It was the dreaded morning of the tests. It was a finale in core subject to see if you learned anything in the year or you were a dumbass.

Madeleine had feared this moment. He knew if he failed, it meant no prom. No sweet, memorable moment to share with his boyfriend, Espresso. Of course he had to be the dumb student who happened to be dating a smart dude. He even asked Espresso to the prom in a REALLY cringe way;all for nothing.

It was the math portion first. Madeleine was only a little bit confident about this one. Math was one of his decent subjects. But aside from that and Science, which was his best subject, he sucked at everything else. Once all the test averaged out, he had to make a 75 or above to be allowed into the prom.

He was practically shaking as calculators were being dished out. Just the mere sight of a test tool sent him into a frenzy. But,,, it was time. And he had to begin the test. So he did. He spent many moments procrastinating over answers and trying to remember when he learned such ways to find answers for the questions. Even if he paid attention in class, he struggled to retain information for tests.

The math test was only slightly unbearable. He thought he did reasonably well, despite being terrible at a lot of subjects. And with English and history, it was a different story. He was pretty sure he failed those. Science he was sure he did well.

After testing, the whole class stayed silent for another hour as the teacher calculated results. He began calling them out one by one.

"Allie: Average 82"

Madeleine drowned out the names. He was very nervous. He just wanted to meet the 75 grade criteria so he would be allowed to the prom. He heard his name called.

"Madeleine."

There was a small pause. Very brief, almost as the teacher was judging or felt bad for him. He could feel sweat beading, even thought it was short moments.

"Average... 74"

Madeleine felt the world crash around him. He stared wide eyed at his lap, having no other things to look to. He only looked up for a brief moment. All eyes darted towards his direction. He tried to sink into his seat, but it didn't help that he happened to be wearing the brightest shirt if the existence of clothing, along with bright red hair clips. (hc 🤤)

He didn't pay attention to any of the names called after his. He was distraught. He made plans for what to wear, what to say, and how to prepare for the special dance, and inevitable kiss. All for nothing!

Most of the rest of class was a blur for him. He just had burdening thoughts. What would espresso think? How would he respond?? He was very nervous. He didn't want to upset his boyfriend at all. What if he was angry or disappointed or—

No, he had to put the fear aside. For now, he had to be brave as to not draw more attention to himself... it was quite embarrassing with all the eyes on him. His slouched in his chair, trying to blend in as best he could. He couldn't wait until school got out...

~~~~

Students crowded the smelly school hallways as the bell rang. It was Friday, so naturally everybody was quick to leave. Madeleine crept out of his class, trying not to cause any unwanted stares. Nobody in the class heard what happened in his testing site, but he was still quite paranoid. He was deep in thought.

A tap on his shoulder snapped him out of his trance, although startling him a little bit. Madeleine seemed to jump slightly, "O-Uhm... Heyy babe." He faked a laid back personality, which Espresso could easily see through. "How are you? Has your day been okay?" the blonde asked with a fake smile.

Espresso shrugged "Oh ya know, the usual. It was slow, especially testing." Madeleine seemed a bit nervous when Espresso mentioned the test, which he definitely noticed. He raised a brow, "Is something wrong?" he silently feared the worst.

Madeleine chuckled nervously, "Nope! Of course not. I'm perfectly fine."

Espresso let out an exasperated sigh. A grimace spread across his face, which he reluctantly accepted as he didn't know how else to react. He simply took Madeleines hand in his and formed his lips into a slight smile, "You should just go home and relax. The tests were too stressful to have a banquet the following night."

Madeleine bit the inside of his cheek and slowly nodded, beginning to lead the pair to their respective vehicles. He hated that he ruined the night. Not only that, but all his plans. He just wanted to spend time with Espresso, and it made him feel terrible that he ruined that for his boyfriend was well.

But he ignored it for then. It was too late anyway. And so, they got into their driver seats and took off to their houses.

———

Madeleine laid motionless on his bed for a while. His eyes transfixed on the light and fan above him, which shook vigorously as the blades rotated. He only moved when his phone buzzed beside him.

He reached across his bed and picked up his phone, unlocking it to check the notifications.

From "Espressi <3"

Madeleine reluctantly opened the snap message he was sent, but it miraculously wasn't him being layed into by his boyfriend. It seemed to just be an innocent message.

"Hey babe. Call? 💞"

Madeleine felt a lot of emotions. Dread seemed to take an overwhelming toll on his body. He swore his partner could see right through him, it was obvious.. right? Yet he was still scared to admit it. He gave a soft sigh before pressing the phone button and letting the annoying ring tone play out. Espresso answered, his monotone voice the same as always:

"Hi Madde, whatcha up to?" Espresso asked. His voice held no real inflection, but Madeleine could tell it was heartfelt—it irked his soul that he had to be the bearer of bad news. He let out a sigh.

"Ah... I've been overwhelmed with my thoughts.." Madeleine spoke softly. Espresso had an idea for what could be stuck in his head, but he didn't dare to say anything. He just hummed out a sweet response, "Yeah..? If you need to talk it out, I'm here to listen."

There was a long pause, Madeleine had begun overthinking again. Espresso's voice rang out from his phone, "Babe?" He was nervous from the lack of a response. Madeleine gave a solemn sigh before speaking up. His voice seemed to treble, but he did his best to repress it...

"I cant... I cant go to prom—"

He cut himself off before he spewed absolute none sense.

Espresso expected this news. Not that he didn't think Madeleine was capable of passing the test, he believed in, and encouraged him. But he knew after talking to him it was game over. He was way too nervous for him to have passed. He thought for a minute. An awkward silence definitely took its toll. He wasn't angry, not at all. He didn't even like dances anyway.

"Madeleine.. you know I don't care right?" Hegave a small pause, a bit stuck on how to carry on. "At least for me... I was never interested in the dance.. I just wanted to be with you." Madeleine seemed to be shocked at this news, he knew Espresso loved and accepted him flaws and all... but he just didn't expect him to be a-okay with everything.... but then again he was never one for social events.

A problem arose, "But Essi—what about our suits? We already bought everything. Do we just want to return them..?"

Espresso paused. His mind replaying just how good Madeleine looked in his suit. He would have shaken his head had they been in the same room.

"Lets have our own prom: just me and you"

HEY BABES LOOK I HAWV AREIVED. (LITERLALY the majority of this was written a whole year ago. But ion care. I might do a part two who knows. I apologize if any of this is confusing or grammatically incorrect. I wrote most of this a year ago ofc, or at midnight these last few night.)