(thea's outfit for the first part of this chapter is above) 

The next day Thea had met Mandy and Ben at clothing store since they had planned to start pick out outfits for the prom. Thea and Ben were already there, waiting on Mandy to show up. Ben kept trying on different blazers, but not seeming to finding the right one. The employee, Ruth, had chimed in on a few blazers, commenting if they were good or not. Thea had almost snorted when she said that the women's jackets would fit her shoulders better. Ben had smacked her arm and sent her a glare.

"I swear, this is like the hundredth time you've tried on a jacket, Ben." Thea groans, looking annoyed. "Just pick one and be done." 

"It has to be perfect." Ben huffs, checking himself out in the mirror. When the bell rang above the door, Ben glances over and was relieved to see Mandy. "Oh, finally, okay. Is this jacket '80s enough? 'Cause I asked Ruth, and she said the women's jacket would fit my shoulders better."

"She kinda has a point." Thea commented, giggling when he smacked her arm again

"You're not helping." He mutters. "I don't have lady shoulders, do I?"

"Uh, no, your shoulders are totally normal." Mandy responded. Thea shared a surprised look with Ben at her response.

"Woah. I just insinuated having lady shoulders was a bad thing and you didn't even notice." Ben realizes, taking off the red and white blazer he had on and put it on the coat rack near him. He glances at Mandy with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I'm fine. I-It's just that Leo Richards is not who I thought he was." Mandy admits, causing Thea to glance at her with a raised eyebrow. She didn't think Mandy would ever say that about Leo. "It's like when you find out your parents aren't just your parents and had a whole life before you. It feels kind of weird, you know?"

Thea could sense the uneasiness in Mandy's voice. "Well, yeah, that's kind of true, but..."

"I'm not sure what I should feel." Mandy says, cutting Thea off. "Like, I thought Leo was this broody musician guy who only cared about himself, but turns out, he has a heart and cares about others. He works at the children's hospital as a volunteer too, which is, like, totally unexpected. Who knew that the Leo Richards was actually a good person? I didn't, obviously."

Thea smiles to herself, knowing Mandy had a crush on him. She could tell by the way her eyes lit up whenever she talked about him and the way she talked about him. "Oh, you have a crush on him."

"Do not!" Mandy denies, her cheeks reddening slightly. "Don't say that! Why would you say that?"

"Because you have a crush on him." Thea and Ben both said at the same time, causing Mandy to groan.

"Shut up, I do not!" She huffed, her cheeks turning redder.

"You so have a crush on him, Mands." Thea smirked, teasing her best friend.

"Ugh, shut up." Mandy grumbled, her cheeks still flushed red.

"Okay, well, I still need help picking out an outfit." Ben changes the subject, glancing at himself in the mirror as he put on a white blazer and poses. "This one's kinda good though, right?"

"Your shoulders are too narrow for that jacket!" Ruth quipped from her place behind the counter.

"Thank you, Ruth!" Ben sighed heavily, looking annoyed.

Thea giggles, looking at him with amusement. "She kinda has a point, though." She murmured, glancing at Ben in the mirror.

"She does." Mandy agreed.

"Are you serious right now?" Ben complained, glaring at his best friends.

"Just trying to help." Thea shrugged.

"I'm kidding, sorta. I think you can do better." Mandy admitted, looking through the blazers on the coat rack. Thea and Mandy began helping him find a blazer, he tried on different ones and posed to see how he looked. At one point the trio had even messed around and wore different sunglasses that were at the store and posed in the mirror, making fun of their reflections.

****

(thea's outfit for the rest of the chapter, without the glasses and with black and white converse)

The next day at school Thea was at school and had just closed her locker when she gasped out of surprise at suddenly seeing Graham leaning against the locker by hers. Her eyes were wide and she places a hand over her chest where her heart was beating fast. "Graham, what the heck?"

"Sorry." Graham chuckles lightly, sheepishly smiling at her. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to know if you are busy Friday night. There's this party thing my dad is being honored at. It would just be a lot more fun if you went with me. If you want to, of course." He added, smiling softly at her.

Thea was speechless for a moment, not sure what to say. Her cheeks were flushed red and her heart was racing. After she realized she hadn't replied yet, she quickly stutters out a response. "Uh, y-yeah, sure. I'm, um, I'm not doing anything Friday. So, yeah, I'll go."

"Awesome." Graham smiles, his heart fluttering and he had to stop himself from getting lost in her gaze. He found it cute how she stuttered nervously and he tried to ignore the way he felt his face grow warm. He had it bad for her and it was hard not to get lost in her brown eyes. He quickly cleared his throat, snapping himself out of his daze. "So, I'll pick you up around 7, is that okay?"

"That's perfect." Thea smiles, her cheeks still flushed red. "See you then."

"Bye." Graham waved, a grin forming on his lips. He turned and started walking away.

