Chapter 19: Prom Night Drama

Jason

9:02 P.M.

A few minutes later, the girls were dressed in designer gowns, and they were definitely the envy of the whole school. Even the girls who were already wearing designer gowns were staring at them. Tamia looked a little uncomfortable with all of the attention, so I wanted make sure this night was special.

Since this was my first prom, I wasn't sure what to do. "So what do you wanna do first?" I asked Tamia.

"I don't know," she replied. "This is my first prom."

Morrissa laughed at us. "You guys can dance, or they're serving hors d'oeuvres other there," she said pointing across the room.

"But we are gonna go dance," said Raymond.

"May I have this dance?" I asked Tamia, extending one hand.

"Of course," she answered, taking my hand.



9:38 P.M.

About half an hour had passed since we pulled up to the school, and I was already having the time of my life. Tonight I could just be myself, I could just be a normal teenager, and it felt great. What made it even better that I had Tamia by my side. We danced to fast songs and we danced to slow songs. We talked with classmates and we ate. Starr, Lanna, and Penny all seemed jealous of Tamia. I want to say that they should be, but tonight isn't about any of them--- it's about Tamia and me.

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by an announcement.

"Alright Roosevelt Academy, your votes are in!" said the D.J. "This year's Prom King is... Christian Jordan!" The whole ballroom applauded. "And Roosevelt Academy's newest Prom Queen is... Lanna Jonas!!"

Once again, the entire ballroom applauded, and even burst out in cheering. Lanna proudly walked up to the stage to claim her crown.

"I can't believe she won!" Tamia exclaimed.

"I know, I thought Morrissa had it for sure!" I said in shock.

"And now it's time for the King and Queen to have their dance," the D.J. continued. I couldn't help but chuckle a little. Larry had dumped Tamia to be with Lanna, but now Lanna had just been crown Prom Queen and the guy who took her to prom, Prom King. Even though Larry had brought Starr to prom, I noticed that he kept looking over at Lanna and Christina... and me and Tamia.

Soon after the King & Queen's dance, Lanna made her way over to Morrissa.

"Looks like the better girl won this time," she said.

"Lanna, you can have that crown," Morrissaa said effortlessly. "You obviously need it to feel validated. Just like you needed to take another girl's boyfriend to feel loved. Maybe if you didn't spend so much time tearing others down, you could find a way to love yourself." And with that, Morrissa and Raymond took off towards the dance floor.

Man, I thought to myself, if Raymond had any sense, he'd go ahead and make things official with Morrissa. I look back over at the prettiest girl in the room. She was smiling proudly at her friend.

"And this is why I love Morrissa," she said. "She's not afraid of anything."

Tonight couldn't have been any more perfect, and I think— no, I know that I was finally ready. Onise and I were over. I was tired of waiting on her to respond, so my next and final message to her was going to be: 'It's over.'... or maybe I shouldn't be so harsh? I decided to find Raymond for some advice.

"Honestly, whatever you decide to say, I wouldn't consider harsh," he told me. "What made you decide to do this tonight?"

I look over at Tamia. She, Vie, and Morrissa were all standing by the snack table. I instantly got butterflies in my stomach.

"Oh, I see," Raymond continued. "It's prom night, Tamia's all dolled up, slow jams are playing— it is pretty romantic."

"No I've always felt this way," I replied, "I just didn't want to risk hurting Onise because I really liked her at the time. Now I have no idea who she is— I just know that she won't talk to me. Well you know what? No response is a response. I'm tired of trying to make others happy before making myself happy!"

"I'm proud of you little bro!" said Raymond, "And it's about time!"

"I could say the same for you and Morrissa," I said.

"It's... complicated," said Raymond. "She's going off to college and we'll be on tours and whatnot."

"It doesn't have to be complicated," I said. "Tamia and I will also be in that same situation, and I I want to do everything in my power to make it work." With that statement, I headed straight over to Tamia to tell her that I wanted to be with her. I was gonna officially break it off with Onise so we could finally be together.

