It was prom day.

Veronica and Megan had come over to my place, so we could get ready together (girls just doing girl things, you know), and it was actually really fun. Both of them looked absolutely stunning. Megan was wearing a short red dress with a sweetheart neckline that suited her perfectly. Veronica had chosen an olive-green sleeveless dress with lace. I had gone with a deep blue dress, and a strappy kind of sleeve that crossed over at the back. Megan was extremely proud of my dress choice. "Oh my god, Alex you look stunning."

"Ha, thanks. You on the other hand, look drop dead gorgeous."

"Girl, stahp." Megan said all sassily, flipping her hair as well. I smiled.

The guys came over to pick us up in Shawn's car. We all felt the limo thing would be way too cheesy for our group. Although, Shawn's shiny Mercedes certainly had a somewhat elegant look.

We walked outside, where the guys were standing on the pavement waiting for us. The moment my eyes met Shawn's; I smiled wide. He looked super cute in his suit and tie, which was a dark blue to match my dress. It was adorable.

He was staring at me with a mesmerized look on his face as I approached. "Hey."

"You look- wow."

I laughed. "You look great too, Hunter."

My mom and Nick were standing by the door watching us. After taking about a hundred pictures, my mom finally agreed to let us leave. I gave Nick a fist bump, but of course he had to ruin it.

"Hey sis, you look super ugly in that dress."

"Thanks asshole."

"No problem, shitbrain."

I rolled my eyes and got into the car, and we were off. Everyone started talking excitedly about prom, but I just stared out the window lost deep in thought. I'd already started planning every minute of Stanford in my head. I couldn't wait to get there. The fact that I would have Shawn and Megan with me was amazing. We were the only three people in the whole school who had gotten in. Of course, there were a lot of high achieving nerds going to schools like Columbia and Dartmouth but still. It was pretty awesome.

One thing kept bothering me though. We never actually found out who sent that stupid edited picture. I know everything worked out now and its all good, but I can't help but wonder what would have happened if that photo had never been sent to me.

We reached the school soon enough and the place looked AMAZING. The gym had been completely redone to look like a definitive cheesy prom theme. There were purple and blue streamers everywhere, with white balloons. There were round tables placed at one end away from the dance floor, and the deejay had set up shop on the bleachers. The place was bustling with people already.

"You ready for this?"

I turned sideways to face Shawn, who looked extremely nervous. I smiled and held his hand in mine. "Hell, yeah."

We walked in holding hands, and all of our friends started socializing soon enough. I ran into some of the girls from the team and greeted all of them, complimenting their looks. They all genuinely looked so damn good; I felt like a proud mama hen.

Of course, there were a few whispers and comments from people about Shawn and I, but almost everyone was positive about it. There were a few mean people obviously, but I didn't pay any attention to them.

"I just knew you guys were gonna get together." Stacy spoke. "It was so obvious."

I smiled. "Sure, Stace."

"Hey! But seriously, I totally love you guys."

The rest of the prom almost went by in a blur. I had to admit, it was one of the most fun nights I'd had in a while. After playing some hype songs, the deejay had started to play slow songs again. Shawn held out his hand with a goofy smile on his face. "Care to dance, Pierce?"

I rolled my eyes, taking his hand. "Sure, Hunter."

We walked out onto the dance floor as Dandelions by Ruth B started playing. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as Shawn and I swayed together, his hands around my waist and my arms around his neck. I could hear the lyrics in the background, playing softly in my head.

But it's so good, I've never known anybody like you.

He was looking at me with this weird look on his face. I raised my eyebrows. "What is it?"

He took a second to answer. "I just never imagined that I would be here with you."

"Me neither."

His expression turned a little serious for a second. "I just... I never thought I could possibly do anything to deserve you. I mean, I know this sounds kinda cheesy, but it's true. I'm sure you heard a lot of crappy things about me in the beginning."

"Well...yeah."

But it's so good, I've never dreamed of nobody like you.

He sighed. "Unfortunately, some of it was probably true. Although, to be completely honest, I actually never cheated on Kayla."

Now it was my turn to look a little shocked. "Really?"

"Yeah. We never really agreed to be anything exclusive, you know? We just hooked up once and she kinda never let me go after that. I just humored her around school or else she would start stalking me and be a huge pain in my ass."

I was stunned. "Wow. I used to resent you for that."

"I know."

"Like, a lot."

"I know."

"I'm glad it's not true."

And I've heard of a love that comes, once in a lifetime.

His eyes lit up again as he held me closer, the two of us still swaying to the music. I rested my head against his chest, the rest of the room becoming a purple and blue smudge. None of it mattered at this moment. Nothing but us.

And I'm pretty sure that you are that, love of mine.

He pulled me away from his chest and I looked up at him. "I love you, Alex Pierce."

"I love you too, Shawn Hunter."

He kissed me, and the world felt like it could end at that moment.

********************************

It was officially graduation day. The day I would no longer be a high school student. The day my life forever changes. Woah.

