Author's Note: Bah. School is deathly boring. I'm thinking that one day this week I should play the fool and pretend I'm sick so that I can stay in bed late and write the rest of the day. Sounds beautiful. Hmm…

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I anxiously waited until Monday. The first hours crawled by and when the bell for lunch rang, I nearly ran to the cafeteria.

The girls and I sat around the table, sharing a large bag of potato chips and playing cards. Naturally, my hand came up to hold my cards, and Rini stared at it.

"Woah, what a rock!" She sad, dropping her cards and grabbing my hand. She turned my hand from side to side seeing how the light would hit it in every which direction.

"Oh my god. Did he…?" Bulma said dropping her cards as well and holding her hand to her mouth.

"He did!" Maron said excitedly, clapping her hands together. "He proposed to you!"

"When! Where! HOW!" Bulma asked excitedly grabbing my hand away from Rini so that she could admire the ring herself.

I explained it all, possibly going into to much detail. "And the old woman had tears in her eyes…"

"Aww!" The girls all cooed in unison.

I relived the night in my mind. The pizza, the dance, the car ride, the place, the fireflies, the words, and the way he dropped to one knee.

Rini sighed romantically. "Wow, you're super lucky."

I grinned and shrugged modestly. "So what went on during your guys weekends?"

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Vegeta and I got into a fight, so I stayed home and a carton of Ben and Jerry's and watched the Friends marathon." She said bitterly.

"What kind?" Maron asked.

"Chunky Monkey."

Rini stared in disbelief. "What does the ice cream flavor matter?"

"Something very few people know, is that it's essential to get an ice cream flavor that sooths the soul. Just make sure it's good and therapeutic. To me, my therapy ice cream is peanut butter cup. The point is, you're supposed to feel better after eating it." I looked to Bulma. "And did you?"

She smiled softly. "Yeah, I did."

"Mission accomplished."

"What about you?" Rini asked Maron.

"I didn't eat ice cream this weekend." Maron said confused.

"No, I mean what did you do this weekend?" Rini said, softly patting her on the back.

"Oh. Prom shopping. I'm all done. I got my shoes and some awesome earrings that weren't in my budget. Can you believe prom is only 5 days away?" She said, looking to the ceiling dreamily.

Bulma moaned. "Don't remind me. If Vegeta and I don't make up then I'm going alone. And I don't want to apologize since it wasn't my fault anyway!"

"So you're going with Goku obviously, I'm going with Krillin," Maron said looking at me. She turned her head towards Rini. "who are you going with?"

"That leads me to what I did this weekend. I went out with Brad to dinner and he asked if he could take me." Rini said smiling.

"Aww! You have a boyfriend! That's so cool Rini, I'm incredibly happy for you." I said.

The bell rang to signal the end of lunch. Only 5 days left until prom. I felt it was going to be a long 5 days.

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I didn't go my typical way home that day. First I stopped at the flower shop to buy a solitary red rose and then I drove slowly to the cemetery. I walked on the paths, so as not to disturb anyone's final resting place. Usually the cemetery made me cold and lonely, but it was a warm and sunny day. The wind rustled the leaves on the trees as I walked to the grave that I had gone to thousands of times when I was little. The name on it was Sara King-Applegate. The name of my mother.

I remember whenever I got angry at my Dad when I was a kid, I'm go take my bike and ride to her grave because I knew it was too painful for my Dad to go near it. I hadn't visited the site since I'd been in high school and well into middle school.

My Dad was really weird about visiting the grave. Like I said before, my Dad and I had moved when my Mom died, so he wanted a grave site close to our house. He nearly never went to it though.

I sat on top of the grave and cleared my throat. "Erm…uh. Hi Mom." I started. I felt the heat rise in my face. Oh god, I'm embarrassed to talk to my dead mother.

"Er, oh yeah. This is for you." I placed the rose on her headstone. "I'm gonna get married you know. He's a nice kid. His name is Goku. Dad and I moved into the house next to his when you...you know. We had a kid already, but that didn't really work out." I thought a while. "But you should know that already. You've probably seen her up there. I'd have named her after you."

I sat in the quiet for a while, not sure what I could possibly say. "I have prom in 5 days, then I graduate in only a month or so after wards. I haven't bothered to count down the days. I don't really care that much. Yeah I know, insane. You had to drag me out of bed every morning when I was little."

"You'll see me a lot more too just to let you know. I have a car." I sat in silence again. "Wow, I've really changed a ton haven't I? A car, a boyfriend or a fiancé I suppose, a baby, but like I said that didn't really work out, no more braces, and I've slimmed down a lot. I hope I act more mature. Sometimes I feel like I've regressed."

I stood up. "I gotta go though." Bulma, Rini, and I are going prom shopping at…" I glanced at my watch. "Shit. In five minutes." I stood up and bowed to her grave. "Bye, Mom."

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Saturday morning I woke up to Mom opening my curtains and shaking me slightly. I groaned and rolled over miserably. I hadn't gotten to sleep very early the night before because of pre-prom jitters.

"Chi?" Mom said shaking me a little harder now. "Don't you have a hair and nail appointment at 1?"

