Rowena and Natalie's prom dresses^ the colors match their aesthetics :) Link a Pinterest of your own ideas!

I definitely spent the entire day getting ready for prom.

Mom came into town and Natalie came over to get ready with me. No boys were allowed until we were ready to leave.

Natalie was helping me with some finishing touches on my makeup and I was going to help her finish her hair.

I was proud of my dress. It was a satin emerald green gown that was off the shoulders and had an open slit down the side. My hair was half up in a braided crown and the other half cascaded down my back with curls. Mom insisted that I do a smoky eye look that brought out my eyes. She said they matched the color of my dress.

Natalie wore a spaghetti strap lavender gown that shimmered in the slightest light. Her usual straight hair was up in an elegant bun and I left a few strands loose and curled. She went a little bolder in her makeup than her usual day-to-day look. Cyrus was going to melt when he saw her.

Mom was still taking pictures of us upstairs when the doorbell rang. Dad was home at this point to let them in. I heard loud talking, and then I heard Declan.

"Row Row, we're heeeere!" He yells from downstairs.

"Ready?" I ask Natalie.

"Ready," she responds. "You go first though, I feel nervous."

I was nervous too, but I didn't say it. I fluff my hair a little and take a deep breath before making my way down the stairs. My gaze falls on Declan immediately, with him in a dark suit and a dark green tie to match my dress. I had never seen him look so dressed up and he looked damn good. 

Cyrus is talking to him about something and he sees me first. He gives me an impressed smile and Declan notices, turning his face to see what caught Cyrus's attention.

When his eyes fall on me it's like I almost see something illuminate in his otherwise dark gaze. He takes his time looking at me from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet as I take the last few steps. I think the natural flush of his cheeks goes a tad bit darker and he has the softest smirk on his lips.

So when he opens his mouth to say something, I anticipate something sweet that'll warm my heart. I was not prepared for what he actually said.

"GAW DAMN," He exclaims loudly. "That's my emerald gem right there." Then, he wraps his hands around my hips and drags me closer so he could plant a kiss on my forehead. "You look beautiful, Row."

I laugh. He was surprising and kind and completely loveable all in one, so my heart warmed anyway. "Thank you," I say and adjust his tie for him. "You look pretty too."

"Woah," Cyrus says and I look at him to notice he's watching the stairs, or more importantly, Natalie coming down the stairs. She's holding her dress up as she steps down and Cyrus walks forward to hold out a hand for her. Natalie smiles brightly as she takes it.

Cyrus takes a big swallow, his adams apple bobbing with the movement. "Hi," he says to her as if he was meeting her for the first time. Then he clears his throat. "I'm sorry that was lame. Um... hey," he says with a lazy smile, just as breathless and flustered as before.

Natalie's smile only grows and she lets out a giggle. "Hi, Cyrus. You look really good."

"Yeah," He says and then he catches himself. "I mean you- You look amazing. Just really really gorgeous Nat." I had never seen him so nervous before in my whole life. I was never going to shut up about this.

"Thank you," she says. Her smile is now soft and her cheeks begin to flush. 

That's when Adam burst through the door. "I'm here, I'm here!" he announces as if we couldn't see him. "I brought the corsages."

Declan and Cyrus let Adam take care of the corsages, which should have made all of us nervous, but he was so excited about it that we humored him anyway. From the looks of what he brought in, he actually did a great job.

Then Adam sees us and looks between me and Natalie. "WOOO!" He says. "You girls are smoking. Geez fellas, I know we said we'd go as a group, but these ladies are my dates now."

Declan shoves him and tells him to adjust our corsages, so he does. Mom takes our pictures with all of us and dad threatens the boys about what would happen if Natalie and I weren't back by curfew. Then we all load up in Declan's jeep and ride together to prom.

----

The hallway leading up to the gym was set up as a tunnel of twinkle lights. Inside was unrecognizable. The decorations were set in our school's colors with black and gold in the balloons and streamers all around the room.

There were tables and chairs positioned all around the area with decorations plastered on every other one. The ceiling was draped with cloth and more lights. They had an entire wall with a balloon arch for photos. Near that area was the snack table and punch bowls, where Mrs. Hymann was currently standing ready for any punch spikers. The lighting was dark, yet perfectly lit up in the places where it needed it.

Our group had been running a little late so lots of my classmates were already here. I could see Lillian from where I was standing. I had always been stuck on disliking her that I never realized how pretty she was. She wore a gold sequin dress that hugged her body and complimented her blonde hair well. No wonder Tucker was so glued to her side.

