Maybe there was some truth into what Metal had said after his martial arts class. Admittedly, she had stepped out of line trying to offer advice after Metal hadn't performed as well as he liked, and it had been a short, abrupt conversation before he dropped her off. But one sentence was enough to make Sarada rethink her entire character.

"You criticize people way too much about things you have no experience in when you should just mind your business." Metal had said. Contextually, he was correct. But still, it had hurt her feelings. But why? She hadn't thought telling him that if he got more sleep at night he'd have more energy to expend during martial arts was bad, she was just telling the truth. That boy hardly slept over five hours. She wasn't trying to criticize him by any means, but then again, he hadn't asked for advice.

Sarada let out a loud huff as she plopped onto her bed. Jesus, she had no idea what to think or feel anymore. Her opinion wasn't wanted by even her own boyfriend, so did that mean other people didn't want it either? Even Boruto had always said she was too opinionated for her own good...

And that seemed to be true, now that she had been hesitant to speak up during student council. She opted to sit back and observe rather than interjecting every comment that was made, and sometimes there would be an awkward pause after someone offered an idea, and all eyes would flick to her. She would just shrug, twirl her pencil, and doodle on the corner of her notebook paper. The student speaking would clear their throat to fill the strange silence, then move on.

It was incredibly strange for everyone since the Uchiha always had an opinion on everything. But, with her not speaking, the other student council members who usually were a little too shy were actually participating now, so it created a different type of environment where more ideas were being brought to the table, so they all had a plethora of things to discuss. By the end of each student council, everyone was smiling and cheerful to come back tomorrow to continue where they left off. It wasn't the usual exhausted, burnt out energy with everyone dragging their feet through the door dreading tomorrow.

And of course, Sarada definitely noticed.

The student council was flourishing without Sarada's opinion. So, yeah, Metal was right. Sarada was way too critical of things she had no idea about. Maybe this entire time she had no idea about anything, and just sounded stupid and like a know it all. No wonder she hardly could make friends.

Even at Metal's house that night, she couldn't brainstorm any ideas for a prom flyer. Her creativity was blocked; literally nothing she sketched out looked good. She groaned in frustration, and Metal paused his video game.

"What's wrong, Sarada?"

"I can't think of anything for the prom flyer." She said, staring up at the ceiling helplessly. Metal stood from the floor and walked over, picking up her notebook. It was full of half sketches and scribbles everywhere.

"What's the theme of prom?"

"That's what we're trying to decide."

"Well, when I imagine prom, I think of Cinderella. Big ball gowns, glitter, magic, clouds, things like that."

Sarada furrowed her brows. "I guess so."

Metal set her notebook back down. "Just do what I just told you. Everyone loves Cinderella!"

Well, she supposed Metal had been right about everything lately... so Sarada did as he said. It wasn't a bad idea, truly, it just didn't quite fit her style. But it was too late to try and think of anything else, so with a rough sketch and some key selling words, she closed her notebook for the night and Metal took her home.

It was now Friday night during student council. Sarada had her prom flyer draft all ready to present, though she had wanted to change it at least a million times, but every time she tried, nothing came to mind. Metal was right – any prom she had seen in the past was very elegant and classy. A Cinderella dream theme was a great idea to go off of, so she had nothing to worry about. She was sticking with it, and going to sell the idea the best she could!

Picking a theme and designing flyers was the last step. So after today, everything would be finalized for the weekend, and they'd have a small break.

Everyone was chattering excitedly as they filed into the classroom, and finally Headmaster Tsunade cleared her throat, and everyone took their seats. They got right into presenting, and went around clockwise. Sumiere presented hers, and once she was done, Boruto was up next. He stood, but had no paper in his hand.

Tsunade raises a brow. "Uzumaki, where is your flyer?"

Boruto blinked. "Right here." He bent over with a pen, scribbled something on the paper, then held it up. In regular black ink, it said Prom April 15th 9 pm-12 am Brown Building Welcome To The Jungle.

Everyone stared at him, but they nodded nonetheless. Sarada scoffed. How was that acceptable in any way? He literally put no thought into it! It had no colors, no pizazz, no character, and was boring and the absolute bare minimum. How was he even allowed to get away with something like that? It's like he didn't even care at all.

"Interesting but simple." Tsunade said, twirling her pen. "Jungle themed. Why?"

