Disclaimer: See chapters 1 and 2.

It's a Prom Thing

Chapter 3

"Pilica, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure thing." The blue-haired girl slammed her locker door and turned to the boy, smiling. "What is it, Nathan?" A sudden insight flashed through her mind. Please don't let him ask me to the prom, please let him just ask me about homework or something, please please please…

The boy called Nathan seemed to be rendered speechless by Pilica's bright smile. It was a few seconds more before he was able to get his brain going again. "Um, Pilica…would you like to go with me to the prom?"

So much for her wish. "Um," she uttered, trying to rack her brain for a proper answer. How to say 'no' without hurting his feelings…she thought frantically. She absolutely hated rejecting anybody, and even though she knew very well that no one else has asked her yet and Nathan was the first, she didn't want to say 'yes' to him right away. Besides, someone else might ask her.

It's not arrogance or anything on her part, she thought, now tapping her foot as she clutched her books tightly in her arms. Everyday, Pilica has to say 'no' to three or so guys who ask her out for dates. It can get pretty irritating, but she much rather prefers to deal with them herself than have her brother breathing on her neck. She has some guy friends too.

But if she says no to Nathan now, whom will she say yes to? Among all the boys who pester her for dates, he was definitely one of the nicest. Oh, just admit it to yourself, she argued inside her head; you're just hoping Ren Tao will ask you out. It was true—one of the major reasons why she would always reject the other guys (aside from the fact that she never really liked any of them at all) is because she is hopelessly, madly in love—well, infatuated—with her brother's friend, Ren. Even though he always picked on her and they would quarrel endlessly whenever circumstances threw them together…ah, love works in such mysterious ways. Yet sometimes she hated him because she knew he just looks at her as his friend's little sister. As if I'm that little, she thought scornfully, frowning at the floor. And she wasn't thinking about the height difference, either. He was only a YEAR older than her, for god's sake. And he was only a few inches taller then her, too, if you didn't count that stupid pointed hair…

"Pilica," Nathan said, startling the girl out of her reverie. "I…I understand if you don't want to go with me—"

"Oh no, my silence didn't mean that at all!" she exclaimed. "I was just…thinking."

"So you will go with me?" the boy asked eagerly. A bit too eagerly. Pilica had the sudden urge to imitate her brother and punch him in the face.

"Well…" she began hesitantly.

His face fell. "You mean you're going with someone else already?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but someone else answered for her. "Yes, she is," Ren said darkly, standing behind Pilica. He glared at the other boy, looking him up and down. Nathan was taller than him, but he looked scrawny and uncoordinated. Tch. Ren could beat him up with one hand tied behind his back.

"O-Oh, I see," Nathan said nervously, slowly stepping backwards. "I'm sorry for bothering you then, Pilica. S-See you around!" Then he turned around and nearly ran away from them.

Pilica turned to face Ren, torn between wanting to hug him from saving her from her predicament and wanting to slap him for being so—so…so Ren. "Ren," she started, her voice coming out in a squeak. Damn it. She cleared her throat. "What are you doing here!" she demanded. Then she thought of what he said a while ago in answer to Nathan's question. "Wait a minute, who the hell am I going to the prom with?"

He shot her one of his annoying yet devilishly handsome grins. "Me," he said simply, leaning against her locker and crossing his arms.

The bell rang shrilly, signaling the start of their next classes. Ren straightened up and walked away leisurely, putting his hands in his back pockets and looking every bit of the arrogant bastard that he is.

Pilica stood frozen by her locker, just watching him, when the second bell rang. She forced herself to turn around and hurry to her classroom, when all she wanted to do at that moment was to go after Ren and possibly clobber him to death. Or kiss him.

:skip:

"There you are!"

Horo-horo nearly jumped in surprise as Tamao slammed her books triumphantly on the table. She pulled out the chair next to his and sat down.

"Tamao, what are you doing here?" he asked weakly as she rummaged in her backpack for her pens and other stuff.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here?" She plunged her hand further into her bag, feeling for her liquid eraser. "I told you I'm going to help. I've been looking for you everywhere all afternoon. I should've known you would be here at the library. A-ha, there it is." Pulling out the liquid eraser, she placed it beside her pens and grabbed her math book. Then she stopped and frowned at him. "Were you hiding from me all this time?"

"Of course I was hiding from you!" he groaned, burying his head inside the book he was holding. "Anna's going to skin me alive if she saw you with me."

Horo-horo's punishment for 'asking Tamao out without her knowledge', is to do Anna's and Tamao's homework for one week. And a severe punishment it was, because both Anna and Tamao have two papers due this week, not to mention a load of assignments and exercises for various classes.

