A/N: For those who have been confused about what has been going on, FFN has been plagued with a massive bug/glitch which may have been as a result of their server crash from last month - this is why new and/or updated stories repeatedly disappear and reappear from archives and profiles, and why URL's return, "Story not found," or, "Story unavailable for reading (A)" error messages. Fear not, Prom-grenade has not been deleted or removed, it's just been affected by the glitch. As of today, it appears to have finally been resolved, but we shall wait and see how long it will last.

Either way, we now begin with how we originally intended to kick off this story.


After a winter season that seemed to last forever, spring finally arrived in Royal Woods: sunnier skies, greener trees, warmer weather, it was all quite preferable over the tundra the state became in months past.

It was a lovely Sunday afternoon when a young Indian-American teenager, Ruby Patel, casually made her way through a residential neighborhood en route to the house of her Jewish girlfriend, Shannon Tannenbaum. It had been about a year since the Tannenbaums moved into their new house, after living in a modest apartment closer within the city limits for so long. Over the years, the various units of the entire Tannenbaum clan would alternate who would host their holiday gatherings, such as Hanukkah, and with each time Shannon's parents, Daniel and Candice, hosted such, it became all the more clear to them their small apartment was simply not large enough to accommodate all of them, which was why in some cases, Daniel would rent a banquet hall for them. Despite making a very comfortable living for his family in the medical profession, they generally lived well below their means, but after some discussion, he and Candice agreed it was time they relocated to a bigger house – preferably one that had an extra bedroom to serve as a guest room in the event they had company who would stay with them overnight, or any other extended period of time. They could easily afford such.

Ruby had already been to the Tannenbaums' new house a few times in the previous year for various occasions, and in fact, shortly after they moved in, Shannon's parents decided their daughter should take advantage of the extra space they now had and invite her bestie over for a weekend sleepover – something that they both greatly enjoyed, but Ruby sleeping in the guest room seemed to awaken a desire within the two young lovers to actually share a bed with each other (a desire that was strong within Shannon, but something she was also apprehensive and reserved about). Shannon even celebrated her Sweet Sixteen in this house, an event that warmed both of her parents' hearts. Once upon a time, her social life was so minuscule that the only friends outside of family she invited to her Bat Mitzvah were Benny and Luan (the latter having been invited as both a guest of honor and an entertainer); for her Sweet Sixteen, however, she had invited much of her school's drama club –not just Benny, Luan, and Ruby, but also Amy, Rex, Lyberti, and Leo- and because her Sweet Sixteen was a rather sizable gathering, she transformed the Tannenbaum House into Monte Carlo. A casino seemed like odd theme to her parents, as none of them ever visited such establishments, nor did they gamble (Candice's brother, Shannon's Uncle Josh, learned his lesson the hard way when he was younger), but Shannon possessed an affinity for playing cards: she collected a number of decks over the years for the beautifully illustrated back designs, but also for the purposes of playing games, and even having Luan teach her how to perform magic tricks. It was actually was Shannon's affinity for playing cards, and the fact her Sweet Sixteen was casino-themed, that gave Luan the idea of making hers and Ruby's 'group therapy session' with the drama club in her basement a strip poker game – she thought this sort of gathering would further help ease Shannon's discomfort and nervousness about exposing more of herself and opening up a little more freely to Ruby (and, of course, to yield the same results out of Benny for herself).

Ruby had no particular reason to visit Shannon on such a Sunday; just that she wanted to spend some quality time with her girlfriend, even if they continued to keep their acts of affection on the down-low. She stepped up onto the front porch, rang the doorbell, and was soon greeted by Shannon's mother, Candice.

"Oh, hello, Ruby dear; always happy to see you!" Candice exclaimed as she threw her arms around her daughter's bestie and squeezed her tightly.

"Samesies, Candice…" the suffocated Ruby struggled to return the greeting; she had been granted permission to address Shannon's parents by their first names, just as Mr. and Mrs. Patel had with Shannon.

