DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. :(

(A/N: It's time for prom! Let's see how it goes, shall we? Sorry for all of the jumping around at the beginning! I tried to picture it like a movie and wrote it down like that.)

Chapter Two: Prom and Two Dreams

It was the night of prom and our two best friends couldn't be having a more different time of getting ready. While Clementine was getting her hair yanked and pulled by her maids and getting makeup slapped onto her face, Oncie was busy patching up his father's old tuxedo, which actually fit him very well.

-0-

Clementine looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She could barely breathe in the Victorian-era red dress her mother had forced her into. Her mother stood behind her now, a proud smile on her face.

"I look terrible," Clementine griped.

-0-

"I look terrific!" the Once-ler wooted as he studied himself in his tuxedo. "I look as sharp as a guitar pick!" He picked up his black-and-white electric guitar before he strummed a few notes.

"Naaa, naaa, nananana!" he sang as he danced around his room on one leg. Tonight was going to be great! It was going to be...

-0-

"Horrible," Clementine groaned as she held her stomach. "I feel very, very horrible, Mother. I think it might be best if I just, just stayed home tonight, don't you?"

Her mom pursed her lips and shook her head.

"Non, non, non!" she said in a clipped French accent. "That simply will not do! You are nothing but nervous for your very first date. The sick stomach is to be expected." She spun Clementine away from the mirror so that she was looking right into her eyes. "You will have a great time tonight. You will need at least a little experience with boys if you're going to be married soon!"

Clementine frowned but allowed her mother to continue fretting over her. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Her stomach clenched inward and she was surprised at the butterflies that began to flap around in there. Maybe she was nervous. After all, this was her first real date.

"That's him!" her mother cooed. "Now, stand up tall, act like a lady, and most of all..."

-0-

"Smile!"

There was another blinding flash, and another, and another. Once-ler felt like he was in the middle of a photo shoot. He was at Margie's house, posing for his eighteenth picture. Margie hugged onto him and kissed his cheek.

FLASH!

"Ooh, I'm so excited!" Margie cried as she pulled her two poodles into the picture with them. Once-ler tried not to wince when one of the small poodles decides to ahem… leak on his shoe.

"We are going to have so much fun!" Margie wailed while shaking his arm back and forth. He gave a polite laugh and frowned as one of the evil dogs ripped a snag in his suit.

He couldn't help but wonder how Clementine's date was treating her.

-0-

Well... Jake was handsome. He had that going for him. In fact, Clementine had often heard his name brought up in conversations she was sometimes sucked into by other girls discussing "hot guys". He was one the "hottest", if you let those girls tell it.

Perhaps even if you let him tell it. Jake wouldn't stop talking about himself as he guided his sportscar towards the fancy hotel the prom was to be held at.

"I've been quarterback all four years of high school," he informed her as he studied himself in his mirror. "Pretty impressive, right?"

Clementine sighed but nodded.

"See! We agree on so much!" Jake gasped. "We're, like, two pens in a pod, Clem. Two pens."

Clementine groaned inwardly. She glanced at the car door. She considered trying to open it and make the leap. No, he was going much too fast. That would never work. She'd just have to suffer through the night. She'd much rather be at home in her comfy bed, reading until the sun came up, comfortable in her silk pajamas.

She could see the hotel in the distance. Was Once-ler there already? She could only hope.

-0-

In fact, the Once-ler was already at the prom. It had taken almost an hour on Melvin but they made it to the hotel.

"That was so romantic!" Margie cried as he helped her down from Melvin's back. "I've never been on horseback before!"

"Heh, heh..." Once-ler laughed and rubbed the back of his head. So, she thought that Melvin was a horse. At least Melvin seemed pleased at the compliment.

"EEEEEK!" Margie squealed as she grabbed his arm and started leading him towards the lit ballroom. A grin started to form on Once-ler's face as he heard the music getting louder and louder. He snapped his fingers from side to side before he began dragging Margie forward, following the waves of excited high schoolers and their dates.

"Wow, this is so cool!" Oncie said with a big, dopey grin. They had finally made it inside of the venue and it was totally pimped out. There was a fog machine, strobe lights, a real, live DJ... He'd never seen anything like it before.

"Um, try lame!" Margie said, bursting his bubble with her nasaly voice. "The parties the jocks throw look better than this dumb place!"

"Oh, yeah. Totally lame, yep," Oncie said while pursing his lips and holding his head up as high as she was tilting hers back.

Margie made a cooing noise when a loud pop song came on. "Ooh, Whitney Tears! She's totes cool! Let's dance, hun!" she cried. Before he could respond, Oncie was whipped onto the dancefloor by Margie. She pressed her cheek to his before she began swinging him around.

"Whoa!" he cried, trying his hardest to keep up with the short, energetic redhead. Alright, he loved dancing and music more than most people, but if he kept up at this rate, he was going to leave here on a stretcher.

As he was dancing, he caught sight of someone in a red dress standing against the wall. He leaned his head back and squinted, trying to catch sight of her again while being spun around in a circle.

He knew it! It was...

"Clementine?" he said aloud as his eyes took in the giant red dress she was dressed in. He held in a laugh before he looked down at his date, who was still glued to his face.

"Uh, excuse me a sec, Margie. Keep dancing, okay?" he said before he detached himself from her and headed over to his friend.

Clementine was trying her hardest to lean against the wall in her inflated dress, but couldn't. She eventually gave up and took a sip of her punch. Once-ler's laugh brought her eyes flickering up from her cup.

"Whoa, did I just step back into the 1800s or what?" he teased. "Don't tell me you're wearing one of those girdle thingies under there, are you?"

