Prom Potential

What about Chloe Drishner? She was cute, if you could get over the fact that she was the tallest girl in the school. Fred mentally crossed her off the list. He could not go to prom with a girl who was two feet taller than him.

"Fred?"

Then there was Taylor Lopi. She had a lisp, but was still easy on the eyes. She got crossed off the list when Fred remembered one of his sports buddies saying that they had already asked her out. Fred drummed his fingers on his desk and continued down the list of potential prom dates.

"Fred?"

Fred's heart stopped when he realized how limited his choices were. He could not go stag to his junior prom. Even Sam had convinced Cade to go with him. As friends, he added. He mentally rolled his eyes at that. Yeah right. Joe was going alone, but only because he claimed to be waiting for someone. Whatever that meant. For a year now he'd been saying that he had some special girl who was coming soon, but he never knew exactly when. He had even turned down a couple offers from girls to go out because of it. A few really pretty girls, Fred noted. Whoever this girl was, she must be very special to Joe.

Fred focused back on his problem. He would not be going alone. He would make sure of that. Even if that meant, he grimaced, going with Sienna, his faithful stalker. Unfortunately, she was starting to look like his only option. He only had a month left to find a date.

"Fred!"

Fred's knees slammed into the underside of his desk. "Ow!" He gave his heart a few seconds to return to a normal beat rate. A few students behind him murmured and tossed puzzled glances his way.

"Sorry. You zoned out on me. We only have ten minutes left of class and this assignment is due today." Kairi tilted her head. "You okay?"

Fred blinked. Kairi. Kairi was on option. His mouth curved upwards in a half smile. "Yeah, actually. Sorry, I was just thinking about prom and stuff."

"Okay. Well, what did you get for thirty?"

Fred frowned. Kairi had gone back to her biology notebook like he hadn't said anything at all. That was not the reaction he wanted. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head in an attempt to show off his muscles and gain her interest.

"It's just, you know, I don't have a date yet. I was thinking about asking Sienna after school."

"What does that have to do with homeostasis?" Kairi had confusion written all over her face.

Fred pressed his lips into a thin line. "It doesn't."

"I'm sure Sienna will be thrilled to go with you, but we should really finish this assignment."

Fred sighed and looked down at his mostly blank worksheet. He jotted down a few, quick answers while thinking of other methods to ask Kairi out. He slowly grinned as an idea struck him. He wasn't going to give up that easily.

Round two began after school. Fred grabbed his practice helmet off the locker room bench. Like always, the competition cheerleaders and baseball players had practice at the same time. Fred and Kairi always walked home together afterwards. That's when Fred planned to ask her to prom. After he showed off for her at practice though. They had a game on Friday and they were expected to put full effort into practice tonight anyway. Fred smiled to himself. Kairi wouldn't be able to turn him down. Hopefully. His smile quickly disappeared at the thought of rejection. The thought hadn't crossed his mind until now. What if she already had a date?

Fred marched out to the field with his fellow teammates while continuing to think about his current predicament. He mentally kicked himself for not thinking about asking Kairi sooner. She was the obvious choice. The two had become progressively closer over the years. Kairi was always willing to go on his adventures with him, he'd even convinced her to "borrow" The Book with him once. Joe was definitely not happy when he found out about that one. And it's not like Kairi wasn't attractive. Fred thought she was pretty, really pretty. She took care of herself like the popular girls and other cheerleaders, but she didn't overdo it like they did. She wasn't afraid to eat greasy foods. She didn't cover her face with over-the-top make-up. She also knew sports stuff. That was the biggest perk to Fred. Not like all the stats or anything, but she knew the history of them and how they were played. Of course, she was technically older than most sports and could remember when stuff like football or basketball was invented. Still, it was definitely cool to Fred that a girl actually understood sports.

The baseball team walked passed the cheerleaders on their way to the field. Fred immediately turned his charm on. He tossed Kairi a gleaming smile and added a wink. She responded by giving him a confused, scrunched-up look. She turned her head over her shoulder to look behind her, as if to see who he was actually giving that look to.

Fred frowned and continued onto the field. Okay, he thought, this is going to be harder than I thought.