I opened my eyes are looked at her sleepily. "What time is it?"

"It's 12:30, I just wasn't sur…"

"IT'S WHAT!" I said, jumping out of bed and almost killing her accidentally with the rush I was in. I ran to my closet and pulled on a pair of jeans over the boxers I was wearing and put up my hair in a quick ponytail. I left my pale (embarrassingly enough) pink tank top on and ran with my purse towards the door. Where were my keys?

"Goku took your car this morning to work." Mom called down the stairs on cue.

"Son of a bitch…" I muttered, taking his keys off the hook and running out to his rusty pick up.

I got into the car in a flash and tried to turn it on. No luck. I looked around, trying to think what would make the car not start and then I remembered his car was a stick shift. I groaned. Manual shift cars and I don't have good track records, but Dad taught me to drive one in case of an emergency. I pressed in the clutch and it started easily.

It was a 15 minute drive to the mall, and that was exactly the amount of time I had until my 1 o' clock appointment. I went 5 miles per hour over in every zone and thankfully enough the cops were taking a day off in the strictly enforced zones. I stopped at a red light and jiggled my foot in anticipation.

I was making good time. I was about 5 minutes away from the mall and the time was 8 until 1. The light turned green and I decided to burn rubber. Well, I decided to do that, but Goku's hunk of junk decided to take a bit of a rest. The car stalled. I sighed angrily and tried to restart the engine but it wouldn't work. I was in a bit of a panic by now. All the cars behind me were beeping and screaming obscenities. I rolled down the manual window and waved at them to go past me.

I struggled with the car for the next few minutes. I was nearly out of time since it was 12:58. Finally the truck decided it must have made me scared or angry enough because it started just then. I put the car in gear and high tailed it to the hair shop.

I rolled into the parking lot only a minute late, but walked through the doors at 5 minutes after.

Chloe (AN: That's right, hairdresser Chloe has come back by popular demand!) was smiling at her as she walked through the door.

"Nice car." She said in her thick Australian accent. Her hair had been dyed to a blue since the last time I had seen her. "What happened to the other one?"

"Long morning…" I explained to her, walking to her station.

All her equipment flew out of the drawers just like it had for homecoming. She washed my hair in the sink and began her work.

"So, what color's the dress?" Chloe asked, snapping her gum.

"It's like this green color. It's nice. I got it made this year instead of going to a store."

"Green?" She said scrunching up her face.

"Yeah, green. But not the green that you might dye your hair. Like an emerald. If the light hits it right it looks black."

A look of relief cam over her face. "Much better, then. You going with Goku again, or did that kind break up?"

"Nah, I'm going with him. He's kind my fiancé now so…" I said casually smiling.

"Whaaaaaat!" She said dropping the comb to the floor. She searched for the ring on my finger. "Oh my goooooooood!" She said and grabbed my hand much in the same way Bulma and Rini had.

I told her the story as she brushed and styled my wet hair. Just like the girls, she smiled and cooed in all the right spots. "Sweet." She said when I had finished. "Super sweet."

She straightened my hair and took out two hair bands and fresh white babies breath flowers. She took my perfectly straightened hair from behind my ears on each side up in a princess pigtail leaving he rest of my hair fall to halfway down my back. To cover the hair bands, she inserted the tiny baby's breath flowers. When she spun my around, I smiled widely.

"You're the best, Chloe." I said, jumping up and hugging her.

"No problem." She said winking. She then took out a bottle of clear nail polish and shook it. "Paint up?"

I sat with Chloe in the nail department of the salon and we gossiped some more. She just broke up with her boyfriend because he was becoming to needy. She had just lost the spark as she had said.

"It's cool though. I'm not sad or anything." She said shrugging.

My long and natural nails were painted a silver color just like they had been done in the fall for homecoming.

At 2:30, my hair and nails were done. I paid, thanked Chloe again and walked out the door and into the truck in a considerably better mood than I was when I arrived. I cranked up the radio and continued down the road. I stopped in the flower stop to get Goku's boutonniere.

I arrived at Rini's a little after 4. We screamed when we saw each other. Her hair was beautiful as well. It was in an elegant bun on he back of her head with two long straight pieces in the front. She turned around gracefully as if to show off her hair. It made her look like a queen, but her jogging pants and painted up tank top did her no justice.

"Wow Chi, I didn't know you owned anything pink." She said eyeing my tank top suspiciously. I had stopped at home to pick up my make up and to get a change of underwear and my strapless (coughpaddedcough) bra, but hadn't bothered to change my tank top.

"Fuck off." I said, inviting myself in.

Rini and I sat down unlady like on the couch and watched the end of 8 Mile. Rini was really into this movie amazingly enough. She knew almost all the words to the rap songs. When the credits rolled, Bulma and Maron showed up together. Maron's short hair was down and stick straight. Bulma's blue hair was down too, but it was wavy. We all screamed in delight at each other again. We should stop doing this.

At 5 we started all crowded into the bathroom with the biggest mirror. We all took out our supplies and went to work. We plucked, shaved, applied, removed, then re-applied again, painted and just about everything else we could think of to make us look perfect.

