prom night: a rosawatts fanfic
a/n: heres a cute little idea i had while i was in the shower lol. enjoy!
warnings: a bit of humiliation and angst? thats about it
The one thing Eva had been looking forward to most her senior year of high school was prom. She could remember being a freshman, so small and nervous, watching her sister get ready for her senior prom.
“You look so pretty Traci!” Eva lamented, and her sister, who was sitting in a chair as her mother did her hair, laughed.
“Why do you sound so upset about that?” she asked her, as her mother moved her head forward, telling her once again to sit still.
“Because,” Eva said, moping. “I want to go to prom!” Traci laughed again.
“You will go to prom. In three years.”
Eva did not want to wait three years. But she did, she waited patiently, and now the day has finally come.
She’s been bugging Neil about it since they started senior year. At this point, he knew every single detail of what she wanted to wear, the kind of pictures she wanted to take, how she wanted to do her makeup, what style she wanted her hair. You would have thought this was her wedding day.
Neil hated prom. He thought it was stupid, just some lame excuse for people to buy expensive clothing and get drunk. The music was too loud, the people were too annoying. And then, then there was the whole process of getting a date. Oh, God. Getting a date.
It was no secret that Eva had the biggest crush on the school’s quarterback, Blake Emerson. And it was also no surprise that Blake had a girlfriend; the most popular girl in school, Skylar Lake.
God, how Neil hated both of them. They were so fake, he didn’t see the appeal in either of them. Skylar wore ten pounds of makeup to school every day. Which wasn’t a bad thing, Neil thought, it was just the fact that she didn’t know how to apply it well. Every morning she looked like she rolled out of bed, did a really bad face paint, and came to school–where everyone praised her for it. What a joke. Eva looked so much better, even on days she didn’t try, but he didn’t see anyone going crazy over her. And then there was Blake. God, what did Eva even see in the guy? He was some stuck up, inconsiderate, selfish prick who made jokes at the expense of others just to make himself look big. He was the kind of guy who seemed to thrive off of other people’s misery. Whether it was because he was insecure himself or he was just an asshole, Neil couldn’t tell. He was fake, a product of hair gel and spray tans, yet he got every girl in school to fall in love with him. Neil was ten times for Eva than Neil.
Of course, he would never tell her this: he wouldn’t risk their friendship like that. But the same way Eva’s been in love with Blake, Neil had been in love with Eva. He’d gotten pretty good at hiding it, but it still hurt every time she brought him up.
“Do you think I’d look better in the blue dress or the pink one?” Eva asked, showing Neil two photos of two dresses that looked exactly the same except for the fact that one was blue and one was pink. He rolled his eyes, but looked at Eva’s excited face and took her phone, looking between the two photos.
“Pink. The blue is to dark for you.” Neil said casually, handing the phone back to his friend. Eva looked at the photo intensely, and nodded.
“Okay. I trust you.” she said.
“Are you sure about that?” Neil teased, and Eva chuckled. It was nice to see her so happy, even if it was over something so stupid.
“What are you wearing?” Eva asked, snapping Neil out of his daze.
“What?” he asked her, looking down at his clothes. “I thought this looked fine?” he asked, looking down at the green t shirt she was wearing. Eva rolled her eyes.
“No, dingus, I mean what are you wearing to prom?”
“Hardy har. Seriously, do you have a date? Are you going traditional black or are you going to go with navy blue, or maybe whi–”
“No, I’m serious. I’m not wearing anything to prom because I’m not going.” Eva stopped dead in her tracks, turning her head towards Neil.
“What do you mean you’re not going? You have to go!” she yelled, and he just shook his head.
“You know I think it’s dumb, Eva. Did you really think I was going to go?”
“YES! Neil! You have to go!” She repeated and Neil just shook his head.
“See you at the end of the day!” He said, saluting her and walking away.
“We are not done talking about this Neil Watts!!” Eva yelled angrily, when there was a tap on her shoulder.
“Eva?” the voice asked. She sighed. Turning around she was shocked to see–
“Blake. Hi. I’m Eva. You just said my name, which means you know what my name is. Hi.” She stammered, and Blake laughed.
“I was…I was wondering. Prom is coming up, and I wanted to know if you wanted to go with me?” Eva felt her heart stop. Blake Emerson was asking her to prom. Blake Emerson, the quarterback of the football team, the most popular boy in school, was asking Eva Rosalene, a science and band nerd, if she wanted to go to prom with him.
“Do I…prom?” She asked, her voice shaky. “I…yea. Um, yes. Yea. Yes.” She nodded, a huge grin breaking out on her face.
“Sweet.” He smiled, and her smile suddenly faded.
“But Skylar? I thought you were going with her!” Eva protested, worried that her one shot at going to prom with her dream boy may have just been ruined.
“We broke up. She was cheating on me with the running back of the team. Besides, you’re way cuter.” he smiled at her.
“Send me a picture of your dress. I have to go to class, but I’ll see you later!” He called, and Eva waved like an idiot.
“Oh my God.” she whispered, whipping her head around to go find Neil. “Oh my God oh my God!”