"Shannon's out working in her gardens…" explained Candice as she pulled away from the Indian teen and then grabbed a small wicker tray which bore a pitcher and a couple of empty glasses. "I was just on my way to bring her some cold lemonade… maybe you'd like to?"

"Say no more, I, like, got this!" Ruby exclaimed as she took the tray from Candice and made her way through the Tannenbaum house.

Shannon was initially against the idea of moving, she very much liked her family's apartment – it was centrally located to many of her favorite spots throughout Royal Woods, such as the theater, the library, the museum, and the many parks. Not to mention, being a city girl at heart, she enjoyed sitting up on her unit's roof at night to look at the stars, or see the Royal Woods cityscape in the distance (something she could also enjoy from the comfort of her warm bedroom in the winter, when the surrounding woods were bare). Moving out into the suburbs, further away from what she considered the building blocks of her life, was not a very appealing concept to her, and even now, because it was much quieter in the suburbs, she had taken to downloading and installing a white noise app on her phone to help her sleep. On most nights, she selected sounds of the city, such as distant traffic, but on some nights, after a particularly hard, stressful, or unpleasant day, she would select the sounds of traditional Indian sitar music – it was rather conducive to night visions of her girlfriend belly dancing in slo-mo, which may or may not have caused her to wake up with an occasional nosebleed. Her parents were able to sell her on one thing she always wanted but could never have living in the city: her very own garden. In addition to theatrics and playing cards, Shannon also possessed a great interest in horticulture, and would often visit the Royal Woods Gardening Center during the spring season when everything was blooming. She always wanted a garden of her own, but apartment living in the city was not an ideal environment for such. She attempted to grow a few potted plants on the roof over the years, but they were never impervious to careless neighbors or clueless maintenance workers who would move them into less sunny spots, knock them over, or discard them altogether without taking into consideration somebody who lived in the complex may have been growing them.

As Ruby passed through the house's solarium and into the backyard, she was amazed at how much work Shannon had put into it in just a year, as the Tannenbaums' backyard looked like a gardening center unto itself. Birdhouses had been installed a top posts around the parameter to attract feathered friends into helping keep the insect population down, while chopsticks and plastic forks were strategically nestled into the ground like a barrier to discourage other smaller woodland intruders; Shannon wanted to ensure her gardening endeavor would not be in vain, and even as Ruby drew closer, she could smell the aroma of cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and onion that had been sprayed to further deter intruders. Shannon had not one, but two gardens in the backyard, one was a vegetable garden, and the other was a flower garden, where Ruby found her girlfriend on her knees as she tended to her prized flora. Even with her thick and curly hair pulled back into a pair of fluffy twin tails, while sporting a floppy straw hat, a baggy yellow t-shirt, short denim shorts, and flip-flops, Shannon was still so adorable to Ruby as she approached the apple of her eye and the flower of her life.

"A sweet tart for the sweetheart," she called out to her gardening girlfriend.

When Shannon looked up, the sight that met her eyes was such a pleasant surprise… it was not just her girlfriend who brought some ice cold lemonade out to her… it was her wife. Shannon arose to her feet and brushed the soil off of her knees before she took the pitcher of the sweet, yet tart lemony beverage and poured it into the two glasses for them. She set the pitcher aside, as Ruby did the wicker tray, then proceeded to clink their glasses together before they each took a refreshing sip. The sounds of joyful laughter and barking were then heard as Shannon saw hers and Ruby's adopted children scamper throughout the yard – one of flesh, the other of fur. A lovely house with gardens, a beautiful wife by her side, and their babies playing in the yard, just like a real family, Shannon was living the life… the good life…

"Shans? Shans? Yo! Earth to Shans!"

With a snap of her fingers, Ruby brought Shannon back into the present reality in which she saw that it was only her girlfriend by her side, and that the laughter and barking she heard came from a child and dog playing in a neighbor's yard.

