Okay, okay i am continuing! Idk if the part ive been waiting to write will be in this chapter but im really excited to keep going. The comment were really sweet ahhh as a black girl writing about these two just make me so happy and im glad that making others feel that way too.

"Chad! Troy! What are you doing here?"

Cindy, the owner of the tailor shop, walked out from around the counter and embraced Chad and Troy with kisses on each cheek. The boys attempted to push her off in the process but she was slapping wet ones on them before he could stop it.

"Hey, Cindy," The boys said in unison as they wiped each cheek with the back of their hand.

Cindy had been the creator of all the East High basketball uniforms and suits for competitions. The woman had a knack for knowing exactly what looks and vibes the jerseys should give off, always creating the perfect presentation for the Wildcats without fail.

"We kind of need a favor," Troy spoke with a smirk.

Cindy raised a wary eyebrow. "This favor won't get me in trouble will it?"

In the past, Troy and Chad may or may not have dragged Cindy into some of their most iconic pranks. In the end, she asked for a heads-up of her involvement before they continued to make her an accomplice.

"C'mon, Cindy, you know you love our practical jokes."

"Please," Cindy laughed, "The only thing practical about them is that you two haven't gotten arrested yet."

Chad smirked. Okay, so they may have caused a little bit of trouble over their high school years but it's all behind them now.

(Yes, even they know that's a total lie.)

"Well, it's nothing like that," Troy poke as he slapped a hand on Chad's shoulder, "Chad needs a prom suit."

Cindy instantly perked up. "Oh, well, why didn't you just say so!"

Cindy turned to walk back behind the counter and into the back room where all the materials and clothes were held.

"I thought your prom was on Saturday," The middle-aged woman's voice sounded above the rustling and clothes and hangers.

"It is," Troy nodded.

Cindy poked her head from the side of the curtain obscuring her view of the boys. "Isn't it a little late to be searching for a suit?"

Troy began to speak but Chad beat him to it. "I returned my first suit, it didn't fit me right. You know, all that country club food over the summer."

Chad rubbed his stomach to make his claim more believable. Cindy simply raised an eyebrow in response and returned to the task at hand.

"Well, I have things in your size but if you've put on a few pounds then I might have to adjust to your 'situation?'"

Cindy held up quotation marks that couldn't be seen but the boys knew by the tone of her voice that she was skeptical.

"Nah, everything should be good by now," Chad said with an uneasy smile

Cindy pulled back the curtain and briskly walked out with a black garment bag. She pulled down the zipper to reveal a cotton, white suit. The jacket had peaked lapels that were outlined with black all along the hem and a silk black dress shirt revealed itself beneath.

"Woah," Chad let out a whistle.

"You like?" Cindy smiled at her work as she pulled the garment down to reveal more of the suit.

The bottoms followed the same design as the lapels with a black line at the seam of the side of each pant leg. As Cindy twisted it around in its hanger, Chad saw a number eight stitched to the back of the jacket with "DANFORTH" curved inward above it.

"Cindy, this is awesome. When did you even make this?" Chad reached a hand to feel the soft material of the fabric.

"Oh, I have special suits made for everyone on the team. I was just waiting for one of you to finally ask."

Chad stared at the suit in what could be described as amazement before having it shoved in his face.

"Here," Cindy said, "Go try it on. You remember where the fitting rooms are?"

Troy elbowed Chad in the ribs, earning a glare from a curly-headed friend.

Chad took the hanger from Cindy. "Yeah, I do."

"You go, I'm gonna look at some of the jerseys Cindy has planned for next year," Troy glanced at Cindy as she smiled wildly.

"That's music to my ears, Bolton. Come on, I've got a lot planned."

Cindy and Troy disappeared behind the curtain, leaving Chad to his devices. He walked down the short hallway and turned on the right to find the set of fitting rooms in the small establishment. The area was empty, thankfully, as Chad looked to see if he wasn't alone. Choosing the biggest room, the boy locked the door and stripped.

A few minutes later, he was fully dressed. The fabric was smooth against his skin, every motion was made with ease and nothing was itchy or baggy.

All in all, Cindy really knew how to make a suit.

Chad stepped out to eye himself in the large three-way mirror. Smoothing down any wrinkles and wiping off any microscopic imperfections, he was pleased with what he saw.

He looked good.

But…he didn't feel too good.

"My dress is going to be orange so make sure your suit matches!" Taylor instructed over the phone.

"Alright, you control freak, I'm going now," Chad rolled his eyes.

He was in the mall parking lot about to head into the mall. She had been bugging him to make sure he got his suit even though she hasn't even gotten her dress yet. She claimed that her dress would be bought in time, though. Apparently, her "punctuality was more reliable than his word." Whatever that meant.

"Call me that again and you'll be dateless."

Chad helped up his hands in surrender even though she couldn't see him.

"Sorry, your highness. It won't happen again."

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes.

"Keep it up, Danforth. I'll add it to the list."

"What list?"

"The list of shit you say that determines how many kisses you get."

"You have an actual list?"

"You think I don't?"

"No, I think you do. Because you're just that crazy."

Chad heard rustling and scribbling in the background.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Adding that to the list."

He let out a laugh. "You're impossible."

"Only for you," she replied. He could tell she was smiling.

He missed her. So much.

But, he did what he had to do.

She deserved better. Someone who wouldn't hold her back from all she was meant to do. Meant to be. They both wanted different things. She had a path to take. And it didn't include him.

So, he did the inevitable, and cut it short before the end came and the pain came barrelling in.

