3.39 Prom

“Mr. Gray?” Night asked. “Can I ask you a question?”

“What is it, Night?” Apollo turned to the boy. He wondered what kind of crazy question he’d ask next. Night was always asking questions about everything. It could be annoying at times but Apollo enjoyed his tenacity.

“You know about this prom thing at school right?” Night asked.

“Mhmm, do you want to go? I’m sending the check in with Ken tomorrow. I can add you to the list if you’ve had a change of heart.” Night had already told Apollo that he wasn’t going to go to prom if Scarlett wasn’t, despite Scarlett’s protests that he should go and have fun.

“It’s something like that.” Night paused to find the right words. “I want to ask for your permission to ask Scarlett to be my date.”

Apollo raised a brow. “You think that would make her come out of her shell a bit more?”

Night nodded. “Yeah. I know that she said she didn’t want to go, but I think we could really have some fun. It isn’t doing her any good staying here with you guys. Not that you guys aren’t fun, I’m just saying…”

“No, I get it.” Apollo thought for a moment. If he’d ask three years ago he would have instantly said no. But, Night hadn’t shown anything but concern for Scarlett, and Ken and Bailey were going dateless so they’d be able to stop anything from happening. It was the same as allowing Pandora to go with Alen, except Apollo actually knew how Night was. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. I hope you can get her to loosen up a little bit. BUT not too much. I don’t want any alcohol, no after prom AND you should all be home by curfew. If anything goes wrong you know how to reach me and if that’s not possible, go to Ken, Pandora or Bailey. Understood?”

Night nodded enthusiastically. “Yes sir! Oh, I can’t wait, I hope she says yes! I’m going to ask her right now!”

  Scarlett stood as she heard a knock on the door. “Night, is that you?”

Night laughed from the other side of the door. “You can tell when it’s me?”

“It’s only been three years, Night.” Scarlett said sarcastically. “I can tell the difference between your knock and someone else’s.” She opened to door and allowed him to enter.

“How’s my knock different?” Night asked.

“You knock with…” She placed her hand on her chin, contemplating the right word. “consideration. You knock as if the door was a living thing and you don’t want to hurt it.”

Night rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t like disturbing you, so I knock lightly. That’s not bad right?”

Scarlett smiled. “No it isn’t, and you need to stop asking that. You’re a good guy, don’t worry about stuff like that.”

“I’m happy you think that,” Night said. “Because I don’t want you to think anything wrong of me for what I’m about to ask you.”

“Whaaa?” Scarlet asked in shock as Night kneeled down and grabbed her hand.

He slowly brought it up to his lips and kissed it. “I know that you don’t want to go to prom, but it’d mean a lot to me if you’d be my date.”

Scarlett looked away, a bright blush forming on her face. She left her hand in his, enjoying it’s warmth. “I..uh…I can’t go to prom. Stand up Night…what are..uhh…” She stammered. Night made her so nervous. She felt like she would trip over her words if she talked to him any longer. “Sorry…my answer is no.”

She tried to take her hand out of his but he held it firmly. “Please look at me, Scarlett.”

She bit her lip. “You’re not even allowed in here, you know my dad’s rules.”

“I just asked him and he said it was fine if I asked you to prom. He thinks it’s a good idea. I want you to understand where I’m coming from, Scarlett. I may not know a lot of things about being a human but I do know a lot about you. I’m tired of seeing you so upset! This isn’t even about me having fun. I want you to have fun. I know that you’re shy, and being in front of all those people makes you nervous, but you don’t have to worry. I’ll be there the entire time. I won’t leave your side. So please come with me,” Night begged.

Scarlett looked at him and felt her heart beat at the sincerity of his words. “Ok, fine,” She said quietly. “But you better not break your promise.”

“I won’t.” He stood up and hugged her.

“Wow Bailey, I underestimated you. You’re a better gamer than I expected,” Apollo taunted.

“Really? I’m your blood 100% of course I’m good at games.” She turned to him. “Actually, grandma told me how to beat level eighteen. Apparently, it’s a really tough one.”

“Apparently.” He nodded. “Grandma told you how to butter me up, huh?”

“What? No way!” Bailey laughed nervously. “I wanted to play this game with you.”

“Uh-huh, what is it really? I haven’t seen you pick up a controller in your life.”

“A party…” Bailey began.

“You’re not going.” Apollo quickly shut her down. “I’ll go get Ken to make you cry again.”

“Dad!” Bailey whined. “Stop it, that’s not even funny. I didn’t even have to tell you that, but I did.” Apollo laughed. “Anyway! I meant that I wanted to have a party here, a sleepover. Boys stay in Ken’s room, girls stay in ours.”

“I like that idea much better than you going to someone else’s party, but I don’t know if I can have that many teens running around this house. There’s already four of you and Alistair’s birthday is coming soon.”

“Well see, I’ve got it all planned out. I won’t invite many people, and we’ll have it the night before prom. We can have fun and then the next day we get ready and then go to prom in our limo…” Bailey pitched. Apollo looked skeptical. He wondered if that was such a good idea. “Please daddy! You’re denying us an after prom party, at least give us this.”

