by the way i tried to say i'd be there [soph, isaac, ly, jay, etc.]

Isabelle was waiting for Simon in the lobby of the dorm building, the waiting place that their group had designated. She'd spent hours perfecting her hair, unaccustomed to having to work with the bleached blonde shade, and even longer trying to do her makeup to compliment the unfamiliar color as well as the perfectly wonderful spectacular dress her mother had sent her. Miraculously, even after all those hours of primping, she was the first one downstairs. Leaning over to adjust her heels, Izz was perched carefully against the arm of a bench in the waiting area, staring at a plant across the way as impeccably dressed Harriman students flocked past her, waving occasionally.

Much to her dismay, the first member of her group to arrive was Micah Katz, his velvet blazer actually kind of... cute. She'd always had mixed feelings about him, but he was going with Jay and she supposed she'd be able to play nice for the night, if only for Jane's sake. Sitting up straight she tossed her hair over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow at the older boy.

"Katz," she said simply, pursing her perfectly glossed lips judgmentally. The big-nosed boy grinned at her, patting her on the head and sending her hands flying up compulsively to adjust her hair.

"Well hello there, Miss Izziebelles. I haven't seen you in quite some time... How's that brother of yours? I haven't gotten to talk to him much in composition yet, but he's looking healthy." Micah couldn't help but grin. Sure, Izz was hot, hot as hell, but she could be mighty cold. So he'd never really been interested. He had to admit, though; she was pretty damn cute as a blonde.

"He's doing well Micah, thank you for asking." Izz said tersely, icy blonde eyes moving towards the staircase and then darting over to the elevator, praying that someone, anyone, would get down there soon. Frowning at a piece of lint that had found its way onto her hip she flicked it off, smoothing her dress over her stomach and crossing her arms with a sigh.

"Now now, no need to be such a grump, if you want some Katz just say the word baby, it's okay... You don't need to take it out on me." Micah leaned forward with his arm just above Isabelle's head. She scoffed, pushing back on his chest to get him off but smiling just a little. If she had to grant him one thing, it was his sense of humor. But she wouldn't let him win that easily.

"Simon's going to get here any minute and you'd better not be so close to me when he does or you're going to be in big trouble." She smirked up at the boy, raising her eyebrows and wrinkling her nose. True, she didn't really know what she and Simon were, but maybe if she acted like he was her boyfriend it'd happen. He was taking her to homecoming at least; that HAD to be something...

"What is he, your boyfriend? You don't seem like one to dip in the friendship pot, Belle, but I guess sex is sex..." That ruffled Izz's fur nicely, and she perked up, her pleasant mood icing over quickly as she glared up at Micah.

"It's not like that. And no, he's not my boyfriend. Just shut up, Katz, you're not as funny as you think you are..." she barked, her eyes moving back to the staircase as she gnawed the inside of her cheek furiously.

I hope you don't mind eev... :]

Jay hopped ungracefully around her dorm room, wishing now that she hadn't told Abi and Nikki to go on ahead without her. At the time, she had thought she would only be behind them by a minute or so, but it was now looking like she would be lucky to get down there at all. It hadn't been her dress that had given her any trouble. No, that piece of her outfit was perfect. She had gone shopping for what seemed like (and probably was) hours with her roommates, but while both Abi and Nikki had found spectacular floor-length gowns for the event, Jay had no such luck. She usually wasn't so picky about dresses for school stuff. Actually, she was the likeliest one to just pick a dress of the rack and buy it; just to have the shopping over with. For some reason, though, that strategy just wasn't working this time. She'd tried on more dresses than she liked to recount, and had almost immediately found flaws in every single one of them. Maybe it was something about her not wearing the dress just for herself anymore. Now she had to try to figure out what Micah would think of it. Many of them were too long, a frightening lot of them were way too short (though she doubted Micah would have any problems with that), some sparkled so much they blinded her, and some were just dyed unbelievably putrid colors. She knew vaguely that her sudden bout of pickyness had to do with her going to the dance with Micah, but she couldn't figure out why it was affecting her so badly.

It was only Micah, after all. It wasn't like she was going with Gerard or something (though he would be there, she supposed). Micah and her were best friends. It wasn't like he was going to stop talking to her because she picked the 'wrong' dress and embarrassed him at homecoming. Actually, he would probably love her forever if she dressed up like a lobster or Wonder Woman or something. She knew all of this, but she still couldn't shake the silly-sick butterflies that filled her tummy when she was looking through the dresses. She had finally decided to go off on her own to look for a dress, and had found a pretty vintage shop that Belle had suggested. It had taken her only five minutes in that store to find the dress that she would wear to homecoming.

That was all over and done with now, though. Her dress was no longer the problem; it was the shoes. Jay had worn character heels and such for plays and musicals, but she wasn't really a big fan of heels. Not only did her homecoming shoes have heels, they had straps. There were too many straps on the damn things, and Jay couldn't figure out whether to wrap them around her ankles or her feet or just tie them into a ridiculous bow or something. She halted her hopping and settled onto Abi's bed to try to figure them out again. She seemed to be making some headway; it looked like the straps wrapped halfway around her ankle and connected in back. She fiddled with them and finally got them connected. She wasn't sure if it was right, but if the shoes stayed on her feet she wasn't going to fiddle with them any more.