"You okay?" Ruby asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, just kinda zoned out," explained Shannon. "Got lost in my love for you…"

"Oh, you," teased Ruby as she used her free hand to pinch Shannon's freckled cheek. She took a look around to take in her little gardener's work, and remarked, "Wow, you have been, like, quite the busy bee…"

"You know it," said Shannon. "Finally having my own gardens, and being able to plant little seeds into the earth and witness their growth has given me such a sense of fulfilment."

As Ruby's eyes did another sweep, they fell upon what looked to be little clumps of small flowers that bloomed in a variety of colors such as white, yellow, and purple, but of course, it was the red ones that really stood out and caught her eyes.

"What are those?" She asked.

Shannon took a look at what Ruby had pointed out, and answered, "Some of these are geraniums, some are yarrows."

"How can you, like, even tell the difference?" Ruby further queried.

"Well, as you can see, the geraniums bloom bigger flowers, while the yarrows bloom these little guys…"

As Shannon took notice of how Ruby seemed to, not surprisingly, home in particularly on the red bunches in the plants, it prompted her to suggest something else within her garden that she wanted to show off.

"Come over here and see my pride and joy!" Shannon brought Ruby down to the other end of her garden to show her what she spoke of. "Luan's mom helped me get started with these…"

Ruby knelt down for a better look at the two rather scraggly-looking plants that had but a few sad-looking red flowers that were barely blooming, but as the Indian teen studied them a little more closely, the flowers did look rather familiar to her.

"They kinda look like roses…" she remarked.

"They are, they're going to be rose bushes when they fully mature…" explained Shannon. "In another three or four years…"

"That's kind of a long time for flowers to grow," said Ruby as she arose into an upright position.

"Yeah, but it'll be worth it," said Shannon. "I just love roses… they're my favorite flower…"

"Oh yeah?" Ruby asked with a smile. She remembered a couple of years ago when she watched the drama club perform Luan's biographical play about her idol, Joanie Sassafras, in which Shannon played the subject, and while Ruby was not in theater that particular semester, she still attended the play. After the show was over, she slipped back stage to present her girlfriend with a bouquet of roses as an accolade for her performance. It may have been a theatrical custom, but now Ruby felt even better she presented her girlfriend with a bouquet of her favorite flowers (especially when taking into consideration this gesture was made shortly after she and Shannon weathered a very ugly storm that nearly sunk their relationship altogether). "And Luan's mom helped you plant these?"

"Yeah, the Louds have been growing rose bushes for years, and since they had a couple of new bushes they just started growing, Luan's mom offered them to me to grow in my new garden," explained Shannon.

"You know, my mom's kinda, like, into flowers and stuff, too…" began Ruby. "Maybe she could help you, like, grow your own Tulsi plant."

"You think she would?" Shannon asked hopefully.

"Totally; she likes the way you, like, always marvel over ours every year," said Ruby, and it was true – the Patels continued to include Shannon in their annual Tulsi Pujan Diwas celebration, as they came to consider their daughter's best friend as one of the family. Ruby then took a gander over at the second garden next to them and asked, "So, what are you growin' over there?"

"That's my veggie garden," said Shannon.

"I'll bet you have to, like, battle rabbits and squirrels all the time," said Ruby with some amusement.

"That's why I try different hacks to keep them out," continued Shannon as she further explained said hacks. "Those chopsticks and plastic forks make for an effective barrier, but it also helps to treat the soil with certain seasonings, like cayenne pepper and cinnamon…"

"No wonder your gardens smell like a bowl of spicy Cinnamon Toast Crunch," remarked Ruby as she garnered a laugh out of Shannon for comparing the aroma in her garden to that of breakfast cereal with pepper on it. "So this is, like, a bunny-free zone."

"And good thing, my carrots are ready to be picked," said a proud Shannon. At that moment, she was struck curious when Ruby took hold of her hand and pried her thumb away from the rest of her digits to examine it. "What are you doing?"

"Just wanna see, like, how green your thumb is," said Ruby as she garnered another laugh out of Shannon.

While Ruby continued to examine Shannon's thumb, she became overcome with a rather amorous impulse – an impulse that started with a simple kiss on the tip of Shannon's thumb, but soon progressed into slowly bringing her whole thumb into her mouth to suck on.

