen and a little helpless shrug before running after Relena.
Soon after, things settled down again and other than the wary glance or two at the select same-sex dance pairs, the rest of the evening went off without a hitch.
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Jess' Rant
Since I didn't get any suggestions other than "Under the Sea" (as a joke) for a prom theme, I went with this. I figured it was the best way to bring about the Duo-clone Dorothy into the picture instead of making Relena a closet lesbian. I thought it would be more traumatic if she accidentally kissed the "School Dyke" and actually liked it. By the way, I have nothing against lesbians, but kids at school are evil and labels reign supreme.
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Drk Nuriko: How was that?
Suzaka: Thanks for giving my story a shot even if yaoi isn't your cup of tea. And yeah… a Duo-bat. I thought it'd be cute.
Skysha: Does that answer your question about Quat and Tro?
Fragile Reflection: You guilt tripped me into writing tonight. I felt bad since you said I was wonderful for updating and so… thanks for the writing boost.
*Runs away from CilverKlaw's sword* ITAI!! You have your chappie! Leave me be!!
Mara 202: You think my chappies are always great? *blush* Thanks *blushes more*
Kitty Kat 0303: good to hear you're *adds in a sing-song voice McD's current slogan* lovin' it.
Argh swashswash bucklebuckle: I didn't intend for anyone to pity her, but some of you might after this chapter… maybe not.
Katreda: Yep, I agree, Relena's a bitch.
Pretty Pilot: O.O Beyond your expectations? Really? *blush* Thanks *blush* You and Seamonkey88 made me all teary when I read you're reviews (Hers by way of private e-mail and not FFN review). Y'all are so sweet, your comments made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. *tear*
Darkkatt: You had read my mind when you suggested that.
Magic Shield: I wouldn't know if people actually went to prom in groups of friends like that, I having missed my prom and all.
Yurako: Now you know ^.~
Max Hunter: Je suis desolee. Sorry about that, My French class teacher used the phrase "per se" a lot and I just assumed it was French, thank you for pointing out that it isn't. The definition is still right (I think) but it's most probably Latin, as Max here pointed out.