Boruto shrugged. "It's a cool concept. Vines hanging from the doors, leaves are easy props to make. And you all make everything too complicated. Just tell people where, when, the theme, what time, and people will show up. It's prom. Flyers are the least important. People look at them for two seconds then throw them away. It's wasteful."

Everyone nodded again, and Sarada was annoyed. He couldn't be more wrong — prom was supposed to be the most extravagant out of all the dances, everyone could agree with her on that! Who wouldn't want to attend an exquisite, eloquent ball themed prom, decorated to the nines with tables upon tables of fancy pastries and macaroons with stunning fluffy clouds lining the walls? She wanted everyone to feel like they were walking through a dream!

A couple other student representatives went next, then it was Sarada's turn. She cleared her throat and stood up, holding her paper out for everyone to see.

"Majestic," Tsunade said blandly, "Why?"

"Prom is elegant, I want it to feel like you're walking through a dream. It is the largest attended dance of the year, everyone looks forward to it, so we want to build anticipation." She smiled. Boruto scoffed, and she glared at him in response. Tsunade brushed it off and moved on to the next representative.

After their meeting was over and the sun was setting, Sarada marched to the classroom where she found Boruto gathering his things. His actions had completely rubbed her the wrong way, and she hadn't been able to let it go since it happened. The scene kept replaying through her mind as she was presenting, and Boruto was rolling his eyes. It was making her infuriated just thinking about it.

She stood in the doorway with her arms folded while he lackadaisically rolled his sleeves up, picked up his bag, and popped a piece of gum in his mouth. Noticing she was staring, he frowned.

"What?"

"What was your attitude during student council?" She asked.

"My attitude?"

"Yeah, you came totally unprepared then had the guts to make fun of my idea!"

Boruto almost laughed. "Listen, princess, not everyone is going to agree with your opinions so stop acting all entitled."

Sarada furrowed her brows. She wasn't the one acting all entitled, he was! He pissed her off so much!

"And," Boruto continued as he stood up, "that poster wasn't your style." His eyes trailed up and down.

"How? I literally designed it." Sarada shot back.

Boruto scrunched his nose. "How you've been acting lately isn't you, either. You've been all quiet in student council then randomly come in here just to start a useless argument with me. Make it make sense."

He threw his bag over his shoulder, and Sarada watched him with a dumbfounded expression. He pushed past her through the doorway and continued down the hall.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarada shouted. Boruto rolled his eyes and turned around.

"It means you're changing into whatever the hell that control freak wants you to be!"

Sarada stared at him in dismay. She had no idea what to say. Never had Boruto seemed upset like this before...

Boruto bit the inside of his cheek, but he kept his narrowed expression. The girl that was standing in front of him was barely recognizable. Her physical features were the same, but her energy, her personality, and the way she carried herself were all different. This wasn't Sarada anymore. She wasn't her usual fiery, opinionated, smart-mouthed, nosy self. He was looking at a shell of a shut down, insecure, defensive girl he used to know very well. He didn't know what was fully going on, but whatever was happening behind closed doors couldn't be good.

Having been friends with Metal since childhood, Boruto knew the guy had some mild sensory problems – nothing to be ashamed of – but if he was taking out his quirks and idealisms of what he thinks a relationship should be on Sarada, then he was about to get decked in the face. He wasn't being adaptable and was only trying to mold Sarada into his little damsel in distress. And Sarada, having no previous relationship experiences, was falling right into it. Everyone around her could see the red flags, but she had on rose colored glasses.

He'd been there before. He used to be the one with the rose colored glasses while everyone watched from the sidelines when he hit rock bottom. And now, he didn't want that to happen to Sarada. She was too kind, too sweet, and had too much faith and trust in people for her to let a relationship ruin all these good traits she had. Boruto didn't want to see her become twisted and distrustful like he was.

The person he used to be before his relationship was dead and gone, and he wished every day he could go back to that happy, carefree attitude. That's why he liked being around Sarada so much. Life hadn't fucked her over repeatedly, so she still had that sparkle of faith in her eyes. Her smile was still bright and contagious. Her hope was still full and optimistic. Her energy was so alluring and infectious that people wanted to be around her. She had a glow that many people didn't anymore. It made Boruto feel good inside.

But, with Sarada came a lot of stubbornness. She wouldn't see the bad until she experienced it, unfortunately. And it hurt Boruto to know that, but there was nothing else he could do for her. You can't teach someone pain if they've never experienced it.

All he could do now is watch from the sidelines. Just like everyone else was.

Eventually, Boruto let out a slow breath.