"Um… Rubes…?"

Ruby did not often get to see Shannon's bare arms, but they were just as much of a sight to behold as her bare legs. From there, Ruby slowly, yet gradually kissed her way up Shannon's entire arm until she reached her shoulder.

"Ruby…?"

It was not as though Shannon did not enjoy whenever Ruby was in such a romantic mood, but this was neither the time nor place for such, and it made the bashful Jewish teen a might nervous – especially when Ruby finally made it to the side of her neck and proceeded to nibble on it.

"Ruby… Ruby…"

"RUBY!" Candice's voice calling out to her made the Indian teen jump a good two or three feet away from her forbidden lover out of a fear of getting caught… which, thankfully for the two of them, did not seem to be the case, as they witnessed Shannon's mother stick her head out of the solarium door. "Ruby, dear, would you like to stay for lunch?"

"Oh… um… yeah, that'll be cool," said Ruby; she and Shannon both hoped Candice was far enough away to not be able to see the blush in their faces… but then again, with it being such a warm day, that probably would not have looked too suspicious.

With that, the pair brought their servings of lemonade into the solarium and rested their glasses and pitcher onto the table of the small wicker dinette set, and while Ruby went ahead and took her seat, Shannon tossed her straw hat aside and flipped her flops off of her feet. As she took her seat across from her guest, Ruby could not help but admire the sight of her girlfriend in her gardening attire, and how she had her hair pulled back.

"You know you're, like, sups-adorbs with your fab hair pulled back into big fluffy pom-poms, don't you?" She asked.

"Pretty sure you've mentioned that a few times before," reminded Shannon with a demure giggle.

Just then, Candice stepped back out into the solarium to deliver the girls' lunch.

"Hope you enjoy it, Ruby; Shannon made them herself," bragged Candice on her daughter before she stepped back into the house and left the girls to their devices.

"You did?" Ruby asked as she returned her attention to the bespectacled brunette who sat across from her.

"Yeah… guess I picked up a thing or two from Intro to Cooking…" shrugged Shannon; she spoke of another elective that she took at school within the last year (an elective that Luan also found herself in a couple of years ago, and not necessarily by choice).

Ruby studied the baked good that sat on their plates, and had to ask, "Shans… are these actual Jewish blintzes?!"

Shannon giggled at her girlfriend's enthusiasm over what she thought to be her lunch, but answered, "They're Jewish, but they're not blintzes… they're actually bialys."

Ruby seemed a little perplexed by this, and also apparently did not quite understand Shannon correctly as she commented, "They be Ollie-who's?"

Shannon giggled again as the further explained, "They're called bialys… you know what an everything bagel is, right?"

"Oh yeah," nodded Ruby. "I speak from personal experience when I say I am, like, totally aware of how Jews love bagels."

"Well, a bialy is kind of like an everything bagel, it just doesn't have the doughnut hole in the middle," continued Shannon.

She was right, the baked good that the two had on their plates did resemble a bagel, but instead of a hole in the center of the dough, it had something of a divot that was covered in a variety of different savory toppings, such as diced onions, minced garlic, and poppy seeds. She was also right in that, much like bagels, bialys were quite a common and popular food item in Jewish cuisine. Just the idea of Shannon's hands having been in this dough to create such a culinary masterpiece greatly enhanced Ruby's appetite, and as she happily sampled the seasoned yeast roll, she savored the bite in more ways than one.

"Mmmmm…" she moaned ecstatically. "My girl… you've got green thumbs and magic fingers…"

"Does this mean I really did pass Intro to Cooking?" Shannon playfully inquired.

"With flying colors," said Ruby as she washed her bialy down with some more lemonade.

The two enjoyed their lunch out in the solarium, but eventually, Shannon spied through the window into the house to ensure that her mother may not step out to check on them again, because she had something of great significance she wanted to discuss with her girlfriend.

"So, Rubes… I think I may have formulated a plan for us to attend our prom together…"

"Ooh, girl, I am, like, all ears!" Ruby exclaimed with great intrigue.

