If this chapter was a YouTube video, it would be demonitized six ways to Sunday. Ha! That being said, big credit to Duffy for 'Mercy' (aka 'I'm begging you for bird seed') and Tove Lo for 'True Disaster' (delightfully censored for your eyeballs), the songs used in this chapter. It isn't said what the third song is, but I'm divided between 'Blue' by Taeyeon and 'If I Never Knew You' as sung by Mel Gibson and Judy Kuhn. I think Blue would fit better with the setting, though.

I don't think you guys are ready for this chapter's word count. Prepare yourselves. You are ready? Alright, here it is; this chapter's final word count (without the author's note) is 3,253 words. Told you this chapter was going to be a long one. I finished this April 28th, with 1,785 words written beforehand. So, if I suddenly stop updating this story after chapter 31 or 32, know it's because these prom chapters are absolutely killing me.

Until then, thank you for reading!

Aced really, really needed more friends. He also didn't like the loud bass beating out of the gym's speakers with no sign of stopping. But he was on a mission. Or, he was trying to be on a mission, at least. Sucking up his pride and gathering courage took a lot more strength than he actually had.

Looking at April Tremaine happily dance with her daughter gave Aced butterflies he was no longer used to feeling. Over the past month, during staff meetings, Aced started to grow an appreciation toward the musical director. April was one of the first to lay her cards on the table. She wasn't afraid to interject when one of the headmasters said something that disagreed with what she (or the other staff) were trying to communicate. It was a crushing blow when Aced realized he had fallen in love with her, despite their limited contact so far.

Well, there was no time like the present, right?

He knew she must have known she was behind him, but April didn't so much acknowledge him until Aced cleared his throat and said, "Ms. Tremaine, if it isn't a bother, I would like to share a dance with you at the next song."

It was April's daughter who turned to look at Aced first. The girl all but forced her mother to turn around to look at Aced. When April did finally look Aced's way, a big, boastful smirk was painted on her face. With a critical eye, she looked him up and down, placing a defiant hand on her hip.

"Look at this lost teddy bear, Annie." April then mused to her child. Her smirk not wavering as she glanced at her kid. "He's trying to be chivalrous. Should we indulge him?"

The eleven year old gave Aced such a critical eye that he almost turned around and pretended he didn't say a thing. Eventually, the girl turned back to her mother, smiling with a grin that was missing quite a few teeth.

"I think you should." she agreed with a nod. April chuckled at her daughter before turning her attention to Aced.

"You heard the little lady, teddy bear- next song we'll dance together. Just pray that it isn't a slow one."

The thought had never crossed Aced's mind until now, and he visibly paled at the prospect. April and Annie shared a knowing glance before lightly laughing at him. The two girls then went back to dancing, leaving Aced to shyly back away and patiently wait his turn. In the next minute or so, he did pray for the next song not to be a slow one. His prayers were answered when he recognized the opening bars of a Duffy song.

'I love you, but I gotta stay true! My moral's got me on my knees, I'm beggin' please; stop playing ga-ames…!'

"Do you even know how to dance, sir?" April asked, her hips already swaying to the beat.

"N-no..." Aced bashfully admitted. April laughed.

"Then just follow me." she told him. "Think you can keep up?"

Aced gulped back dry saliva as he gave a small nod. "I can try." he agreed, netting another laugh from April.

'You got me begging you for mercy; why won't you release me? You got me begging you for mer-er-cy; why won't you release me? I said release me-e-e-e!'

"Oh come on Aced, this isn't that hard!"

"But it is!"

"No it's not, just watch me. Don't you play any rhythm games?"

"No..."

"Well then, I know what you should do in your free time."

At this point, Aced was sure he was going to keep blushing until a blood vessel popped. April was so much shorter than he was, he wondered if she could even see it. He had an inkling that she did know and was only teasing him at this point. It seemed fair, on some likewise unfair level, but that wasn't the reason why he had asked her for a dance.

After clearing his throat a few times, the oldest headmaster fumbled over his words as he finally tried to ask, "I was… I was just wondering if you would like to, ah, if you would like to go on a date with me? Sometime? Not now, obviously, but, uh, maybe sometime soon...? I don't when..."

