Dedicated to @reading1131 for the covers above and below! Thank you💕💕

Chapter Fifty-Eight: "Given Me A Fungus Infection."

"HOW DO I look?" Octavia turned around in a full circle and I smiled at her.

"You look stunning."

I watched her lean over my shoulder, grabbing the dark lipstick and applying it to her lips. The dark purple lipstick matched her dress and the gold of her jewelry and shoes made her look like a goddess and I was certain she knew it. "Zen better think so."

"I didn't think you were going through this much to impress Zen." I said to her, turning my head to look at her curiously.

"Impress Zen?" She patted my shoulders before fixing my straightened hair that was curled at the bottom. "Honey, I'm impressing myself. All I would have to do to impress Zen is to suddenly speak like a computer."

"That's true." Mary Anne said, putting on her earrings.

"What time do you have to be home Syd?" Sarah asked, her fingers flying on her phone.

"Earlier than all of you, that's for sure." I answered, checking my phone.

"Wait, wait, wait, does that mean you can't make it to the after-prom party?"

"Who's throwing that? Joey?" Octavia asked.

"No, which is stupid because everyone knows his party would have been the best but it's some other guy," Mary Anne answered, turning to face us. "Mark, I think? Is that his name?"

"High art guy?" I questioned.

Sarah let out a little laugh. "Oh him. Yeah, that's his name. And apparently Joey didn't throw a party because of his siblings?"

Sarah looked at me and I scoffed. "It wasn't his siblings. His entire family is back from university and college now and his parents flat out said no."

"Really?"

I nodded. "Believe it or not, people who are wealthy can actually say no to throwing parties and spending guys."

"Shut up," Octavia rolled her eyes at me. "We get it. Your sarcasm is not appreciated to make me feel stupid."

"I'd say something rude about that but let me not say anything at all."

"Good answer," Octavia smiled, grabbing her phone. "We want pictures. We need pictures. Correction: I need pictures. Hurry up."

That was when we all heard the scream coming from Sarah. Our eyes zoned in on her distressed manner and Mary Anne bent down to quickly pick up her necklace before we rushed over to her. "What happened?"

She held out her phone to us and we looked down at the social media at a girl in our grade, taking a mirror pic with two other girls. "What's the problem here?" Octavia asked.

"She has the exact same dress as me."

I took the phone from her hand and examined it closely. "No, she doesn't."

"She doesn't?"

"She doesn't. The designs are completely different there's only a bit of similarity where the dress was cut."

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. "Sarah."

"I'm sorry okay?" She sat down on the chair. "I just don't need anything else to go wrong this year."

"Nothing really bad as happened to you if you think about it, hun." Octavia assured her, handing her back her phone.

"Think about it. I gave my shot to like two boys this year and look what happened. None of them lasted."

"You had and texting relationship with one. It didn't count." Mary Anne pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. And for the first one I basically drove away any chance I could have had at a romantic break because of him only for us not to apparently work out and-"

"You know what?" Octavia got up. "This is a night for friends. No talk about boys. No talk about relationships. None of that. Okay?"

Sarah nodded silently. Octavia gave her a tight smile. "Good. Because right now out of all of us here, you and I are the only two who are single. Let's pretend like that shouldn't bother us because I know for a fact it's not bothering me and have a great night. Now let us please take some pictures. I want to show everyone how it is done."

After 20,000 photos Octavia forced us all to take, clearly not being happy with majority of them, we were in Mary Anne's backyard, waiting for everyone else when Eduardo came through the wooden fence, balloons that spelled out prom in his hands. "I got balloons!"

"We noticed." Octavia said, grabbing them from his hand and taking Sarah to help set it up for more pictures.

Zen moved in right behind him, looking uncomfortable in his suit. He walked over to me, give me the oddest smile that ever encountered his face. "Wow Matthew, you clean up nice."

"What's the supposed to mean?" He questioned when I flicked his tie.