"Hey, Tamia?" I said shyly. It was like all of a sudden, my boldness was gone and my knees got weak. That's the effect she has on me.

"Hey, Jason, what's up?" she says so sweetly.

"I've been thinking. It's time to let go of the past, even though I haven't gotten any answers."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" she asks with a smile.

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. I had no idea why I was nervous. It wasn't like she was going to say no, right? "I want—"

But I was abruptly cut off by a familiar voice. "Jason Draper," said the familiar female's voice.

My heart stopped. I couldn't believe that this was happening. I already knew who it was, but why was she here? Why now? I slowly turn around and say, "Onise? What are you doing here?"



Tamia

10:04 P.M.

Disbelief. Total and utter disbelief. That's the only word to describe what I was feeling in that moment. I knew Jason was getting ready to officially ask me to be his girlfriend. And here, out of the blue, comes Onise Taylor. Onise, the actress that Jason had started "dating" sometime last year. Onise, the same girl who stopped talking to him soon after. The same Onise Taylor that never responded to any of his messages. That Onise.

I stare at the girl in front of me. I'd seen pictures of her, but it was surreal seeing her in person. Porcelain skin, light brown hair, and blue eyes. This was the girl that Jason was smitten with before me. I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to run away and cry. But Morrissa was holding my arm.

"What are you doing here?" Jason had asked her. He didn't seem too thrilled. Maybe that was a good sign?

"I'm here to see you!" she said, walking closer to him. "I know it's been a while, but I'm back now!"

"How'd you know I'd be here?" he asked.

"I didn't," she said "...it must be fate!"

"Onise," Jason said, "I know you saw our interview tonight, and we said we were on our way to our prom."

"Where do you get off not talking to Jason for six months?" Morrissa asked, cutting in.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Onise asked rudely.

"A friend of Jason's," Morrissa replied.

"Oh so now you have two new girlfriends?" Onise asked. "How could you do this to me Jason? I thought what we had was special! I knew I had to come back for you when I saw that you were with her!" she said staring straight at me. Wait, what?

"How could I do what to you?" exclaimed Jason. "You left me, without saying a word! I tried to get in contact with you, but I never heard anything back!"

I see the look on Jason's face go from frustration and hurt to confusion. "Wait, what did you just say?" he asked.

A look of worry comes over Onise's face. She looked as if she just made a mistake... like she said something that she wasn't supposed to. "Nothing," was the reply that came out of her mouth.

"No, I heard you," said, Jason, "You clearly said 'I knew I had to come back for you when I saw that you were with her'."

Onise took a deep breath. "Okay, fine," she said. "I did know that you were going to be here, and it wasn't because of the interview. My friend Christian told me that you went here. He also told me that he noticed that you were getting really cozy with... her," she said, pointing at me.

"Wait, Christian Jordan?" Morrissa asked.

"I believe I was talking to Jason," Onise snapped.

"Onise stop!" Jason said. "I don't even know who you are anymore. But I do know that for months, I tried to contact you and you ignored me. And I was worried about moving on and hurting your feelings. I really liked you and cared about you, but all that's in the past now. I can finally move on and be with a girl who really is into me."

"Oh come on, Jason!" Onise shrieked. "Remember how you fell for me that night of your album release party? What better way to rekindle that than prom night? I know you still feel something for me. The way you kissed me that night... I know you're not over me just like that."

I went from my blood boiling to my heart sinking. They kissed that night? Jason never told me that. Well, I guess it didn't matter at the time, because I was with Larry. But I still didn't like the way that statement came out of her mouth. Now I really wanted to run away and cry. But, Morrissa was still holding my arm, and Vie had also come to my side. I could tell she was mad too.

"Look Onise," Morrissa said, "I don't care who you are, but I'm about to tell you a thing or two about yourself. It seems that once you went off to shoot your sorry little movie, you probably met someone else or realized that Jason wasn't the guy you wanted."

I glance over at Jason. He was looking down at the floor. He looked defeated, and I wasn't sure if it was because of what Onise revealed to me, or what Morrissa was saying now.

