Was dad looking at me strangely? Did Aunt Becky not notice anything different? Can they not tell?

Stephanie avoided all eye contact and ate quickly, trying to get out of the kitchen as soon as possible. She was glad DJ wasn't here, or else she would have been busted. Her older sister seemed to always know what was up with her, even when no one else did. Either way, Stephanie felt shocked at her family for not noticing. Couldn't they see the happiness radiating off of her? The way that her eyes were kept down? The more Stephanie thought about it, the more anxious she became. I got to get out of here.

"Woah, Steph. Slow down, the meatloaf isn't going to run away if you breathe in between your bites," Dad admonished.

"Sorry," she said with a nervous little laugh. "I'm just hungry."

That was a lie, of course. Stephanie would probably have to get used to lying now. She made a conscious effort to slow down her bites, but was done soon enough and excused herself from the table, quickly making her way up the stairs to her room, closing the door behind her.

With a sigh, she flopped down on her bed, relieved to be away from all the pairs of eyes. She probably was just overreacting. It's not like anybody could read her mind, and her acting so fidgety was probably what was setting their suspicion off, not what she and Gia did during the afternoon today.

Stephanie has had secrets before. The ones that come to mind are when Charles told her that his dad was hitting him, or when she was asked to smoke at school. Either way, the secret came out eventually, either intentionally or unintentionally. But this secret was different. It really couldn't ever come out. Maybe.

As Stephanie looked up at the ceiling, she thought about who, if anybody, she could tell. DJ? Her sister wasn't very conservative, and even if she didn't like it, she wouldn't tell on Stephanie. Maybe her uncle? He seemed pretty cool with everything. But then Aunt Becky would know, and then dad…

Yeah, no. It was best to keep this as far as possible from any adults. Stephanie was 18, technically an adult, but even then, she couldn't risk being kicked out.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.

"Come in," she called out.

Great, here we go. An interrogation.

But much to Stephanie's surprise, an adult didn't walk in. It was Michelle.

"Hey, Steph."

"Hey," she said, sitting up from the bed.

Michelle walked nonchalantly around Stephanie's room, looking at her desk with its little knick knacks on it. Stephanie felt the urge to ask what Michelle wanted, but thought against it, deciding it was better to not say anything.

Finally, Michelle turned to face her. "So," she said casually, "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," Stephanie shrugged.

"Yeah, right. You've been acting all weird since you've come home. You do realize that dad noticed, right?" Michelle said.

Stephanie felt herself jolt at the statement, but she kept her demeanor cool as her little sister stared at her.

"Well, both of you should know that it's nothing. I'm just tired." Stephanie laid back down on the bed, closing her eyes to emphasize her point. Maybe it wasn't a strong argument, but it was better than nothing.

"Okayyy," Michelle inched out of Stephanie's room, facing her until her back was to the door. "I'll just…go now," she said finally, turning to leave.

The silence that followed was refreshing. Michelle had some weird motive to be as annoying as possible, she always had, and unfortunately that seemed to not want to change any time soon, despite the fact that she was in junior high school. Stephanie would have to keep an eye out.

~~

Stephanie's high school was buzzing with activity. It was close to the end of the year, and things like prom and trips were on everybody's mind, including herself.

DJ had called Stephanie, telling her she planned on coming over for the weekend to help her pick out a dress.

"It doesn't matter if you don't have a date, prom is something you experience once in a lifetime," DJ said over the phone.

"Unless you get held back during senior year," Stephanie countered, grinning over the phone even though DJ couldn't see her.

A laugh came from the speaker. "Well, I don't think you're planning on doing that."

"Maybe…" she teased.

With all the hype, Stephanie couldn't help but feel excited, even if she didn't have a proper date. The thought consumed her free time, thinking of the dress she would get, the makeup she would wear.

"Earth to Stephanie," Gia said, waving her hand in front of Stephanie's face.

Stephanie realized then that Gia had said something to her.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, "I was zoned out."

"Obviously," Gia said, grinning. "You're good, I was just asking about what you were thinking."

"Oh, I was thinking about prom." Stephanie said.

"Prom?" Gia said, sitting up straight and looking interested all of a sudden. "Do you have a date?"

"No. It's just that DJ was making a big deal of it on the phone yesterday. She said she was going to come over this weekend and help me get ready."

"Oh," Gia said simply, nodding her head. "Does she know that you don't have a date?"

"Yeah, she said I should go anyway, since it's, well, prom," Stephanie felt herself hesitate for a moment, and asked, "Do you have one?"

Gia looked considerate, trying to figure out what to say. "No, but I have an idea of who I want to ask." A sly smile went on her face.