It was a bright and sunny afternoon as everyone piled onto the football field, assembling to sit on the chairs. A lot of family members had started coming in, and soon enough the place was going to be packed. I was super nervous as I sat behind the stage with the rest of the seniors, fidgeting with my blue gown.

Since we were going to be going in alphabetical order, I wasn't standing near any of my friends. I just nervously stood by myself for the next ten minutes or so, until they finally started the program.

After a long speech from the principal, I heard the names being called out as one by one, all my friends walked onto the stage. Megan was first, since her name was Megan Austin. Tyler and I were closer to the end.

"Alex Peirce!"

I braced myself as my name was called out, walking up the steps onto the stage. I heard the loud cheers and shouts from my family. Almost laughing as I turned to the left, I saw my mom, dad and Nick up on their feet, cheering for me.

I took my diploma and stood for the picture, walking towards my seat on the stage. Once the rest of the names were called out, it was time for the valedictorian speech and the awards. I didn't really listen to much of it, although I did hear them call out Tyler's name.

"The award for best sportsmanship goes to- Tyler Thompson!"

No freaking way. I was one of the loudest people cheering, as a stunned Tyler walked onto the podium, with disbelief on his face. If anyone deserved that award, it was him.

Once the event was over, I made my way through the crowd, towards my family. "I did it!"

They all smiled as they embraced me in a group hug. It was kind of awkward in the beginning between my mom and dad, but they'd managed to pull themselves together for my graduation, thank god. In fact, now that they weren't married anymore, they actually seemed to be getting along better. Weird.

All the parents started to go inside for dinner, but most of the students hung back on the field to take pictures. I took a ton with my friends, a lot of them perfectly candid. It was nice.

I was just talking to Ezra and Veronica, when Brad came up to us. "Hey guys."

"Hey Brad." Ezra greeted cheerily. Brad however, didn't look as cheery. He looked a little nervous and sweaty if anything. "Alex, do you have a minute?"

Ezra and I exchanged confused glances, but I agreed nevertheless. "Sure."

We walked a little further away from the others, and I waited for him to speak. He shakily rubbed the back of his neck before starting. "I'm really sorry."

"Uh, for what?"

He seemed to be having trouble making sentences, but I patiently waited for him to continue. "I know you're going to want to punch me after I say it so, I just wanted to say I'm sorry first."

"Sorry about wha-"

Then I knew.

"You?" I asked incredulously. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Hold on Alex, it's not what you think-"

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!"

I almost shoved him right then and there, but people started to turn towards me when I shouted so I didn't. I also didn't want to make a scene, so I forced myself to calm down.

Luckily, Shawn walked over to me at that second, wondering what was going on. "Alex? Brad? What are you two doing?"

"It was him."

"What?"

"It was him, Shawn. He sent that fucking photo."

Shawn's reaction was instantaneous. I had to stop him from lunging at Brad, my strength barely enough to stop him. "Shawn, don't. This isn't the place."

He still looked furious, but he restrained himself. Brad looked like he was going to pee his pants. Once I made sure Shawn wasn't going to pounce, I spoke. "Explain yourself."

"Look, I- I was shit faced wasted when I did it okay? I've just had feelings for a really long time and I couldn't take it anymore when I saw you two together, so I did it. I knew I had to come clean now, because I didn't want to end the year not having apologized. I'm really, really sorry."

"Yeah well, I couldn't care less about your shitty feelings for her Brad, because guess what? Alex and I are together anyways. So, your bullshit plan did not work. Try and justify it all you want, but a sorry isn't enough." Shawn spoke angrily.

"Wait, that's not what-"

"Like I said, you can't fucking justify it-"

"I never had feelings for Alex!"

Shawn stopped. "What?"

All the colour had drained from Brad's face. Shawn and I exchanged glances. What the hell was this guy on about?

"What the fuck are you saying then?" Shawn asked, impatiently.

"I...I um- I've kind of had um, feelings for uh, well, you."

I almost heard a record screech.

"What?"

"You're gay?"

I couldn't believe it. All this time, I really thought he had feelings for me, but it was for Shawn. Woah, what on earth. Of all the things, that was the last thing I was expecting.

There was an awkward silence for like a whole minute, up to the point where I felt like I had to speak just to end it. Luckily for me, Shawn spoke first. Surprisingly, he almost looked... sympathetic.

"Listen dude, that's great for you and all for realizing who you are and everything, but what you did still wasn't cool."

"I know." The guy looked fully dejected. My anger almost vanished just by looking at his face.

"I'm sure you'll find the right guy for yourself soon enough. Just don't pull shit like that again."

Brad looked up, relieved. "Yeah. Thanks."

We parted ways and walked off to eat dinner. When we told the others, they were shocked. "Jesus Christ, Brad has feelings for Hunter? That's the craziest thing I've heard all day." Ronnie spoke.

"Yeah. I almost felt bad for him towards the end though."

We finished up eating and walked out together, as I turned back and looked at the dark school building behind me. For the last four years, this place had been my own personal torment. Everything that had happened since then, was such a whirlwind of crazy things. Four years of memories. But to be completely honest, looking back, I wouldn't change a thing.