"Just stop letting him control you. You're smarter than that."

He walked away without another word. Sarada almost stopped him, but what was she supposed to say? Argue some more; about what? Why did nothing make sense anymore? She scoffed, trying to brush it off. She wasn't being controlled, Metal wasn't controlling. Boruto was just stupid.

With heavy thoughts, Sarada waited for her uncle to pick her up in his Mercedes. She was quiet when she got in. Itachi looked over at her, his bright bandaged elbow showing through his sleeve. He had gotten blood drawn before coming to pick her up, so was looking pale and fragile.

"Long day?"

"I guess." She muttered. "Boruto said Metal's controlling me."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. Interesting, indeed, that the mini Uzumaki would say that. For someone who didn't want to step up to the plate to win over Sarada himself, he sure had some hefty opinions he wasn't afraid to voice about the relationship. Itachi was invested now.

"What sparked him to say that?"

Sarada sighed and sunk into the seat.

"We had to present flyer ideas for prom today in student council and Boruto said I was acting entitled. But he started it since he didn't put any effort into his poster at all and then rolled his eyes when I presented mine!"

Itachi pushed a loose strand of hair behind his ear. Well, he didn't know the full situation, and even though it seemed like Boruto and Sarada fought more than they got along… Boruto wouldn't have spoken up if he wasn't genuinely concerned. It was a trait he took after Naruto — if there was a problem, something would be said.

Boruto may be holding a grudge against Sarada for her picking Metal instead, but still. Itachi had a hunch that the outspoken Uzumaki wasn't necessarily wrong in saying what he did. Sarada had seemed more disconnected.

Recently, she had been spending more time at the Lee's, and on the rare occasion Metal came to the Uchiha's, he was very stiff and unfriendly. Sarada hardly wore cute bows or barrettes in her hair anymore, and she was always asking everyone if she looked okay. It wasn't like her.

These were all observations Itachi noticed just within the month and a half they'd been dating. It wasn't anything too concerning, for now. It was understandable that she was now in a relationship, and of course wanted to please Metal. But there was a fine line between that and being controlled.

"He's so stupid! He's still jealous that I'm dating Metal and not him." Sarada said with disgust. "If anything, he's the one being all high and mighty thinking he doesn't have to put any effort into a poster. Just because Headmaster Tsunade taught his dad when he was younger doesn't make him special!"

"Now Sarada," Itachi said softly. "Of course I understand how you feel. As your uncle, I will always support you in whatever you choose. But, take a step back and breathe. I'm not saying you have to listen to Boruto, because only you and Metal really know what goes on behind the scenes. No one else gets to define your relationship except you two, But he is still your friend, and friends look out for each other, right? Maybe he's just concerned."

Sarada rolled her eyes. "Well, he only considers us "business partners", so he shouldn't be."

If there was anything Sarada Uchiha was: stubborn. That girl would not change her mind even if someone begged her, she had to learn it on her terms.

And it appeared that seemed to be the case, so all Itachi could do was listen.

XxX

Monday morning, Sumiere, Wasabi, Namida, and Sarada all stared at the boring, bland, block lettered prom announcement that hung in front of them on the main entrance. Sarada clenched her fist. That son of a bitch, he probably made some of his fantastic cookies and brought them to the faculty lounge as bait to choose his flyer!

"It's really not that bad, Sarada." Sumiere said nervously, "Boruto was right when he said sometimes we make things too complicated! I kind of like it."

"I spent all night on mine, and he did his in five seconds!" Sarada shouted. "I hate him."

"I like it!" Namida exclaimed. "It's easy to read! I have a hard time when the letters are all cursive."

Wasabi nodded in agreement.

Sarada let out a whine. "But wasn't mine cute?!"

They all looked at her, unsure of what to say. Sumiere scratched her temple.

"Well… it was cute, but it kind of looked like Christmas. And it's April. That's probably why it didn't get picked."

"But Metal told me everyone was going to like it. He gave me the idea." Sarada said sadly.

"Well that's why it didn't get picked!" Wasabi said sarcastically, and Sarada instantly glared at her.

"I'm going to class!" She stormed into the school, and the three girls glanced at each other.

"I think you offended her." Namida said sadly. Wasabi scoffed.

"Seriously? I was just kidding!"

"I think you should apologize just in case. She seemed really upset." Sumiere said, looking back to where Sarada had left.

Wasabi put a hand on her hip. "Alright fine. Maybe what I said wasn't nice. But you guys have to admit she's changed since her and Metal started dating."

