2:21 Prom

Lisa was up early. She had her first day of work today. She'd already showered, changed and eaten breakfast before anyone else was up.
"You'll cook wearing that!" Jackson exclaimed once he saw her uniform. He moved to the fridge and pulled out some leftovers for his own breakfast.
"I can't exactly say anything! It's my first day. I'll be fine. I'll be inside all day anyway, and the school has air conditioning." Jackson gave her a worried look. He wasn't going to stop worrying about his wife boiling to death in that wooly jumper, but he also wasn't going to tell her how worried he was that she'd freak out. She hadn't been out the house in so long, and she didn't know how many non-humans there were in the town now. He hoped it wouldn't be too much for her.

Taylor woke up to her father yelling at her to get up. It was 7.30 and the bus would be here in half an hour. She groaned as she got out of bed and headed to the shower. She wished she hadn't stayed out so late last night. She felt like death! She had a slight headache, probably just tired. She hoped she'd feel better later, it was prom tonight.

_____

"You never play with me anymore."
"Yes I do, Madi!! I've got prom soon, I don't have time to play games, I have to get ready!" Madison put her hands on her hips and looked away from her sister in a huff. She would get her own way. Taylor sighed. She couldn't stand seeing her sister like this. She felt so guilty. "What do you want to play?"

Madison grinned and shrunk herself into sprite form. Taylor quickly followed and they had a quick game of tag in the living room. That was the best thing about sprite form, they didn't need a big house. Madison got overexcited, and bumped into Jackson. They immediatly took human form again and stood infront of their father apologetically.

Jackson looked at his girls and wondered what to say. He was glad they weren't afraid to test what they could do. They wanted to find out more about the fae, and he was upset that he couldn't help. They were fast growing up and, Taylor particually, would soon be at full power. He knew Lisa hated them doing anything fairy-like, and had always hoped they'd be born human. He glanced behind him. Lisa was going into the bathroom. She hadn't seen. He turned back around and smiled at the girls, still looking at him, confused, waiting for his reaction.
"I won't say anything if you won't." He winked and the girls looked at each other and grinned. "Now, you've got a friend coming over" he said to Madison, then turned to Taylor "And you've got a prom to go to. Go on, get ready." They thanked him and ran off to their room. Jackson sat himself down on the sofa and flicked through the channels on the TV. It was a full moon, Lisa hadn't wanted Taylor to go out at all, but Jackson and Taylor nagged, begged and pleaded so much she finally gave in. She couldn't make her daughter miss her prom.

An hour or so later, Taylor was finally ready just as Madisons friend arrived. Lisa and Jackson were watching some soppy romantic movie, and had jumped apart to opposite ends of the sofa when the girls walked in. Taylor had given them a look as she'd walked by, and her parents had looked guiltily at each other. Madison was too busy with Geoffrey to notice.

As Taylor was leaving, she noticed one of Trishas' gormless henchmen was hovering around the mail box again. She hurried past and hoped he wouldn't follow, she wondered whether to tell her family, but decided against it when she realised they still didn't know about her encounter a few years ago.

 She arrived at prom just as the moon was coming over the mountains. Everyone else was inside, and she could hear the music inside the small building. She took a deep breath and headed inside.

_____

It was one hell of a night. As she walked away from the building, she noticed the boy she'd been watching earlier. He had a girlfriend, or, had a date at least, and she'd caught her staring and started a fight. Taylor had won, obviously, the girl had only been human and had ran home crying when Taylor continued to flirt with the boy. She wasn't sure why she'd done it. Everyone else had been paired up, and she'd felt a little lonely as Summer hadn't bothered coming and Chiquita had someone with her. Maybe she'd just got bored.

Taylor turned when she reached the bottom of the steps. Chiquita was just walking out of the building and avoided eye contact as best she could.
"Chi?"
"Taylor, go home. I don't know what's wrong with you tonight, but you could have seriously hurt that girl, and got yourself expelled! You're lucky no teachers came into the toilets..." Taylor sighed. After she'd had her fun with the boy, she'd gone to the toilets and found the prom queen reapplying lipstick in the mirror. She'd suddenly felt jealous and grabbed the crown from her hand, hitting the girl over the head with it before placing it on her own head. She vaguely remembered grabbing the girl by the throat and telling her she didn't deserve to be a queen just before Chiquita walked in and kicked her legs out from under her. That had hurt. She'd fallen flat on her ass, and hit her arm hard on a sink on the way down.
"Chi, I..."
"Just go, Taylor." She turned and went back inside to look for her date. Taylor stood there for a minute more. What had got into her tonight? She'd felt like she was watching the entire night, not living it. It wasn't like her to fight, and this headache had only gotten worse. Confused, and so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, she climbed into a waiting cab and headed home.

_____

She put the crown and her photo on the dresser in the bedroom. She didn't remember accepting the crown, or taking the picture. She didn't remember the night at all now, and her head was pounding. She felt a little sick, and quickly changed and climbed into her bunk.
"Please feel better in the morning" She whispered to herself, before drifting off to sleep.




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