Title: The World through the Eyes of a Basket Case
Author: TWBasketcase
Chapter Summary: Okay this will be the girls…its prom night and this chapter will be them getting ready.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys; I'm having a huge motivation thing going on with this story at the moment so that's a good thing for me 'cause I want this thing done before I have to go back to school (September 6). So there is my deadline. So I hope you guys are still interested and following me here; let me know what ya think…good, bad, in between I don't care. :) This one is a little bit of a filler…and I think I'll be ducking some flying objects for sure once you get through it:P

Chapter 36 – Moving On

"So what are you guys doing in the mean time?" I asked Andy over the phone. The prom was tonight and Claire and Michelle wanted to come over and get ready together. Andy and Brian were hanging out but really don't have as nearly as much preparing as we do.

"Uh…I don't know I was kinda thinking we would drive around for a bit…see what John was up to, I dunno."

I nodded at the phone, "Yeah I wonder what he is doing tonight…he hasn't really said much about it."

He laughed, "Well after your little escapade the other night I don't think he will be getting too messed up."

I sighed over dramatically, "Let's not bring that up."

He snorted, "Yeah alright…listen I'm gonna head out now to go get a few more things. I will be around your place at say, 6:30 to pick you up."

"Okay I'll see you then."

I hung up the phone and looked around my bedroom; still messy as hell and yet here I am having company over any minute; I guess it didn't help any that my dad and Pam had left me with the kids for the afternoon. I guess they will never get the point that I'm not up for the whole big sister thing.

I lay back silently on my bed with a ball of nerves in my stomach; I have never, ever attended a school function of this magnitude and with Vernon, the Breakfast Club (minus Bender), Ashley, all sorts of teachers and other kids…this is something big in the making. I know I will have a good time tonight but I still can't help but reverting back to my old self conscious being.

In a way I kinda thought I was being a coward…Michelle definitely has much more to be nervous about than I do…and Claire doesn't even have a date; why the hell am I so nervous? I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck; it's definitely time to do something to keep my mind off of things.

I walked over to my record collection and combed through it…just need something fun…I smiled and grabbed a hold of the cardboard case and looked at it with interest; The Cars self titled record. It was one of my favorites and maybe some tunes will get me feeling good.

I threw on the record and the guitar set in and I shut the lights off in my room; it was time for a good old loner Allison moment for old times sake. I fished through my dresser and found my sketchpad and some Crayola crayons.

I sat on the floor with my legs bent in front of me and maneuvered the crayon so it was sitting directly between my big toe and my second toe; it has to be positioned in the right place between the curves of my feet in order for it to work properly. I chose a blue crayon – a sky blue crayon – and lowered my foot down to the paper and carefully created a circular disc on the paper; the outline barely faltered and after a few thought out seconds I had a circle…just a plain blue circle. It was so blue I couldn't help but think of a certain pair of blue eyes when I looked at it. So from there I lowered my foot back down to the paper and filled in the said circle until there was no white paper showing through the inside at all. It wasn't a big circle…just about half an inch in diameter. Under that circle I drew another and a few more until there were exactly seven of them in a vertical line. I smiled and exchanged the blue crayon for a black one and from there drew an upper body around the circles – which were now buttons on a coat. It is kind of hard drawing with my feet; I had only perfected writing with them and now drawing was the next thing up.

The jacket I had drawn was soon filled with more blues and grays; it wasn't as easy drawing with my feet as it was with my hands but given the circumstances I wasn't doing too badly.

XXXXXXXX

I added the remaining outlines of my picture; it was a young girl building a snow man. She was sticking a carrot in its head for a nose. There was just one thing missing and I couldn't put my finger on it. She looked happy and the snowman was fairly round for the most part…but who says snowmen are completely round anyways?

I stared at the picture momentarily and then let a wide grin pass over my face; I took the crayon from between my toes and bent over the picture. I took my hair out of the elastic that was holding it back and just shook it roughly loose…so rough in fact that the final piece of my puzzle was added: snow flakes. Or head flakes…whatever you want to call them.

My record ended and I stared at the picture intently…just the way that I wanted it.

"You still have quite the knack for that you know."

My head shot up and I noticed the two girls standing there with large bags and amused grins on their faces. I smiled softly, "How long have you been there?"

Claire grinned, "Just a few minutes…long enough to watch you drawing with your feet. That really is something else."

I shrugged and tucked the book under my bed behind me, "Yeah well I had a lot of practice."

She smirked, "Yeah I bet."

I smiled, "So how are you guys holding up?"

Michelle grinned wildly and pushed her hair back behind her shoulder; she was dressed in a sweater and jeans and looked totally comfortable. She sat on my bed and crossed her legs under her, "I am so excited! I have been waiting since my freshmen year for prom…I'm totally pumped!"