"She means you don't look like you're going to a funeral for once. Look, Sydney," Octavia fake gasped. "His tie is a color that isn't black."

I laughed and Zen scowled. "I'll ditch you, you realize this right?"

"You wouldn't do that."

"Try me." He muttered.

"Jane, you look so cute." I heard Mary Anne say as Jane literally twirled in heels.

She flipped her curly hair over her shoulder and smiled. "I know."

"Where's Devin and Lucas?" Octavia asked.

"Right behind me. Hurry up boys." She yelled before giving me a hug. "I miss you."

"You saw me yesterday." I pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," She said when I spotted Lucas helping Devin through the fence towards us. "Lucas keep hogging you and we're all lowkey getting annoyed."

"I'll always make time for you Jane especially since you're finally almost near my height."

"For one night. I want to be taller than you for one night and I still cannot achieve it." She muttered, grabbing Devin by the hand and pulling him off towards Octavia and everyone else near the balloons.

I looked at Lucas, a smile on my face as he walked over to me. A smirk covered his face. "Red. I like it. Canada."

I rolled my eyes remembering that the flag was red and white. "Unintentional. I simply think that red is my color."

His eyes scanned over me once again and I tilted my head at him, waiting for his response. "Trust me. It is."

I took a step closer to him. "I like that your tie is white though. That's as much Canadian as we'll get."

"Sing the national anthem and I'll love you." He smiled like a ninny, wrapping his arms around me.

"You already do." I said with my arms around his neck.

"Yeah, that's true."

He moved forward to kiss me and I pulled back with a smile. "You look sexy."

I would've expected Lucas to react in a Lucas way. His face would go red, he would looked won at the ground for a brief moment before looking up at me, a tad bit uncomfortable but flattered.

But Lucas now?

He held his eye contact with me and I felt like that was more intimate than the compliment I had given him. "Thanks."

"I meant it."

He pulled me closer with a smile, his lips dipping down to my ear. "And you look sexy as well."

"I'm kind of happy you didn't try saying something like attractive or any compliment in Spanish."

"That's because I can never say the words right ad I can't even roll my r's properly."

"Yeah I noticed." We laughed and I took hold of his white tie as the wind breezed by, messing up his hair a little bit but it only added to his allure. "No, but seriously you look really-"

"Good?"

"I was going to say hot."

"I had a feeling you would say that." He kissed the side of my neck, his hands gripping my waist.

"Yeah, right."

"I did. The only other thing you would've said is 'dios mio' under your breath like I couldn't hear you."

"Do I really say that about you a lot?"

"Yeah, but don't worry. I have the same reaction towards you." He distractedly slid a had over my ass like I wouldn't notice. But I did and I definitely wasn't the only one who noticed either.

Eduardo whistled loudly making Lucas flinch and me roll my eyes. "Lucas we've spoken about this man. You get handsy inside not out."

"What?" Mary Anne and I both stared at Eduardo.

Octavia got everyone's attention by clapping. "Now if we could take pictures. We all look really good today and this is the first time Zen isn't dressing like he is king of the goth and emo. We need to commemorate this moment, please."

"Octavia, I will ditch you as your date I swear to God."

She ignored him, clapping again. "Shut it. Pictures everyone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What I really wasn't surprised to see after dinner and at the dance portion of Prom was the group of people, most boys surrounded by Octavia either trying to dance with her or talk to her especially now that she's practically famous. No. Correction. Octavia was getting famous. Famous to the point where I knew it and I knew she would b one of those rising stars that will hopefully never fade away.

Her smile didn't fall once from her face and I was certain that Zen couldn't really care about the lack of attention she was giving him. Meanwhile, everyone else from our table was scattered. Mary Anne and Eduardo were somewhere. Devin was leaning near a wall talking and laughing with a bunch of people. Lucas-yes Lucas- was talking to some other people and I had a feeling they were talking about something that had to do with art because his hands were moving with old gestures.