Thea watched him go, a smile forming on her lips. Her heart was still beating quickly and she could feel the butterflies in her stomach. She quickly snapped herself out of it and walked down the hallway. She noticed Ben and Mandy at Mandy's locker and she went over to them with a smile.

"Hey, guys." She greeted.

"Someone is more happy than normal." Ben teased, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm happy all the time, what are you talking about? And why do you say it like that?" Thea questioned, tilting her head to the side with a pout.

"We saw you talking to Graham, you were all smiles and blushy. You were totally flustered, T." Mandy grinned.

"I was not, M." Thea argued, her cheeks flushing red again.

"You're blushing right now." Ben pointed out, his lips tugging into a smirk.

"Shut up, Ben." Thea grumbled.

"Okay, I'll change the subject. Where are we going Friday night?" Ben questioned with a smile.

Confusion fills Thea's gaze at his question and she even shares a confused glance with Mandy. "What?" The girls asked in union.

"I'm thinking we class it up and go to the Olive Garden." Ben grinned.

"What are you talking about?" Mandy inquired.

"My birthday dinner." Ben answered.

"Crap." The two girls muttered at the same time, both looking guilty. Then they glance at each other with surprise they said the same thing at the same time.

"There's a charity event Leo's family is hosting and his mom invited me to go last night at dinner." Mandy explained. She had stayed for dinner with Leo and his family after their tutoring session and his mother invited her to go.

"Seriously? Leo again?" Ben frowned, looking disappointed.

"Not Graham. The letter." Mandy corrected.

"You totally have a crush on him though." Thea chimes in. "And it's okay if you do. It's perfectly normal."

"I'm gonna ignore that and say that's not the point." Mandy grumbles and looks away from her to look back at Ben with a small smile. "Let's do Friday night instead. Or you and Thea can just go."

"I can't make it either." Thea grimaces. "Graham's family invited me to go with them to a fundraiser thing."

"You're kidding me, right?" Ben deadpans, looking between his two best friends. "We can't go Friday because we're going to my grandma's retirement community." He groaned.

"Ben, I'm so sorry." Mandy sighed, looking at him apologetically.

"Me too, I really am." Thea added, looking at him apologetically as well.

"But you can still go with Charles and Zenobia on Saturday." Mandy suggested.

"No, I can't because they have band competition. Guys, this sucks. What am I supposed to do now? I-I can't go to the Olive Garden by myself on my birthday. That's humiliating." Ben protested.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." Mandy frowns. "But Saturday night is it. Okay?" Ben scoffs at that. "Once I talk to Leo's dad, it'll be back to the three of us. The Three Musketeers. You kill us in Scattergories while I rant about billionaires not paying taxes and Thea laughs at the fact that we are literally the most boring teenagers ever. And we'll all eat pizza and laugh and watch a movie. Normal times. Promise."

"I promise too." Thea added. She felt so guilty for letting him down and breaking their tradition.

"What about LaToya Reynolds?" Mandy suddenly asks after her gaze went to LaToya, who had been walking down the hallway with her friends. "You said you had a good time at the movies." Thea smiled as she remembered that. Apparently Ben had ran into LaToya at the movies when he went alone and they ended up watching the movie together and had a great time.

"I can't ask LaToya Reynolds to the Olive Garden on my birthday. That's worse than shaking her hand." Ben grimaced. Thea cringed when she remembered how he had told them that he shook LaToya's hand when he had walked her back to her car. That was embarrassing for him.

"Trust me, nothing is worse than shaking her hand." Mandy chuckles. She glances over at LaToya. "LaToya Reynolds!" She called out, gaining the dark skinned girl's attention.

LaToya stops by the trio with a smile. "Hey."

"Ben has a question for you." Mandy explained.

Ben chuckles nervously, immediately turning a stuttering mess. "Hi. Yeah, I do have a question for you that I wanted to ask. And I-I guess I'll-Well, first of all, cool puffy shirt, I just wanted to say that." He adds, pointing at the shirt she wore and she smiles at him. "And I also just wanted to say that I am-My birthday is coming up. I'm having a birthday, um, dinner on Saturday if you would like to come to that birthday dinner, you can totally come to it, so..."

"What time?" LaToya asked with a soft smile on her face. Thea grinned and watched with amusement as Ben looked excited and nervous.

"Anytime." Ben replied.

"I'm in, Ben Plunkett." LaToya reached out her hand and Ben chuckled while shaking her hand. Ben watched with a dreamy look when she walked away with her friends. When they were gone, he turned to his best friends with an excited look on his face.

"Ben's got a date." Thea grinned, walking down the hallway with her best friends when the bell rang.

"We're going to the Olive Garden." Ben excitedly said.

"And she said yes!" Mandy added and the three of them shared a laugh.

A/N i love this trio so much. sorry about this short chapter, think of it more as a filler chapter tbh, the next one is longer i promise