But the pain's still there. And it hurts even more than he thought was imaginable.

Still, he was doing this for them. For her.

She deserved the world. And no matter how much she loved him, and him, her, he wasn't a part of it.

Better to bring on the heartbreak sooner than later, right?

"Chad? You decent?"

Chad snapped his head to the doorway to see Troy with a hand over his eyes. For a second, he almost forgot where he was.

"Yeah."

Troy dropped his hand to eye Chad and whistled. "You look good, man."

Chad puffed his chest in somewhat false confidence. "I know."

Troy rolled his eyes and smirked. "Okay, well, Cindy wants to see how it fits, so hurry up."

Chad walked past Troy back to the main entrance. Cindy saw him before he saw her, a squeal indicating her joy.

"It looks great! I knew this color would go great with your skin tone," Cindy started rambling about some intricate designs and color names that Chad has never heard of. Troy and Chad gave each other a look before watching the shorter woman.

"How does it feel? Is it baggy anywhere? Itchy? Do you need me to adjust the length?"

Cindy was circling Chad, looking for any problems to fix. Chad, growing a little dizzy from all the turning she was making him do, placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her in place.

"Cindy, it's perfect. Seriously, you did an amazing job."

Cindy huffed and shrugged off his hands. "I know it's perfect. But a designer can never stop analyzing to find a way to make things perfecter," She gave him one last once over. "You're right, though. I don't see any problem."

Giving one last tug at the arm sleeve, Cindy crossed her arms and looked up at Chad. "Well, how does it feel? What do you think?"

"It's great," Chad said, simply.

"Great? I spent, like, 5 weeks on this suit and all I get is 'great.'" Cindy said incredulously, almost looking borderline offended.

Chad bit back a smile and he shook his head as if he was trying to erase the words he had just spoken into the air. With Cindy's clothes, you either love them or you don't. To her, there is no in-between.

"I love it, Cindy," She stared him down. "Really, I do. It's an awesome suit."

Cindy gave a pleased smile and a nod of approval at his words. "Thank you."

"So, how much do I owe you?"

Cindy scoffed. "C'mon, kid, you know it's on the house."

"No, Cindy, really—,"

Cindy held up a hand to silence the younger boy. "On. The. House. Now, go change and get out of my shop. I've had enough testosterone from the two of you."

Taylor was feeling good.

The prom was tomorrow. She bought the dress and her shoes. She was going to go with her best friends. Chad wasn't even on her mind.

Well...that's not completely true.

There was still a voice in the back of her mind asking: Is he going? Who was he going with? Would he really go without her?

She shook her head almost violently in an attempt to get those words out of her head.

"Uh, Tay," Taylor opened her eyes to see Kelci, a concerned look on her face, "You okay?"

Taylor straightened up her posture and gave the shorter girl a reassuring smile. "Yeah, just tired."

The two girls walked to their second period only for Taylor to turn at the sound of her name being called.

"Hey, McKessie."

Bryson, a fellow senior, walked up to her, an easy smile on his face. He was sweet, one of the very few decent athletes on the baseball team. Taylor has never known the boy to not be smiling.

He was nice, yeah, but why the hell was talking to her?

"Uh, hey?" Taylor waved as he stood in front of her.

The boy was fidgeting with his hands and up close, his smile almost seemed nervous.

"I, uh, I wanted to ask you if you'd like to go to prom with me."

Taylor was taken aback.

Bryson Hill wanted to take her to prom...

That's something you don't hear every day.

As mentioned before, he's nice, like, "smile at everyone you walk by" nice but Taylor McKessie was not a very popular girl. Most people knew her either because she was one of the smartest people in the school or because her name was often associated with Chad's. (Or, not uncommonly, because of the snarky comments she'd make during class directed towards the incompetent imbeciles this school called athletes.) People like Bryson didn't really converse with her. Except for most of the basketball team.

"Oh," she said, surprised.

He reeled back quickly at her tone. "It's totally fine if you say no. I didn't ask before because you were dating Chad and all but now you guys aren't together and I just thought I could try to ask and—,"

"Okay."

Bryson paused his rambling.

"What?"

"I'll go to prom with you," Taylor stated simply.

Yeah. Okay. So, this conversation isn't what she expected. She had even shocked herself by her response. But, Bryson was attractive and funny and nice and objectively smart. And he wasn't Chad. This felt like a step in the right direction. At least, at this moment it does.

"Really?" Bryson asked incredulously, yet hopefully.

Taylor gave a grin at her eagerness.

"Did you want me to say no?" she asked in a teasing tone.

This felt nice. Being asked out. Talking to a guy who was interested in her, that wasn't you know who.

"No, I just—," Bryson rubbed the back of his neck, a blush was forming on his face, "I don't know. I just didn't expect you to say yes."

"Well, I'm saying yes. So, you can stop stressing." Taylor faked sass.

Bryson laughed. "Alright, well, um, I can pick you up at 8."

"Actually, I'm gonna be walking in with friends. How about we just meet there?" Taylor suggested.

"I'll meet you there," he nodded.

Taylor nodded back and watched him walk down the hall and round the corner to whatever his second period was.

Kelci, who had watched the entire interaction, stood there, baffled.

"What was that?" Her mouth moved before she could stop it.

Taylor was unfazed by Kelci's abrupt words, her gaze still fixed on the direction Bryson walked.

"Moving on."

I wrote this all throughout school. this is probably why i don't understand what's going on my classes. it is currently 3 am on the dot so i'm not gonna proofread but i will go back and reread to make any changes necessary. tell me what ya think!