Stephanie made her way down the stairs, her dad following her path with a home video camera, all the while saying some corny stuff to, supposedly, instill confidence in her.
Stephanie took it in stride, ignoring the camera, and stopped at the landing, letting dad get the shot he wanted. Everyone came forward, exclaiming compliments, even good old Comet.
"Stephanie, are you excited?" Michelle asked after the initial hubbub was over.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Stephanie replied, catching herself smoothing the silky red dress that she was wearing.
"I wish I could go to prom," Michelle sighed wistfully, as if nothing else in the world mattered.
Stephanie just laughed. "Don't worry, your time will come soon enough."
That response didn't seem to relieve Michelle of her gloom entirely, but it did make her smile a bit.
Stephanie glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece and saw that it was after 8.
"Look, guys," She started, walking to the landing of the front door, "I got to go and pick Gia up or else we'll be late."
The crowd slightly dispersed, except for Dad, who came closer to kiss her goodbye. "Drive safe," he said.
"I will," Stephanie responded before walking out of the house, making her way to her car parked in the driveway.
As she unlocked the door and settled in, turning the key in its ignition, she looked up at the house. In the window, she saw Michelle watching, and the two girls waved at each other before Stephanie backed out of the driveway. She drove her way to Gia's, which wasn't very far, only a few blocks.
When she pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building, she didn't even have to take the elevator up inside to get to the apartment. Gia and her mom stood outside waiting.
Stephanie smiled as she walked up to them, and was bombarded by Gia's mom, who rushed over to greet her.
"Hey, Stephanie! You look nice," But she couldn't get any more in before Stephanie gasped out loud.
She and Gia's mom turned to see Gia, who was walking up to them. She was wearing a gold jumpsuit.
For a moment, Stephanie couldn't speak, and instead just looked at the glittering fabric before finding her words. "Gia! You look great!"
"You don't think the pants are too much? I thought they were," Gia's mom said anxiously, resulting in an eye roll from the girl.
"No, they fit her perfectly," Stephanie reassured.
She held out her hand and Gia came to take it, a big smile on her face.
"Aww, let me take a picture before you girls leave. Even though you don't have dates, it's still cute," Stephanie now noticed the camera that Gia's mom was carrying, and tried to brush away the offhand comment.
So she and Gia posed together, wrapping each other's arms around the other girl's waist. Gia's mom loved it.
"You two are just so adorable. Your dress looks so pretty Stephanie. Don't you think it looks nice, Gia?"
Gia turned to Stephanie and said, "You look beautiful."
A blush went on Stephanie's face. To Gia's mom, this was nothing more than a friendly exchange, but to Stephanie, it meant a lot more.
"Thank you," she said softly, smiling, "So do you."
Gia nodded, appraising Stephanie by letting her eyes run down her. Stephanie savored it for a moment, and then realized that Gia's mom was still watching.
"I'm sorry that I won't be here afterwards. Stephanie, you make sure Gia doesn't bring any boys home."
Stephanie smiled at the request, and turned to Gia with a grin, saying, "Oh, don't worry. I will."
~~
The music blared through ancient speakers, and, unsurprisingly, the venue was decorated in a sea theme.
The girls had done all the typical prom activities. Dancing to cheesy music, taking pictures in the photo booth, drinking sugary punch. Unbelievably, neither of them got tired of it in the first hour.
Just like Gia said, nobody had mentioned anything about the two. They just were friends hanging out together at prom without dates, nothing more.
All the worries Stephanie had accumulated over the couple of weeks were gone, and instead, she felt nothing but carefree abandon.
Perhaps that worked against her favor, as it had seemed to rub off on Gia, who already was reckless enough on a daily basis. Stephanie had to nearly tie her to her wrist to make sure she didn't wander off to do God knows what with some random classmates. Despite her best efforts, Stephanie had lost her while going to get another cup of punch, and only later found Gia under one of the Class of 2000 banners, talking to some guy.
"Gia!" Stephanie called out above the blaring music.
The other girl turned around and scurried back to her side, grinning like a little kid who got away with stealing candy.
"What is it?" Stephanie asked.
"Oh, nothing…" Gia drawled. "Just a bit of unfinished business, is all. He owed me."
Stephanie just shook her head, taking the girl's hand and leading her back to their group of friends. She didn't feel like being bothered with Gia's complicated form of acquaintances, and was just glad that she didn't owe her anything.
"Don't disappear on me, I want you by my side for the whole night," Stephanie whispered in her ear, the momentary silence from the music stopping making her want to be quiet.
Gia leaned in, saying, "I want you too. But I don't think we will have a lot of success here," She inclined her head towards the group of couples now going to the dance floor for slow dancing. Girl and guy couples, of course. Stephanie sighed, feeling a bit resentful.
"You know what, let's get out of here."
Stephanie looked over at her for a moment, not sure of what to say. "Can we even do that?" She finally asked.
"I don't see why not. We just have to get around the chaperons," Gia looked around, and Stephanie noted the four chaperons dispersed around the room.
The girls found an easy way around this problem. There was a couple who were furiously making out in a dark corner of the room, and some of the chaperons went over to put an end to it, leaving an exit open. The girls scurried away, weaving through the groups of people to seem more inconspicuous. Stephanie felt like she was in a spy movie.
The cool night air greeted them as they came outside, and Stephanie booked it to her car, hiking her long dress up so that she wouldn't trip. Not very ladylike, but that didn't really seem to bother her, not now.
She took her car key out of her purse, unlocked the door, and sat down in the seat, Gia following suit. "What do we do now?" Stephanie asked, panting from all of the exertion.
"Why don't you drive us to my place?" Gia said, reminding her of their plans.