"So, here's the plan…"

Shannon outlined it all: there was no doubt their parents would be prying into their business if and when the subject of their senior prom arises, and because of that, it would be futile to put up a front that they would be going to the senior prom with an unspecified date, as it would only lead to even more prying from their parents as to who their dates would be, and the expectation that, if their dates were proper gentlemen, they would be dropping by their houses to pick their daughters up to transport them to the prom, and bring them back home afterward – not to mention their parents would probably want pictures to make memories of one of the biggest nights in their daughters' lives. The only option for them would be to express no interest in attending the prom altogether – something of which Shannon felt she and Ruby would have little difficulty convincing their parents, since neither of them have openly expressed any interest in dating. Even if their parents were to try to persuade them otherwise, she and Ruby could stick to their guns that they do not wish to attend the prom. Then, on the night of the prom, they could come up with a cover that they would head out for the evening. Then, once they are out of the house, they could ditch their normal clothing, change into their dresses, and meet together at school for their prom. Then, after the prom has concluded, they could ditch their dresses, change back into their normal clothing, and return home to parents who would be none the wiser.

Ruby listened intently to Shannon's plan, but the more the Jewish teen elaborated, the more the look of inquisition disappeared from her face to the point that by the time Shannon had finished her elaboration, Ruby was left rather dumbfounded; she squinted her eyes shut, squeezed the bridge of her nose, and sighed.

"You don't like the plan?" Shannon asked.

"It's… like… super complicated…" muttered Ruby as she pulled herself together. "You really think they're gonna buy that we just happen to have somewhere else to go on the exact same night as prom?"

"We could say anything to throw them off the trail," suggested Shannon. "I could tell my folks I'm going to a movie, they'll totally buy it."

"And what about our dresses?" Ruby asked. "You don't think they won't think it's strange we buy new dresses for, like no reason?"

"They won't have to know," noted Shannon. "We can buy them, then hide them so they'll never find them."

"Where?" Ruby pressed. "Where are we supposed to hide dresses without them finding them?"

"Merely a formality," dismissed Shannon. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Once again, Ruby merely sighed as that dumbfounded look returned to her face – something that Shannon found a little irksome.

"Do you have another plan?" She posed.

Ruby thought on it for a moment when a very important pact she made with Shannon years ago re-entered her mind, and when it did, she believed maybe it was finally time they acted on that pact.

"Maybe…" she said.

"Let's hear it," probed Shannon.

With another sigh, Ruby offered her suggestion: "You know, Shans… maybe now's the time for us to just… like… finally come clean…"

Shannon was stunned to hear Ruby propose such an alternative; she argued, "But, Rubes… we've come so far… Why give up now?"

"It just seems so much easier at this point…" surmised Ruby. "And let's be real… they're gonna find out, like, sooner or later…"

"They haven't found out sooner, so they can find out later," insisted Shannon. "Seriously, Rubes, we've kept everything on the D.L. for over three years; we've flown low and stayed off the radar… I know it hasn't been easy, and yeah, we've had some close calls… but we've managed to pull everything else off… I'm sure we can pull this off…"

Now it was Ruby who was stunned to hear Shannon's testimony – over three years ago, she would have worried herself to a frazzle over how the two of them could pull off any sort of romantic get-together without any of their parents suspecting anything because of how afraid she was of getting caught, and while that was a fear Shannon still possessed, she had grown noticeably and substantially more confident in their capabilities to get together for romantic rendezvous in total secrecy and leave their parents in the dark. In some small way to Ruby, Shannon didn't even seem like herself, and given her plan, their situation, and the circumstances therein, she was not entirely sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"You seem… quite sure of everything…" noted Ruby.

"All we have to do, Rubes, is play our cards right and bluff like we always do, and I believe the chances of any of this failing are infinitesimally small," said Shannon.