I laughed at her enthusiasm and wrapped my arms around my legs, "That's good…I'm nervous as hell."

Claire set her bag down and sat down beside Michelle, "What are you so nervous about?"

I shrugged and raked a hand through my disheveled hair, "I dunno just because things have been so rocky lately. I know that we'll have a good time and everything but with everything that has been going on lately it's just catching up to me."

Michelle gave me a soft smile, "It's just nerves, honey."

I nodded, "I know…let's not dwell on it okay?"

Claire grinned wildly, "Excellent, let's get started then!"

I rolled my eyes and pushed myself to my feet, "You guys aren't gonna make me look like a total Barbie doll bimbo are you?"

They both sat still and blinked at me a few times; Claire glanced at Michelle and turned back to me – she pointed a finger to her chest and mouthed the word 'me'; I nodded and she laughed, "I would never do that, Al."

I widened my eyes, "Now I'm scared."

Michelle stood up and Claire followed suit; for a second I felt like I was in a horror movie…a real scary one. With preppy girls and their make up bags advancing on you…it made me very nervous. Michelle must have noticed my frightened demeanor, "You can act scared Al but really you need to look good…its prom."

I nodded and sighed, "Fine but you can't destroy my entire physical well being."

She let out a snort and Claire laughed, "Sit down."

I gulped and sat down on my bed; Claire for her part rummaged through her bag and was throwing items out just about everywhere, including a hair curler, lip sticks, mascara, eye liner, blushes and foundations, hair bands, you name it and that girl had it. Why go to a freakin' beauty parlor when you have Claire Standish? She grabbed a chair and pulled it across the room so that it was placed directly in front of me. She pointed at it as she stood with a hand on her hip, "Sit."

I sighed and did as I was told and she grinned; she rummaged through her bag a little more until she pulled out a pair of scissors and some hair spray. I widened my eyes, "What do you plan on doing with those?"

She glanced at Michelle – who came to stand on the other side of me – and she gave me a tiny smile, "Trimming your hair?"

I bit my lower lip, "Why would you wanna do that?"

She cocked an eyebrow and rolled her eyes, "When was the last time you have gotten a trim? I have known you for three months and I have never seen you get one."

I shrugged, "Probably like six months ago…but I did it myself."

She smirked and pulled a brush through my hair gently, "That doesn't surprise me at all. I mean it has gotten a lot longer since I first met you and it looks nicer longer…it just needs a trim to make it even."

I bit my lip once again, "Okay I will trust you…but if you fuck it up Claire so help me god…" Her hand connected with the back of my head playfully and I glanced at Michelle; she let out a laugh as I mouthed the word, 'owie' to her. I looked back at Claire with a glare but she took a threatening stance and pointed at me with the scissors, "Do not say a word Allison."

I nodded, "Yes ma'am."

She let a chuckle and wet down my hair with a small spray bottle; I could tell as she began to snip that she really wasn't taking all that much off and she was being very careful and precise with each snip as she would hesitate and measure up.

My breathing was starting to slow and after awhile I was becoming intrigued with the small pool of hair poking around the carpet. I looked to Michelle's eyes for a reaction and was met with approval and interest. She never let her eyes leave Claire's fingers and she nodded every now and again when Claire took a pause.

She took a few more snips and then came around me so that she was in my clear view. She combed my bangs down over my face and began the work on them. I watched – my eyes somewhat crossed from it all – as she took tiny bits of the ends of and layered them so they would be closer to the same lengths as the rest of my hair. I took a deep breath and she stopped, "Okay I'm finished."

She flashed me a huge smile and wiped some hair off of my shoulders; I looked at Michelle who in turn gave a nod, "I like it."

I stood up and brushed off my pants and accepted a hand held mirror from Claire; it was simple. Very simple but I liked it. Usually when I wear my hair down it looks messy and out of place but with the layering and trimming off of all the split ends it looked much neater. It came down past my shoulders these days and now it looked very even. It was nothing drastic; but very noticeable.

I turned back to face her and she had her hands clasped in front of her face in anticipation, "Well?"

I nodded and smiled, "I like it a lot…thank you."

She grinned brightly and looked at Michelle proudly, "I knew she would love it." Michelle nodded and laughed, "Don't get too full of yourself now." Claire shrugged and picked up her supplies silently yet still smiling.

I turned to Michelle, "So what are you doing?"

She fingered her long hair and twirled it around, eyeing it with interest, "I'm not sure yet…hair dresser Claire over there wants to do it."

I smiled, "And what about you Claire?"

She raked a finger through her short hair, "There isn't too much I can do with it except style it…I know what I am doing girls."

I laughed at her seriousness and began looking through her cosmetics bag; there is so much crap in here that I have never even heard of before let alone know how to use. I looked back up at her expectantly, "You aren't gonna make me do this myself are you?"