Apollo could not resist when his children gave him the puppy dog eyes. He was a softie, Ethan was the tough daddy. “Fine…but just know that you will have my supervision.”

Bailey kissed his cheek. “Thank you daddy!”

“Happy Birthday kiddo,” Ambrose said. “Did you see what I got you?”

“Dragon racers, thanks so much uncle Ambrose! Woohoo! I’m so excited to play with it!”

“You know who would love to play with you?” Ambrose smirked. “Besides me.”

“Uhm…Ken?” Alistair asked.

“Your dad actually,” Ambrose said. “He loves video games.”

“What!? Really!?” Alistair nearly jumped up from his chair. “Wait…which one? Ethan barely knows how to use the computer.”

“No, Apollo,” Ambrose chuckled. “He likes Alien Invasion. Ask him about it one day.”

Time seemed to fly by, because before the Grays new it, it was the day before prom. “I can’t believe dad actually let her have a party,” Ken groaned.

“Too many people in one place?” Pandora smirked.

“I have to watch all of you guys now. Night is completely clueless. Bailey is wild in front of other people and you’re too forward. The only person I don’t have to worry about is Scarlett who will probably hide upstairs,” Ken said.

“Whatever, they’re not my friends,” Scarlett said. “So I shouldn’t have to entertain them.”

“I’m friends with some of them,” Night said.

“Alen is coming, so I’m happy,” Pandora said.

“Which is the worst idea of all,” Ken said. “Let your boyfriend sleep over, nothing bad will happen. Yeah right.”

“Night lives here, I don’t see the problem. Him and Scarlett are practically dating!” Pandora argued.

“We are not!” Scarlett said quickly trying to cover her face.

“Why do you keep covering your face everytime someone says anything about us?” Night asked.

“She’s embarrassed,” Pandora said.

Night frowned, “Of me? I’m sorry!”

“It’s not you…” Scarlett mumbled. “It’s love. I don’t like it.”

“It’s a wonderful thing. I love Alen, but I haven’t told him yet. He hasn’t even kissed me yet,” Pandora confided. “He should be here in a few minutes, he just texted me. SHould I make the first move?”

Night nodded enthusiastically. “If you like him!”

“Alright, wish me luck!” Pandora stood up excitedly from her chair.

“What…no, don’t listen to him!” Ken stood up.

“Relax,” Scarlett said softly. “She really likes him.”

“I thought you didn’t like love.” Ken scowled.

“I don’t like being in love, but seeing other people happy, especially my family, is a good feeling.”

“Hey, Pandora, I’ve misse-” Alen was cut off by Pandora’s lips on his. He stood back in shock. “Pandora?”

“Oh no…you didn’t like it? I’m sorry!” She said quickly.

“No, that’s not it.” He laughed. “It was nice. I was just shocked. You gave me no warning.”

“I know, but I just wanted you to know how I felt. I’ve been thinking about it for awhile. Not knowing was bothering me, so I had to just do it myself, and face the rejection if it came,” She admitted.

“Who could reject you?” Alen asked. “It’s impossible.”

“Yeah, you’d be surprised,” She said sadly.

“Those people are dumb,” Alen said softly. “You’re an incredible human being no matter what anyone says. I love you.”

She smiled and hugged him. “I love you too. Just none of this in front of my dads or else they’ll probably beat you up.”

“Everyone is here, okay, it’s showtime.” Bailey gave herself a pep talk. Her best friend, Dawn ran up and hugged her.

“This is seriously awesome of your parents to let us come here!”

Bailey nodded. “Yep, I’ve got some pretty great parents.”

“Guys!” Ginger nearly shouted as she came into the room. “I seriously couldn’t wait until I saw you to say this, but guess who broke up RIGHT before prom?”

“Who?” Dawn asked.

“Addy and Jameson!” Ginger exclaimed. “Do you know what this means?”

Bailey jumped in. “We won’t be the talk of the dance anymore because nobody asked us!”

“Exactly!” Ginger cried.

“Guys!” Dawn placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “Nobody was talking about us for not having dates.”

“Kristen was,” Bailey said.

“She doesn’t have a date either,” Dawn said.

“What?” Bailey asked. “She’s the most popular girl in school. She has to have a date.”

“She has her eyes on someone and she plans on asking him tonight,” Dawn said. “Your brother.”

“What? No! My sister is dating her brother. You can’t do that, it’s gross.” Bailey placed her finger in her mouth to mimic vomiting.

“She probably expects her brother to dump Pandora,” Ginger rolled her eyes. “What a spoiled priss.”

As Ginger and Dawn set up their things, Bailey sat and began to ponder the situation. Ken would definitely say no to Kristen, she’d get mad and slander his name all over the school. Sure they’d be graduating, but they’d still be seeing each other around and who knew what Kristen was capable of? Because of Pandora’s relationship with Alen, Kristen was closer than ever. What if she tried something on Pandora? Would she even go that far?