Stephanie felt shocked. What guy was she going to ask? There was Andrew Beckett, the guy in both the girls history class; or Matthew Nolan, someone that Gia knew from work. She had mentioned their names before, and all of a sudden Stephanie got a bit heated at the thought of them taking Gia to prom, but the reason why she could not say.

"Who do you want to ask?" She said calmly, hiding her true emotions.

"You."

Stephanie blinked, shock and relief coming over her in a wave."Me?" She said incredulously.

"Yes, Steph. Of course you. Who else would I take?" Gia started laughing now.

"Is that," Stephanie started, leaning in to speak in a lower tone, "Is that even allowed?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Gia asked.

"It's just, wouldn't someone say something. How would I tell my dad that?"

"You don't have to tell your dad anything. Just say we're going as friends," Gia shrugged, as if the solution was simple.

"But…" Stephanie started.

"But what?"

"Won't someone notice that we're together all night?"

"Steph," Gia said, taking her hand, "Nobody will notice anything. We'll just be two friends hanging out at prom? It's not like anybody at this school thinks we're together or anything. We will be fine." Gia stressed the last word, trying to make Stephanie accept it.

She nodded reluctantly at first, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Gia was right. Nobody will find out anything.

And that was the way Stephanie wanted things to stay.

~~

Stephanie laid in Gia's bed, her face still flush from kissing. Gia was at the shelf full of VHS, looking through the options.

"Do you want to watch Clueless again?"

Stephanie thought for a moment and said, "We watched that last time. Pick something else."

"Yes ma'am," Gia drawled, nodding dutifully while focusing on the plastic cases. After a moment she said, "Ooo! Look what I got."

Stephanie sat up and saw that Gia was holding up Beauty and the Beast.

"Perfect." She said, smiling.

Gia put the tape in and plopped down besides her on the bed, and the two snuggled together. Stephanie was happy to be just like this, Gia's head on her shoulder, their breaths in sync. That's how she noticed that Gia was going to speak, when she suddenly breathed in deep and said, "Do you want to come over my house after prom? My mom will be taking a night shift."

Stephanie thought about it. Her dad wouldn't really think anything of her spending the night at her friend's house. "Yeah, sure."

"Good. Oh, by the way," Gia said, leaning over her to reach the drawer in her bedside table, "I got the tickets."

Out came two blue colored tickets, the price of 45 written on each one. On the top, a fancy font read Under the Sea Dance.

"It's such a corny theme." Stephanie commented.

"Yeah, well, we don't have to listen to it. The decorations will just be sea themed."

"Are you excited?" Stephanie asked.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's not that I thought you wouldn't be. I'm just…still worried."

Gia gave a little sigh and held Stephanie closer.

"I get it. I don't want anyone finding out too."

"It's awful," Stephanie groaned, sitting up from the bed. "I go home and just expect him to flip out on me or something. I feel like at any moment someone is just gonna find out."

"Oh Lord," Gia sighed, sitting up and facing her. "That's a little obsessive. I didn't think it bothered you that much."

"I'm a naturally anxious person, okay?"

"Oh, I know," Gia said slyly, "I've known you since middle school."

Stephanie just laughed. That was true enough.

"Okay, maybe I am being a little obsessive."

"I think you just need to loosen up, that's all."

Stephanie just nodded. Easier said than done. "Is your dress nice?" she asked, changing the topic.

A grin went on Gia's face. "You could say that."

Stephanie just sighed and settled back in Gia's arms, starting to pay attention to the movie. "Why so mysterious? Do you even have one yet?"

"Of course I have one. I just want it to be a surprise," Gia glanced at the closet

Stephanie agreed, and the two started paying attention to the movie playing.

~~

"What do you think?"

Stephanie held up her prom dress to DJ, who sat on the bed looking through Stephanie's jewelry box.

The dress was a red taffeta form fitting gown. It was fairly simple, but the color made Stephanie's hair shine bright when she had tried it on at the store, so she had bought it.

DJ's eyes went wide when she saw it, and she exclaimed, "Oh my god Steph, it looks great! Try it on for me."

So Stephanie quickly got changed, letting DJ zip up the back as they both peered into the full length mirror. Stephanie smoothed the dress with her hands, turning her head here and there in the mirror. The dress changed its shimmer depending on how she turned, going from a hue of blue to purple to green.

"Steph," DJ gasped, "You look beautiful!"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" She asked, laughing when she saw DJ's shocked face. "Kidding," she added before putting her attention back to her reflection in the mirror.

"Don't be silly," DJ said good naturedly, holding a pair of gold hoop earrings in front of Stephanie's earlobes. "What do you think about these ones?"

"Maybe I should get the hoops with pearls," Stephanie commented, still peering at herself. DJ went over and fished them out of the box, bringing them to her.