She let out an amused yet unladylike snort, "No I'm not having you go to prom looking like Ozzy Osbourne."

I smiled at the thought and turned back to her, "Well can we get this done and over with so that I don't have to wait much longer?"

She laughed, "Yes as long as you promise not to ruin it."

I smirked, "Yes mother."

She nodded her head and motioned for me to sit down once again; she rummaged through her bag and threw out even more stuff across my bed. She's a woman on a mission and when it comes to makeovers she is not a force to be reckoned with. She turned back to me with only five things in her hand; an eyelash curler, some eye shadow, mascara, lip gloss and a set of tweezers. I raised an eyebrow, "That's it?"

She nodded and cocked her head to the side, "Yes that is all you need. You have a nice complexion so there is no point in making you look like a clown. All you need are some neutral colors around your eyes, some shine to your lips…and something done with those eyebrows."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever." She shook her head and went straight to work, having the make up part done in seconds. As soon as she picked up those tweezers though I had to stop her, "You aren't gonna rip out half of my face are you?"

She laughed, "No…but it's gonna hurt just a bit."

XXXXX

"Claire I hate you!" I screamed as she pulled out yet another hair.

"Oh my god you are such a baby! I'm all finished so get up and go."

I winced and rubbed my poor forehead; that woman made me feel like I was getting skinned alive or something. I looked in the mirror at said eyebrows and sighed; they were a little thinner and arched a little more but all the redness and puffiness of them made me wanna scream. I had never made a big deal about plucking my eyebrows in the past because, hey, they're just eyebrows. But Claire –being Claire – just had to go down to every last detail including making me shave my legs. Whoopdy doo.

Claire and Michelle exited the room and took off towards the bathroom. They are going to do all their make-up and stuff themselves and once they are finished they are going to add the finishing touches to my hair. In my personal opinion Claire had already made quite the drastic change to my appearance and that alone I like. But then again we are going to a formal event so I guess I have to look my best – or whatever the crap is I have to do for it.

I walked out of my bedroom to join my friends and once I reached the door I realized that I now have to join Pam as well. Great.

"Oh my god Allison! You look great!" She squealed flamboyantly.

I rolled my eyes, "Thanks."

"Did you do it yourself?"

I shrugged, "Claire did it."

She widened her eyes, "Wow Claire I should get you to help me for my wedding you are so good."

I sighed dramatically and looked at Claire who in turn just let out a giggle as she applied some mascara, "Thanks."

I rolled my eyes and watched as the girls applied their make-up expertly; Michelle had such glints of nervousness in her eyes despite her calm and collected outer appearance. It must be the prom queen thing because I know she should definitely not be worried about what Brian thinks. Claire on the other hand looked unusually happy and excited.

I focused back on Michelle, "You are gonna do good you know."

She nodded, "I know…well I hope so. I'm just feeling a little self conscious at the moment."

Claire lifted an eyebrow, "Why?"

Michelle shrugged, "I don't know; I'm just hoping Brian is going to have a good time and that I don't…you know…lose to Ashley."

I nodded, "You don't have to worry about Brian too much Michelle…like I said he would think you were great if you were wearing a paper bag."

She let out a laugh, "He is so sweet."

Claire gave her a crooked grin, "Yeah he is…and don't you worry about Ashley, you have it."

She sighed shakily, "Yeah I hope so."

Claire put a curling iron up to her hair, "Besides who wants to vote for her anyways? She is probably gonna show up looking totally sleazy and probably drunk and just leave early to go get laid with some random guy."

I laughed, "Well she probably won't be the only one getting laid tonight…isn't it some weird ass tradition for people to lose their virginity on prom night?"

Michelle laughed, "I guess so…although I don't know if I am into doing that."

I cocked an eyebrow, "You aren't into sex?"

She shrugged, "I dunno most guys I have dated have always pressured me about having sex…I just…"

Claire raised her eyebrows as she twisted a few strands of hair tightly and clipped them back, "I didn't know you were a virgin."

Michelle sighed, "I'm not, I lost it with Greg but he never made it special…I always felt like a tramp afterwards."

"Brian's not like that."

She spun her head around to face me, "I know that…we'll just have to see what happens that's all."

Claire nodded; she still had that grin on her face, "Well don't worry I won't be doing the hanky tonight either…I'm not one to do that sort of thing on the first date, you know?"

Michelle laughed, Yeah I know."

I raised my eyebrows, "Whoa wait a second here…did I miss something?"

They turned to face me with confused expressions, "You didn't know?"

I squeezed my eyes shut; I did NOT like where this was going, "Know what?"

Claire let a wide grin spread across her features and set her curling iron down, "I would have sworn Andy would have told you."

I rubbed my temple, "Told me what already?"

"He got me a date tonight with a friend."

TBC