April had made its way out, and May had barged in, and brought prom season with it. Everyone and their grandma knew that senior prom was a big deal, even Sam, who hated social gatherings, had already picked out a dress. The whole school was filled with anticipation, except for Danny. It's not that he didn't want to go, okay, that's pretty much what it was, but the whole situation left a sour taste in his mouth.
"You sure you don't wanna go?" Dash questioned as they walked down the sidewalk. He was fine with whatever Danny said, but the look in his eyes showed how much he wanted to go. He kept a straight face, not wanting to beg, but Danny could see the way his eyes pleaded.
"I-um…"
Those eyes, they had a way to worm into Danny's mind. He felt bad, especially knowing how badly Dash wanted to go. He thought about it, how bad could it really be?
"Maybe we should go."
"Really?" Dash stopped and clapped his hands on Danny's shoulders, eyes lit up like candles.
"Y-yeah, I mean Sam and Tucker will be there, and I bet Kwan will be too, so I mean yeah."
Dash was ecstatic; the grin on his face was huge. He pulled Danny close and kissed him before grabbing his hand and pulling him down the street.
"Where are we going?"
"Tuxedo shopping."
As much as Danny thought he was going to regret it, the sheer amount of happiness Dash exuded was enough to cheer up anyone. The days ticked away slowly, and Danny had finally given in to the excitement of senior prom. The night was warm, but still pleasant, and the prom was an overall enjoyable experience. Some popular couple won prom king and queen, not that it mattered anyway. The music was good, the food was good, and the company, at least the majority of it, just wanted to have a good time. But the few hours it lasted went by quickly, and soon it was time to head home.
"See, wasn't that fun?" Sam asked as the group was leaving the building.
"Yeah, it was pretty fun." Danny had to admit, he did have a good time.
"Bet you're glad I talked you into it." Dash said, slinging an arm around Danny's shoulder.
"I am, actually."
Finally June had come. The final stretch, the last hoorah, the final countdown. The teachers had to cram to get everything covered, and soon finals were on the horizon. Danny had expected to have the same conversation about not procrastinating with Dash as he did for midterms, but was shocked to see Dash in the library two weeks in advance studying on his own. After quickly checking his pulse, jokingly of course, he decided to go in and help.
The two weeks before the final exams started went by a bit too quickly, and Dash was uncharacteristically nervous about taking them. Danny was a reassuring as he possibly could be, and while it did help, Dash couldn't help but second-guess himself from the time he sat down to the time he handed the test in. Since the seniors started exams early to give them time for graduation rehearsals, they had plenty of time to hang out outside of school. Sam and Tucker had becoming increasingly open to spending time with Dash, to the point where the four of them, and Kwan, who had to tag along lest he feel left out, had managed to agree on one thing to do with a free day they had.
"The beach." Kwan spat out, the other four looking at him, considering their options.
"The beach?" Sam moaned.
"Yeah, the beach." Kwan repeated.
"C'mon Sam, you like the beach." Danny threw out.
"Yeah, in the spring or fall, when I don't get sunburnt while sitting inside a building."
"So we'll bring an umbrella." Tucker joked.
Sam looked around at the group of males staring at her, and boy did she feel the pressure. She supposed she could just bring an umbrella.
"Ugh, fine."
The next day they piled into Kwan's mom's SUV and drove to the beach, which was about a half hour away, but only took 20 minutes because of Kwan's driving style, which Danny likened to him playing a racing game, only without the other racers. All Danny could remember about the ride there was Dash edging Kwan on from the passenger's seat while Sam and Tucker clung to each other, eyes squeezed shut, and Danny himself gripped the handle above the door, which he affectionately referred to as the "Holy shit" handle. Fortunately the ride was over as soon as it had started, and it took the collective strength of a group of teenagers to keep the back seat trio from tongue kissing the ground underfoot.
The beach was pleasingly under crowded that particular day, due to it still technically being the school year, which meant they had claims to any spot they wanted. They settled for somewhere right in the middle, not too close to the water but not too far away. Sam stabbed at the ground with the umbrella, unfolding a chair in the shade it created. She pulled out a book and adjusted her sunglasses.
"You boys have fun."
The day was like one of those sitcom episodes where a group of teenagers go to the beach together. Sam didn't move from her chair, only occasionally glancing up from the book to smirk at the idiots she called friends, Dash and Kwan tried to build a sand castle, only for Danny and Tucker to build a better one, and Tucker ended up falling asleep, leaving him at the mercy of Danny and Dash, who buried his body under the sand, sculpting a mermaid's body over his own. Kwan tried to show off by seeing how far from the shore he could swim, only to end up stubbing his toe on a large rock hidden under the water's surface. Danny and Dash disappeared behind some beach grass for about 5 minutes, but a nosy Kwan interrupted them mid-make out, and they ended up throwing went sand at him in response.
The day eventually came to end though. Sam marked her page and closed the umbrella, the evening sun stinging her pale skin, Tucker had woken up and was eventually unburied, sand having found its way into places sand had no business being, and Danny had begged Dash to drive home instead of Kwan, not wanting to live through the nightmare again. Kwan reluctantly relinquished his keys to the blond, and the drive home wasn't mentally scarring. As they crossed the town line, Danny said something that they all knew, but hadn't really considered.
"Guys, there's only a few days left before we graduate."
"Whoa." Was the universal response.