KATIE POV

Liam was gentle when he had pulled me onto the dance floor, and cupped his hands around my waist. "You look amazing, by the way." He said to me.

I briefly smiled at him, muttering a thanks. Why had he asked me to dance with him? Wasn't he with the others? Then it suddenly clicked.

I quickly let go of him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worriedly.

"Why did you ask me to dance with you?" I demanded, before glancing around me. Jay and his group would be somewhere observing us from a distance. "Is this some kind of stupid prank?"

Liam's eyes widened for a moment. "No. Katie, I asked you to dance off my own accord."

I folded my arms. "How do I know that? Nobody wants to speak to me, so why did you just come out of the blue for a dance?"

Liam sighed "Okay, I understand that you're cautious about it. But I want you to know that I left Jay's friend group."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You left." He replied.

"You know what, I can't do this." I made to leave, and Liam suddenly grabbed my hand.

"Don't go. I...I left because of you," he said to me, "I didn't like the way they were treating you. And I was sick and tired of hearing them make snide remarks about you once you left. Besides, we're all leaving this school after today, so who cares if I left? I won't be seeing them anymore."

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. He seemed rather honest...but I was hesitant to trust anyone these days.

"Hey, there you are, man," I heard the dreaded voice of Ben Harris, one of Jay's best friends, and he came up to us, drooping a muscular arm over Liam's shoulder. "I've been looking everywhere for you," his green eyes suddenly met mine, and his smirk dropped, "What is she doing here?"

Liam looked vividly agitated by Ben's gesture, and shrugged his arm off. "I told you I'm not hanging out with you guys anymore." 

Ben raised an eyebrow, and I wanted to slap that smug look off his face. "You mean you weren't joking?" He looked back at me, "You two are seriously a thing?"

"We're not a thing." I broke in, my hands gripping the sides of my trousers. I wanted him to go. I didn't want to see these people right now. "What do you want, Ben?"

Ben's smirk came back, and he scoffed. "As if I'm here for you. You seem to forget nobody cares about you anymore." He stepped forward, and I looked up at him, blinking back the tears. I needed to stop crying every time I saw one of these people. I needed to stop being so weak.

"Hey, lay off." Liam, pushed him back, but not too viciously. He knew it would cause a problem. Ben laughed, and raised his hands in mock defeat.

"Chill out, and get over yourselves. Why would I ever want to touch one of Jay's old girlfriends? That guy has terrible taste." He laughed before walking away from us, and I watched as he found his way to the group. My eyes immediately fell on Amber, as she laughed and joked with Emily, who had her arm around Jay's waist.

My jaw clenched at the sight of them. Amber was wearing the glimmering gold versace dress I'd picked out for her when we went shopping last year. I remember making her promise to wear it to prom, and even though she had another dress she'd been wanting to wear, she eventually agreed to my pleas. Seeing her wear it now made me wonder if she still thought about me. I shook my head in denial.

Of course she didn't.

She looked pretty, though. Her usual strawberry blonde locks had been replaced with bright red curls that fell down her shoulders, and bounced lightly every time she moved her head.

"Katie. Are you alright?" Liam snapped me out of my thoughts, and I looked up at him and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I think I need to go and find my sister."

He nodded, understandingly. "Cool, cool. Let's go." He walked with me off the dance floor. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Just forget about them, Katie. Remember, you won't see them again after today."

I nodded, but didn't respond. How was I supposed to forget about the people I'd spent my whole childhood with up until this year? The fact that I couldn't spend prom with someone who had been my best friend for as long as I could remember was painful, but I kept reminding myself of Jemimah and her friends; and how they had given me the love I'd never had before from anyone else, and which always made me question if I deserved it or not.

JEMIMAH POV

I felt bad for not paying much attention to Alana and her friends, as they attempted to make conversation with me. I replied to them politely, with very simple responses, but it was hard for me to focus on anything at the moment.

I felt very discomforted in the crowded space of the prom, and almost overwhelmed by all the music and grinding bodies so close to me. I thought I'd overcome my dislike for these places, but now I was beginning to realise that this trait wasn't exactly bad; it was just who I was. I needed to get out of here.

It had been a few hours now, but there was no way I could tell the others I wanted to go home. That would probably be one of my most selfish moves yet. And I hated how selfish I'd been lately, while the others tried to comfort me all the time.

