one thing's universal, life's no dress rehearsal

[stagemanagers]

[Prom night! The greatest night of your young lives if you watch any Western high school media from the past 60 years. The looks, the music, the copious amounts of fancy snacks, the sore feet from dancing heels and then spending the rest of the night in bare feet- it’s all part of the bigger package.

The courtyard and the roof have both been decked out in a special way for tonight, despite no one really seeing Hester or anyone/anything else decorating. There are round tables set-up in both places, covered in yellow-gold tablecloths. Some of them have platters of snacks laid out on them, one has a large punch bowl that never seems to empty no matter how many drinks are taken from it.

On the roof there’s an extra table with pencils, small slips of paper, a box wrapped in gold wrapping paper and a notecard labeled Song Requests. Just write a song, pop it in the box and within a few minutes it starts playing! Weird, there doesn’t seem to be a sound system anywhere...

Red paper lanterns have been strung around the outline of the roof and between stakes in the courtyard, granting soft romantic light for a night to remember. Put on your best costume shop formal wear, get ready to lose your shoes after an hour and sneak in liquor even though most of you are of age.

After all…tonight belongs to you.]

Comments

[comeandfindme]

[ There she is, there's—

oh god this is a lot more awkward than she thought it would be when she decided to do this ten whole minutes ago.

Peregrine hesitates for but a moment. ]

Janis, uh— hey, can we- maybe somewhere a little more...?

[fourbutts]

[ Yeah, it's... definitely not the least awkward conversation they've ever had. ]

Right, right, uh... where do you want to...?

[comeandfindme]

Just... Like, there's no one- the stairs, the ones to the—

[ She gestures over toward the stairs leading to the parking lot. Just a little ways away from the courtyard, just a little privacy. ]

[fourbutts]

[ Janis nods. ]

Yeah, uh... sounds good.

[ Time to just sort of... head over there! ]

[comeandfindme]

[ And so they do!

...Heck! Now they have to actually do the talking!! ]

I, uh... You... Your jacket...?

[fourbutts]

[ Oh. Right. That. ]

That... is my jacket, yes! I left it after uh. We talked. Sort of.

[comeandfindme]

Yeah. Yeah, I remember. ...Sort of. I— [ She presses a hand to her head. ] I think I... I was...really out of it, I'm...sorry.

[fourbutts]

[ Janis chuckles a little. ]

I... was kind of having a time, too, but... you definitely seemed less present.

[comeandfindme]

[ ... ]

I— she... she lead the...rescue party. To find me and the others. We weren't— really speaking for awhile there? My fault. But, I guess- ...I guess I just...really missed my best friend.

[fourbutts]

Well, then I'm... glad I could be there for you. Even if I wasn't me. To you.

[comeandfindme]

I don't mean- [ ohhhhhh she's fucking this up— ] Oh, jeez. Okay can I just—

You...took me back to the dorms...didn't you?

[fourbutts]

I mean... I couldn't just leave you out there in a blizzard, you know? Brett would never forgive me.

[ What a weirdly specific name to bring up haha ]

[comeandfindme]

It wasn't...actually a blizzard, I figured that out- [ Wait. ] ...Brett? ...Wait, was I more out of it than I thought, did I think you were—?

[fourbutts]

Oh no, I was hallucinating... a whole different narrative structure, apparently my hallucinations get real freaking conceptual.

[ She shakes her head. ]

No Brett actually involved.

[comeandfindme]

[ She looks...confused, honestly. But— ]

Gotcha. Narrator thing.

[ ...so- ]

So, uh. I just- ...thanks? For— [ ... ] ...Finding me.

[fourbutts]

Yeah, uh... [ She scratches at the back of her neck. ] Any time.

[comeandfindme]

[ Say it.

Say— ]

I'm sorry. [ It leaves her in a rush. ] When I was— I didn't mean, I wasn't- I wasn't thinking. If he'd tried to- to make us vote then, I-

There's no way in hell I would've let him take you. I should've told you. Right away.

[fourbutts]

[ She exhales. ]

And I'm sorry for... all the other shit I said. It's possible I shouldn't have gotten that heated.

[comeandfindme]

It's...possible we both shouldn't have gotten that heated.

[fourbutts]

[ A grimace. ]

Maybe so.

[comeandfindme]

So...

[fourbutts]

... Are we cool?

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine nods. ]

Can...we just, uh...not talk about...things, right now?

[fourbutts]

I am all for that.

[ She gestures back towards the dance with her head. ]

Wanna dive back in? Now that I am no longer inconsolably gay about our shared girlfriend who showed up to this dance in armor and on hroseback?

[comeandfindme]

Ohh, I'm not, like, super into- excuse me Maya did what?