"You know, there's a reason why there are no classes the day after the spring dance." April teased with a wink. "I would have thought you'd know that from your previous trysts."

Aced's face became such a deep shade of red that it could almost stop traffic.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh come on," April continued to tease. "Don't act like you don't know you, Invi, and Ira are the reason why the dorms are no longer co-ed."

"I-I don't… I don't know anything about that!"

April smirked. "Sure, and I'm Walt Disney, and you're tuned in to the Wonderful World of-."

"I get it April. Thank you."

The older woman's eyes twinkled. "You just called me by my first name." she noted.

"Did I?"

"You did. You're growing!"

'I don't know how you do, but you do it well; I'm under your spe-e-ell!'

Annie smiled as her mom tried to teach Headmaster Aced how to dance. Her best friend in the world, Mira, sat next to her as they giggled at Headmaster Aced.

"Your mom looks really happy." Mira cheerfully remarked. "She trying really hard not to laugh at Mr. Aced!"

It was true, April was doing all in her power not the laugh at Aced's lack of rhythm. Annie could only remember one other time when her mom had smiled that big, and it was the last day Annie had seen her birth father. There was just something in her mom's eyes that only appeared when April was completely relaxed. Headmaster Aced was completely missing this as April made fun of him. Maybe he was just embarrassed? Annie tilted her head as the headmaster clumsily followed April's more certain movements.

"He makes her happy." Annie finally told her friend. "And when she's happy, that makes him happy too. I'm sure of it."

"Do you really think he likes your mom back?"

Annie lulled over the idea for a moment. "Yeah." she said, smiling a bit. "I think he does."

. . .

Whoever was choosing these songs were obviously making fun of Strelitzia. It didn't help when Lauriam's last advice to her was to hold out for a 'good song to be brave to'. If she kept holding out, then the dance would be over in no time. She made a promise to her brother- she was going to be brave and she wasn't going to think twice about it.

Watching Headmaster Aced dance with the musical director was an odd distraction, though. What a weird pair…

Walking aimlessly around the gym for Anora wasn't really helping matters either. A part of Strelitzia feared that she and her friends had already left. But that was dumb, no one left the formal until the King and Queen were announced. Strelitzia's fingers curled into themselves as she wondered if it was possible for two girls to be crowned King and Queen for once. She shook her head. That was dumb. No one would ever do that.

Biting her lip in thought, Strelitzia happened to look over at the food tables. Her heart skipped in a beat when she recognized Anora standing there. The strawberry-pink haired girl looked to be biding her time, looking over the desserts in earnest, and holding a red plastic cup in her hands. She didn't look to be waiting for anyone in particular. Strelitzia took a deep breath in- she almost forgot to let it out again. Now that Anora was in her sights, at the next song, Strelitzia would go up to her.

To her luck, the next song had a good beat to it; Strelitzia found herself bopping her head to the song as she started to move forward. She could do this. She had to do this.

'Pretty boys didn't teach me things I didn't know. They don't have the thing that I need; but they don't know, they don't.'

Strelitzia's heart started to race in time to the music. Her knees only grew weaker as she walked over to Anora. The other girl didn't even notice Strelitzia until she put a shaking hand on Anora's elbow. Anora jumped in surprise, almost clenching her punch cup hard enough to break it, as she turned her attention to Strelitzia. Strelitzia, on the other hand, could feel her whole body shake in anxiety.

Oh sweet, blessed Mary Blair, those eyes…! Who did Anora's makeup? The dark, earthy colors that faded over her eyelids only made Anora's sparkling eyes stand out even more.

'I said, come on, give zero cares about it; come on, I know I'm gonna get hurt. Come on, give zero cares about it; come on…!'

"We… we haven't met formally before, but my name is Strelitzia." the timid girl greeted, holding her hand out. "Our dorms are next to each other. And I… and I just wanted to say that I'd really like to be your friend."

For a moment, all Anora could do was blink.

"It's nice to meet you Strelitzia." she eventually said, taking Strelitzia's hand into her own for a handshake. "My name is Anora."

