After much more encouragement from both my mother and my friends, I gather the strength to go to school again. It's hard. When I step onto campus, I feel like someone's plastered a neon-red target sign on my face. I keep my head down and my grip on my backpack tight, prepared to use it as a weapon if necessary. 

"There you are!" 

I turn around. Amanda stands a few feet away, an excited smile on her face. My gaze darted to the promotional poster for prom taped to the wall behind her. 

I grimace at it and walk toward her. "Hey, there you are," I say. 

Amanda glances behind her. "Oh come on," she groans. "Prom isn't that bad!" 

Ever since the bathroom incident, Amanda has been hounding me to go to prom. Personally, I am not comfortable at dances. I don't dance. I can't dance. I have the grace of a baby giraffe. It's just not happening.

Amanda's expression sours. She grabs my arm and starts to drag me toward Ms. Henry's classroom. "You wouldn't even have to dance." 

"That's alright." I let her yank me inside the cooled building. Ms. Henry's door is open; her classroom has become our safe morning hangout.  

Ms. Henry glances up as we enter the classroom. She sits behind her desk, sorting through a mountain of papers on her desk. She smiles at me. "Good morning, Alice." 

"Good morning," I chime. 

Kylie sits at a desk near Ms. Henry, fiddling with her cellphone. Her backpack rests on the floor beside her. She looks up as Amanda and I approach. "Hey!" 

I nod at her. 

"Ms. Henry," a new voice enters the room. I look over my shoulder, and watch as Trash-Can freezes near the door. His eyes focused on me, expression unreadable. 

"Hello, Eric," Ms. Henry greets, amused. "What can I do for you?" 

Trash-Can snaps out of his daze. He turns toward Ms. Henry and holds out a piece of paper. His voice is quiet as he explains his dilemma. 

"Amanda," another voice sings. 

Amanda beams as slender arms wrap around her shoulders. Tobi pokes his head over her shoulder, smiling. "Hello, Tobi." 

"It's been a while. You abandoned Tobi." He pouts. 

"I didn't mean to." She hugs him and then steps out of his embrace. "Tobi, you remember Alice and Kylie." 

Tobi hisses at Kylie. "You're evil." 

Kylie frowns. Amanda smacks Tobi's arm and glares at him. "I told you about her," she insists sternly. "She's not evil anymore." 

Tobi grunts. He slides into the chair beside me and reaches out, gently poking my stomach. "So there's a baby in there?"

"There is," I say, smiling a bit.  

He hums and strokes my stomach. Amanda rolls her eyes and shoots Kylie an apologetic look. Trash-Can approaches soon, stuffing his paper back into his backpack. "I didn't know that you guys hung out in here," he says as he approaches. 

Amanda snorts. "What? Can't get enough of Alice?" 

My eyes widen, and I swear my cheeks are on fire. "Amanda," I say, embarrassed. 

Trash-Can glances at her, his eyebrow arched. He looks unperturbed. "At least I have the balls to ask her out." 

Amanda flushes a bright red color. I snicker and shake my head. Trash-Can plops down into the seat across from me, beside Amanda, and beams. 

"Shut up," Amanda mutters. 

"Hey," Kylie says, looking at Amanda intently. "Now that there are witnesses, we should pop the question." 

"Pop the question?" My eyebrows crinkle. Amanda perks. Her smile twists into something wicked. She bolts from her chair and rushes toward the set of cabinets located in the back of the classroom. Ms. Henry glances up when Amanda starts to rummage through them, smiling. I sigh. I rest my cheek against my palm, my elbow propped against the desk. My gaze flickers over my friends. Kylie smiles in anticipation. She's leaned forward, her foot tapping with impatience against the tile. Trash-Can watches Amanda in confusion. Tobi fiddles with his cellphone, ignoring us all.  

"Here we go." Amanda whirls around, a small shoe-box in hand. I eye it with suspicion as Amanda approaches. It's painted a dark black with a seal on top. 

"What's this?" 

Amanda passes the box over to me. I take it from her, still suspicious, and set it down my lap. I look at Amanda and arch my eyebrow at her. "What's in this thing?" 

Her lips twitch back into a wide grin, and she shakes her head. Kylie shifts around in her seat, leaning closer. "Just open it and find out!" 

I pop the lid and put it aside onto the desk beside me. My lips twist into an awkward grimace, as I try to fight a smile. "What's this?"

"What's it look like?" Amanda and Kylie watch me with bated breath. 

My smile breaks through. "You guys," I say, and reach inside the box. A nest of pink and blue confetti streamers laid inside, with a slender black box inside. I lift it up and open it. 

"This is ridiculous," I whisper as I trace my fingers over the jewelry inside. It's a silver dragon earring, the kind that wraps around your ear. 

"Your mom told me that you've always obsessed over dragons," Kylie says, proud. 

"Do you like it?" Amanda beams. 

I nod, stunned into silence. My throat starts to hurt. I unhook the earring and pin it onto my ear. It's a bit heavy, but nothing that I can't handle. 

Kylie peers at the box. "There should be more." 

"There's more?" I dig through the confetti. There doesn't seem to be anything else inside the box. 

Kylie leans over and grabs the box that had held the earring. She scans it, and then grabs the other box from my lap. "Amanda?" she asks after dumping the confetti out onto her desk. 

Amanda perks. "Yes?"

"Where's the note?" 

Kylie looks at Amanda, expectant. 

"Oh sweet Cheez-it's," Amanda hisses. She ducks down and snatched up her backpack, wrenching it open. She rummages through it until she produces a slender notebook. She sets it down onto her desk and skims through it. "Rats! I forgot to put it in."

"Amanda!" Kylie groans. 

Amanda rips the page from her notebook and passes it to me. I snort as I read it. 

"You guys won't give in will you?" I sigh, and shake my head. The letter is cute; a cheesy, dragon-themed poem asking me to prom. 

Trash-Can holds out a hand. "May I?" 

I pass him the note, watching his expression with amusement. He scans it, and then grins. His gaze returns to me as he passes the note back. "I think you should definitely go." 

"You won't have to dance," Kylie adds. "And our theme can be dragons. We can all wear dragon-jewelry." 

I rub at my new earring with thought. "But I'll look so stupid in a dress." My hand drops to touch my stomach. 

"Not with the right dress!" Kylie wiggles a finger. "Amanda and I can go shopping with you. I've learned a lot from my mother. She's a fashion designer, remember?" 

I nod. "I remember."

"She can tailor our dresses too. We'll be the best dressed girls at the dance." 

My gaze drops to the box. Neither seem to understand. As much as I love my little peanut, I'm not fond of the bulbous shape that my body has transformed into. It's not dress material. 

"Trust me," Kylie says, and grabs my hand. "You'll look great. You just need to find the right dress." 

"If she doesn't want to go, she shouldn't have to," Trash-Can says quietly. I glance at him. He smiles kindly. 

I groan and prop my elbow against the desk again, my cheek pressed against my fist. "Alright. If you two can talk my mother into buying a dress, than I'll go." 

"Yes!" Amanda and Kylie cheer. The duo burst from their seats and high-five. I watch them, amused. 

Trash-Can chuckles, his gaze on my face. When my gaze meets his, he playfully winks. "I look forward to seeing you all dolled up." 

Eeep! I got a new laptop (finally) and I'm just so excited right now. It's so cool. I'm still getting used to the new keyboard, so bare with me if there is any weirdness. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :3 This one and the next are cute ones!