"You gotta fire up, you gotta let go."

-I'm So Sorry by Imagine Dragons
__________________________

"Don't wear pink, you look like a bad serving of cotton candy."

Megan frowned in her pink taffeta dress. "Spencer says I look good in pink."

"That's because Spencer is a stereotypical ass who thinks blondes wear pink." Libby said. "Back in."

Megan groaned and walked back into the fitting room.

"Lib, where is your dress?" I bumped my shoulder with hers.

She laughed nervously. "Well actually....."

"Oh my God! You aren't going?!" How could she get me to go to homecoming when she wasn't even going?

"I'm definitely going but....." She scrolled through her phone and showed me a picture of a bright pink dress.

"No. Freaking. Way." That was the dress that Drew wanted me to wear. "Who are you going with? Dog Man?" Dog Man was her boyfriend, none of us knew his real name.... If he had a real name.

"They wouldn't let Dog Man in. I'm going with Bryce, his girlfriend is in college so he won't try to get me alone in the janitor's closet."

"Don't tell me you picked out that dress."

She made a disgusted face. "Jesus, no. That misogynistic asshole picked it out."

I snorted. "And you said yes?"

"I wasn't going to go dateless." She grumbled.

"Better right?" Megan came out wearing a navy dress to her knees with a sparkly bodice.

"Much." I took a sigh of relief. The homecoming dance was tomorrow night and although I had a dress and shoes, I was still stressing. What if my concussion spontaneously decides to get worse? What if I step all over Drew's feet? What if Rebecca pulls a Carrie on me and dumps pig's blood on my head? I wouldn't have any cool powers to get revenge on her with.

"What are you wearing to the game tonight?" Megan asked me as she checked out.

I shrugged. "Jeans, sweatshirt, what are you wearing, a morphsuit?"

She rolled her eyes. "Wear something cute, please?"

I grumbled. "I make no promises."

Libby drove both of us home. I took a quick glance at my closet before heading to my dresser and pulling out my school sweatshirt and jeans. My phone buzzed with a text from Drew.

Do u have an amazingly planned outfit for tonite?

I hated when people spelled tonight like that.

No, why?

Usually the baseball team's dates wear their jerseys.... But if u don't want to its totally fine

Was I dreaming? Was I seriously going to wear his jersey? Wouldn't that mean I'm his girlfriend or something?!

Yea! Totally!

I responded way too eagerly.

Cool :) I'll pick u up at six thirty

I flopped onto my bed and hugged my phone to my chest, a light feeling washing over me. Ok, maybe my life wasn't that horrible. I rolled over onto my pillow and screamed into the soft cotton.

I scrambled into the shower and threw my hair into a casual ponytail and tried not to make it look like I tried too hard. It was four thirty, I figured I had some time to kill, so I continued writing Dark Soul. Spending so much time on set I got some really good ideas, maybe it was just Leigh's presence that inspired me. I got so lost in my writing that I almost didn't hear the doorbell ring.

I slammed my laptop shut and ran downstairs, ripping the door open before my mom could get there. Drew was looking as handsome as ever wearing a Venice High bowling team shirt (yes, we had a bowling team), his baseball jersey was neatly folded in his hand. He was grinning brightly, I smiled back, but his grin was replaced with a confused look when his eyes dropped down to my chest. Great, he was staring at my boobs too, were they really that interesting?

"Ummm...." He brought his eyes back up to my face and I could tell he was trying to keep them there.

I looked down at my chest, expecting to see another Shadow and Bone shirt or something.

But I wasn't wearing a shirt.

After my shower, I had only put on a Bugs Bunny bra. Seriously? A Bugs Bunny bra? I can't sink any lower.

I hide behind the door, sticking my beet red face out to smile at Drew. "Sorry.... I didn't realize that I was half naked." I internally face palm myself at my poor word choice.

He chuckles nervously and hands me his jersey. "No problem- I mean," he shakes his head and laughs again. "That came out wrong."

I hide behind the door and slide his shirt on. It's warm and it smells like his light cologne. It was pretty big on me, but not baggy. I open the door wider, smiling at him, he was rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh, do you want to come in?"

"Sure." The moment he steps over the threshold, my mom rushes into the picture.

"Drew! How nice to see you!"

"Mom," I grumble. I just want to get into his car and leave as fast as I can.