When she saw me I gave her a smile, yet she only flickered her lips in polite response and turned away from me. Damn, I guess she was mad at me again. I realized I hadn't really spoken to her since the article came out. I must have offended her in some way too. I would make a point to talk to her before the night is over.

I see Nico and Duncan together, their very first public appearance. They're both dressed up in a tux and Nico is leaned in close to tell Duncan something. I assume Nico said something funny, because for the first time since I've personally known him, Duncan smiled, and it wasn't an evil smirk like when he fractured Cyrus's nose, but a real and genuine happy smile.

Then I hear Nico call to get our attention over the music and we all waited for him and Duncan to come over to us. So between the seven of us now, there was a lot of talking and joking around and laughing and dancing.

I see Lillian by the punch bowls and tell my friends I would be back. I can feel Declan's gaze on my back as I walk away. I know he was going to keep an eye on me the whole night I wasn't with him.

"Hey," I tell her when I stop beside her.

She looks up at me and her face slacks. "Um- hi," she says back.

"I know I have a reputation now... I'm just trying to piece together how I've wronged you."

"What do you mean?" She asks me.

"I mean you've been avoided me like a few others have since that article came out. If I did something to you personally Lillian, let me know."

She shakes her head. "You haven't done anything to me, Rowena."

"Then what is it?" I ask her. There was something she wasn't telling me. The longer she's silent, the more I notice how she can't look me in the eye. And then it hits me.

"Lillian do you know something about who released that expose?"

Her face cringes at my question and she looks around. When she looks at me again her eyes are wide with nerves. "I-"

I could tell she was about to serve me some bullshit with her next words so I cut her off before she could. "No, Lillian. If you know something about who signed my name at the end of that article you need to tell me now. Was it you?"

"No!" She says. "I mean... it wasn't me who released it. But..."

"But?" I push.

"I- I was so angry with you, Rowena. For what you said to me that day about not having a personality. It was a really bitchy thing to say."

"So you set me up for the entire school to be pissed at me?" I snapped.

"No, I didn't. I was just fed up. A lot had been piling up around me and I was angry with a lot of people and a lot of different things. So, I vented. I opened a word document on the computer and rambled about everything and talked about shitty things that I knew about other people to make me feel better about myself. I meant to erase it all but obviously I don't think I did. I don't know if I saved the document by accident or something but when that article came out and it was about all the people I wrote about... It was just too much for a coincidence."

"And you were just okay with everyone thinking it was me?" My voice had risen as my anger was taking over.

"No Rowena. I wanted to talk to you about it, but I felt so bad that I couldn't. I know it was such a cowardly thing to do but... I don't know. I care a lot about what other people think of me and you don't give a fuck about what people think of you." She had tears in her eyes now. Her tone was guilt ridden and pleading. "I'm really really sorry Rowena. I didn't know Jeremey was a psycho and if I had known you would have gotten hurt because of that article I would have said something sooner. I just felt so guilty about it all, especially after that, and I couldn't face you."

I worked hard to slow down my breaths. I was really fucking angry. My hands were clenched in fists at my side. "Okay," I said more to myself to calm down than to Lillian. "Lillian," I said slowly. "If you didn't write the actual expose and sign my name at the end of it, then who did?"

"I had left my textbook in that room overnight," She began. "I showed up early the next day to get it and someone was leaving out the back door. I didn't see a face but she had red hair. So the obvious suspect from that would be-"

"Brooke," I finished for her and nodded my head. "Yeah, that sounds about right." I study her for a moment. "How did you know all that stuff?"

"I pay attention to people. A lot of it was just assumption, but from the way people reacted, I'd say a lot of it was true." She bites her lip. "Rowena, I really am so sorry about all of it." She didn't hold her tears back anymore. A few slipped from her eyes. It would ruin her makeup if she didn't pull herself together fast.

I flashed back to the hurt in her face the day I snapped at her. Lillian had always bugged me in the past, but that didn't mean she didn't have her own shit she went through. I didn't pay enough attention to notice.

So I took another deep breath to calm myself down before speaking again. "You vented because you were pissed off at the world.  Everyone has the right to vent Lillian, just try a therapist next time, yeah?" She nodded in silent understanding. "I'm still pissed at you and I probably will for a long time that you didn't tell me sooner. But I'm going to walk away before I say or do something I might regret. Enjoy the rest of your night."

I turned away from her before she could say anything further.

A/N: Part II coming soon!

Thoughts? Did you suspect Lillian had something to do with it?

Not some of you suspecting innocent ass Michelle when all she did was breathe.💀 LMAOO

I WROTE THE EPILOGUE FOR THIS STORY BEFORE EVEN FINISHING THE STORY ITSELF BUT OMG I AM SO SAD THIS IS ENDING.

Thanks for reading❤️