Zen sat down on the staircase and I stood while he was looking at my nails. "And you got this done for what could have been over $60?"

"Yes." I confirmed. "But that's what the lady told me but Liz made sure I didn't have to pay anything."

"Just painting your fucking nails cost $60?"

"It's not just painting them. They're fake nails, you dumbass."

"You don't think I realize this? It's not like your nails can rapdily grow over night but seriously? Over $10? I would've done this for you for free."

"You would have messed up my fingers and possibly given me a fungus infection."

"Oh, shut up. That would not have happened."

"Didn't you have athlete's foot like last year?" I pointed out from a past discussion the two of us would have every once in a while.

"Athlete's foot is not a fungus infection."

"Yes, it is you dumb fuck."

"You're swearing is getting a lot worse these days."

"No," Jane spoke up and we both jumped, not knowing when she had got there. "Sydney always swore like that. You should've heard her and Lucas the other day. She can swear like crazy."

"That was only because we got into an argument."

"You always argue over stupid things." Zen pointed out. "But seriously? Girls get their nails done for that much money? Like Jane, how much did you spend on that dress?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why do you want to know?"

"Answer the question. Did you spend over $500 on that dress?" Jane nodded without hesitation and Zen rolled his eyes dramatically. "This I what I mean. Why do we put so much effort into one night and never wear the clothes ever again? Like, it doesn't make sense whatsoever. I don't get it."

Jane looked at me. "This is what happens when Octavia ditches him instead of the other way around?"

"I didn't get ditched," He pulled out his phone again for what felt like the hundredth time tonight and Jane disappeared, dragged off by another person. I heard Zen sigh, typing a reply to whoever was texting him when it took me a moment to realize why he was acting this way.

"Where's Kim?"

"She's at home. Just spending her night on laptop. Probably in her room. Probably re-watching past seasons of Grey's Anatomy."

He put his phone back into his pocket and I sighed. "Go."

"What?"

"Go to Kim. I know you don't want to be here. I know that you'd rather be with her right now then at a stupid prom where people spend so much money for one night. Go on. I'm sure she could use the company anyway."

Zen stood cautiously. "Just because I want to be with her doesn't mean-"

"It doesn't have to mean anything in that way. She's your best friend, Zen. Go. I'll tell Octavia you had to leave. I'll call you tomorrow, alright?"

"Thanks Syd."

"Don't thank me. I'm just surprised that you lasted almost three hours in this place without losing your mind."

He laughed, taking my hand and squeezing it before rushing off. I watched him leave through the door when someone called my name from the foot of the stairs. "Hey, Sydney. What's going on with Zen?"

"He had to leave." I explained, walking down to meet her. She had a bright smile on her face and I smiled back at her. "How is your night going with the Cahill?"

"Good. No-great. No-scratch that-"

"I get it Hails," We laughed and she leaned against the railing.

"Did you see?"

I instantly knew what she was talking about. "Matilda's man? Yes."

Hailey's eyes went wide. "I'm surprised that she's over Isaac."

"Are you really? I mean she's been going after him for so long. It was kind of obvious that she was eventually going to-"

"Have to let go?"

"Yeah."

"H." A voice said. Joey walked over to us in a suit similar to his brother's but the tie color was different. He slowed his walking pace to a stop when he noticed I was with her. "Acosta."

"Hey Cahill."

He gave me a smile before holding a hand out to Hailey. "Come on. They're about to play that song you like."

I watched her beam, taking his hand and they went back inside together. When I went back inside, I moved over to Lucas and Devin who were laughing about something with Sarah and Jane.

Lucas held his hand out when he saw me and I took it. "So?"

"Yeah, we're good."

"Good for what??" Sarah looked at the both of us weirdly.

"Sarah, what kind of a question is that?" Devin asked.

"What? It wasn't a stupid question. I-oh. Damn, I'm slow."

"Ya think," Jane said sarcastically. "We're in the hall of a hotel. Hotels have these things called rooms. Rooms where people book to do things-"

"I'm not that slow Jane. Fuck you." Sarah laughed.