Namida and Sumiere glanced at each other.

"Hey, you know, whatever is the best decision for Sarada I'll support her." Sumiere scratched her cheek.

Namida nodded, her hands fisted tightly by her chest. "Yeah, we're her friends so we're here for her no matter what!"

Wasabi nodded her head. "You're right! Speaking of, did you hear they didn't let a lot of girls from last year's summer volleyball team onto this years?!"

"What? No way!" Namida exclaimed.

The two girls walked into the school while Sumiere hesitated, and looked back to the poster. She was concerned for Sarada. Her quiet, snappish, irritated attitude lately was so unlike her. She vaguely wondered what was going on, but ultimately it was none of her business.

So, Sumiere walked into the school to go to class.

XxX

"I think you should pick a green dress."

Sarada raised her eyebrows, her phone pressed to her shoulder. She was in the dress section of the department store that night on the phone with Metal. Getting ideas for what style of dress was a lot of work; there were so many silhouettes, sparkles, lengths, and colors, and she also had to stay in the dress code they were given today during student council.

"Green? In what world do they have cute green prom dresses?"

"Well I like the color green."

"I want to wear red!"

"I don't like red. Blue looks better on you."

"I don't like wearing blue!"

"What about yellow?"

"What kind of yellow?"

"Dark yellow."

"Gross, no."

Metal sighed on the other side. "I'm sure there's a cute green dress out there somewhere!"

"Are you talking about an emerald green or a lime green?"

"Emerald."

Sarada cringed at the thought. "Yeahh… I don't know about that."

"I only have green ties."

"Okay, well it's a lot easier for you to find a tie to match a dress rather than finding a green dress to match a tie!"

"Okay fine, don't." Metal snapped, and Sarada stopped.

"Okay, sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

Metal was quiet on the other end.

"I have to go," He said, and then hung up. Sarada held in a deep breath to compose herself. She felt so confused. Her emotions were like a rollercoaster with everything that had been going on lately. Nothing seemed right anymore.

Sarada went in search of her mother through the clothing racks. Sakura was also looking around for dresses to pick out, and held up a cute, floor length lavender dress.

"What about this one?"

"He wants to wear emerald green." She muttered. Sakura looked confused.

"Green? For prom?"

"He said he only has green ties so wants me to match that."

Sakura slowly blinked. Sarada didn't notice her mother holding her tongue, but she took Sarada to the front desk and asked if they had any emerald green dresses. They only had one, it was sleeveless and high draping neckline, and over five hundred dollars. Sarada supposed if that's what she had to wear for prom; she'd do it.

Sakura stared at the price tag. "Do you like it, honey?"

"I guess it's pretty." Sarada touched the soft mesh fabric. If he had to wear it to match, she would.

Sakura looked between her daughter and the price tag. She hesitated.

"Are you sure you don't want to pick out a dress you like instead?"

"No, he'd get mad." Sarada said. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows and handed it back to the stylist.

"We'll look somewhere else, thank you."

"Mom—" Sarada started to say, but Sakura walked away. "Mom!"

"Let's just go look at what we have at home, okay?" She mustered a smile, and Sarada gave her a weird look.

"We don't have anything at home, that's why you took me shopping."

"Do your friends have any unused dresses that are green?"

The only person Sarada could think of was Chocho, but she was not about to text her. She shook her head.

"Why don't we just go back in and buy that one? It's really not a big deal, I'm only wearing it for one night."

Sakura's hasty pace slowed. "Shouldn't you pick a dress that you like? It's easier to match a tie to a dress than the other way around."

"I know, I told him that. But he wants to wear green." Sarada said. Why was her mom being so weird? Maybe because she had acted like she didn't want to wear green, so Sakura didn't want to spend money on something she didn't like. "Honestly mom, that dress was really pretty! I liked it a lot."

"I still think we should go home and double check what you have first." Sakura insisted, and Sarada scrunched her eyebrows.

"Okay…"

The ride home was quiet. Sarada was on her phone scrolling through social media. Metal posted a picture of him running, Chocho posted Mitsuki asked her to prom, Wasabi posted about the summer volleyball team, and Iwabee posted his car, and Sumiere posted that Iwabee asked her to prom. Crazy. She would've never seen that one coming. She closed the app and sighed as she leaned into the seat. This was so annoying.