"Ha, funny," Clementine sniffed. She was wearing a corset, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that. She scanned his suit before pouting. She couldn't find much to tease about him tonight. He looked very handsome. She wasn't going to fill his head with any more hot air, though. She sipped from her drink quietly.

Oncie's laughter died away as he realized that Clementine looked sad. He looked around.

"Hey, where's that Jake guy?" he asked.

Clementine coughed into her hand before giving a very unladylike shrug. "He wanted to go talk to his friends." She pointed to where Jake was currently chugging the punch bowl while his friends cheered him on.

"Oh." Oncie's face brightened as a new song came on. He closed his eyes, bit his lip and danced around. He grinned at an amused Clementine. "Well, don't just stand around, silly! Why don't you go dance?"

Clementine's laugh was dry. "I don't dance," she informed him before she lowered her eyes and took another sip from her cup. The dances she saw people doing out there were atrocious. Her mother would faint if she saw her attempting to do any of them.

She was shocked when Oncie took her hands and pulled her and her fluffy dress out on the dancefloor, making her plastic cup fall to the ground.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she hissed as Once-ler dropped her hands so that he could dance.

"Come on, Princess Snooty-butt! Loosen up a little and just let go!" Oncie said while snapping his fingers and dancing.

"I'm not going to dance around like an idiot!" she growled.

"Aw, come on!" Oncie begged with a pout. "It's prom! Just have fun for once!"

Clementine sighed and looked around. Everyone else seemed to be having fun, dancing to the loud music. Everyone was smiling, it seemed. Everyone but her. But, her mother always told her that ladies don't dance like this...

"Fine!" Clementine relented. She screwed her mouth over to the side, balled her hands into fists and stepped from side to side, still glaring at him.

"Oh, you can do much better than that!" Once-ler urged. He mimicked her glaring, robotic dance, which finally earned a laugh from her.

She glanced around shyly before she bent her arms upwards and leaned her head from side to side.

"Like this?" she asked timidly.

"Yeah, you're starting to get it!" he cheered. Clementine began to actually move her hips and soon, she felt like she was dancing. She was surprised at the wide grin that had spread across her face. She laughed when Once-ler took her hands and began to spin around and dance with her.

Once-ler smiled at the sight of Clementine having fun. He rarely got to see her laughing so when she did, it felt like an accomplishment.

He slowly stopped dancing so that he could watch her. Ugh, why did she have to be so darned cute sometimes? It was times like these that he started to think she was pretty and then all these confusing...feeling thingies got mixed around in his head and he just wanted to grab her and...

"Whoa!" It was at this magnificently timed moment that someone bumped into Oncie from behind and sent him scrambling forward. At the same time, Clementine tripped over her long skirt and went tumbling forward.

Oncie caught himself in time, only to have Clementine fall into his arms, all grandiose style. Clem looked up at him, still grinning. He stared down at her, his heart beating in slow motion. It felt like time had suddenly slowed down. A slow song came on just then, adding to the atmosphere. All he needed now was a singing crab, but that's another franchise, folks.

Clementine swiped a dark curl from in front of her face and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry," she apologized. "I think I've danced enough, huh?"

Oncie blinked rapidly, coming back to reality. "Huh? Oh, um, yeah."

Clementine raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you feeling alright, Once-ler?" she asked.

"Yeah, 'course I am!" He spoke fast. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, for starters," Clem began, "you still haven't let me go."

"Oh!" Once-ler quickly released Clementine, who straightened herself up and looked over at him. He sure was acting strange suddenly. She brushed off her dress and smiled at him, hoping to ease him out of his sudden strange mood.

"Thank you for the dance, kind sir," she teased while gifting him with a curtsy. She raised herself back up, swiping some of her curls back as she did so.

That's when Once-ler noticed the small thread tied around her wrist. "What's this?" he asked while lightly grabbing her wrist and lifting it so that he could see it better. He blinked a few times at it before he looked back down at a blushing Clementine. "Is this...?" he asked, still shocked.

"I wear it all the time, idiot," she said in a soft voice. She shrugged and looked away from him, feeling suddenly bashful. "It's kind of like my good-luck charm."

"Really?" he asked while pushing around the thin thread with his thumb. Clem nodded. She lifted her eyes back up to meet his and smiled. Without thinking, Once-ler started to lean towards her. Clementine watched him with curious eyes, wondering what in the world this buffoon was doing.

Before either of them could find out, a loud shrieking voice cut in between them, causing both of them to startle.

"There you are, Oncie-poo! I love this song!" Margie had shuffled her way between the two and was grinning up at Oncie with expectant, blue eyes. He tilted his head somewhat so that he could see Clementine. The peaceful smile was gone, replaced by the formal one she wore when she was around other people.

"Have fun, you two," she said before turning around and heading off into the crowd. He watched her for a little while longer before he followed Margie.

Clementine took her spot back against the wall. She smiled at the tall figure of Once-ler in the distance.

She knew she was always cruel to him but she had nothing but the utmost respect for the country boy. Despite his circumstances, he remained cheerful and optimistic, unlike herself. Being around him did help her feel a little more cheerful. She knew that he was destined for great things.

Her smile slowly vanished as her gaze fell to the bracelet he had made for her so long ago. Too bad their friendship would be ending soon. Their lives were just too different. It was only a matter of time before they set off on different paths.

Graduation was the crossroads.

Clementine watched the prom for the rest of the night, savoring every moment of it. Her favorite moment of the night had already happened, though, even if she didn't realize it herself.

(A/N: Thanks for reading! :) I went ahead and put up another chapter, so be sure to check it out!)