Fred was acting strange, even for Fred standards. First he was zoning out in the middle of biology, not that he contributed a lot to the answers when they worked together anyway, but still. Then he started talking about prom dates. Kairi chuckled to herself. She picked up on Fred's hints immediately. She knew he was going to ask her to prom. She just couldn't wait for him to finally work up the nerve to do it.

He talked about how he was going to ask Sienna to prom. Kairi couldn't figure out why. She knew Fred couldn't stand her. Did he really think it would make Kairi jealous or something? She shook her head at Fred's foolishness. Silly boy, she thought.

Of course Kairi would say yes to Fred. She'd even turned down a few offers from other boys in anticipation of Fred asking her. She liked him, more than she ever admitted to him. She couldn't pin point the exact moment when she started liking him, she just knew she did. She had this gut feeling that they were meant to be together. They had been on all sorts of adventures together. He was so cute when he talked about his heroic ideas and fantasies. Kairi didn't mind going along as his "princess-in-the-tower" girl. She thought it was sweet when he acted all prince-like towards her. Of course, there were plenty of times when the roles were reversed and she had to save his butt.

Kairi shook her head to clear her thoughts before she got too distracted. No time to think about that now. Cheer practice was starting in five minutes. She waited patiently while chatting with a few of her cheer friends.

The baseball team walked by them as usual on their way to practice in the field. Kairi spotted Fred right away. Mainly because she recognized the emblazoned '17' on his jersey, but also because she swore she saw him wink and flash a dazzling smile her way.

Kairi bit her lips to keep from laughing. She had to turn away before it became too obvious to him. She'd definitely have to work on his flirting skills. The over-confident, pretty-boy style did not work well for him.

Kairi noticed Sienna standing behind her. She was twirling her hair and puffing her chest out, acting like the center of attention as usual. A sly smile crossed Kairi's lips. I could have fun with this. She giggled playfully.

Kairi focused her attention on the cheer coach and the routine start of practice announcements; competition on Friday, try-outs for next year's captain next month (Kairi made a mental note to practice for that), and bake-sale fundraiser next week.

Kairi gave one final glance at the baseball players, now running drills, before lining up to practice the school fight song. If Fred wanted to pursue Sienna, she wasn't going to stop him. She was lover of all types of love, and was always eager to help a lovesick friend in need.

"All right, boys! Fifteen minute break! I want you back on the field fully geared at four sharp!"

"Yes, coach!"

Fred hustled off the field and pulled off his helmet. He put his shoulders back, raised his chin, and slowly walked up to the cheerleaders, who were also beginning their break.

"Hey, Kairi." Fred leaned against the metal fence dividing the bleachers from the football field.

Kairi's face turned to him and she waved at him to come over.

That's more like it, Fred thought. Happy that his plan was finally working. She must have noticed his excellent work on the field today. His spirits lifted with the thought. Maybe he could get Kairi to go with him to prom after all.

"So I overheard Sienna. She's still looking for a date. Want me to get one of the cheerleaders to tell her you want to ask her out?"

Wait, what? "Uh…"

"Or would you rather ask her in person yourself?" Kairi smiled. "That's really sweet of you actually. I'd recommend getting her some flowers or something too. Girls love that stuff."

"I'm not asking Sienna to prom."

"That's not what you said earlier." Kairi titled her head, studying him. "Did you change your mind?"

Fred thought he detected a hint of hope in her voice. He instantly knew he was wrong. Kairi really seemed like she wasn't not interested in him. He still had to try though. Not yet. It just didn't feel right at the moment. For some odd reason, he felt as strong urge to impress her and make her like him. He'd never had that feeling before. He looked into Kairi's large, light brown eyes. So pretty.

"Well, actually, yeah. I do have someone else in mind I want to ask." He stretched his arms, flashing his muscles. "I've been putting in a little extra effort today to get her attention."

"She's here?" Kairi's head whipped around the field, looking for the mysterious girl Fred was impressing. It was just the cheerleaders and the baseball players. "So, she's a cheerleader? But not Sienna?"

Fred nodded. "One of the best."

"Karlie? Our captain?" Kairi stared at the senior girl. Along with being the cheer captain this year so was also head of the track team and the women's basketball team. "Oh, that makes sense. She's totally your type. Athletic, pretty, and popular, but doesn't she have a boyfriend?"