"Thanks, but no thanks." She smiled brightly, looking at Lucas and me. "You two have a great time doing whatever Sarah couldn't figure out while we're about to take on the dance floor."

Lucas started pulling me out of the room but I stopped him. "Wait, could you tell Octavia when you see- wait hear, sorry Devin-"

"Sydney, it's all good."

"Okay, so if you hear or see Octavia can you tell her that Zen left."

"Why did he leave?" Sarah asked me.

"He, um, he just had to. Just tell her okay?" I barely had time to finish that sentence because Lucas was pulling me out of that room so quickly. I stopped him, letting go of his hand. "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Because we only have two hours before I have to get you back home and..." He trailed off, looking me up and down before he met my eyes. "It doesn't feel like a lot of time."

"I forget that you can be such a hormonal teenager you know?"

Lucas gave me a wink over his shoulder. "You love it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're finally out." I smiled at Wesley from across the table at the restaurant him and his family were in. I'm pretty sure Michelle was somewhere with her boyfriend right now but her celebration dinner was later anyway.

Wesley let out a dramatic groan that was loud enough to be heard over the chatter of his family members. "I am so happy I am out of that prison. Now I can go out into the real world."

"All you're going to be doing is working for the rest of your life Wes. You're going to be a carpenter."

"Yes, but I get to work as something I love doing. Not studying for stupid tests that don't help me in life. I'm going to be free. Your man is free." He even stood up and opened his arms wide to show how 'free' he really was. I held back a laugh as did some of his family members because we were all kind of used to this side of Wesley.

"Wow. That was not dramatic at all." I rolled my eyes.

"Aren't you happy for me?"

"Very."

"You're graduating in a couple of days too" He mentioned. "Aren't you excited to be free?"

"I'm half excited."

"What's the other half?"

"I'm also half scared and half 'not wanting to let go of high school'."

Wesley's eyes narrowed. "That's one more half than you usually should have said. I think what you meant was quarter-"

"Wesley," I exhaled. "You're not seeing my point."

"I see your point. You're happy to get out of high school but you're scared because it's a whole new world out there. Am I right?" I nodded and he continued. "Also, you don't want to let go of high school because of the new friends you've made there who just so happen to be my new friends-"

"Because you found a way to slide into every single one of their DMS, follow them on every social media account they have and found their numbers so you could text them."

"I call that friend dedication."

"I call that stalking really hard."

"Anyway, and you don't want to let go of Lucas. Do you guys know what you're going to be doing on your last days together as Lucas and Sydney?"

"I don't know but I have an idea."

"You're going to do something?"

"Yeah. He's always doing stuff for me so why not do something for him? You know?"

"Girlfriend of the year." He slow clapped at every single word for emphasis.

"Thank you. I try. Now, Wesley?"

"Yes. I've waiting for the speech you have prepared for me since you got out of the car."

I sighed with a smile. Most dramatic and idiotic person I have in my life, I swear. "I'm happy you successfully graduated from high school. I'm happy you get to do something you love and swim on the side because those are your favorite things. It sucks that I'm still not going to see you every single day in the future but you have to call me at least once a week-"

"Twice."

"Twice but text every single day."

"Don't be surprised if you're phone blows up with messages."

"I never really am," I laughed, grabbing his hands from across the table. "I just want to say I love you and I'm very happy we didn't turn out to be one of those best friends that ended up falling in love with one another."

Wesley immediately cringed. "Oh my God, me? Having feelings for you? What a nightmare."

"Rude." I took my hands away from his but he grabbed them back, smiling.

"I'm kidding but seriously I'm happy we didn't turn out that way either. I'm happy we're still best friends even after you moved away."

"I'm happy about that too."

"We have to add someone else into our best friend combo though."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, Octavia seems like a nice fit."

"Octavia already inserted herself into it the second she took your number from my phone."