Ruby could only sigh again. Truthfully, she began to grow weary of everything: living in secret, tip-toeing around her family, keeping their relationship on the down-low; she didn't like any of it. Then again, Shannon was not exactly fond of such arrangements, either, and she, too, grew weary of having to formulate so many sneaky plans behind her family's backs, but most things considered, it still seemed to be the best route for both of them – for the time being, anyway. They were so close to legal adulthood, if they could just hold out for a little while longer, build themselves some financial independence and stability, maybe even establish living arrangements, their concerns of the reactions from their respective families about the true nature of their relationship would not be as great, as they would be out from under their parents' roofs and be on their own as legal adults… if the families did not approve, of course that would be painful, but the threat of being disowned and kicked out would be invalid since they would already be living on their own.

Even in spite of their mutual weariness, they had become well-adjusted to living under the radar so many years, but still, Ruby could only massage her forehead; this had to have been Shannon's most complicated and elaborate plan yet. Shannon could detect Ruby's uneasiness, and conceded this very well could be the one time a plan of theirs could not be pulled off as smoothly as she believed.

"Maybe you're right, Rubes… maybe I did overextend myself this time…" lamented the Jewish teen, although there really seemed to be no other way around it. "If you don't want to do this, we don't have to… proms are kind of overrated, anyway…"

"Stop right there, Shans…" Ruby immediately brought up her hand to silence her girlfriend. "I do want to do this… I don't want to miss out on the biggest night of my senior year, and I don't want to go without my girlfriend…"

The two sat in silence for a moment, and a small, yet hopeful smile returned to Shannon's lips, although the uneasy look on Ruby's face remained, until she exhaled through her nose and slowly nodded.

"I trust you, Shans…" continued Ruby. "If you think it'll work, then it's a plan…"

Shannon's smile widened to the point that it became a contagion that brought a small smile back to Ruby's face as well.

"You ladies making plans?" Candice asked as she stepped back out into the solarium to check on her daughter and her friend, and overheard the tail-end of their conversation.

"Yeah, Rubes and I were planning our rendezvous…" began Shannon while Ruby looked shocked. "… to watch the two-hour season finale of Operation: Dessert Storm."

Ruby then felt a sense of relief. Shannon's gift for improvisation never failed to amaze her… but, then again, just about everything Shannon did never failed to amaze Ruby; as far as she was concerned, Shannon could do it all.

"Totally!" Ruby jumped into the conversation to help sell the deception. "I, like, so cannot wait to see if Amber's Amaranth Ambrosia will totally smoke Barry's Very Berry Breakfast Burrito!"

"Uh-uh! Team Very Berry Barry for the win!" Shannon added to further sell hers and Ruby's spontaneous improv act.

"Turn coat!" Ruby ad-libbed as she playfully stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"Neither of you would consider rooting for Cara's Caramel-Coated Carambola?" Candice asked as she removed the empty plates from the table while Shannon topped off hers and Ruby's glasses of lemonade.

"We'll run it up the flagpole and see who salutes," said Shannon.

"Okay, you two," said Candice with a chuckle as she turned to leave, but before she did, she wanted feedback from Ruby. "What'd you think of Shannon's bialys?"

"Talk about a happy bun," said Ruby as she playfully pat her tummy to Shannon's delight.

Candice then turned to her daughter and suggested, "Find out what some of Ruby's faves are so you can make them for her, too."

"I suppose I could try my hands at making some papadams…" said Shannon.

"Jewish-made Indian bread? And I thought only hotels did continental breakfast!" Ruby quipped to everyone's amusement.

Candice once again left the two young ladies to their devices as she stepped back into the house to clean the dirty dishes, while Shannon and Ruby both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Girl, we could totally be on Whose Line…" said Ruby; even she was impressed with how quick she and Shannon were with their ad-libs, and felt they were worthy of being featured performers on the popular televised improvisational game show. "Okay, so, we have our… plans… all systems go…"

Ruby extended her little finger, onto which Shannon hooked her own to seal their deal with a pinky swear.

"Guess I should get back to my gardens…" said Shannon after she took another sip of lemonade. "Wanna help me water the plants?"

