The teddy bear Tyler gave me was all I could think about as I rushed downstairs. It was like it was the best stuffed animal I've ever had. In fact, it is. Not only because it was gifted to me by Tyler. It was because it marked something special that happened to me.

A few months ago, I would not expect that to happen. I believed that only elites attend prom—and similar school events in general. I believed that being popular was amazing for everyone. I believed that people have to be popular in order to date anyone they wanted.

But now, I don't believe that anymore.

I know that no matter what clique you're in, good things can still happen to you, such as going to prom with a person you admire. I know that cliques don't determine who a person is. I know that anything is possible—no matter how much doubt you have.

After a long month of waiting, the day has finally arrived. The day of prom. Mere words can't express how excited I feel about attending it. I want to jump up and down with excitement, like a kid finding out they got something they wanted for Christmas. But for the sake of my energy, I won't do that.

Instead of staying in bed until two in the afternoon like I normally would on a Saturday morning, I got up at nine AM and instantly started getting ready. With the help of Mom, I managed to get a dress that made me look amazing.

The scarlett red dress managed to reach the ground, brushing against it as I walked. Below my chest, a matching red ribbon was tied around in a bow. It made the dress look better than me, rather than just letting the dress hang down on me.

Some people would think that the dress is new, but the truth is that it's not. Instead of going to the mall to buy an overpriced dress that I would only wear once, Mom decided to be reasonable and nice enough to lend me a dress that was hers when she was my age.

I'm sure that some people would think that it was "tacky" of me to do that if they find out, but I don't care. As long as I have a dress good enough to wear to prom and a date, I'm guaranteed to enjoy it. Fortunately, I already have both of them.

I met Mom at the front door. One hand was on her hip, while the other clouded over her eye. She dabbed her eye with a tissue before sobbing a waterfall out of her eyes. I could tell that she wasn't crying sad tears. She was crying tears of joy.

"You kids grow up so rápido," she sobbed with a smile. "It was like you were un bebe yesterday. Now you're older. . . and you're going to your first prom."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes playfully as she continued sobbing. Sometimes, I wondered why some parents would get super emotional over certain things and always mutter out five words. They grow up so fast.

Maybe I don't understand because I'm not a mother. If I ever became one, then maybe I'd understand. Maybe being a parent hits differently than not being one. But for now, I don't want to know.

"I know, I know, but please don't cry, Mamá." I assured her with a brief hug.

"I'll try not to, amor," she smiled again with a sniff. "By the way, shouldn't you get going by now? You don't want to be tarde."

"I'm going to get going now. Tyler will be here any minute now," I glanced at my phone.

It's five twenty-eight in the afternoon, a little bit over thirty minutes before prom starts. Because of how crowded the place might be, it's best to get there a little bit early so we won't have to wait in line for a long time.

"Can I meet him? He sounds nice," Mom asked.

"Yes, ven afuera," I motioned her out the door.

We stepped out into the front porch and passed the plants that hung down from above and flower pots that were on the ground. An unfamiliar black car was parked on our driveway. The window of the front seat rolled down, and it revealed Tyler's dad. His mother was in the passenger seat, while he was in the back.

He stepped out of the car with an adorable smile spread across his face. His hair was in a fresh and handsome haircut, one that wasn't too different than the one he usually had. He wore a black suit and dress shoes, making his rose red tie stand out.

He had a bouquet of red tulips in his hands. The hue of them was similar to my dress. He handed them to me with a warm smile as his eyes twinkled.

"These are for you, Rose," he handed the tulips to me. "I'm happy to go to prom with you."

"Thank you! These look gorgeous," I beamed, glancing back at Mom. "By the way, this is my mother. She wanted to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Jiminez-Cruz. I'm Tyler," he extended a hand to shake hers.

"It's nice to meet you too," Mom cooed with a sweet smile.

Mom started to walk towards the car to meet his parents. Before she approached it, she stopped dead in her tracks to stare at me.

"He's cute," she mouthed, only to make blood rush up my cheeks.

I let a nonchalant chuckle escape my mouth as Tyler turned to me. We were now alone and had privacy. Well, kind of. My mother and his parents were still close to us, but not too close.

"Your mom must like me," he quipped with a smirk.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes playfully as he started chuckling. Part of me thought that he was joking, but the other part of me thought that he wasn't.

Whatever the case is, I do not appreciate Mom already embarrassing me in front of Tyler. Hopefully, she won't say anything else that is humiliating.

"So. . . do you like my dress?" I questioned, glancing down at the end of my dress.

"Yeah, I do. It's gorgeous," he admired.

"That's great," I smiled. "I hope I look good enough. I decided not to wear any make-up or anything."

"You don't need any make-up to look amazing. You already do," he gushed.

I felt my cheeks warm up rapidly as heat prickled around my ears. There wasn't a way to hide my blushing, especially because it felt so. . . red.

Tyler stood there and smiled innocently. I can't let Tyler see my face like this. It'll be so. . . embarrassing. But now, it's already too late to take action. Tyler chuckled as he stared directly at me.

