I rushed down the steps as my phone dinged, signaling he was here to pick me up; as soon as I got down the stairs, I found dad and Laurie on the coach, both waiting for me to come down.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," My dad said, looking up from his book; coincidently, the night of homecoming, he had gotten off early, "just like your mom." I smiled at that, smoothing down the purple tulle; I had tried to put an effort in tonight, my hair was out of its usual ponytail and curled into loose waves that took me forever to do, my makeup was still natural, just with an added glow and rouge on my cheeks.

"Are you sure you're okay with me going out tonight?" I asked, I couldn't help but feel guilty, dad and I barely saw each other, and the one night he's home, I'm not.

Dad shook his head, "I'm alright, Eloise," He reassured, "me and Laurie here are gonna have a guy's night."

I shook my head with amusement at that, "Alright, my rides here," I told dad, slipping on my white converse, I'd opted against heels, knowing I was too clumsy to pull them off.

"Have fun, don't get back too late," Dad waved; I hadn't told dad about my "date," mainly because I wasn't even sure if that's what tonight was; if anything came out of it, I'd tell him.

When I got to the car, he reached over, opening the passenger door from the inside, "Hey," I greet him, sliding into the leather seat.

EJ smiled his signature smile at me, and I couldn't help but notice how his eyes looked even more blue against his navy suit. "Hey, you look pretty."

I smiled at him, hoping the blush that was forming on my cheeks wasn't too noticeable "thank you, so do you," He furrowed his brows at me, "Not pretty, I mean, uh, you look nice."

EJ nodded awkwardly, looking over his shoulder to back up; I'd been in his car a minute and I'd already managed to embarrass myself, fantastic.

The car ride had been pretty silent; the only sound coming from the radio. I wanted to ask why EJ had asked me to go with him; I mean, we'd talked that one time; and now we're going to a dance together. Still, every time I opened my mouth to ask him, I'd get nervous and stop myself.

"Last name is Caswell first name is EJ; there should be two tickets," EJ told Mr. Mazarra as we approached the ticket station.

"Found it," He nodded, looking up from the paper; as soon as he saw me, he furrowed his brows, "Wait, when did you become Nini?"

I could feel EJ stiffen up next to me at the mention of his ex; how did I respond to that? It wasn't any of his business anyway, "Uh, there was a slight change of plans," EJ finally decided on. I brushed off his unenthusiastic tone, hoping it had to do with the nosey teacher and not being here with me instead of Nini.

Mr. Mazarra squinted at us one last time before shaking his head, "whatever, looks like you're at table ten with the other theatre kids." He handed us the tickets, shooing us away with his hand.

Just as EJ and I walked through the archway, Gina came running over, in a rainbow sequence dress, "Hey EJ, Eloise," I hadn't really gotten to know Gina yet, and if I'm honest, it's because she lowkey scares me; "you guys look so cute, are you on a date?"

For a minute, it had looked like EJ shot her a glare, but he quickly replaced it with a smile before I could ask about it, "We are," He nodded awkwardly; my heart fluttered in my chest, so he did think this was a date.

"You guys have to take a picture," Gina pushed us forward; I stumbled a bit at the sudden force; what was with her tonight? "you're easily the cutest couple here," My eyes widened at her choice of words.

"If you don't want to-" I paused as EJ wrapped his arm around my waist, leading me to where a photographer stood.

"Might as well give the people what they want," He said, shrugging his shoulders; not the exact phrase I'd been picturing, I mustered a smile as the photographers took pictures of us, taking a breath of relief once it was over. I hate getting my picture taken.

Gina walked back over to us as we made our way over to the table; EJ's arm was still around my waist, "I took some on my phone and sent them to you," She smiled at me as if we were best friends, "that way, you can post them now if you want." Before I could respond to the suddenly very friendly girl, we got to our table.

Ricky's eyes connected with mine as soon as we walked over.

I can usually read people really well, but Ricky's expression was one no one had ever looked at me with, "Hey," he breathed, his hazel eyes never leaving mine, "wow, you look, uh-"

Ricky's eyes traveled down, and he paused, now noticing that I wasn't just standing next to EJ; his arm was snaked around my waist.

"Are these seats taken?" Gina finally asked, breaking the awkward silence; Ricky simply nods, turning his attention back to whatever he had been doing on his phone.

I shoot Big Red a look as I sit down beside Carlos, silently asking what was up with his best friend; he just shrugs, shaking his head.

I thought Ricky would be happy to see me and EJ together; hadn't that been our plan all along?

I decide to brush off Ricky's weird behaviour, I mean I'm on a date with the guy I've had a crush on for as long as I can remember, I'm not going to let Ricky ruin this for me..

With these thoughts in mind, I turn to talk to EJ; I frown when I see that just like Ricky, he was on his phone too, but unlike Ricky's weird shift of emotions that I couldn't figure out, I could easily read EJ's expression, he was bored, and it was obvious he would rather be anywhere than here...
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^^ Eloise's dress
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Sorry this chapter is so short, and kind of sucks... all the drama happens next chapter so be prepared...
Thank you everyone who voted for Eloises homecoming dress!! and a special shoutout to these lovely humans who all voted on the winning dress!❤️

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