Bulma got us all by taking out her digital camera and getting the most possibly unflattering pictures of us she could possibly take. She has one of me with my mouth wide open and applying eye shadow. Why is it that us women can't apply eye make up without opening our mouths to do so?

Since all our dates were going separately and we'd meet each other during the dance, we were all going to be picked up at different times.

When the time was right, we slipped into our dressed in separate rooms. We all saw ourselves in our dresses for the first time. Maron was absolutely adorable with her little kimono dress. Her shoes had heels that must have been 3 or 4 inches high with a closed toe in the front.

Bulma still looked amazing in my dress. Her eyes glittered and shone with a true excitement. Maybe it was because it was finally happening. Maybe it was because Vegeta had apologized to her earlier that day.

Rini's dress was a Romeo and Juliet type dress but with a twist. It was a corset tank top with a long flowing skirt that hit the floor. I couldn't see her shoes.

We all looked at each other in astonishment but didn't scream this time. On the contrary, the room was silent. We all came into a big hug and almost cried. That was the night we'd been waiting for for years.

After we composed ourselves, we walked down the stairs in search for Rini's brother so he could take pictures of all of us.

We walked into the living room and we heard applause. Puzzled, we saw all our respective parents there. I looked over and saw Mom, but never would have imagined seeing my father there.

"Dad?" I asked somewhat confused.

He stood up slowly from the couch and looked at me up and down. His eyes seemed to fill with tears as he hugged me. "You are so lovely. You're as beautiful as your mother."

I hugged him tightly. "Thanks for coming, Daddy."

I turned away and looked at Mom. I knew she was the one who had called him. My eyes watered, but I was very careful as to not let them ruin my make up.

"Look Daddy," I said, pointing to the ring on my finger. "Goku proposed."

"I know." He said looking at the ring and smiling.

"How…? I hadn't called yet."

"He called me and asked for my permission."

I smiled.

Rini was with her parents and she was smiling. "You're beautiful." Rini's dad said hugging her. "And no matter what happens, you'll always be my little girl." She smiled. I knew that's what she had wanted to hear from him.

A knock on the door signaled that one of our dates had arrived. We all straightened ourselves up a bit, wondering whose it may be.

A deep and barely recognizable voice filled the hallway. Rini flushed a deep red to match that of her dress. Brad walked in with a handsome tux with a red tie and vest to match. His black hair was slicked back and he smelled very good, like an expensive cologne. Rini appeared speechless.

"You look…amazing." He said, clumsily putting the corsage on her.

Her parents took their respective pictures and walked out to his bright red sports car. He revved the engine and they drove away.

Krillin was the next to walk through the door. "Krilly!" Maron squealed. With her tall shoes, she towered above him. He must have felt threatened a bit, because he stared remorsefully at them and asked her to take them off for pictures. Krillin had decorated his black Honda with wash off paints. Maron looked excited. Then they drove away as well.

Vegeta's voice grumbled through the hall next to see Bulma. When he entered, he smirked. "Well, well, well. We're looking exceptionally sexy, aren't we?"

"I'd like to think so." She said in a modest voice.

He came over to her and kissed her in a way that made her parents flinch. I peeked out the window. Vegeta had rented a black limo. Lucky her.

So I was left alone. I waited another 10 minutes and I was still sitting there with my Dad and Goku's Mom. I was feeling nervous. What if he got cold feet and wasn't coming?

Just then there came a knock to the door. Dad took charge and went to open it.

"Good to see you again Goku." My dad said.

"Nice to see you again too. It's been a while hasn't it?"

Goku walked in with a smile on his lips. The smile vanished when he saw me. My first thought was 'Oh god, what's wrong with me?'

I stepped towards him slowly. "I…" He managed to choke out. He stepped towards me slowly as well. When he reached me, he gave me a light kiss on the cheek. "You… are completely…amazing." He stuttered out. I felt light headed. I smiled widely.

His tux was a stunning black that shone slightly. His vest was a deep green like my dress and he wore a back bow tie. His shoes shone brightly.

I felt a poke in my back as I looked deeply into his eyes. Mom was handing me Goku's boutonniere. With shaking hands, I pinned the white rose to his chest without poking him or myself. Afterwards, he slid my corsage onto my wrist. I smiled again and looking into his eyes.

My father and Goku's mother had managed to get some good shots of us. We promised to get our prom pictures taken when we got there too.

We walked outside. It was a warm evening and the sun was still up. "Sorry it took me so long to get here." He said. We turned the corner on the porch and I gasped. "Carriages take longer to get here."

The black carriagewas decorated with red roses. The horse was black and the driver was quite dashing in his penguin suit and gray neck scarf.

He offered his arm to me and I took it. He helped me into the carriage and climbed in after me. As the carriage began to go with a start, I smiled. My senior prom had just begun.

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Author's Note: Ta da! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Originally I had wanted to make it two separate chapters but decided against it.

Thanks to my reviewers and I hope you have the pacience to read the next chapter. Chau.

Annie Bacchi