"Sure!" Ruby said; she may know nothing about gardening, even if her mother knew a thing or two about flowers, but she was always in the mood for doing anything with Shannon.

Shannon arose from the table, grabbed her straw hat, slipped back into her flip-flops, and lead the way out into the backyard once again, while Ruby followed behind… and kept stealing a couple of eyeballs' worth of Shannon's long legs and round rump in her little short shorts.


The timing of Shannon's plan could not have worked out better, because among the morning announcements Principal Jones delivered over the P.A. system in Royal Woods High that next Monday was that year's senior prom had been scheduled for the last Saturday night of May. Even after school had concluded that day, Shannon and Ruby met up with one another on the way out to ensure they were still on the same page with their plan, especially since Shannon knew Ruby still had doubts they would be able to execute such. It felt a little strange for Shannon to be the one who had to possess enough confidence for both of them, as it was usually Ruby who found herself tasked with such responsibility. Then again, the sheer scope of such an occasion required Shannon to think outside the box for this one.

It would seem she would have to execute the first phase of her plan very soon. A scroll through social media revealed that same announcement about the senior prom's scheduled date was posted on Royal Woods High's Fartbook page; the minute Candice Tannenbaum read the announcement, she began fitting her daughter for ball gowns with her imagination.

By the time Shannon herself arrived home, her mother had already begun to prepare that evening's family dinner, of which her daughter offered to help. She stepped out into the backyard and picked the carrots from her vegetable garden, happy to see how big and healthy they grew, as was her mother when she brought them into the kitchen for her to see.

"Oh, don't they look scrump! These will go nicely with our roast tonight," said Candice as she took the carrots from her daughter and placed them into the sink; Shannon cleaned as much of the dirt off of them as she could before she brought them in, but obviously, they still needed a good washing before consumption.

Meanwhile, the roast was already in the oven, and Shannon took a moment to inhale its delicious aroma into her nostrils, as she commented, "Mmm, I'm getting hungry already!"

Candice smiled before she asked, "Shall we roast these as well, or glaze them?"

"I think we should glaze them," suggested Shannon. "The sweetness will offer a nice contrast to the savoriness of the roast."

"You're right," agreed Candice as she turned on the faucet to begin cleaning the carrots. "Would you grab the brown sugar and maple syrup, and a baking dish, please?"

Shannon set about as requested. She stepped into the pantry to retrieve the two ingredients, then stepped over to one of the cupboards to retrieve a baking dish. She came to enjoy spending time in the kitchen with her mother; since her junior year, in addition to theater, she also found herself taking Intro to Cooking as an elective, and much like Luan, she did not believe she would enjoy it at first, but as the weeks passed, and she completed more of her assignments, she found that she did, indeed, enjoy it more than she initially thought. Candice enjoyed such time with her daughter as well – it was a way for them to bond as she neared adulthood, and the probability of one day sooner than later moving out and beginning her own life away from home… something that a helicopter parent like Candice knew was an inevitable, yet natural part of life, but did not necessarily look forward to.

"Here ya go," said Shannon as she rested the items her mother asked for onto the counter next to the sink while she finished cleaning the carrots.

"Thanks, sweetie," replied Candice as she began to dry off the carrots before she sat them aside on the counter.

"Anything else I can do?" Shannon asked.

"Not at the moment. Why don't you relax for a while? I'll call for you if I need more help," said Candice, so Shannon stepped over to the refrigerator for another glass of lemonade. "By the way, I saw on the school's Fartbook page this morning the senior prom has been scheduled."

And there it was: her mother bringing up the subject of the senior prom; it was inevitable. But, Shannon had prepared for such in the same manner she would learn and memorize her lines in her drama club's plays.

"Oh, yeah, Principal Jones made an announcement about it this morning," said Shannon nonchalantly as she casually sipped her lemonade.

"Should we head over to Reininger's this weekend?" Candice asked as placed the carrots on a cutting board.

"What for?" Shannon asked.

"To shop for prom dresses, silly girl!" Candice chuckled as she grabbed a nearby knife.