“Bailes, she’s here,” Ginger warned. “I can’t believe she came.”

“To capture her prize,” Dawn said. “Why wouldn’t she come?”

“This is sickening, you don’t think she’ll try anything when my brother turns her down do you?” Bailey asked.

“If your brother was smart he wouldn’t turn her down,” Ginger said.

“He doesn’t like her, he will. So what do we do?”

“Tell everyone the truth, get it on recording for good measure and spread it across the school like wildfire,” Ginger suggested.

“ONLY if things get out of control, but I can’t say that I don’t agree with her,” Dawn said.

As Kristen approached Ken, Bailey turned on her phone recorder. It didn’t feel right spying on her brother like this, but she wanted to protect him if anything happened.

“Ken,” Kristen said happily. “How are you?”

“I’m good, how are you?” Ken said calmly.

“Fantastic, this is quite a party that your sister threw. It really sucks that you’re not going to after prom. There’s this huge get together a bunch of us are having at this club, it’s going to be amazing. You should sneak out and join us.” She batted her lashes at him. “It’d be fun.”

“I’m really not interested,” Ken said flatly. “Sorry.”

“Your sister Bailey could come, you know how much that would mean to her,” Kristen told him.

“Are you playing that card on me? Bailey is an adult she doesn’t care about petty stuff like that. Just leave me alone and stop hitting on me. My sister is dating your brother, so just leave it at that,” Ken said angrily.

“Seriously Ken? Are you sure you want to turn me down?” She practically growled.

“Yes,” Ken said simply. “So leave the party now because you weren’t even invited.”

Bailey’s eyes widened as Kristen listened to Ken and left the party. Seriously!? She looked down at her phone. SHe had the conversation recorded. SHe just had to avoid telling Ken about it unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Scarlett, it’s getting late. You should go inside and sleep,” Ethan said.

“But, dad,” She pleaded. “I’m an adult. I don’t want to!”

“Your friends are waiting for you inside,” Ethan said. “They told me to get you.”

“My friends aren’t at this party,” Scarlett said.

“Ginger and Dawn,” Ethan said. “They want to talk about your prom dress or something. I don’t know.”

“Ginger and Dawn are Bailey’s friends!” Scarlett said angrily. “I’m not going to sleep now. It’s way too crowded up there. There’s like four girls sleeping in that room. I don’t want to, I don’t like any of them.”

“So where are you going to sleep?” Ethan asked. “The living room?”

“I was hoping the basement,” She said. “There’s a bed down there. Please?”

He sighed. “Fine, but don’t draw any attention to my room. It could be really bad.”

“Trust me dad, no one is looking for me, I can pretty much blend into the wall. It’s fine,” She murmured before she stalked off.

Stirring awake, Scarlett covered her face to block out the light. She felt someone next to her. Looking over she saw Alistair. “You’re finally awake!” Alistair cried in exasperation.

“What are you doing down here?” Scarlett asked.

“It got too noisy! The girls stayed up all night talking about how they were going to do their hair and the boys were talking about video games. I just wanted to sleep, so dad said I could come down here to. I just couldn’t disturb you. But, I didn’t right?”

“Nah, of course not Ally.” She ruffled his hair.

“Hey!” He said angrily. “Don’t call me that!”

“Aww come on, I think it’s cute,” Scarlett laughed. “I like it.”

“It’s a girl’s name,” He said angrily. “I am a boy.”

“Fine, whatever.” She stood up. “How long do you think I have until Bailey comes looking for me? She wants to dress me up. It’s going to suck.”

“If you don’t want to go, then why are you going?” Alistair asked.

“Because Night asked me to.” Scarlett blushed.

“Gross.” Alistair rolled over in the bed.

“Hey, it isn’t like that!” She said angrily.

“Sure it isn’t!”

Everyone had left the party and went back to their own houses to get ready for Prom. It was only the Gray teens going in their limousine.

“I really have some great genes,” Apollo laughed. “You guys all look amazing.”

“Hey, I helped too,” Ethan said. “Only with Pandora, but still. It counts.”

“Oh yes, dad, thanks for the sexy red hair!” Pandora cheered. “I love it!”

“She’s a total man killer, Look at her,” Ethan said proudly.

“You all look good, even you Night,” Apollo said.

“Really?” He asked excitedly. “I wanted to match Scarlett’s dress.”

“You two are so adorable,” Bailey gushed. “I wish I had a date.”

“You don’t need a date,” Ken said. “I don’t have a date.”

“It’s not like your friends have dates so it won’t be awkward,” Pandora said. “It’ll be so much fun.”

They all heard the honk of a horn. “Looks like the limo is here. You guys know the rules. Be really careful and look out for each other. Have fun.” One by one the kids all hugged Ethand and Apollo, even Night who was so grateful for all they had done for him.

“I expect you guys home by midnight!” Apollo called out to them.

Ethan rubbed Apollo’s back soothingly. “Relax, they’ll be fine. They’re adults, let them have some fun. They’re responsible.”

Apollo nodded. “I know, but I can’t help it. I love them.”