My Senior Prom is coming. The dance committee has announced that Prom will be held on Friday, May 14. Knowing that this date is coming up soon has made me feel excited and anxious all at once. Becuase this is the last dance of the year, I know our amazing Prom committee will make our last dance an amazing one. But I also know that once Prom passes, it will only be a matter of time before all of my friends and I will be heading to college. I'm going to university here in New York, so luckily I'll be close to my family, but Lucas is going back to Texas after high school and Farkle and Isadora have both been accepted to Harvard, which is all the way in Massachusetts. The only person staying in New York with me is Maya. She's going to an art school relatively close to my university, so because of that, we've discussed buying a quaint place of our to share around the area and becoming roommates. And although it all sounds amazing, the whole grand scheme of things still scares me, and I'm also really upset that most of my friends are moving out of state to go to school. Especially Lucas, my boyfriend. I've heard that the long distance thing usually doesn't work out, but I'm going to try to remain optimistic, which will probably be a piece of cake considering being happy is pretty much my thing.

And even though I'm still scared for the future, I can't lie and say I'm not stoked for Prom. I mean, it's Prom! Maya and I are in the library one day, at a back table so we can chat without getting scolded by the librarian, and I bring up the subject of the upcoming dance and I start to tell her all of the amazing plans Lucas and I have.

"-and Lucas is showing me some pictures of a super expensive corsage he wants to buy me, and oh my goodness Maya, it is the most wonderful thing I think I have ever laid my eyes on," I ramble on.

"Well, I'm very happy for you, Pumpkin," Maya tells me with a genuine smile on her face.

"Thanks, Peaches," I reply quite loudly, loud enough that the librarian making rounds has to shush us. Once the librarian has gone and we have gotten back into our school work, I start up the conversation again, this time whispering.

"So, Maya, I just wanted to tell that because you don't have a date, you're welcome to hang out with Lucas and I at the dance for as long as you want. We've talked about it, and he's alright with it," Lucas and I haven't actually talked about it, but I'm sure he would be fine. We're all really close friends, so I couldn't see what the problem would be.

"That's a nice offer, Riley, but don't worry. I already have a date." Maya says oh-so-casually. My writing hand stops, pencil in the middle of writing down a word.

"Who's your date?" I ask curiously.

"You've met him before. Connor, remember?" I definitely remember the Disney prince. "Well, after the whole catastrophe a couple of weeks ago, I assumed he'd never speak to me again, but I was wrong. And I am glad I am. Yesterday, I was just hanging out by my locker, waiting for you to finish talking to Lucas, and Connor came up to me, asked me to Prom, and I said yes. Isn't that amazing!"

I don't say anything, just zone off and stare at my paper. So let me get this straight. If I hadn't wasted a few minutes talking to Lucas, I could've stopped Maya from going to Prom with Connor?

Maya's hand waving directly in front of my face takes me back into reality.

"Yo, earth to Riley. You okay?" Maya asks concerned.

"Um, yep. I'm fine," I say and get back to my work.

Maya stares at me with a worried look in her eye before shrugging it off and continuing her own assignments.

We don't talk for the rest of our time spent at the library together. We just concentrate on our work. Well, she does. I just doodle across my page, knowing that my teachers probably won't like that, but doing it anyway, my thoughts to captivated by a certain blonde sitting next to me. Finally, we part ways after an hour, bidding each other a goodbye, promising to call later.

I get home and walk straight past my living room and kitchen, glad that my parents are both out and that Auggie has a soccer game because I'm really not in the mood to talk to anybody right now. I set my bag down on my desk chair and lie on my bed and quickly pressing the second number on my speed dial, the first one belonging to Maya.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end greets.

"Hey, Lucas. Can I talk to you about something? It's kind of important." I say glumly.

"Go ahead."

"Do you know anything about a guy named Connor?" I ask, and I know it's kind of a blatant question, but if there's anybody I know that seems to know everybody in our school, it's Lucas.

"You do know that there are more than one Connor in the world, right?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, how do you expect me to know who you're talking about? Does he go to our school."

"Yep,"

"Well, try describing him to me,"

I think for a moment before answering. Does the spawn of Satan count as a good description? I'm guessing the answer is no.

"Well, he has well kept brown hair, big brown eyes, he's really skinny, really tall, he's a senior, he seems to only wear plaid..."

"Okay, I think I know who you're talking about. Connor Is he the guy who sometimes wears glasses without lenses?"

"That's him!"

"Okay, now let me ask you a question. Why do you want to know stuff about him?" he asks me suspiciously.

"Because I hate him," I answer bluntly.

"Really? But if you don't know anything about him, why do you hate him?"

