"So you just ended up asking Karkat to the dance?" Vriska asked, her voice drenched in disbelief. Terezi shrugged as Vriska slurped her drink through the straw.

"Yeah, I mean the more I think about it, the more I don't really want to get sucked into drama with Dave. And me asking Karkat was a preemptive strike. I made it perfectly clear that this was not a romantic gesture, okay?"
"Alright, geez. You don't have to get so defensive."
"Sorry." It wasn't entirely true that Terezi was over that brief crush on Dave; in fact she sort of still had one, but she had the feeling that there was certainly going to be some sort of problem with Dave, or with her, or with Karkat. She twirled the straw in her milkshake.
"Well, whatever. Watch us all end up going as a group anyway. Hey, we should go dress shopping together, Ter. I gotta find something to match with Tavros, and it's either I go with you or I go with Aranea."
Terezi furrowed her brow. "Uh, not to be a buzzkill, Vris, but… did Tavros even ask you to the dance?"

"Well, not exactly, but you saw how embarrassed he was when Feferi asked! Come on, you know 'some girl in my English class' is code for 'Vriska'."
"I guess you two do have a history," Terezi conceded, though not fully convinced.
"What're you two talking about?" Terezi heard her mother ask, having returned from grocery shopping with Latula.
"Homecoming," Vriska answered. "Thanks for the drive-thru, by the way."
"Oh, no problem. Are you sleeping over tonight, Vriska?" It wasn't uncommon for Vriska to crash at the Pyropes' place. She didn't seem to care for her mother much, and she and Aranea were… very different people.
"Yeah, I think I'm staying tonight." It didn't really surprise Terezi that Vriska was avoiding her family; if she had Vriska's family, she'd avoid them too.
"Do you guys want to go dress shopping for Homecoming tomorrow?" Latula asked. "My dress from last year doesn't fit anymore."
"Yeah!" Vriska exclaimed. "I was just suggesting the same thing to Terezi." Terezi rolled her eyes. She knew Vriska was enjoying getting her way. What Vriska and Latula seemed to be failing to understand was that Terezi could not possibly care less what she wore to Homecoming, because being fashionable and looking good really didn't matter to someone who literally couldn't see if she was being fashionable or looked good. But still, she was somewhat resigned to it, and Vriska, Latula, and Terezi went dress-shopping the next afternoon. While Latula and Vriska were mulling over what dress to buy, Terezi received a message from Feferi on Pesterchum.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

CC: Hey Ter!
CC: I was thinking of having like a Homecoming get-together and doing pictures and stuff before the dance, what do you think?
GC: I think
GC: That sounds like fun!
GC: Maybe it will keep things from being horrendously awkward.
CC: Oh? What do you mean?
GC: Just like with some of the """date""" stuff.
CC: Oh yeah I see!
GC: So yeah, I'm down.
CC: Yay!
CC: Okay cool, I will start getting people together then.
GC: Am I the first one you asked?
CC: I floated the idea by Eridan, and he didn't seem so shore, but I think it will be fun so he's just going to have to toughen up.
GC: Alright, cool. Looking forward to it.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased pestering cuttlefishCuller [CC]

Terezi's attention was jostled away from her phone as Vriska grabbed her shoulders excitedly.

"Ter, what do you think of this one?" Terezi squinted at her friend, who was mostly a deep blue blur. She reached out to feel the material of the skirt. It was soft, but smooth, and the bottom was lace arranged to look like spiderwebs. She furrowed her brow and paused for a moment.
"What's the neckline?"
"V-neck. Not too plunging," Vriska answered casually. She'd moved further away, presumably closer to a mirror.
"I'm sure it looks great," Terezi answered.
"Aw, thanks! So what about you?"
"What?"
"Aren't you going to pick out a dress?" Vriska asked. Terezi rolled her eyes a bit, ready to make a snappy retort about being blind, but then her attention was caught by something red and teal and very glittery. She moved towards it, once again reaching out to feel the fabric. The bodice was all done in red rhinestones and jewels, and the bottom felt like organza or tulle or somesuch. It was incredibly tacky, and Terezi loved it, simply based on the texture and blurs of color.
"Vriska, Vriska, come here!" she called, and she heard Vriska shuffle over, still in the dress she'd been trying on. "I'm gonna get this one."
"Terezi, that thing is tacky as fuck."
"I know, that's why it's so great." Terezi couldn't be sure, but she had a feeling Vriska was shaking her head. She elected to ignore this, and buy the dress that she found most appealing—wasn't that what you were supposed to do?—even though moments after first seeing it, Vriska also tried to get Latula to talk Terezi out of the decision. But Terezi was just as capable of being stubborn as Vriska was. Vriska seemed to have forgotten it in the next few days, because their next conversation was, once again, about Vriska and Tavros going to the dance together.

arachnidsGrip [AG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

AG: Holy shit, Ter,
AG: You're never gonna believe what Tavros pulled.
GC: God can't you leave that poor boy alone.
GC: What now
AG: LOL, he totally embarrassed himself trying to ask Jade to the dance.
GC: I thought you said he was going to ask you
AG: Yeah well
AG: It's cool with me if he wanted to go with Jade
AG: Not like she'd give him a chance anyway
AG: And like I said, it sounds like Fef is hosting some big group thing
AG: So everyone's gonna pair off and of course Tavros is going to gravitate back towards me

Vriska was so fucking sure of herself. Terezi had no idea where Vriska got the idea that she and Tavros were, like, an item, but she definitely had her convictions about it, and Tavros was too… not a coward, but… too unsure to stand up to Vriska, so he just kind of took her shit, and honestly? It was getting a little bit painful to watch.