"Here, let me put them on," Stephanie offered, taking the earrings and starting to put them in.

"So…" DJ drawled, walking back over to Stephanie's bed. Or DJ's. This was DJ's old room after all. "Have you found a date yet?"

Stephanie tried to imagine how she would sound if she was telling the truth. "Nope," she said simply, starting to fasten the other earring.

"Aw, it's okay. I was about to go to prom without one either," DJ said sympathetically.

"That was until Kimmy brought Steve over to save the day," Stephanie reminded amusedly. At the sound of her sister's laugh, she decided to change the subject. "How are you two doing?"

"Fine, I guess." DJ said unimpressively.

Stephanie had finished putting her earrings on, but still faced the mirror, this time fixing her gaze on DJ. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing happened or anything, it's just that I've been so busy with work and everything. We haven't really been able to see each other that much."

"I bet dad's happy to hear that. He never really liked you dating."

DJ scoffed. "That includes you too, silly. Is there anybody you like in your class?"

Stephanie finally decided to turn around, coming over to DJ. "Not really. What do you think of the earrings?"

DJ quirked a smile. "Yes, they look great," she said as if the answer was obvious, "And what do you mean not really? What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing! I'm not hiding anything. It's just that I haven't really seen any guys that I like yet or anything." Stephanie spoke in quick succession, leaving DJ no chance to interject.

"Woah," DJ said, holding her hands up in surrender, "Calm down, I'm not Dad."

Stephanie swiftly nodded, turning around and asking DJ to undo her dress. Her sister got up and pulled down the zipper at the back. "You know you can tell me anything, right? I won't freak out or anything."

Stephanie felt the shame inside herself well up. "Yeah," She said softly, nodding.

"Liking boys is any normal part of highschool, Steph," DJ stopped speaking for a moment as she backed up, giving Stephanie room to step out of her dress. "Despite what Dad believes."

"Yeah, I know," Stephanie said, handing the dress to DJ, who in turn put it on the hanger. Stephanie swiftly put her clothes on, settling onto her bed.

"Just," DJ started, hesitating for a moment, "Just don't do anything crazy, okay? I'll support you through your rebellions against dad or whatever, but just don't do anything insane."

"Okay," Stephanie agreed, feeling confused. "What's this all about?"

"Oh," DJ waved her hand as if trying to make what she was saying noncommittal, "The only reason why I'm even telling you all of this is because I made the same mistakes when I left home for college. I stayed out a lot with the wrong people for a bit, did the wrong things with some people, that sort of thing. Nothing absurd," DJ added, supposedly trying to make her point come across, "But still, I would have much rather had a big sister to warn me against these things than to have to walk into it blind like I had."

"What did you do?" Stephanie asked, feeling a bit bold.

"Well," DJ trailed off, trying to configure an answer before leaning in, which told Stephanie that this was gonna be something big. "Remember how Kimmy got me with Steve for prom?" When she saw a nod from Stephanie, she continued. "Well, Steve took me out obviously, and we had a great time and everything. And I told Dad that me and Kimmy were going to spend the night at her house, but that's not what really happened."

Stephanie felt herself starting to catch on to DJ's meaning of rebellion. "Where did you go?" She asked breathlessly, trying to imagine what's the worst thing her relatively perfect big sister would do.

DJ shrugged, seemingly embarrassed, before she spoke. "I went with Steve to his apartment for the night."

"Oh." Stephanie said, unsure of what exactly that entailed.

"Kimmy covered for me, I guess to make it up for when I did the same for her. And Steve was pretty insistent. Oh come on, your old man isn't gonna find out." She deepened her voice, mimicking Steve, which made both the girls giggle. "And, I mean he was right; Dad never found out. But I did it for the wrong reasons. Me and Steve were still unsure about wanting to be together, and I just did it because it made sense for us to do so, it being after prom and all. I always imagined that losing my virginity would be like some magical moment with someone I loved a lot, but it wasn't like that really at all."

It dawned on Stephanie then, what this was all about. "But don't you love each other now?"

DJ looked at Stephanie for a second before speaking. "Look, all I'm saying is this: if you need help, anything, call me. I mean it. I want to be there for you. I want to make sure that you know I'm here for you no matter what."

By the way DJ was biting her lip, Stephanie could tell that it took a lot out of her to be honest. And maybe, in ordinary situations, what DJ said would hold true against everything. But DJ didn't really know the truth about Stephanie, and maybe that truth would ruin things.

"Hey," DJ said softly, pulling Stephanie into a hug. It was only then that Stephanie knew that she had started to get emotional too.

"Do you mean it? No matter what?" Stephanie asked, trying hard not to cry.

"Of course I do, what are sisters for?"