"Wait," Stephanie said, realizing that she had forgotten her bag with her pajamas. "I forgot everything!"
Gia laughed. "Why don't you drive on over there and get it, then?"
"My dad will notice that we left early. What reason could I give him?"
"Just sneak in through the back door, grab your things, and come back out. Park down the street so that he doesn't see your car lights," Gia laid the plan out as if it were instructions on how to make a bowl of cereal. She seemed to make every plan sound easy.
"You're the best!" Stephanie gushed, reaching over to hug her, planting a kiss on her cheek. But when she tried to pull away, Gia held tight, kissing her this time on the lips. It was soft and tasted like the sugary punch that they had to drink earlier that evening.
Stephanie pulled back, her stomach filled with butterflies. "I think we should start going now," She didn't know why she was so shy this time. She had kissed Gia before.
"Alright. Let's ride," Gia replied, oblivious to the other girl's feelings, leaning her seat back and closing her eyes.
Stephanie turned her keys in the ignition and shifted into drive, pulling out of the parking lot and driving away.
~~
After 15 minutes, Stephanie was on her street.
She carefully parked near the curb, and she and Gia got out of the car to walk the rest of the way to her house. Stephanie looked up and saw that all of the lights in the house were off.
She made her way to the side gate that led to her backyard, and groped her way through the darkness, shushing Gia, who was giggling the whole time. Once in the backyard, Stephanie reached for the backdoor, but instead of the satisfying turn of the knob, Stephanie was met with resistance.
Shit
Of course Dad would have locked the door before going to bed. He thought that Stephanie would have her things, and that she would be spending the night at Gia's.
"What's the matter?" Gia asked, realizing that Stephanie wasn't opening the door.
"It's locked," Stephanie said, dread filling her.
"What?" Gia whispered.
"I said it's locked!" Stephanie hissed as she started to think of another plan.
"Where's your house key? Can't you use that?" Gia said, trying to help.
"I left it in my bag, which is in the house," Stephanie replied bitterly, wondering if waking up the entire house to open the door was what she had to do.
Gia came besides her, trying to open one of the windows. It didn't budge, and both girls stood there, quietly accepting the facts.
"I guess we should knock on the front door," Stephanie said lamely, stepping back and starting to go back out front. The light from Michelle's bedroom window made retracing her path easier, showing the way to the gate.
Michelle's bedroom light…
Michelle!
Stephanie gasped, and looked up to see her little sister's bedroom light on. "Gia, Michelle's awake! We can ask her to come and open the door!" Stephanie exclaimed, whispering excitedly.
"Are you sure? She seems like a snitch," Gia responded doubtfully, not understanding that this was the only solution to their problem.
"No, she wouldn't do that. I'm sure," She assured, trying to figure out a way to get her little sister's attention.
"Michelle!" She called out as quietly as possible. "Michelle!!"
The sound of air whizzing past Stephanie's ear caught her attention, and she turned around to see Gia throwing a small rock. It hit the window with a satisfying clunk!
"Gia, what if you break the window?" Stephanie asked before being interrupted by the sound of the window sash moving.
She turned around to see Michelle; sweet, sweet, Michelle; looking down at them from the second story.
"Stephanie, what are you doing here?" She called out loudly, followed by shhhh's from the two teenagers down below.
"I left my bag in my room. Can you go get it and bring it down to us?" Stephanie smiled sweetly, praying that her sister would.
With a huff and the thunk! of the window closing, Michelle left Stephanie and Gia waiting in silence. After a few minutes, the sound of the doorknob rattling drew the girls' attention to the back door, and out came Michelle with Stephanie's things.
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" She smothered Michelle in a big hug, letting Gia grab her bag.
"Yeah, yeah. You better do the same for me. Gia!" Michelle gasped, finally noticing the other girl. "Your…it's not a dress. But it looks so pretty!"
"Thanks, little Michelle," Gia said, smiling.
Michelle stiffened at the old nickname that Gia used. "Don't call me that."
Stephanie held back a laugh, and thanked Michelle one more time before turning around to go back out front, leaving the youngest Tanner to lock the door.
"Well, that was successful," Gia commented as they came to the front of the house.
"Yeah, it really was," Stephanie said, relieved that everything worked out.
"Hmm, I can't wait to get back home. My mom won't be there," With this statement, Gia turned and grinned at Stephanie.
"Oh, really? What do you plan on doing, throwing a party? You know what happened last time," Stephanie replied, feeling proud of her little comment as she walked out onto the street. Swiftly, right as she was passing her dad's parked car, Gia pounced her.
Stephanie couldn't even make a squeak as Gia pressed her lips onto hers, gripping her in her arms as they leaned against the car. She pulled back, leaving Stephanie panting, before going back in, this kiss being much longer than the one previous.
Stephanie keened, her whole body suddenly being filled with the warm heat that always came when Gia kissed her, but then pulled back, breathing fast. "We can't do this here," She glanced around, making sure no one was out.
Gia stepped back, smiling. "Alright, let's head home then."
Stephanie hesitated for a moment before standing back up straight, taking Gia's hand, and walking with her back down the road.
"You know, you look great in that dress," Gia murmured close in her ear, making Stephanie smile.
"Who knows, maybe you can help me out of it," Stephanie replied cheekily, hoping that she wasn't being too bold. "But you're driving, I'm done for the night."
"Alright, deal," Gia said, taking her car keys and racing her down the street.
"Hey! That's not fair, I'm wearing a dress!" Stephanie called out, hiking her skirt up and chasing after her.
~
Michelle felt a little shaky as pressed her nose to the window of Stephanie's bedroom, still looking down at where her sister and her friend just were.
Oh my god, what did I just see?