As the door swung open, there stood Craig Manning in black Converses and a white tux.

--

"Wow, Elle. Who bribed you?" inquired Craig as he gawked at my appearance. Why did I have the sneaking suspicion that Marco probably had a digital camera in his hand and was crouching behind the limo taking pictures?

"No one bribed me."

He walked down the stairs, towards me.

"What? You mean to tell me Ellie Nash, the girl who hates cliché high school events such as prom, willingly agreed to come? Call the newspapers. This is quite the scoop."

"Ha ha. Very funny, Mr. Manning. No, I'm afraid there is no scoop. Except that Marco happens to be brilliant when it comes to the art of blackmail."

Craig nodded, and extended his arm to me. "Shall we?"

I shot him a look.

"What? It's not like Marco's gonna be my date."

Date? Date? Since when was I his date?

"Ha, you wish," I nervously retorted.

Craig shrugged. "Well, he did kiss me once…"

"Sorry, but with Dylan around, I don't think he'll be doing that again."

"Probably not," he laughed.

Good. Not something I really wanted to see. It's beside the point that Marco had already gotten more action from Craig than I had, but doing it again in front of me would just have been plain mean.

Craig escorted me to the limo and opened the door for me.

"Why, Mr. Manning, whatever would I do without you?"

He bowed. "Probably die, or something."

Heh, he wishes.

"Heh, you wish."

"Jeez, took you two long enough!" complained my fashionable best friend.

I shot him a look to shush, or he'd be feeling my shoes against his shins.

"It's okay Elle. Now would be the right time to admit I'm completely charming," said Craig.

"Pfft, you? Charming? That's funny," I snorted.

"C'mon Elle, give the guy some credit," piped in Marco. "I mean, he did have his own made for TV love triangle, after all."

"Good point, Marco," I agreed. "However, does that make him out to be charming, or a complete asshole?"

"Hey! When did this turn into Bash On Craig's Love Life?"

"It's always been that way," I stuck my tongue out at him.

"None of that, Miss Nash. It's not very lady-like. Besides, I thought you resigned from the 'I hate Craig' band"

I'll show you lady-like.

"Read between the lines, Craig," I shot back smugly as I displayed three fingers to him.

"Ouch. Even I can feel that one, buddy."

"Shut up, man. Do we need to start on your hats?"

"Do. Not. diss on the hat."

"That's what I thought."

"I'm not the one wearing a completely outdated white tux."

"Hey, this is classy my friend. Sheer class. If you can't take it, step out of the limo."

"I'll be glad to. We're at Dylan's, anyway."

The limo stopped and through the glass I saw the Michalchuk residence.

"Be back in a sec," Marco said. Before he climbed out he gave me a wink as to say, 'don't do anything I wouldn't do.'

Oh Marco. He'd be getting a very stern talking to later for everything he was causing….

"Bet he's excited," Craig observed. "What with being back together with Dylan, and all."

"Yeah, he must be. They're great together, though. I'm glad they worked it out."

"Me too." Craig paused. "It's weird; I realized I haven't had a girlfriend at all this year."

"Wow, that's new for you." I didn't say it in a mean way. It was what it was. Craig was always in a relationship.

"It is. But I've also never had a best friend that's a girl before. Not really."

I blushed. He called me his best friend.

"Not Emma?" I managed to stammer out, realizing my face was getting really hot.

"Emma and I played as kids. And we're still friends. But as far as this level of friendship goes, nope."

"Oh…"

God, how lame was I being? Here he is telling me something amazing and all I can think up to say is 'oh…'?

"But, I mean, if that's awkward, or whatever…" he began.

"No, no. Of course not, Craig."

He smiled, seeming almost relieved.

"Good, because you know, what with going to group, studying, and jamming, you not feeling the same way would be pretty lame."

"Feeling the sa—"

"Bonjour everyone! Ready for prom?" squealed Paige as she climbed into the limo, unknowingly interrupting a moment.

Alex, Marco, and Dylan climbed in behind her, and we all settled in the limo again.

"Marco, no sun roof?" complained Alex.

"Calm down, we have one. Specially ordered for you, Alex. It's just a ways down."

Alex smiled. "Ah. Didn't see it because this thing is huge! Paige, up for sticking your head out?"

"Not right now, hun. After prom on the way home?"

"Deal."

"Ellie, wow, you look amazing in that," Paige complimented.

"Thanks, Paige. You look gorgeous too." She did. All of us cleaned up nicely. It was prom. I guess it was to be expected, anyway.

"Now we're off to school, right?" inquired Dylan.

Marco nodded. "You guys are going to die when you see the decorations."

"Definitely. Putting them up was a pain, but it was worth it with the way it turned out," added Paige.

"I hope the DJ doesn't suck. It'll be hard to top last year's entertainment," Craig said, somewhat sadly.

"Yeah, you and Ash did a great job last year," Paige commented.

"But I think the thing none of us will forget is you "crowning" Manny," Marco laughed.

"She deserved it! She broke my leg…"

"We know, we know. She broke your leg and took your dress so you had to rip it and expose her almost half naked in front of the majority of our school."

"Though she exposed herself half naked this year in her little movie," Alex added.

"True. Not to most of the male gender's objection, though. Any thoughts on that, Craig?" asked Marco, smirking.

Suddenly, we all stared at Craig. Even I didn't know his opinion, and I was supposed to be the best friend, right?

"Yeah, Craig. What did you think of Miss Manny's performance?" It was a cruel thing to ask, I admit. But I had a right to be curious.

"Uh, no comment."

"I seriously doubt you have no comments about it," snorted Paige.

Exactly what I was thinking.

Unfortunately for all of us, except Craig, the limo stopped. We made it to school.

"Guess we're here. We'll pick our little discussion up later."

"Keep thinking that, Paige. It's real funny."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"C'mon Alex. Let's go."

"Gladly." Alex and Paige climbed out after Marco and Dylan. Leaving Craig and me. Craig climbed out first (giving me a nice view of his behind, may I add) and I climbed out too, his hand extended to help me out.

"Why, Mr. Manning, you are quite the gentlemen tonight," I breathed as I got to my feet.

The question was: why?

The night was warm, with a slight breeze. Barely now did I realize how exposed I was in this dress. My arms were completely bare, as were my shoulders. Now especially I was glad that most my scars had healed. I could've never worn anything like this a few years ago.

"Elle?"

Craig interrupted my thoughts, bringing me back to reality. As I turned to him I realized I was holding my breath.

"Yeah, Manning?"

"Should we go inside?" he inquired, nodding towards the entrance.

I nodded, unsure of what to think anymore.

I was at prom, with Craig.

Prom, I could have never imagined even going to. But especially standing next to him, and taking his arm. It was astounding, in a completely cliché way that would have hated normally. But now, because he was involved, I was starting to hate it less and less.

As we walked, I realized that he and I couldn't have looked better if we had planned it.

My dress certainly wasn't your formal prom dress. And his white tux, well, enough said.

We walked into school my arm in his, my flats and his Converses flapping against the floor.

--

A/N: Disclaimer still stands

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