Wait, Metal hadn't even asked her to prom yet, and he was already telling her what color dress to get. What the heck…

The whole ride home she was unable to fathom this concept. She was now laying in her room that night, after searching her closet for any emerald green dresses, still dumbfounded. How was Metal going to tell her what color dress she should wear, but not officially ask her yet? Wasn't that like tradition, and then the girl went out and picked their dress so the guy could match? This was all backwards. Her mind was stuck in a loop asking the same questions over and over.

Her phone buzzed. It was from Boruto, and she almost fell off her bed. Her heart suddenly was pounding a million miles a minute.

Did you drop off those dress code flyers you printed out yet?

Oh god, Sarada had anxiety over nothing. Of course he was texting her about the student council, they had nothing else to text about. Swallowing the nausea away, Sarada realized she completely forgot! She looked at the clock; almost nine PM.

No, but I can run them over there really quick.

Moments later, he responded.

I'm not home right now so you can leave them on the doorstep

Boruto not home on a Monday night? Whatever, Sarada brushed it off and quickly ran downstairs to her dad's office. She had completely forgotten to print them in the first place, so she hopped on the computer and logged into her email. She swirled around in his chair aimlessly while copies flew from the printer, admiring her dad's office. It was so tiny but organized. Everything had a designated place. It was cozy.

Once they were done, she clicked out of her email and exited the browser, only for her gaze to catch a medical statement header on her dad's email. What the heck? No one had been to the hospital. Sakura worked at one, but she didn't get paid via email…?

Curiosity got the best of her. She clicked on it. It had no other information other than an invoice, and Itachi's name, and the doctor's office number. Oh, that made sense, Itachi had gotten blood drawn the other day. She had seen the little pink bandage around his elbow.

Sarada grabbed the stack of papers and shouted to her mother that she'd be back as she slipped on a light jacket. Cutting through the park behind her house wasn't a good idea especially since it was dark, so she took the long way around the block where the street was lit up.

Arriving at the Uzumaki house, Boruto's car was indeed gone, and she debated knocking on the door, but it was pretty late, so she didn't want to disturb them. She set the papers down with a corner under the rug so they wouldn't fly away, then texted Boruto she left them on the porch. He didn't respond.

Once Sarada had gotten back home, showered, brushed her teeth, put on pajamas, and laid in bed, she got back on her social media. It looked like Boruto had posted a story recently.

It was a video of him from behind, so obviously one of his friends was taking it. Judging by the hushed voice, it was Iwabee, and Boruto ran up to a doorstep laughing loudly and threw a bunch of sewing tacks on the ground, and carefully rang the doorbell. Moments later, a girl answered the door, and Boruto held up a sign that said don't be tacky, come with me to prom. The girl screamed and jumped over the tack-filled porch onto Boruto, and the video ended.

Sarada was stuck staring at the screen. She didn't quite know how she felt at that moment, her body was frozen. The next slide showed Boruto and the girl holding up the poster, with the caption she said yes!... to prom #W.

Was… Boruto into this girl? She looked so familiar, Sarada couldn't place it. The girl was tagged, so she clicked on her username. Pretty much everyone Sarada was friends with was following her, and scrolling down looking through her feed, she was really pretty. Sarada felt so weird. She didn't know why she was…

Jealous?

No, there was no way she could be jealous. Absolutely no reason. She had a boyfriend. She was not jealous. She was going to prom with Metal, the guy she liked. Boruto asking a girl to prom was normal. He was supposed to ask someone. That didn't mean he liked them or had any romantic feelings for them. But, then again… did he?

He had gone solo to the Valentine's dance. And the Winter Ball, and the Fall Festival. That's probably why it seemed so strange that he asked someone. Yeah. That had to be it.

Sarada stayed in her apprehensive state and continued to click through her friends' stories. Chocho's story came up a little later, and she had posted a picture of her, Boruto and the girl all together.

omg my girl is officially coming to prommmm she had put, and it suddenly clicked. This girl was Chocho's friend. Her name was Leila, she was a new transfer student this year in the other homeroom, in Sumiere's class. Boruto had asked Chocho's friend, because Mitsuki had asked Chocho. They were going to be in the same group. Okay, it all made sense. Of course Boruto would ask her then, Sarada was silly for thinking there was anything else to be implied. Friends went to prom together all the time.

Letting out a huge breath she hadn't known she was holding, Sarada questioned why that had induced so much anxiety. Prom was the biggest dance of the whole year, of course Boruto was going to ask someone.