I glanced over at the dance floor, to see if I could spot Beatrice and Aki. But instead, my eyes just wandered around the dancing couples, as they held each other close, and smiled at one another. I quickly turned away, a hole seeming to form in my chest. I shut my eyes, willing the suppressed images in my mind to go away.

"Jem!" I heard Katie's voice before I saw her, and she suddenly fell into my arms when I turned to her. I wrapped my arms around her.

"What's wrong?" I asked, glaring at Liam, questioningly. He had a guilty look on his face. My eyes widened. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. It's not him. I just feel weird here, so I think I'll just hang out with you." Katie replied for him, letting go of me. I looked at her and she sighed. "I just saw Jay and Emily together. And Amber laughing with them. I didn't think I could handle it. Can you just stay with me for a while?"

I gave her a sad smile, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "We can just hang out together for the rest of the night if that makes you feel better. You need to try some of this lemonade, I've never tasted anything like it." As Katie poured herself a glass of the drink, I smiled over at Liam. "Thank you for being with her, tonight."

He shook his head. "I don't think I was much help. Katie...I'll see you around, alright?"

She turned to him. "Thanks. I enjoyed the dance." She said flatly. I looked at her, and her shoulders relaxed. "I'm sorry, I've been so weird, you've been really nice to me. Hey..." She fished her phone out of her purse, "Let's keep in touch, alright?"

Liam blinked, clearly surprised, but then nodded, and they exchanged numbers, before he finally disappeared back into the crowd. I turned to Katie. "He likes you."

"Shut up, no he doesn't." She hid her smile behind her glass as she took a sip, but I could still see it. I elbowed her, playfully. "I swear, I'll pour this lemonade on you." She grinned.

"You can't, it's too good to waste." I smirked.

"Oh fair enough. It is pretty good, actually. Oh, is that Aki?"

I followed Katie's eyes to Akito, who was coming over to us, a very glum looking Beatrice following close behind him.

"What's up you guys?" I asked, and then Beatrice suddenly pushed past Aki, and flung her arms over me.

"Jemmmyyyyy." She whined.

I chuckled, and stroked her hair. "What's wrong with you, now?" I asked her, softly.

"She said she feels lightheaded," Aki explained, "Some kids were making some stupid things, so she needed to get away. She freshened up a little in the bathroom, though, while I gave those boys a piece of my mind."

I sighed. "It seems like none of us are exactly having the best time of our lives at the moment."

"It started off well, though," Beatrice let go of me, but still held my hands. "It's not like it's a lost cause."

"We can just hang out with each other from now on. Everyone seems to feel more comfortable that way," I suggested, and everyone nodded in agreement, "Was there anything else you guys wanted to try out here?"

Silence.

"Oh okay, so should we just sit down somewhere?"

"I dunno, Jem," Aki ran a hand through his hair, "It just feels so unwelcoming here, now."

"I agree." Katie added.

I looked at them. "So you all want to go home?" I tried not to sound too hopeful, and my eyebrows shot up when they all mumbled a yes. "Ah great! I am not gonna disagree with you."

"So we're really gonna spend the rest of our prom night at home?" Beatrice asked.

I tapped my chin. "Well...we can always do a house prom."

"What the hell is a house prom? A prom is supposed to be at school." Beatrice whined.

"Well, we can set a record for first ever house prom." I suggested.

She nodded slowly. "You know what? I kinda like the sound of that."

Katie took out her phone, "I'm gonna call my Mum to pick us up."

"What are we actually gonna do, though?" Aki wondered out loud.

"An all you can eat bedroom buffet." Beatrice blurted out.

"Movie marathon." Katie added.

"Challenges and games." I suggested.

Aki nodded slowly. "You know, that actually sounds way more interesting than sitting here like eggs and watching everyone else have a good time."

Susanne sounded surprised when Katie called her, and asked why we were leaving so early.

"It's boring so we're just gonna hang out at home," Katie stated, and continued to repeat how boring it was at Susanne's protests for us to stay. "It's boring though...its boring though...its boring though."

She arrived in the parking lot fifteen minutes later, and we all wasted no time climbing into her car. "Do you guys know what you're going to be doing?" Susanne asked us, as we backed out the driveway.