"I just do, okay Lucas," Honestly, I had no idea why I hated Connor. Just seeing him with Maya made my stomach twist in a sickening way. I just don't think they're right for each other. Even if I don't know a thing about him, I think I can read people pretty well. And when I read him it's just like, bad news. Yeah, that's what it is. Bad news.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, Riley. I barely know that guy to say anything bad about him." Stupid Lucas. Always having to see the good in people.

"Well I guess this has been a waste of time, then,"

"Okay, seriously Riley, are you okay. You don't nearly seem as cherry as you usually do. And I have never heard of you hating a single living soul on this planet, and we've known each other since middle school, dating since we were freshmen. Is something going on with you?"

"No, nothing is going on, Lucas. Listen, I've got to go. Bye" I end the call before Lucas can say anything else to me.

Is there something going on? Am I not being my usual self? I don't know what's going on with me. Really, why do I hate Connor so much? He hasn't done a thing to me. And the bigger question is, since when do I hate. What happened to puppies and rainbows and glitter? What happened to RileyTown?

The day has arrived. Prom. I wake up and go through my regular morning routine, and continue through the school day as if it were any other.

Except it wasn't. It was Prom.

Finally, after centuries, the school day ended, and although I usually like school, I'm so ecstatic for Prom later this evening that for once, school felt like a chore.

I headed home and opened up my closet to find my robin egg blue floor length gown hung up, and gently pulled it out from the closet extremely carefully as if a single hard touch could cause the masterpiece to fall apart. I lay it down on my bed and admire it. It's such a beautiful blue that will definitely make my eyes stand out against everything, and it has beautiful jewels and sparkles on the dress that make it appear as if it were glowing. All in all, it's the perfect dress.

I get startled when I hear my bay window open at first, but quickly relax when I see that it's just Maya, her bright red above the knee Prom dress and shoes in tow, and wow she looks so beautiful with all the make-up she was wearing to school today taken off, ready to apply our dance make-up on.

"Hey, Riles. I'm here, now. We can officially start to get ready for our senior Prom," She announces.

Maya goes first and starts undressing in my room (we're such close friends and we've been that way for so long, we're completely comfortable in front of each other) and after looking up and seeing her in the red dress, my mouth goes dry. She waits for a reaction or something to tell her my opinions of the dress.

"Wow, Maya. You look-you look," I stutter, unable to formulate words that can explain how breathtakingly gorgeous she looks in the dress. I try and just settle for something simple. "You look beautiful, Maya. I really mean it."

Maya blushed, something I don't ever see my rebellious friend do. "Thanks, Riley. Now change into your dress. I want to see how you look in your dress."

So I take off my clothes and put on my blue gown. Maya stares at me, an unreadable expression on her face as I twirl around in front of the mirror, checking how I look.

"Well, what do you think?" I ask Maya.

"You look like a princess, Riles. A true princess," she answers, sincerity in her voice.

After hearing that, I gather my best friend in a hug and hold on tight, tighter than I ever have before. Not just that, but Maya holds on to me as well, and the hug lasts for a long time, just two teenage girls not wanting to let go of one another. But sadly, the hug does come to end, and after letting go of Maya, I feel cold and want to hang on to her warmth for just a little bit longer.

We start putting on our make-up and chat to each other like we normally would.

"So Maya, about this Connor guy you're taking to the Prom..." I start off

"What about him?"

"Why do you like him so much?" I ask curiously. After seeing Connor and how well kept he seems to be, I didn't really think he was her type. "I mean, usually you're more into edgy guys, you know. He looks kind of like a goody two-shoes."

"You mean like you?" Maya retorts.

"I'm not a goody-two-shoes. I can be a bady-bady, for your information."

"Whatever you say, sweetie. And about what you said about him not being my type, I kind of thought that myself, but I figured, what the hell. All my previous boyfriends who all happen to be my type, have all ended terribly. Why not try something different and see what happens."

"Oh," I comment, unamused. Maya notices this and send me a look, but quickly lets it slide.

Soon, we finish our make-up, and I ask Maya if she wants to stay here and ride to Prom with Lucas and me in the Limo Lucas ordered for the night.

"I'd love to," Maya tells me. "But my mom wants to take pictures of me, so Connors picking me up at my place in about twenty minutes. Speaking of which, I should probably get going now, but I'll see you at the dance." Maya starts to climb out the window in her dress, heels, and make-up, and while I try to stop her, she ignores me, saying, "Hey, I came in through this window, I'm leaving through it." Maya Hart really is one of a kind. That's probably why I love her so much.

As a friend, though. Nothing else.

And now with Maya gone back to her place, all that's left to do is wait for Lucas to pick me up and have our magical night begin.