"I fail to see the point in making a special trip to Reininger's to buy a dress I'll never wear," countered Shannon.

"What do you mean you'll never wear?" Candice asked. "Don't you want to go to the prom?"

"Just the same, I fail to see the point in attending a function I have no reason to attend," continued Shannon in a much practiced manner as she tried to play up her lack of interest.

"It's such a special night, Shanny… one of the most special nights of your senior year," said Candice. "It'd be such a shame to miss out on it."

Maybe so, but Shannon had reasons to miss out on such a night, as she countered, "I have no one to go with… you know how school boys are, they have no interest in drama geeks like me; they all want the smokin' hot supermodel types, like Juney Summer…"

Even though Juney Summer actually fell into the drama geek category as well, considering it was an elective she enrolled in since she first transferred to Royal Woods High, she also, like Shannon had mentioned, fell into the so-called smoking hot supermodel category, and probably received almost as many prom-posals from boys as Leni Loud had a couple of years prior, despite being in a committed relationship with her boyfriend, Gavin.

It was at that moment Candice made another suggestion as she began slicing the carrots: "You may as well go with Ruby…"

SHATTER!

Upon hearing such noise, Candice immediately turned around and found her daughter not only dropped her glass to the floor, but also coughed up the gulp of lemonade she swallowed, which was greatly concerning.

"Shanny!" She dashed over to her daughter and began to pat her back with a little force to help clear her airway. "Shanny, are you alright?"

Once Shannon's coughing cleared, she turned to her mother with sheer terror in her eyes.

"How did you find out about mine and Ruby's plans to go to the prom together?!" She panicked. "We didn't tell anyone about that! We were keeping it a secret! Just like all of our dates!"

Candice looked completely taken aback by her daughter's response; clearly, she misunderstood the context of her suggestion.

"I was suggesting the two of you go as friends…" explained Candice, which caused Shannon's eyes to bulge even more. "That's how I spent my senior prom… I hadn't met your father yet, and I didn't have a date, so I went with my friends, just to hang out. Lots of seniors who don't have prom dates go with friends; that's been a thing for generations…"

By now, Shannon looked as though you could have knocked her over with a feather. With she and Ruby having already made plans to secretly attend their senior prom together as girlfriends, she figured the only reason her mother would have even suggested she go to the prom with Ruby was just that – it did not even occur to her that she could have attended the prom with Ruby under the pretext that they just go as friends and hang out. She could not stop staring at her mother with fear in her bulging eyes.

"Soooo… you say you and Ruby have been dating in secret?" Candice prodded.

Shannon silently cursed her big mouth… how was she possibly going to get out of this now that she spilled the beans about the one thing she desperately did not want her mother to even know about?

"No…" she lied in a desperate, yet pitiful attempt to save whatever face she could… but, clearly, the damage had already been done.

Candice had a most serious look on her face – a look that never failed to strike fear into Shannon's tender heart. Her mother was always so bubbly, that whenever she had that serious look on her face, Shannon knew she was in for it… she could feel her world collapsing around her like Jenga towers.

"I think we've got a lot of talking to do… and we should probably wait until your father gets home…" said Candice in a an equally serious tone – so much so that it seemed uncharacteristic of her as far as her daughter was concerned. "Run along now…"

While Candice stepped further back into the kitchen to retrieve a roll of paper towels to clean up the mess caused by Shannon dropping her glass of lemonade to the floor, the bespectacled teen trudged toward her bedroom like a death row inmate walking her last mile before being brought to the electric chair. In that very moment, only one thought ran through her distressed mind…

My God… what have I done?!


Another minor plot element between Card Tricks and Slumber Party has been bridged: the Tannenbaums having moved out of their old apartment into their new house... and speaking of card tricks, I decided to take a hint from Shannon's interest in card games from both of Albertson's previously mentioned installments, and write of the detail that she hosted a casino-themed Sweet Sixteen.

But now, we have reached the point where the cat is out of the bag, so brace yourselves, because we have a lot to cover in our forthcoming back-to-back chapters.