Chapter 97: Adorkable

The gym had been decorated to fit the bill, long colorful sashes, curtains, balloons, festive lights, banners and artificial garlands hung everywhere.

Alongside it were the tables and chairs which had been neatly arranged whilst giving room for the dance floor, a disco ball hanging overhead and the speakers arranged in the corner.

Dropping the gallon off with the committee, the students and teacher in-charge already eyeing the ten-liter gallon, Aiden simply made his way towards one of the chairs, hands tucked into his pocket.

Then, taking a seat next to Lizzie whom was already seated in wait, he then asked, his expression reserved despite his curiosity;

"So, what was it you wanted to speak to me about?"

Looking over briefly, the blonde-haired lady whom was dressed in a beautiful, ocean-blue evening gown that matched her irises began, her expression genuine;

"I... I never got around to apologizing to you, Aiden,"

"You know... for leading you on..." she admitted with a guilty wince.

"And for... trying to kiss you... on the stairs..." she added a moment after, her tone quieter, and a hint of shame on her features.

Aiden simply bobbed his head a bit from side to side with a thin smile, clearly unperturbed by it as he replied simply;

"Apology accepted,"

Though he understood that she did the former out of a desperation for attention and the latter in the heat of the moment with confused feelings, it didn’t detract from the fact that she did it anyway.

He also guessed she needed closure to fully move on... though she might’ve wrongfully assumed he needed it too.

Which was why,

"It’s all in the past, anyway." Aiden added a moment after to clarify things, an honest smile on his lips as he glanced over to her with a little shrug.

Seeing this, Lizzie realized that she was perhaps the only one of them whom had been holding onto the moment, a slightly bitter smile touching her lips as she said;

"I really was a bitch, huh?"

"Not my words..." Aiden joked without sugarcoating it, a light smile touching his lips as Lizzie chuckled in response, her demeanor still carrying that hint of bitterness.

For a moment, a quiet silence descended between both individuals. Then, a minute after, Aiden broke the silence with a tentative question;

"So, how’s uh... how’s home?"

"They’re still splitting, and it isn’t getting any easier but..." Lizzie replied casually, brushing her hand through her hair as she continued with a soft, accepting nod a moment after;

"...I think I’ll be fine. Dr. Kowalski really helped me sort through a lot of baggage I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to on my own."

"Thank you for that, too." she added a moment after, her smile genuinely grateful.

Nodding in acknowledgement, Aiden then said;

"It’s great to hear that."

Following that, yet another moment of silence descended between both parties.

Lest things got awkward for her though, Lizzie rose to her feet and then said with a warm smile;

"That’s all I wanted to say, I guess."

"It was a good talk." Aiden rose from the chair as well, ready to take his leave.

Before he could manage to give his pleasantries though, Lizzie spoke;

"Do you think we could’ve worke--"

"You know what. Never mind. It’s such a silly thing to ask--" she immediately tried to dismiss it, only for Aiden to respond nonetheless;

"Yeah. We could’ve,"

"Under better circumstances at least..." he slipped his hands into his pockets whilst looking straight at her.

"But not anymore." he clarified, his smile honest and his tone definitive.

Nodding to herself and letting out a bitter sigh, Lizzie then smiled a moment after in acceptance and said;

"Yeah, I know."

Then, she proceeded to walk away, her hands gently lifting her ball-gown. Just before she exited the doors though, she stopped by the door and said;

"She’s head over heels, you know?"

"So don’t be me, Aiden. Don’t botch the opportunity... more so when you’re just as fond of her." she advised with a light smile then finally made her way out.

Hands still tucked into his pockets, Aiden inwardly remarked, a soft smile touching his lips as he gently ran a hand through his hair whilst equally making his way out;

’Don’t have to tell me twice. I’m well aware.’

Soon enough, he’d arrived back outside, and soon ran into his buddies, all of whom were dapperly dressed as well with their respective dates.

Theo had surprised Aiden the most... especially since Megan had ended up being his date.

"You sly devil, you!" Aiden cuffed his arms around his neck as the rest of the gang kept hailing him, the youth’s face ripe like a tomato’s.

Before Aiden could manage to hear how he managed it, Clarissa came over to drag him to the couple’s booth to take a photo.

Roughly thirty minutes later, after all the late pre-prom activities, everyone finally headed over to the gym for the dance.

There was only one, teensy, tiny problem though.