"Mrs. Wilde, it's wonderful to see you again." He doesn't seem nervous at all. "How are you?"

"I'm great." Her eyes drift to me. "Have fun." She winked. "Don't get too crazy-"

"Goodbye, mom!" I dragged Drew out the door to spare myself from anymore embarrassment.

Drew had a black Impala that looked almost brand new. He opened my door for me and I waited for the Jax car smell to wash over me, but it didn't. Drew's car smelled like his cologne, that was far from the smell of Jax's putrid car. No Big Macs or half eaten pizzas were strewn about the back seat, just textbooks and the occasional baseball glove.

"Sorry about the mess back there." He says as he starts the car.

"Mess?" I laughed. "Your car is really clean."

"I'm glad you think so."

We drove awkwardly for a few blocks. I would've started the conversation but my throat felt constricted I was so nervous.

"So how is your head?" He asked.

"Good. It doesn't hurt anymore." That's all I could manage.

"Good."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "So who are we playing tonight?"

"LA central school."

"Cool. They are a good team, right?"

He shrugged. "Mediocre. I think we can win." He pulls into the parking lot, searching for a spot. Lights are coming from the football field and kids are heading up the hill. Drew found a spot pretty close to the field and we start to walk up together. I spot Libby, Megan, Violet, and Riley walking up, they spot us and Libby whips out her phone, snapping not-so-secret pictures of us. My face burns red in embarrassment.

"Sorry about my friends." I look over to see he is blushing too.

"Your friends?" He motions to the entrance of the football field where numerous members of the baseball team are holding up a long banner that says "Look at that nerd's sexy date", for a moment I thought the nerd. I watched as many popular girls eyed us and gave me dirty looks.

He takes my hand and we run up to the bleachers before his friends can throw rice at us. We laugh as we climb up the bleachers together just as the football team runs onto the field. A few of his not weird friends come over and talk to him while their girlfriends gave me dirty looks. They had boyfriends, why did they hate me for going with Drew?

Libby and Violet came up to me while Drew was talking with the catcher of the baseball team. "You didn't tell us he was driving you too!" Libby whispered.

"It's not fair, he's too hot." Violet whined.

I scoffed. "You people underestimate me." The crowd erupted in cheers as we scored a touchdown. "Come on, I want cheese fries."

I never realized how many kids go to Venice High, the line for food seemed longer than the bleachers, and I really wanted my fries. I felt someone ram into me and bit my tongue from yelling at them in case they happened to be a celebrity too.

"Hey, Erica." Rebecca had to hold onto me to steady herself, a Solo cup filled with a mysterious amber liquid. "Having fun?" Her speech was slurred and she kept swaying, breath smelling of beer.

"Rebecca, maybe you should sit down and drink some water."

She brought her lips close to my ear. "How is he in bed? Drew, I mean."

I was taken aback by this question and luckily a group of cheerleaders swept Rebecca away.

"What was that all about?" Libby asked as she ordered our food.

"Nothing, just a lot of slurred words." I smiled awkwardly.

I went back up to sit with Drew while Libby and Violet went with the rest of our group. He talked with his friends most of the time and I just kind of sat there next to him, eating my cheese fries. I considered getting up and sitting with Libby and Violet, Drew and I would spend enough time together tomorrow night.

"Oh my God, I almost completely forgot about you." Well that was comforting. Drew sat down next to me.

"You're fine. You're popular, you're cool, you have friends. I'll be fine." I tried to say nonchalantly.

"What's the score?" He scooted closer to me, just his presence made me tingle.

"Twenty one to fourteen, we're up."

"Are you a football person?" He stole one of my cheese fries.... Nobody steals my cheese fries, not even Drew.

"Not really, you?"

He shrugs. "Me neither." His arm slips around my waist, lifting up the jersey a bit, his warm fingers on my lower back by my waistline. We both cheer as our team scores another touch down.

"Halftime, I have to show you something." He takes my hand and I have to leave my precious cheese fries as we run down the bleachers and up the side of the field on a hill where lots of kids are scattered across the grass exchanging saliva and drugs. Knowing myself, I get winded almost halfway up the not very steep hill whereas Drew looks like he could keep going for a mile, God, he was hot.

"Where are we going?" I giggled as we made it to the top of the hill.