She clasped her faux diamond bracelet around her wrist and put on a ring to match, then strung three-tiered shell earrings into her ears. She stepped into the bathroom and checked herself out in the mirror, thoroughly pleased at how her homecoming outfit had finally come together. Her hair was up and out of her way, swept into a shiny bun by Belle herself earlier today, and the dark raspberry lipstick had ended up looking better than she had expected. She blew herself a kiss, then grabbed her white clutch purse and hightailed it down to where the rest of her group would be waiting. Her fingernails dug into her little purse as she caught sight of Micah (stupid butterflies!) and she tried extra hard not to stumble in her heels as she got closer to him. Her grin was completely natural, though, when she spotted the material of his blazer. "Oooooh, soft!" she said happily, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing her face in the material. Luckily she didn't have on enough makeup to smudge it all up. "Hey Izz." she said, her voice muffled since her face was currently smushed into Micah. She pulled herself away, leaving one arm looped around Micah's waist, and noticed there were a few more people than she had noticed before. "Hey guys!" she looked around at them, wondering if perhaps her dress was too short compared to the gowns around her. Then again, Saffie was wearing a shorter dress and it looked absolutely kicking. She was also exchanging kisses with Gerard. Jay bit her lip and pretended not to notice. "Wow, you all look amazing! I bet you we have the best looking Homecoming group in the history of Harriman!"

Nervous was a drastic understatement. Sophia was nearly terrified. And Sophia Maribel Vittorno was nothing if not cool and confident all of the time, every single day of her life. She stared at herself haplessly in the mirror on the back of the dormitory door, sunny blonde hair curling loosely in cascades down her shoulders, her back. Even with her thick locks covering her non-existent cleavage, she felt strangely exposed - ridiculous, considering how very exposed she had been in various dance attires during full recitals. Maybe it was because this was for someone...for Isaac. She put her hand to her forehead and sighed. What in the hell was she even doing? Isaac had said that this was to prove to her that she wasn't just another girl. He had promised her that. She knew that he damn well knew that if he was lying, she wouldn't speak to him again - and that was saying something, because he was the closest thing to a best friend she had managed to have at Harriman. Anxiously, Soph smoothed her dress and took one more long, slow look. Time to grin and bear it, yea? Still uncertain and becoming a little annoyed by the leap of butterflies she felt in her stomach, she left the dorm, silver flats brushing the floors as she made her way to the dance. She recognized her group after only a moment - thank God Will hadn't shown up yet - and made her way slowly to them, not out of shyness (Isaac was yet to be seen), but because she rarely wore dresses of this length and she had already managed to step all over it.

Sophia waved in her usual fashion as she entered the small group, smiling at Isabelle and Jane and their beauty. And Izz's blonde. She was still getting used to seeing the normally nearly raven-haired girl even more bleached that she was, but it was cute on her. Nodding respectfully to Micah (she didn't know him that well, but he had never pissed her off), she unconsciously smoothed her dress again in a pointless maneuver and glanced around, then looked at Isabelle and asked the question burning in her throat despite how dreadfully idiotic and pitiful she felt asking it. "No Isaac yet, hmm?"

.................................

Will was hot shit.

Well, at least he thought so.

He had chosen a fine tuxedo, although he wouldn't dare mention who designed it. Sleek deep gray with a silvery purple button down beneath, opened at the top to reveal the lines of his manly collarbone, he thought proudly that it only accented how damn sexy he currently felt. Hair in place and eyes the usual clear blue, Lysander Gates stalked like a celebrity through the corridors, puffing his chest even more than typical, and trying not to think about the look Jane would give him when he showed up without Audie on his arm. He had meant to ask her...maybe. It wasn't that he didn't have the balls - Will had balls of steel, actually. He just...well...didn't want to be tied down. He wasn't one to ask to disappoint anyone, and it was almost like he expected Audree to be disappointed with his behavior. A date meant a requirement to expend countless time and attention upon one singular person - stag meant that Will could dance his bloody arse off and with whoever he pleased. The look he was thinking of, the stunningly guilt-wrenching eyes of his best friend, would also show disappointment - Will was higher than shit. He had smoked a rather full bowl before even getting dressed; he didn't smell like it (showers after smokes were rad as hell, in his opinion), but the red in his eyes was all too obvious.

He would have said oops...but he really didn't give a damn. He felt gooooooodd.

And so the self-considered King of Harriman arrived at the dance. He zeroed in on the group, not recognizing Sophia at first, and walked right to her side, grinning happily at his Jay and planting a kiss on her forehead before squeezing her in a hug. Winking and grinning rakishly at Isabelle, who might have still been harboring a grudge, he spoke. "You planned this. Where's the booze?" Then, an arm slung over the shoulders of one Sophia Vittorno, and he turned to her. "And as for you...who in the fuck -"

"Lysander, remove your arm from my shoulders. Now."