Clarissa’s heel broke the moment she and Aiden proceeded to take the dancefloor.

...

...

...

The event had kicked off a while back, and the gym was well and truly crowded with students mingling, eating and generally having a jolly good time.

The dance had just ended and Clarissa droned with a pouty gaze, her head slung slightly over the ridge of the chair;

"My ankle’s killing me..."

"There, there," Aiden gently rubbed and massaged said ankle, the strained leg placed on his laps as she sat adjacent to him.

"Thank you..." she appreciated his gesture, though it didn’t stop her from complaining a moment after;

"... but I really wanted to dance with you..."

Considering Aiden had never seen her act like this before, he couldn’t help but chuckle in amusement.

’How cute...’ the words echoed within the confines of his mind.

Then he replied;

"We can always reschedule it."

"Really?!" her head snapped up and the coal-haired youth replied with a warm smile;

"Yep."

"My hero~." she coquettishly fluttered her eyes at him, earning yet another chuckle from Aiden.

A couple minutes later after he’d ensured she was feeling much better, he then asked, his tone gentle;

"Would you like something to drink? A snack to eat perhaps?"

"Have I ever told you I’m into thoughtful guys?" she replied with a kittenish grin.

"That so? What other traits catches your fancy in a man?" Aiden lowered her leg as he equally bent into a crouch whilst engaging her.

"A conversationalist that can keep up?" she added with another flirty grin then began listing out more with her fingers;

"Smells like almonds, gives the best compliments, has a sense of direction in his life..."

"Oh, wait," she suddenly paused, her expression curious and her eyes squinting.

"That’s you!" she let out a surprised gasp a moment after, her palms dropping to her laps and her eyes shimmering with interest as she stared at him dead in the eye.

This time, Aiden laughed, his mirth on full-display. Then he rose to his feet and said with a warm smile;

"I couldn’t be more honored, Your Highness,"

Before Clarissa could come back with a witty reply of her own...

"But, before this Knight can have the hand of his Queen..." Aiden continued, seemingly pondering deeply.

"... he has to fetch said Queen some refreshments, first." he concluded, a small grin forming on his lips.

For a moment, Clarissa blinked as Aiden kept nodding solemnly whilst audibly stating, a hand placed on his chest like a long-forgotten poet;

"Alas, my path to her hand begins with a quest for refreshments."

Then she laughed whilst throwing her head back a bit;

"That wasn’t what I was expecting at all!"

"You’re such a dork~, Aiden." she added a moment after whilst wiping a tear from her eyelids.

"One who happens to be at your service of course," Aiden did a small bow to which Clarissa giggled.

"So, what would you like?" he asked again.

Seemingly considering the proposal as she leaned back into her chair though, the lady then hummed and said;

"Hmm~. Alright, Sir Adorkable. Surprise me."

"As you command, Your Highness." Aiden winked at her, his finger ticking off his head in a mock salute.

Then, without another word, he turned and began making his way through the crowd as Clarissa watched him leave, a small smile lingering on her lips as she said to herself;

’Yeah. Definitely him.’

Having made his way over to the service station where the snacks and drinks were, Aiden honestly wasn’t surprised to see that the beverage dispenser containing the non-alcoholic brandy was empty.

Considering most of the teachers had rushed it the moment they tasted it, the students hadn’t even managed to get a few glasses in before they’d drunk it all.

Then they had the audacity to say it wasn’t enough.

’Shameless adults...’ Aiden chuckled to himself as he reviewed the snacks first.

Having placed a couple onto the tray he’d retrieved, he then proceeded to select which drinks to accompany them.

Just as he was reviewing through each one, his eyes soon landed on the beverage dispenser whose content was running much lower in comparison to all the others.

Pouring some for himself to give it a taste, Aiden’s eyes soon widened in pleasant surprise.

At the same time, he immediately asked one of the students in charge who made it.

"Mrs. Rodriguez did." the committee member answered as he munched on a muffin.

"It’s really good, right?" he rhetorically added as he took yet another bite.

"Yeah..." Aiden muttered audibly, a smile already pulling on the corners of his lips as the gears in his head clicked and turned as he inwardly added;

’Way too good to simply be served at a high school prom for that matter.’

Aiden hadn’t been certain of which type of beverage he wanted to kick off his business with.

However, in that very moment, upon appraising said drink a moment after, he was certain as he remarked to himself in excitement a moment after;

’Yes. This is it!’