“Oh my God.” Neil’s voice was deadpan as he looked at a beaming Eva in front of him. Eva, his Eva–nerdy, excitable, sweet Eva was going to prom with that jerk? When did he and Skylar even break up anyway? When did Blake even ever notice Eva? Neil’s mind was running through so many questions, he hardly heard as Eva rambled on and on.
“I know! Can you believe it? I’m going to prom with Blake freakin’ Emerson!” She yelled, nearly jumping out of her skin. “He’s going to get a tie that will match my dress, and he’ll get me a corsage and we’ll get pictures together, and we’ll slow dance and oh my God! Neil! I’m going to prom with Blake!!”
“So you’ve mentioned.” Neil said, annoyed. Eva sighed.
“What’s your problem? Why can’t you be happy for me?” She cried, and stood up from the table they were standing at.
“What’s my problem? Have you ever even met Blake? He’s an asshole, Eva! How can you not see that?” Neil said, and Eva almost threw her lunch tray at him.
“No, Neil, you’re the asshole! First you bail on me for prom, and now you can’t even be happy for me when the guy I’ve liked since freshman year asks me instead? You’re supposed to be my best friend!” She yelled, shaking her head in anger. “You know what? Fine. Have fun at home, alone, knowing I’m furious with you, and having a much better time with Blake then I ever would have with you!” Eva yelled, and stomped away angrily. Neil felt like he was seeing red. He wasn’t mad at Eva, he was mad at Blake.
‘Having a much better time with Blake then I ever would have with you!’
Did Eva…assume they would go to prom together? Is that why she was so insistent on knowing what he was wearing? He let go of his anger for a moment, letting it turn into regret. What would have happened if he had asked her?
It didn’t matter, anyway. He wasn’t going to ask her: he hated prom. He hated it a little more now.
Prom came in what seemed like a blink of an eye. All of a sudden, promposals were finished, dresses were picked out, and the big day had finally arrived.
Neil and Eva hadn’t spoken for nearly three weeks. They passes each other in the halls, giving each other stolen glances, and Neil watched as Blake made her laugh, made her smile. Watched as she would playfully hit his arm, the way she used to with him.
Whatever. He didn’t care. He hated prom anyway.
He put his books in his locker and walked to his car, ready to order pizza and watch crap tv, and certainly not sulk over Eva.
Traci helped Eva get ready, doing her hair and makeup in the room they used to share as kids.
“Eva, you look gorgeous. This boy is not going to know what’s hit him.” Traci said. Eva smiled, but it didn’t last long. “What’s the matter?” Traci asked, pausing her work to take in her little sisters sad face. “Don’t you know how beautiful you look?” she asked, and Eva shrugged.
“It’s not that. Neil and I got into a fight–it was dumb. But we haven’t spoken in a while. I dunno, it’s just getting me down, I guess.” She shrugged. But all of her woes melted away when there was a ring at the door.
“That must be him!” Traci yelled, and Eva immediately smiled again. “Let me just finish your makeup, and then you’ll be all set!”
Eva stood up, looking at herself in the mirror. Her dark hair was pulled to the side in a thick fishtail braid, and her makeup, subtle but beautiful, made her eyes pop.
She truly did feel like a princess.
She descended down the stairs, and Blake smiled at her, taking her hand and helping her down the last step.
“My lady.” He said, and Eva laughed.
“Okay, okay, okay, picture time!” Traci yelled, and they smiled for their pictures. “I’d say we should go out on the lawn, but…” Traci looked sadly at the window, and buckets and buckets of rain poured down. Of course it had to rain of prom night, of course.
As they ran into the limo they got, Blake instructed the driver to go to his house first.
“My mom wanted to take some pictures too.” Blake explained, giving the driver his address.
Eva could hardly hear anything over the sound of her own heartbeat. Here she was, sitting in the back of a limo with Blake, her prom date, and–
“Wait,” Eva said slowly. “Where are we going? This doesn’t look like your house?”
“Oh, no, sorry. Did I say house? I meant this picture thing, a lot of the kids go there before prom. It’s mainly just for the parents, so they can avoid the hassle of trying to get to everyone’s house. It’s dumb, I know, but like, everyone will be there.” Blake said, shrugging casually.
“Oh.” Eva said, feeling a little self conscious. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned this before, and, why had she never heard of this?
The limo pulled into the small driveway of what looked like a warehouse of some sort. Eva had a weird feeling as she got out of the car, but it soon dissolved when she saw a few other kids from their school enter the building as well.
As they entered, she caught sight of Skylar walking up to them, a large smirk on her face. She felt her face suddenly redden as she realized that everyone, literally everyone in the room, was staring at them.
“Hey, babe.” Skylar said sweetly to Blake, taking his hand.
“Hey there, sexy.” Blake responded, dipping her down for a deep kiss. Eva was confused, hadn’t they broken up? What was going on? Why was he–her thoughts came to an abrupt stop when she realized someone was filming.
“Blake, what’s going on?” she asked, suddenly feeling very small. Blake laughed, but not the nice laugh that Eva had fallen for. It was a cruel, mean laugh that made Eva feel like she was going to throw up.