It took everything in Strelitzia not to blurt out 'I know' in a high pitched squeak. Instead, she put on a smile and replied with a gentle, "It's nice to meet you too."

I love you, I love you, I…

'Keep playing my heartstrings, faster and faster; You can be just what I want, my true disaster!'

"Hey Anora!"

Strelitzia's heart immediately sunk as the boy with silver hair came up to them. Anora looked pleased to see him, waving him over to their direction. Once he was closer, he smiled at Anora and started to say something to her, but his attention turned to Strelitzia instead. The carrot-red haired girl looked on in a sudden fear as the boy looked her over.

Giving a curious tilt of his head, he finally asked, "Have we met before?"

'I'm gonna get hurt. I'm gonna get hurt… Ah, come on!'

"A little before Valentines Day. You bumped into me."

"Oh! Oh yeah, I remember now! Did you finish whatever you were sewing for that someone special?"

Strelitzia immediately paled, unintentionally flashing Anora a quick glance before looking back at Ephemer. Her face started to flush a deep red as she looked down at the ground.

"Y-yeah..." she stammered. "They… they loved it."

"That's great!" Ephemer beamed.

As Strelitzia remained bashful, Anora suddenly remembered Chirithy. The reason why she thought of the plush doll was immediately lost when Ephemer placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," he said with a kind grin, "Wanna dance to the next slow song?"

Anora lulled the idea over for a moment before smiling at her friend and giving a firm nod.

'Keep playin' em like; yeah, keep playin' em like…!'

"Great!" Ephemer grinned. "Just meet me on the dance floor, alright?"

A smile graced Anora's lips as she gave him another nod. He smiled right back before heading toward the dance floor.

"Are you two together?" Strelitzia asked the moment he was out of earshot. She didn't mean to say it so suddenly; but it was a question that had been silently burning until then. Anora looked at her in surprise- her jaw slacked for a moment as she thought the question over. When Anora shook her head, Strelitzia understood what she was trying to say.

"He invited you." the carrot-red haired girl sighed in relief. Her smile was slightly pained as she added, "Tell him he's really lucky to be spending the night with you. And tell the stylist who did your makeup that they need a raise."

The look Anora then gave Strelitzia bordered on amusement and confusion. Strelitzia refused to look up in an unsaid embarrassment. As the song that fueled Strelitzia's adrenaline ended, a slower song started to play in its place. With it came the all too sudden realization that Anora's time with her was over.

"It was nice getting to meet you in person." Strelitzia softly mused to Anora. "But now it looks like you owe someone a dance."

Anora gave Strelitzia a happy little smile before waving her goodbye. Strelitzia waved back, watching in mild agony as Anora disappeared into the crowd. From over her shoulder, Strelitzia could see her brother walking over to her now.

"Well?" he asked, he sounded calm but more than a fair share curious.

"I blew it." came the first thing out of her mouth. Strelitzia buried her face in her hands as everything she said to Anora came flooding back to her. "Oh my gosh, that was awful. She's going to hate me…!"

"You did good." Lauriam smiled, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Definitely far braver than I would have been."

But Strelitzia only shook her head. There was still so much she wanted to say- curse that silver haired boy! He really didn't know how lucky he was…

. . .

Ephemer was only starting to get a handle on how lucky he was to call Anora a friend. Despite not particularly standing out in the crowd, there was something about her that made him really happy. He chuckled as she weaved in and out of other people to meet him on the dance floor. The two gave each other a small bow, when they came back up, Ephemer offered his hand to Anora.

"You sure about this?" he teasingly questioned. "I can't guarantee that I'll step on your feet."

Anora smiled, giving a small chuckle, before taking his hand. The two took a few moments to get adjusted- least they be on the receiving end of one of the many teachers shouting 'Save room for Ub Iwerks!' that caused more embarrassment than it was worth.

Their movements were small and awkward, considering how many other students and teachers were dancing, but something about the way Ephemer led seemed familiar to Anora. When she finally realized what it was, she snorted.

Of course Ephemer -the adopted 'son' of Ava, head of the Vulpes house- knew how to foxtrot.