Running her fingers through her wet hair, she noticed how shaky her hand was. What the hell, she was overreacting. And for what? So what Boruto had asked a girl to prom, Sarada hadn't technically been asked but she was going with her boyfriend, so there should be no competition there. A boyfriend was a huge step up instead of having to ask your best friends date's best friend. Sarada snorted.

She didn't care that she wasn't officially asked...not really, at least. Well…

Maybe a lot.

XxX

Boruto asking Leila to prom was the huge topic of the day. Of course, people wanted to start rumors about them now dating, or they liked each other, but every single time it was brought up, Boruto would look them straight in the eye and say, "what was I supposed to do, third wheel like a nerd?" and that destroyed any possible rumors to be born. So he definitely did not have feelings for her and made that blatantly obvious.

The dance was on Saturday night, and so far Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night passed without Metal officially asking Sarada. He just kept insisting on a green dress since that's what he wanted to wear, and she went to a different store with her mom every single night to try and find something, and now Sarada was beginning to stress that if she didn't wear a green dress, Metal wouldn't like her anymore.

"Sweetie, why don't you just wear the dress you wore to the last dance? No one will remember." Sakura said.

Sarada's jaw dropped. "Mom, that dress is from when I was thirteen, there's no way I'm wearing it again! And Metal said I have to wear green, so I need to!"

"Well all of these prom dresses are a little out of budget," Sakura said, eyeing the tag on a navy blue dress. "Are you sure your friends don't have any old dresses you can wear?"

"I'm sure, mom." Sarada said exasperated. She had texted Sumiere, Namida, and Wasabi earlier that week asking them if they had any formal green dresses. The closest one was Wasabi, but it was a pastel green, and way too long for Sarada.

Sakura tilted her head. "Don't you like that lavender dress? Why don't we just get that one?"

It had a lacy bodice with petite sleeves and a mesh skirt. It was the only thing they could find that Sarada somewhat liked, and it was two days until the dance so she didn't have many options. It just wasn't green.

"Because mom Metal wants me to wear green. If I don't he's going to be mad!"

"Sarada," Sakura's tone dropped more seriously. "Why would he be mad? It shouldn't even be a problem. Metal should be willing to work with whatever color you want. Pick the color that you want, and he can easily find a tie to go with it, okay?"

Sarada nodded, absolutely defeated. If the color of a dress was going to bring an inevitable breakup, then so be it. She didn't care about anything anymore.

Sakura looked back at the price tag, and then brought the dress up to the front counter. She spoke to the stylist while Sarada wandered around aimlessly. This sucked. Metal was going to be so upset.

With the lavender dress hanging in the back seat, Sarada stared out the window into the dark night. Metal was busy tonight, but he said he'd call her as soon as he was done. She sighed. The dress really was pretty, she absolutely loved it and was excited to wear it, just not excited to see Metal's reaction to it.

Once ready for bed tucked under the covers, Sarada was reading when her phone rang. She quickly picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi!" Metal said on the other end. There was a lot of background noise so he must be in public. "How was your night?"

"Not bad, my mom and I went dress shopping again."

"Did you find something?"

"Y-Yeah!" Sarada said.

"Oh good. I can't wait to see it on Saturday."

Sarada gulped. "Mhm, yeah! It's gonna look great!"

The chatter in the background got louder. Metal raised his voice the slightest. "I'm picking up your boutineer tomorrow so hopefully you like it!"

Sarada didn't know what to say. She slowly sunk further into her bed. "O-Okay…um, are you uh, going to officially ask me to prom at all? Or…?"

"Why? You're my girlfriend, you know we're already going together, so I don't have to."

Sarada was speechless. The frozen feeling in her chest was as chilling as an unthawed iceberg. The complete disregard and insensitivity was really starting to take a toll on her… that didn't matter to her that she already knew they'd be going together. It was the effort that she wanted. Ever since they started dating, it's like Metal expected her to already have all the right answers and reactions, and when she didn't, he got mad. This was one of those times again, she realized, that she could not tell Metal how she truly felt about it, or he would get upset at her. Just like he always did.

There was a long drawn out silence before she was able to muster words together.

"U-Um, y-yeah, I guess…"

"I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow!"

Metal hung up, and Sarada sat there stumped. Well… at least he was getting her boutineer, but still no official invite, hardly a chance of a matching tie… maybe if she went and bought him a tie herself he'd wear it.

Attempting to push away her confusing feelings, she closed her eyes and hoped to fall asleep.