“You didn’t really think we were going to prom together, did you?” Blake asked, and the entire room laughed. Eva felt tears begin to pool in her eyes.
Blake threw his head back in laughter. The room followed suit. She could hear Skylars snicker next to her as well.
“Really? Me, most popular guy in school, ask you? You’re nothing, you’re a geek, a loser, the dirt under my feet. I wouldn’t be caught dead with you as a date, Eva. And you really thought you had a chance with me? I knew about your pathetic little crush. What did you think would come of this? We would date? Are you kidding me? I mean, come on. Look at yourself, Eva!”
Eva couldn’t believe what she was hearing. In fact, she couldn’t hear anything. The entire room had fallen deaf to her ears and all she could hear was her heartbeat. Tears were falling down her face freely and she watched as the room laughed, as she was filmed, as Skylar and Blake held onto each other, and she suddenly felt the urge to throw up.
She ran out into the rain quickly, sobs raking her body, completely ruining her sisters nice work. She got soaked, but she didn’t care, she just had to get out of there as soon as possible.
She ran, straight to the one person she knew actually cared about her, had actually seen Blake for the awful person that he was, and tried to warn her.
Neil was about halfway through the second season of F.R.I.E.N.D.S when he heard a knock at the door.
“Who in the world…?” Neil asked himself, going to the door and stopping dead in his tracks at the sight he saw in front of him.
Eva was soaked, head to toe, sobbing, her makeup running down her face.
“It was all a joke.” she muttered, her voice sounding so soft and broken, and for a moment Neil was confused.
“Wh–oh. Oh.” He said, before realizing what had happened. He tentatively took a step forward, wrapping his arms around his best friend as she broke down crying.
“H-he said such mean things, Neil, he said s-so many horrible things.” Eva sobbed, and Neil gently took her inside.
“Wait here.” he said, running to get her a towel and tissues. He wrapped it around her shoulders as she attempted to dry her eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I’m sorry I yelled at you… y-you were just trying to warn me so that this exact thing didn’t happen. But it did, you were right, he is such an asshole, Neil.” Eva muttered, and Neil simply put an arm around her. Now was definitely the wrong time to gloat.
“Don’t let them win.” He whispered. Eva looked up at him, clearly confused as to what he meant. “Blake, Skylar, all of them. By not going to prom, by not doing anything–you’re giving them exactly what they want. I don’t blame you if you just want to stay here and watch tv and eat pizza all night. You can borrow some pajamas, take a shower, and we’ll order pizza and trash talk every single person who wronged you tonight. If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do. But you want revenge? Go upstairs, dry your eyes, and come with me to prom. Show them that they don’t bother you. Show them you don’t care.” Neil said, with such a fierce conviction that Eva almost had to oblige.
“You–you’d go to prom with me?” she whispered. Neil couldn’t help it, he let out a laugh.
“Out of that entire speech, that’s what you got out of it?” he asked, and Eva laughed, a bright and true laugh that only Neil could bring upon her. “There we go,” Neil said as she laughed. “Much better. Now, what do you say? Ready to kick prom in the butt?” he asked standing up and extending a hand to her. Eva smiled, took it, and hand in hand they walked to Neil’s car.
Neil wound up going back to his house because, “Eva, oh my God I have the perfect shirt!” Eva laughed as he came out of the house wearing a t shirt with the imprint of a tuxedo on it.
They entered the room, and Eva grabbed Neil’s hand, swallowing hard.
“You ready?” Neil asked. Eva nodded.
Blake and Skylar were easy to immediately spot, and the same way Neil and Eva saw them, they saw Neil and Eva.
“Don’t say a word. Just ignore them. Let’s go dance.” Neil whispered, pulling Eva over to dance to the upbeat music that was playing.
If Blake of Skylar tried to make a scene, Eva didn’t notice, she was having to much fun. Neil was simultaneously the best, and worst, dance partner she’d ever had, but she would never ask for a better one.
A slow song came on suddenly, and Eva and Neil looked at each other tentatively. Neil cleared his throat.
“Miss Rosalene, may I have this dance?” he asked, and Eva smiled.
“You may, Mister Watts.” Eva smiled, taking his hand and putting her hands around his neck.
For all the horrible things that had happened to her today, she wondered it maybe it was all leading to this moment. Maybe this was always the prom she was meant to have; she didn’t need the fancy dress and the perfect hair and the perfect date, she just needed her best friend by her side.
Maybe it was the music, or the moment, or the fact that she realized just how much Neil cared about her tonight, but she reached up and kissed Neil, a quick light kiss, one that was almost like a question, asking permission.
Neil was taken aback, and Eva almost pulled away in embarrassment, when he took her face in his hands and kissed her back, more firmly, smiling and swaying with the music when they broke away.
They didn’t say anything after that, they didn’t have to.
It didn’t matter that they weren’t the most popular kids in school, it didn’t matter that they didn’t look they way everyone else did, it didn’t matter. None of it mattered, not anymore.
They had each other, and that was enough.
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dededos
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