When Tamao learned about it, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Horo-horo. He didn't really do lasting harm to her, except give her extreme embarrassment with her mother. So she decided, without telling Anna, to help Horo with his 'punishment'.

"No, she won't," Tamao said, shaking her head. "Anna's my best friend. She's not as horrible as some people make her out to be."

"I wouldn't know about that," he muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," Horo-horo said clearly, sitting up straight. "Tamao, really, I can handle this. You don't have to help me—besides, I deserve to be punished."

"No, you don't!" she contradicted him again. "Why would you think that? I don't think you did anything wrong."

He flushed. "About that—I'm sorry. I really am."

They both fell silent. Tamao fiddled with a page in her math book before replying, "Are you sorry because you have me as your date to the prom or what?" She looked serious.

"Of course I'm not!" he exclaimed. "Why would I be? I really wanted to ask you to the prom." He blushed, but went on. "I'm sorry for the…manner I did it. It wasn't really you I asked at all." He shrugged, staring at the tabletop, unable to meet her eyes. "I guess it was pretty cowardly of me."

"On the contrary," she suddenly said, smiling a little. "I think it was pretty brave. No one has ever talked to my mother like that before." She bent over and began doing the first problem in her math assignment. "But I guess it would be nice if you'd ask me yourself," she said, trying to look nonchalant. She could feel her cheeks get a bit pink.

Tamao raised her head a little to find Horo-horo staring at her with his mouth open. Now this is what she considered his true punishment. Biting back a grin, she focused on her homework again. "Like you said, it was my mom you asked, and I haven't exactly said 'yes' yet, have I?" she continued.

"SSSHHHH," the librarian hissed in their direction.

Tamao ducked her head and continued her problem solving. She was just getting started on the second problem when a note was shoved at her. Opening it, she read:

Tamao,

Will you PLEASE go with me to our Junior-Senior Promenade?

Horo-horo

Smiling widely, she scrawled a reply and immediately shoved the note back at him.

Horo opened the paper with shaking fingers.

YES.

"ALRIGHT!"

:skip:

"You didn't have to scream so loudly, you know," Tamao said grumpily, but she was blushing. The librarian had thrown Horo-horo out of the library. Not knowing what to do, Tamao followed him.

"Sorry," he said, grinning. "But I think the librarian's in a pretty good mood today. She just kicked me out, didn't even give me detention."

She looked at her watch. "Well, it's getting pretty late anyway, so let's just go home."

"Wait! What about the homework?"

"Tell you what," Tamao said, adjusting the straps of her backpack. "Since you get pretty good grades in Math, you do all that. And I'll do all the English. You also do all the Physics and Computer; and I'll take Social Studies. I'll do all my papers and I'll help you with Anna's."

"Tamao!" he protested, but she shook her head.

"That's final," she said firmly.

"Geez, no wonder you two are best friends, you're both so stubborn!" Horo-horo said.

She just smiled. "So, I'll meet you here tomorrow after classes. See you!" She started to walk off.

"Tamao, wait." She stopped, then turned around slowly, her eyebrows raised expectantly. "Is it okay if—well, I guess what I mean to say is…can we walk home together?" he asked, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. "I mean, my house isn't that far from yours…"

She smiled brightly. "Okay."

:skip:

Ren was drinking at the water fountain when someone slapped him at the back of the head.

"What the—" he spluttered, backing away. He hurriedly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face. Then he turned around to confront whoever it is—

Only to find himself face to face with an angry Pilica.

"What the hell did you do that for!" he yelled at her.

"And what the hell do you mean that YOU'RE my date to the prom?" she yelled back, stabbing a finger at his chest.

He suddenly smirked. "Why, did you really want to say yes to that geek?"

"No I don't! Of course not! But—wait a second; he's not a geek! ARGH! Don't change the topic, you jerk!" She glared at him. "Whose permission do you have to take me to the prom, may I ask?"

"Your brother's, of course!" he answered, frowning at her.

Pilica could practically feel a vein popping in her forehead. Horo-horo is SO dead. "Oh, yeah?" she said shakily, suddenly wanting to cry. Why is it always through her brother? "You may have HIS permission, but guess what? You don't have MINE."

He stared at her, dumbfounded. Was she saying no to him? Him, Ren Tao?

She stared back at him angrily, fighting back tears. Then she shifted her gaze to the water fountain and promptly stepped on the pedal, hard, squirting him in the face. She stomped off angrily, leaving Ren behind, spluttering.

To be continued