"But then," Morrissa continued, "when one of your little spies lets you know that Jason is moving on, you immediately come running to him and expect everything to pick back up where it left off. Jason deserves way better than that! He has been faithful to you this entire time! He deserves someone like her— and her name is Tamia— and he definitely doesn't need to be with someone like you!" and with that, both she and Vie stormed off.

Onise just stood there, dumbfounded. Jason was still staring at the floor. It was amazing that this whole debacle didn't cause a scene. I was waiting for Jason to say something, anything. But he just stood there, quiet for a moment.

Finally he said, "Onise, can we go somewhere and talk?"

"Of course we can!" she said happily.

"I'm so sorry, Tamia," Jason said to me as he turned around and walked away with Onise.

I couldn't believe what just happened. Wait, what did just happen?

"Um, what just happened?" Morrissa said, echoing my thoughts. She, Raymond, Vie, and Caiden had all come back to me.

"Ja-Jason just left... with Onise," I said trying to hold back tears.

"WHAT?" screamed Morrissa. "Okay Ray, I love you, but your brother is—"

"No, that can't be true, I know my brother," Raymond said.

"Raymond, he just left me!" I said with tears rolling down my face. "He left me for Onise!"

"No, there's gotta be another reason why he left," Raymond insisted. "He was just asking me for advice on how to break it to her easy that he was done. He really, really, really wants to be with you Tamia."

"Okay, maybe I overreacted," Morrissa said calmly. "Raymond's right. Everyone can see that Jason is in love with you, and love can make people do crazy things."

"And you know that Jason isn't the best at expressing himself under pressure," Raymond chimed in. "Trust me, he loves you. He's probably just demanding some answers from Onise.

"Yeah," said Vie. "Jason also doesn't like making a scene, and that's exactly what Onise was trying to do."

I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding in. I decided to trust Jason. He's never given me a reason to doubt him before. Maybe he was demanding answers. Maybe he had to get away from all the noise to tell Onise exactly how he felt. Ugh, Onise. I can't believe she asked Christian to send her information on Jason, but couldn't talk to him herself?! Surely Jason could see how horrible that was. And Lanna... I've seen her and Christian talk from time to time, and while she was still dating Larry! She looked a little too happy dancing with Christian just an hour ago.

Suddenly, Vie's words came flooding through my mind: "Yeah, I bet if she saw pictures of you and Jason together, she'd coming running back to him!" It all makes sense. Lanna. Christian. Onise. Lanna knows that Jason is a celebrity, she must have found out that Jason and Onise were once together, probably from Christian. Christian and Onise are friends. Onise asked Christian to keep tabs on Jason, and Lanna convinced him to tell Onise about me— because she couldn't have Jason to herself. Once Onise found out about me, she came running back to Jason. It all comes back to Lanna.

Once again my blood was boiling, and this time it was because of Lanna, I didn't have Larry, and at the moment, I didn't have Jason. I spotted her on the dance floor, and I stormed over to her. But I stopped. Getting mad at her wasn't going to solve my problems. If anything, it would continue this cycle. I started walking toward her again, but this time more calmly.

"Lanna," I said, "I know what you did."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I know that you had Christian tell Onise that Jason and I were going to prom together," I replied.

"Actually, that was me," said another voice.

It belonged to Penny Janecki.

"I told Christian to tell Onise that someone was trying to get with Jason," said Penny.

"But you were trying to get with Jason too," I said.

"And you took him from me," said Penny. "Now I've taken him from you."

"So now you're both losers because neither of you have Jason," said Lanna. I had forgotten that she was still standing with us.

"Oh, I'll get him back," Penny said.

"Girl, move on," said Lanna. "The guys she's into aren't all that great. I took Larry from her, and now I've dumped him and moved on."

Wow, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I knew the girls at my school were a little crazy, but this was ridiculous. The guys were no better, but I knew that Jason was different. I waked away from Penny and Lanna to try and go find Jason. Even though I knew that Vie, Morrissa, and his brothers were right, part of me had to see it for myself.

As all the events of the day replayed through my mind, I knew one thing for sure: my prom night was definitely a night to remember!