GC: Wait so what did Jade say?
AG: Oh it was this huge dorky misunderstanding
GC: Okay so what are even these "pairings?
GC: Do you know?
AG: Tav and me, you and Kar, Fef and Eridan…
GC: Sollux and Aradia
AG: Oh Jesus Christ are those two going to get their shit together?
GC: I don't know, hopefully.
AG: Anyway
AG: Nepeta and Equius.
GC: Which leaves Kanaya and Gamzee
GC: Which is NOT a thing that is going to happen.
AG: Yeah, I mean it's gonna be like anything else; it's going to be weird and awkward and someone's feelings are going to get hurt because this is HIGH SCHOOL and there can't be one night where we all have a good time without some kind of disaster.
GC: Ya know,
GC: I hate that you're right
GC: But we can make the best of it.
AG: Ha, sure.

AG: Sounds like something Fefwould say
GC: Ugh so cynical :P
AG: As if you're not just as cynical as I am!
GC: I am not cynical, I am realistic
AG: Pfffffffft, whatever
AG: See ya later, scourge sis ::::P

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

Vriska sure did make it hard to be friends with her sometimes. It was through a lot of scrutiny and forgiveness that Terezi managed to stick by Vriska's side, and even that was seeming to wane, particularly when they examined how Vriska treated Tavros. Still, Terezi tried not to think about it, about as much as she tried not to think about the """feud""" between Karkat and Dave, which consisted mostly of them calling each other rude names. With Dave, it seemed like he was joking, but when Karkat did it, there was a genuine sense of vitriolic frustration. And, of course, the boys couldn't leave each other alone, even during Homecoming pictures. Terezi started the the afternoon chatting with Dave, as she was one to do, but Karkat's immediate frustration upon seeing Dave sort of set everything off on the wrong foot.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Karkat grumbled.

"What?" Dave asked.

"Are you seriously wearing your fucking shades to Homecoming? Why do you even wear those things?"

"It's none of your goddamn business, Vantas," Dave murmured, his voice darker than Terezi had ever heard him. Karkat stalked off for a moment, and Terezi patted Dave on the shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" Terezi asked. Dave shuddered a bit, a flinching movement passing through him at Terezi's touch.

"Yeah, I just…" Dave paused. "I'm fine. Lost my cool for a sec."

"Are you sure, it's—"

"It's fine, TZ." Terezi picked up on the levity and playful tone returning to Dave's voice, so she decided to let it go for the moment. Besides, it was just about time for pictures, and Terezi was ready to pose with Karkat. It was going to be fun to make his Homecoming pictures look silly and dumb and make him actually have a good time for a change. Dave waved her off and strolled over to join John, Rose, and Jade.

So they took pictures, and they went to dinner, and then it was time for the dance. If there was one thing Terezi had, it was a good ear, and also, a good sense of rhythm, and she had an absolute blast, despite Karkat's initial grouchiness. But once she pulled him onto the dance floor, Karkat seemed to lighten up a bit. There was almost even—gasp—a smile in his voice! And then, when the music slowed down a bit, he was the one to take Terezi's hand and pull her onto the dance floor. He spun her around a few times and Terezi let out a laugh before Karkat paused.

"Mind if I cut in?" That was Dave's voice. Clearly, he'd recovered from whatever had been bothering him earlier.

"Actually, I do mind, you fuckjamming pungent shitmo—" Oh God, was Karkat going to answer for her? Terezi cleared her throat to interrupt him.

"I would love to dance, Dave." Terezi rapped Karkat's leg with her cane, telling him to move, and Dave took her hand. She had a feeling he was only doing this to get Karkat's goat.

"Are you only doing this to get his goat?" she asked.

"What? No."

"Dave, we are friends. You can be honest with me; it's not going to hurt my feelings." Dave let out a sigh. "Daaaaave, I promise it's fine."

"Okay, yeah, I think it's kinda cute when he gets mad. By the way, thanks for that 'Karkles' nickname; he hates it so much."

"Yessss I'm so glad that caught on."

Dave hesitated to keep talking. "I wanna be straight-up here, TZ, but I don't want to put you in an awkward position."

Terezi pursed her lips. "If you're worried because I had feelings for you, then I promise that I am over them."

"Whoa, you had feelings for me?"

Terezi suddenly felt incredibly awkward. "Yes. But you didn't seem interested so I sort of… got over it…" This wasn't entirely true; Terezi was working on getting over it. But it seemed like Dave needed someone to talk to, and she didn't want to deprive him of that because he was worried about making her uncomfortable; that hardly seemed fair.

"Okay well," Dave paused, letting out another sigh, "to be honest, I kind of meant to ask Karkat to dance? I think I… maybe have a crush on him." Terezi's hands clasped around Dave's arms in surprise.

"What!"

"I know, it's weird and all but, I don't know, it's something I'm still coming to terms with. I haven't really had feelings like this before, and I don't know what to do, and Karkat hates me anyway, so… ugh, god, I hate talking about this."

While Terezi was listening, she'd noticed something else, her fingers up against Dave's inner arms, and what she'd noticed was dozens of little cuts and healed-over scars; not in any kind of organization that indicated self-harm, but you could never be too careful with this things. "Dave… why are there so many scars on your arms?"

Dave immediately yanked his hands away from Terezi. "I think I… I need some air." And with that, footsteps darted towards the gym exit. Terezi took a moment to recover from the revelation, and, as the song ended, she attempted to make her way towards Rose, the only person she could think of to talk to about Dave. She squinted in the dimly lit (aside from strobe lights, which didn't help in the slightest) auditorium to find a platinum blonde and wine-red blob. After a moment, Terezi managed to pick out Rose's voice, paired with Kanaya's, and Terezi made her way towards their table.

"Rose… did you know Dave has scars all over his arms?"