"Thank you," I beamed nonchalantly.

He grinned at me as he motioned me towards the car. My mom and his parents continued chatting as we went in the back seat of it.

"It's time for us to get going. Prom is going to start soon. It was nice meeting you, Ms. Jimenez-Cruz," Tyler's dad announced as he started the car.

"It was nice meeting you all, too," Mom said. "Have a great time at prom, you two,"

She winked at me before walking towards our house. I glimpsed at Tyler's parents as the car started to move. Ms. Parker was focused on looking at a home magazine while Mr. Parker was staring straight outside as he drove.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Ms. Parker," I introduced myself to them.

"It's lovely to meet you too," Tyler's dad gleamed.

"Yeah, it is," Tyler's mom agreed. "You picked out a nice prom date. She's friendly and cute,"

"Yeah, I know," Tyler turned to me with a coy smile.

My hand rested over the soft, real leather seats of the car. He cupped his over mine within a moment. I couldn't help but grin endlessly as the ride went on.

The ride to the place that sophomore prom will be taking place is around ten minutes away from my house. That means that we will spend a little while in the car. Ten minutes can sometimes fly by fast, but it can also go by slow. It all depends on the situation.

To make the ride not seem awkward, Mr. Parker started telling us a story about when Tyler was little. It wasn't just any story—it was a story that only Tyler found embarrassing.

"When Tyler was little, he always wanted to eat only foods that were green. He thought that if he'd do this, he'd turn green because it was his favorite color," Mr. Parker quipped, not taking his eyes off the road.

Ms. Parker giggled as she looked back at Tyler, who had his hands onto his face in embarrassment. He looked like he wanted the ride to be over already.

"Is there a reason why you wanted to be green, Tyler?" I laughed, clapping my hands together.

"I don't know. I guess I liked green so much to the point where I wanted to be green," he replied. "But that failed."

"Yeah," Ms. Parker giggled. "But at least it got you to eat a lot of vegetables. We didn't even have to convince you to eat them at dinnertime."

"I remember that. We were lucky that we didn't have to convince you to eat them," Mr. Parker chuckled.

Tyler sunk into the car seat, his hands still placed on his face. He groaned quietly as he mumbled, "I can't wait for this ride to be over."

Lucky for him, the car came to a stop at the parking lot of the arena where the prom is taking place. It was already packed with cars that had students come out of them, but it wasn't completely full.

The four of us exited the car and stood in front of it. Ms. Parker pulled out her phone from her pocket and looked at Tyler and I with a grin.

"How about I take pictures of you two? You guys will remember and cherish this day for a long time," she offered, holding up her phone towards her face.

Tyler and I exchanged hesitant glances, thinking of whether we should take a picture or not. We nodded to each other as Ms. Parker got her phone ready. Mr. Parker stood behind her with a proud grin.

"We'll take a picture, Mom," Tyler stated, positioning himself closer to me.

I wrapped my arm around his with a broad smile spread across my face. Tyler's mom took a picture within a moment. We unpositioned ourselves and approached her to take a peek at the picture she took.

The best part about looking at the picture was us. . . together. We had sweet smiles on our faces that brightened the mood.

"Thank you for taking a picture for us, Ms. Parker," I thanked her.

"No problem, sweetie," she answered while a relieved smile expanded across her face. "You two should get going. Prom will start soon for you two."

"Enjoy it, you two!" Mr. Parker called out before heading towards the driver's seat of the car.

"We will. Thanks!" Tyler exclaimed.

He gently grabbed my hand and led me towards the door of the arena. It wasn't any typical arena anyone would see. It was rather fancy. There were colorful flowers that were neatly planted outside the front of the building. There was also a small water fountain in the area where there were most flowers.

The path we were walking on was made of stone that was paved. Small lanterns were planted into the grass at the side of the path that stopped at the entrance.

We passed many students who socialized in front of the doors and entered the building. A lot of the people were recognizable as some weren't. There were signs hung up that led us to where prom is. After a few minutes, we made it to our destination.

We handed our tickets to the man that stood at the doorway who collected tickets to go inside the enormous room. It was the ballroom, the one where we would stay before dinner.

Loud Drake music blasted through the speakers, covered by students who talked loudly with their dates and friends. The room was decorated with fairy lights and holographic decorations that hung on the ceiling and walls. There was a huge sign that had "Prom" plastered across it in golden letters.

Lizzie and Tracey stood near one of the exit doors of the room, waving at me with broad smiles on their faces. I approached them as Tyler followed from inches behind me.

"Lizzie! Tracey! You're here!" I beamed.

"We are," Lizzie smiled. "We bought our tickets a little late, but we still made it here."

"Yeah," Tracey agreed, resting her arms on her dress. "This is going to be awesome. I can't wait to see what foods they have at dinnertime."

I nodded my head in agreement as I narrowed my eyes at the prom sign again. From that, I knew that prom would be amazing. With the best prom date I could possibly have and a dress I could feel comfortable in, everything will be great.