"Having way more fun than we were having here." Katie replied, and we all grumbled in agreement.

Beatrice played some music on the way, and so we all vibed to her playlist the whole way back. The night was already lightening up.

"Alright I'll sort out your buffet, you guys go get comfortable." Susanne said to us, as we made our way upstairs and to Katie's large bedroom.

Our house prom set up went just as planned; the Garcias brought over some snacks and Mr Nakamura brought some home cooked meals from his place too. Susanne ordered pizzas and bought a large tub of ice cream, and so Beatrice set everything up in a buffet style, putting all the food on trays along Katie's desk and dressing table, which had been cleared from all other things but food.

The adults decided to spend time together in the living room, and so the four of us had the upstairs all to ourselves.

The house prom was easily one of the best days of my life.

We played poker; with Aki winning every round, and after that did a game of twister. That would've been more fun if we hadn't all broken our bones several times while trying to be flexible, while instead cracking parts of our bodies that we didn't even know existed.

We ended up doing something less physical, while trying some challenges for TikTok.

"You guys ready for this?" I glanced around at everyone, as we sat in front of our chilli coated pizzas. "Bea, is it all set?"

Beatrice positioned her phone for recording and nodded. "And...ACTION!"

We all dived into our flaming pizzas, and my face felt red hot the moment I finished my first slice.

"I...I can't keep up with this, guys..." Katie coughed in the middle of her second bite.

"Such babies." Aki was on his fourth slice within a few minutes, and didn't stop. I watched in disbelief, as he and Beatrice kept going at it. Katie gave up after her second slice, and I stopped after my third. But hose two didn't even pause. 

It was right down to the last two slices, and Aki looked like he was slowing down.

"Ha! I'm winning this one!" Beatrice said in between mouthfuls, her face looking like it was going to explode. She soon began to slow down, and then paused to take another glass of water.

Aki looked like he was at his breaking point. 

Beatrice looked like she was about to faint. And then, she finally pushed the plate away, the last slice still sitting there. She shook her head.

Aki swallowed the last bit of pizza, and punched the air in victory.

"WOOO!" Katie cheered, and we all clapped.

"I cannot believe you beat me..."Beatrice gasped,"How did you beat me?"

But Aki was already unable to speak, as he covered his face in the cold towel that I'd lent him. "You did well." I patted his shoulder.

"Tongue...on fire..."His voice was muffled from beneath the towel. We all burst out laughing at him.

After the hype of all the games had died down, we all used a duvet to wrap around us, as we spent the rest of the night doing Netflix and chill.

When the fifth movie ended, I rested my head on Beatrice who sat right next to me, and smiled. "This was the best prom ever."

"Definitely worth leaving the school one," Katie agreed, "We would've never had this much fun there."

"Everyone there is literally missing out." Beatrice stated, and we all nodded in agreement.

I sat up and looked around at all of them, suddenly getting emotional. "I'm gonna miss you guys so much."

"Aww no, don't start that!" Beatrice looked at me, her eyes immediately filling with tears, "But I'm gonna miss everyone too." She pouted.

"We've been through a lot. And we're still here, together", Aki smiled, "We've still got the whole summer together."

"I just feel like I didn't get enough time with you guys", Katie said, and I noticed a teardrop from her eye, even though the lights were off, and the only light was coming from her laptop screen. "I wish I started hanging out with you guys sooner. I just wasted so much time with those idiots." She sniffed, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"OH COME ON DON'T DO THAT, KATIE." Beatrice burst into tears, and flung her arms around Katie, "STOP CRYING."

"At least you still joined us before we separated," I pointed out, feeling myself start to tear up. "But I'm so glad we got all this time together."

"If you guys keep crying, I'll end up crying so just stop it already." Aki said, his voice beginning to tremble. These people are so emotional.

"Aww, is hanging out with too many girls getting you soft, Kiki?" Beatrice teased, and he glared at her. 

"Don't be ridiculous". He retorted. I rolled my eyes and pulled him towards me, before pulling into the other two, so we were all in a group hug.

Going to the school prom was a reminder that we were still the misfits at school. That was probably not going to change. We were the misfits, but we had our own identity. We had our own world. And we had us.

I knew that even after we went our separate ways, we would all still be there for each other, and all I could do was thank my lucky stars that I had these amazing people in my life.