"You'll see." He grinned as he pulled me into the forest. I started to get uneasy as we went deeper and deeper, the trees getting denser as we went. He finally stopped in a large clearing where many of the baseball players were sitting with their dates on blankets. Drew and I plopped down next to a smart looking girl and heavyset boy snuggling on a plaid blanket. "Just in time."

I was about to ask for what when I heard an earsplitting crack. Suddenly, the sky was illuminated with our school colors, orange and blue. Fireballs of light dancing across the sky, rocketing through the stars. It was really pretty, I didn't see fireworks much since there were strict rules about fireworks in dry California.

"Isn't it amazing?" I looked over at Drew, his face in awe as he watched them, the lights dancing in his eyes. His arm was propped up behind me and our legs were brushing. I could kiss him right now, it would be a great story to tell, our first kiss under fireworks. Better than Libby and Dog Man's first kiss in a trailer park. Drew looks over at me, his smile turning into that one-dimple-deeper-than-the-other smile. He shifts his body so he is facing me, my breath hitches. He started to lean in. I lean in too, not wanting him to pull away.

Our lips are brushing when I hear Mrs. Blanchard screaming at us. Drew quickly pulls away and drags me to my feet, running quickly into the trees again and back down the hill. We get back to the bleachers just as the players get back on the field. Drew starts laughing and I join him, trying to cover up my utter embarrassment as I just tried to kiss him.

"Knew that wasn't the best idea." He chuckled. Kissing or seeing the fireworks? I was tempted to ask.

"I'm going to go meet up with Libby, I'll be right back." I pull my hand away from his and skip off into the crowd, I couldn't wait to tell Lib what had happened. I found Riley encircled by boys, they all ogled at her as she flipped her golden hair, leaning casually against the bleachers. Riley is a big heartthrob in the grade.

"Ri, have you seen Libby?" I push past a seven foot tall boy who's hands look like they're about to strike Riley's ass.

"By the bathrooms." She waves me away, almost ignoring me.

I hurry off to the bathrooms and Libby isn't there, nobody is there. These bathrooms are so nasty, I don't know who would even come close to them. I'm about to walk away when I hear a quiet crying from behind the small building.

"Libby?" I call out as I start walking behind the bathrooms. Sure enough, she is crouched down, wiping her smeared black eyeliner with a tissue, her phone smashed on the ground. I quickly engulf her in a hug, she leans her head on my shoulder and keeps crying. "What happened? Why is your phone broken?" I coo softly.

"It's fricking Dog Man! He's such an ass."

"Why would he break up with you?" I rub her shoulders.

"Because he thinks that I'm going to sleep with Bryce, he doesn't trust me and he thinks that I'm ashamed of him."

Maybe now wasn't the time to brag to her about my newfound love life. "If he can't trust you, he is an ass that you shouldn't be trusting. Just move on."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes, leaving a smear of coal black makeup on her hand. "You're right. I mean, we've only been dating for three years, I haven't become too attached to him, right?"

"Don't let him ruin your night," I pulled her up. "Come on, let's go get you some cheese fries."

We ended up winning the game, twenty eight to fourteen. Luckily, Drew and I weren't caught by Mrs. Blanchard, sadly I can't say the same for the rest of the baseball team. I told Drew I had to drive Libby home and didn't talk to him the rest of the night, which was probably a good idea, I couldn't watch his lips move without wanting to kiss him. Libby was going to spend the night at my house because she lives with Dog Man and couldn't stand even getting her stuff tonight. We stayed up until one a.m. watching chick flicks and eating chocolate. She would burst into the occasional sob and I would chuck another chocolate bar at her, that seemed to do the trick.

I woke up the next morning sprawled on the floor, covered in chocolate wrappers. The door opened and I jerked up, sending wrappers cascading down my chest. Laughter filled the house and I groped around for my phone before realizing that it was my mom. I know she had a date last night, but she was home just now?

"Pete, thanks for last night." Pete? I thought Mr. Rodent was her date?

The door closed and my mom stumbled into the living room. She looked surprised to see me. "Erica, I thought you were sleeping over at Megan's."

"I thought you weren't sleeping at random men's houses." I blew a piece of hair from my forehead.

"Gregory decided not to show so Pete bought me a drink.... Or two...... But nothing happened. How was homecoming?" She smiled, trying to cover up her own night.

