"The Spring Dance?" I repeat with wide eyes. "That's so cool, who will you go with Shana?"
Shana's eyes twinkled and she looks past me to wink at Virgil and Dale. "You of course!" She exclaimes, throwing her arms around my neck.
"W-What?" I splutter, going rigid in intense shock. "M-Me?"
"Of course!* She agrees excitedly, leaning back to look at my red face. "Or do you have someone else you want to ask out?" She asks and I choke.
The truth was that I hadn't even thought about it because I never planned on getting a date, I was even having second thoughts about going for the dance, I'd have preferred to stay home, curled up on a couch with a novel and Apple with me.
"Um…" I look behind me at the two boys that had suddenly gone quiet, I'm not surprised at the dangerous looks on their faces but the intensity makes me shiver.
I gulp, "Okay."
"You agreed?!!" Virgil and Dale yell simultaneously.
I blink at this. "Why not?"
Shana cuts them off before they can reply to me, throwing a possessive arm over my shoulder. "Why you two were being morons I simply did the sane thing and just asked." She gloats.
They transfer their looks to her, an identical glare on their handsome faces.
"Traitor." Virgil mumbles under his breath.
"Hey now, you never said I couldn't ask him."
I just purse my lips and watch them have a full conversation about 'me' over my head.
"We never thought you wanted to!" Dale exclaims.
"Well I might be willing to retract my offer for a fitting price." She smirks and I'm just done with them all.
"I'm not an object to be bartered off." I say stiffly, taking Shana's arm off my shoulders. "I wasn't even planning on going for it if Shana hadn't said she'd be my date." I cross my arms and pin each of them a look, slightly satisfied with the look of contrition on their faces.
"I haven't even made up my mind about my date yet, it's definitely not Shana seeing how she just wants to use me as currency…"
"Hey!" Shana objects, pouting.
"But it's true isn't it?"
"But I'm not off your list right?" Virgil asks in that serious tone of his that shouldn't be used for questions like this.
My cheeks go up in flames. "W-What? Y-You wa-want t-to take m-me to t-the da-dance?" I stutter out in absolute shock - what the hell is happening??
While gays were accepted in Pine Creek High - sorta - People weren't exactly open about it so Virgil's word stunned me.
"Not just him." Dale adds seriously then he breaks into a wide grin. "But we're going to let you pick who would take you now, because we don't want you to feel objectified.
I stand, gaping for a couple, very still seconds. Wait, what? 'now?'
"Now!?" I exclaim, recovering quickly as the implications of his words hit me. "Y-You weren't going to le-let me pick, before?"
They share guilty expressions and I want to scream.
"But now we are." Virgil insists when he gets a good look at my murderous expression. "So pick." He says innocently enough but I can hear the gloat in his voice.
"With the both of you as my only options?" I raise an eyebrow, unamused. "Who says I don't want someone else."
"Well you said that you didn't want to go anyway so how could you want someone else?" He asks, eyes dark.
I purse my lips at his logical reasoning, they have me backed up against the wall and knowing Virgil if I said I didn't want to come anymore, he'd find a way to make me come.
I go quiet to let their request sink in and my eyes widen. Pick! One of them?? - I think I'm hyperventilating.
I look to Shana for help but she has her phone out, probably recording the entire scene to show my mom. I don't even question this, already used to her antics.
The tension is thick as they wait for my answer, with how competitive they can be I can't imagine what would happen if I actually picked one. I still didn't know what their bet was about, honestly I'm slightly terrified to know.
I look from Virgil's grim expression to Dale's anxious but expectant look - 'I-I can't do it.'
"I-I… I c-can't pi-pick." I whisper, looking down.
It's the truth and it's not because I'm trying to be nice but because I genuinely do not know who I want to pick. 'When did I start falling for Dale too?'
"Then we'll do it the old-fashioned way." Dale drawls leaning back against the wall with his hands behind his head.
"W-What?" I look up at them again, my blush fading in my confusion.
An evil light comes into Virgil's eyes, his posture is still tense and I'm definitely sure he's very unhappy with the entire situation. "I agree."
"Hell no!" Shana stands up abruptly, eyeing the both of them wearily like she expects them to pull out guns and challenge each other to a duel. "There will be none of that, don't even consider it!"
"None of what? Consider what?" I parrot in confusion, looking up at Shana.
"These two idiots want to fight it out." Shana tsks, still giving them the evil eye.
My mouth drops open again and I'm shell-shocked for what must be the third time this morning and the bell hasn't even been rung yet.
"F-Fight? W-Why wo-would y-you wa-want t-to f-fight?" I stutter, incredulous, my gold-brown hair waving around me in my intensity. "Y-You c-co-could g-get h-hurt." I stutter harder, getting so angry that I'm finding it difficult to breathe.
Shana quickly pulls me into a tight hug, trying to distract me with the pressure. "What is wrong with you two?" She sasses them in exasperation. "You keep getting Hayden caught in the middle of your contest of wills."
The bell rings before anyone can say a thing.
"Let's get to class." Virgil says tightly, looking like he wants to punch somebody's face in.
We quietly get the stuff we brought up and start down, the tension in the air only thickens and I slip my hand out of Shana's hold to latch on to Virgil's hand, he quickly grabs it like a lifeline.
Shana subtly nods to me because we both know that Virgil is literally a live wire when he gets mad, very few things get Virgil mad but Dale manages to do this effortlessly and often by just simply existing.
The hallway is bustling as students hurry to get to their classes but as soon as we walk down the stairs, the entire hallway goes quiet, everyone turning to look in our direction.
I cringe into myself at the attention but Virgil just holds me tighter, almost pulling me behind him with how close he holds me.
We don't stop walking but the noise only increases, I don't blame them. Virgil and Dale are prodigies in their own rights not to talk about Shana who is an entire social system on her own but all this is very bad for my mental health.
I'm looking down at my sneakers again, leaving all the navigating to Virgil so I don't know what's happened to make the hushed whisper double in intensity, that is until I hear her voice.
"I've been looking all over for you Virgil." She says in her crisp, upper crust British accent.
Elise.
That one name was enough to drive shivers down most people's back, she was the Ice Queen as the entire school preferred to call her and looked like one too. She was always dressed in colors of whites and ice blue, her platinum blonder hair in glorious waves all around her.
"Now you see me, what do you want?" Virgil asks coldly, he knows it's better to just humor her or there would be hell to pay, literally.
"Don't be like that V, I just thought I should be the one to inform you as the Chairman of the committee handling the Spring Dance."
I blink, 'The Chairman of the Spring Dance? Is a student?? Is that even possible.
"I already know about the dance, Elise." Virgil says stiffly, tucking me closer to him. "Is that all?"
That small action dragged her icy blue eyes to me and she scowls darkly, her two hench-girls behind her doing the same like they were mind controlled.
"What's this?" She asks in disgust, while looking in my direction and Virgil squeezes my wrist so tight I'm scared it'll snap.
Shana replies before he can. "Oy! Blind bitch! That's a person." She warns in a dark voice, I can feel Dale trembling behind me.
Elise doesn't even react to the name calling, already angry with Virgil for treating her so coldly so she decides to pour her wrath on me, irritated with how close Virgil holds me.
"I just want to know why this low life thing has his dirty claws all over V." She says loudly in a clear voice, emphasizing on 'thing'
A gasp tears through the hall and it suddenly turns deadly quiet, everyone is looking at me.