Fred frowned. Kairi could not be this innocent. She loved love, romance, and all that sort of stuff. She was usually the one to tell him when some girl was flirting with him. Why couldn't she pick up on this? "Guess again."

"Hmmm…" Kairi tapped her chin. "What's with all these guessing games anyway? You can't just tell me?"

Fred smiled. "I could."

"Then who is it?"

Before Fred could respond, a whistle blew. "Back to practice girls!"

Fred frowned. Well, crap. "How about I just tell you on out walk home?"

Kairi put on a happy grin. "I look forward to it."

Fred wiped his forehead with a rag. The coach had really worked them hard the last hour of practice, but that was to be expected when you had a game coming up. He collected his practice clothes and threw them in his backpack next to some overdue homework and some leftover lunch.

He jaunted out of the locker room, eager to catch up with Kairi so that he could finally ask her to prom. He pushed down all his nervousness. He had to ask her now. Kairi was one of his best friends. She'd make a great prom date. Provided she said yes. They were going to have so much fun.

Fred faltered. Why did that not feel right? He and Kairi were friends and he wanted to have a nice friend to take with him to prom. Nope, it definitely did not sound right to him. He thought about the feeling that he got around Kairi. He was happy. His heart always sped up a little bit when he saw her.

Fred chewed his lip in thought. They didn't necessarily have to go with Kairi to prom as friends. What if they actually went as a couple? The idea had never occurred to him before. Kairi would make a great girlfriend. But Fred didn't exactly have the best track record with girlfriends. The longest relationship he'd ever had was only a few months long and he'd never exactly had a serious girlfriend before. Fred knew he couldn't treat Kairi like his past girlfriends. He'd need to try hard for her. The thought of them together felt right to him.

Fred shrugged. Why not? The worst that could happen was that she'd say no, right?

He spotted Kairi waiting for him in front of the school. She had changed out of her practice clothes as well and was back in her usual pink sweater and cream coloured skirt. Fred took a deep breathe. Let's do this.

"So, ready to tell me all about this future prom date?" Kairi teased him and playfully bumped into him as they started to walk home.

"She's really pretty, likes to wear pink – but it looks good on her – she can talk a lot sometimes – but she's interesting to listen to, and her voice takes on this cute, lyrical happiness to it when she does. What else?" Fred paused, pretending to be thinking. "Well her past is a little sketchy. See, she used to live in Italy until she died. So now she's like this really awesome zombie, but the nice kind."

"Is she now?"

Fred stopped. He had not expected her reaction to be so calm. She had seemed so uninterested in him.

Kairi stopped as well and turned to look at him. "Yes?"

"You-" Fred shook his head in disbelief. "You're not surprised?"

Kairi smiled sweetly at him. "You're not the best at dropping small hints."

"Well, this is great." Fred reached for her hand.

Kairi pulled back. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to hold your hand?"

"You still haven't asked me anything yet."

Fred smirked at her. "Kairi, would you like to go out with me and be my girlfriend?"

That one tripped her up. "Girlfriend?"

"Yeah, you know. I'd be the boyfriend, you'd be the girlfriend. We'd go on dates and stuff. Do all the couple things."

"I thought you just wanted a prom date?"

Fred frowned and looked away. "It's okay. If you want, we can just go to prom as friends. I just thought it'd be nice to go as a couple. I really like you, but if you don't feel the same way it's fine. As long as we can still go on crazy adventures and stuff."

Fred felt Kairi put her hand in his. She squeezed it. "Of course we'll still go on adventures and stuff." She moved so Fred could look into her eyes. "But we'll go on crazy adventures together as a couple.

Fred beamed. "That would be perfect." Fred turned towards the direction they were walking. "Shall I take my lovely girlfriend home?"

Kairi stepped next to him. "I'd love that."

A/N - Sorry for the delayed update, but school has gone into overdrive and it's hard to find free time. I'll try to get out at least one chapter a week. I update my profile pretty frequently with updates though. So if you want to stay informed, go there.

So yea, this chapter officially gets Kairi and Fred together as a couple. It takes place just a few months before the last chapter in The War of Time. I didn't intend for it to be this long, but it sort of just happened that way. If you enjoyed a favourite and a review would be very much loved! Thanks for reading!