Ephemer must have known why she found it so amusing, because a faint blush appeared on his cheeks. "Ava taught me how to dance." he admitted, as if it weren't obvious now. "I think I was nine? It was the first formal I attended."

Anora laughed. Her clustered bubbles of joy welled directly into Ephemer's heart. With a small shake of her head, she looked up at him and smiled. Their eyes slowly met, and for a brief moment, the world seemed to slow to a crawl.

Anora could only look Ephemer in the eye for a few moments before bashfully turning away. His eyes were just so… blue. It was the most perfect shade of light blue that reminded her of a bright afternoon sky. If she stared into them for too long, Anora was sure she'd get lost in them. And that was weird, right? Ephemer was only a friend. Right..?

At the same time, Ephemer had already lost himself in Anora's eyes before she turned away. Disappointed as he was, he respected the decision. As Anora tried to train her eyes to their hands, Ephemer found himself enjoying her profile instead. Her nose was slightly upturned, her cheeks were full and when she smiled the faintest hint of dimples appeared, and her eyes...

He'd really have to thank Skuld for doing Anora's make up later. It wasn't gaudy or excessive- accentuating Anora's softer features in earnest. And, oh blessed Mary Blair, those eyes… Skuld knew he was weak for proper smokey eye make up, and it worked so well with Anora's emerald green eyes. Ephemer suddenly wished that this dance would be over already, just so he could go kiss Skuld for her make up application, or maybe even Anora for looking so lovely in it. Maybe both. Both were good.

As the two continued to dance, something happened to catch the corner of Ephemer's eye. He turned his head a bit to get a better view. When he realized what was going on, a small smile crossed his lips.

"Hey," he carefully nudged his friend. "Look over at Invi and Ira real quick."

Confused, Anora looked up and tried to find the two headmasters. When she did find them, she tilted her head a bit in thought. Unlike Ephemer and Anora, who were almost too shy to look into each other's eyes while dancing, Invi and Ira refused to look anywhere else. Dreamy smiles were etched onto their faces, and their movements were small but close. It looked as if they were oblivious to the world around them- occasionally losing their place in time to the music.

"They look… relaxed." Anora noted. Her voice was soft, almost dreamlike, in the reply; it made Ephemer's heart soar.

"They used to be together, I think." he agreed. "But I don't know about all of it- no one will let me know about all of it. I think Aced was involved somehow? But like I said, all they keep telling me is 'you'll find out when you're older' and it's really annoying."

The two continued to observe Invi and Ira with some interest before looking back at each other. Their eyes almost immediately locked into each other, and both could feel their breathing hitch. Ephemer's lips parted slightly, as if he were about to say something, but nothing ever came out. The two were lingering closer to each other- slowly closing the space between them as they stared at each other in wonder. Without warning, Anora's knees finally came out from under her, leading the girl to ungracefully drop to the ground.

"Anora!" Ephemer exclaimed in surprise. Hearing him, Invi and Ira immediately looked to their direction. Seeing Anora on the ground, the two headmasters were quick to get to her side. Invi and Ephemer were helping Anora back to her feet while Ira asked,

"Are you alright?"

Her face flushing a deep red, Anora nodded. Invi placed a hand on Anora's forehead to take a quick temperature reading, as if her flushing face wasn't the result of mild embarrassment.

"You're burning up." Invi noted to no one in particular. She looked to Ira and said, "Go see if the air conditioner will kick on. It's so hot in here that someone else might pass out."

"Right." the other headmaster agreed before disappearing into the crowd.

"As for you," Invi then told Anora, "It would do you some good to walk outside for a bit. Maybe get a glass of water too."

Anora gave another, much shyer nod. Invi looked over Anora once more before glancing at both her and Ephemer. Her gaze settled onto Ephemer- something about it seemed… distrusting, for some reason.

"I assume you can help her?" she prudently asked him.

"Of course!" Ephemer immediately agreed with a grin. It didn't seem to improve Invi's mood though.

"Good." came the final word before Invi also left. For a few moments, the two kids remained where they were, afraid to look up at each other. Despite what Invi thought, Ephemer and Anora knew the embarrassing truth; Anora didn't almost faint, she swooned.