"Fine..... Great....." Last night came flooding back, all of the excitement, anxiety, grief, happiness, I remembered it all again. I wish I had a second chance, I would've done so many things differently.

"Did you hang out with Drew?" She said Drew in a dreamy kind of voice.

My face was redder than a cherry. "Yes." I muttered as I shook Libby awake as she slept on the couch. My mom didn't feel comfortable around Libby so maybe she would leave and stop pressing me.

"Has Dog Man called yet?" She muttered in her sleep.

My mom took the hint and left, thank God.

"Sorry, Lib, but you have a text from..." I checked Libby's phone and frowned. "Bryce."

"What does that misogynistic asshole want?" She grumbled.

"He said...." I pressed my lips together as I read the text.

"What?" She rolled over and took her phone from me. Black eyeliner was smeared cross her forehead and spit struck a strand of black hair to her cheek. A hand covered her mouth and tears filled her brown eyes. "Seriously?" She said in a small voice. "His great grandma is dying?!" She said a bit louder. "If he didn't want to go with me, he could come up with a better excuse, I mean, come on, how long do you think your great grandma is going to live?"

"Lib-"

She held a hand up to stop me and the tears melted away. "My life just sucks. Have fun with Drew tonight."

"Come on, you have to go. Its senior year, remember?" I tried to smile and try to make it better but I could tell it wasn't helping.

She gave me an annoyed look. "Don't use my own words against me. I'm just going to get a room at Harriet's Motel, buy some ice cream, and hope that a hot guy stumbles upon my room."

I felt really bad for her, but what could I do? Give her my date? "At least you don't have to wear that dress."

She muttered something indecipherable under her breath. "I'm going to pick up my stuff." She rolled off the couch and shuffled over to the kitchen table, slinging her purse over her shoulder. "Thanks for the chocolate."

I stood up and winked at her. "Anytime. See you at homecoming!"

"Don't count on it!" She yelled back as I heard the front door slam.

I chuckled and shook my head. I looked up at the clock. Crap, it was eleven o'clock. I only had eight hours to make myself look like a girl. I looked down and realized I was still wearing Drew's jersey. Even with the chocolate and cheese smeared on it, it still faintly smelled of him. I wrapped my arms around myself, sighing as I flopped down onto the couch.

Hopefully tonight would be better.

I took the day off from work today so I decided to clean up our mess from last night and throw Drew's jersey in the wash. I scour Pinterest for a hairstyle to wear tonight but, of course, get sidetracked and suddenly I'm looking at dog houses (I don't have a dog). I decided on a cool braid updo. Megan, Violet, Riley, and hopefully Libby are coming over at six so we can do each other's hair and makeup. My phone buzzes on the counter with a text from Drew.

Pick u up at seven.... A few of my friends r tagging along if that's ok.....

Sure :)

By the time I finished cleaning the kitchen and living room it was one o'clock. I grabbed Drew's jersey from the wash and jumped into the shower. Butterflies kept flitting into my stomach. It was no where near close to the dance yet and I was already nervous. I just realized I'm a horrible dancer. What are Drew and I going to do all night? Sway? I should've planned better. When I get out of the shower, I go to Youtube and look up dance tutorials, then realize I'm overreacting. Tonight will be fine, tonight will be great. Drew and I are going to take an amazing picture together and it will go in the yearbook and someday our kids can look at it. Maybe I went a bit too far with the kid part.

I use the rest of my time on Instagram and watching Say Yes to the Dress. I rolled my eyes when I came across the picture of Rebecca wearing her slutty blue homecoming dress with her prostitute makeup. It didn't look like she was going with anyone, at least, according to her Instagram feed. That was unusual for her.

Megan, Riley, and Violet came too soon. I was having major regrets about going now.

"Where is Libby? I'm surprised she isn't already here." Megan said as she curled Riley's golden hair.

"She had a falling out with Dog Man...... And Bryce." I said.

"So she isn't coming?" Vi asked.

I sighed. "I hope she decides to show up."

"I heard a bunch of people from the baseball team are taking a limo," Riley said. "A little fancy for homecoming if you ask me." Maybe that's what Drew meant about a few of his friends coming.

Violet put my hair up for me as I put on mascara and a light gold blush. I usually didn't