If looks could kill, maim, or cause great pain, the slicing glare from Sophia's suddenly cold blue eyes would have done just that. Will removed his arm as commanded, merely rolling his eyes and wiping the sleeve of his suit as if it had been touching something undesirable. "Gotta get off the holier-than-thou."

Sophia proudly ignored him, focusing instead on a spot on the wall behind Izz. Dear God. This was already shaping up to be fantastic.

Jay smiled as some of their group slowly trailed off, wriggling her hand free of Micah's waist to pick at the shiny silver parts on the lower hem of her dress. This hiked her skirt up a couple of inches, but that didn't worry her at all. She was wearing short underneath, after all. What kind of a girl do you think she is, anyway? She dropped her hem and her smile brightened as Sophia came up to the small group, looking drop dead stunning (but wasn't she always?) in the lovely teal and silver gown she had found. "Holy moly, am I under dressed or what?!" she said, pulling Sophia into a hug as soon as she was close enough to grab. All these gowns! And here she was in this adorable, but decidedly non-gownish dress. Jeez. She hoped Micah didn't mind. He hadn't said anything, but she would not ask him. No way, Jose, Jay was not going fishing for compliments. Not from this pool, anyways.

"Nope, but he'll be down. He's just sprucing himself up for us ladies." Jay chuckled, shaking her head softly. She thought it was strange that her hair didn't brush against her neck when she did so, but then she remembered that it was safely tied up for the night. She'd hardly had time to have this thought before she felt warm lips on her forehead and was pulled into an equally warm hug. Was it Micah? No, there wasn't any velvet. Plus, it smelled like... "Will!" she said, glad that he had shown up. He was her security person, after all. She was feeling nicer now, a little put-off by that unhealthy redness in his eyes that she couldn't quite ignore, but still nicer. Then it went cold.

Oh shit, she thought, Oh shit. It's Will and it's Soph and it's bad news. Oh shit. Her fingers folded themselves into anxious fists and a look of worry spread on her face. She hid it quickly with a smile and tired to ignore the fact that two of her good friends were trying to kill each other with their minds. "Sooooo. You bringing anybody, Will?" she asked. Her change of subject was almost as smooth as the Rocky Mountains. She didn't see Audie anywhere yet, and that had her worried. He was supposed to ask Audie. She flicked the side of her leg. Stop trying to be his mother, jeez. But still. Red eyes and no Audie made Will a dull boy. Except more of the opposite, which was what had Jay worried.

Simon fluttered about his dorm room, trying to turn his desperate desire to pace like a mad person into something that at least appeared a bit more constructive. After all, with Isaac getting ready just across the room, making his horrid anxiety any more visible than necessary would be an incredibly harmful blunder. So instead, he dashed from the closet to the desk, the desk to his bunk, the bunk back to the closet. He stared at the mirror with surprisingly timid observation, and tried with all his might not to start sweating, at least until he saw Izz. Running out of things to occupy himself with, he popped up the collar on his simple, black button-down shirt and flung his pink tie around his neck [NOT THE VEST]. Of course, Izz had insisted on picking an emasculating color, he sighed as he looped the tie absentmindedly and eyed Isaac across the room.

After looking back at himself in the mirror again and fixing his hair just a little bit, Simon finally gave up and decided it wasn't going to get any better. He then stumbled around Isaac, looking for his suit coat as a nervous breath rattled from his lips. This was it. This would, in just about every way, fit the bill for an official first date. A first date with Izz. A first date with his best friend. A first date with his other best friend's sister. There were so many things wrong with this picture. But, truth be told, that was half the reason he was going through with this. Even with all of the factors working against them, something about Izz and himself just seemed to fit together, almost as if someone had written them to end up like this. Simon couldn't help but acknowledge the slight wave of frenzied heat that ran over him when he thought about that.

Ugh, why did Izz have to be so weird?

Keeping his new realizations in mind, he made his way over to the mirror one last time, making sure he was all set, giving himself a light spritz of some fancy cologne he'd gotten for a cousin's wedding over the summer, and wiggling his tie around his neck. He turned to Isaac with a smile. "We should get going, kiddo," he beamed, giving Isaac a quick once-over. Hey, he had to admit, the boy cleaned up nice once he scrubbed the smell of tobacco off of everything he owned. As Isaac swung over to his side, Simon gave him an encouraging clap on the back, and the two headed towards the dance. The walk was relatively quick, and soon enough, they were heading down the last staircase.

Simon spied Izz at the foot of the stairs, looking absolutely immaculate despite her seeming irritation. Wearing pink was suddenly worth it, he decided as he strode down the steps, his fingers dragging along the railing. But then his starstruck eyes found none other than Micah Katz, leaning over his girlfriend like a starving leech looking for a host. Wait. Did he just say girlfriend? Simon's face swelled as bright as his tie. He quickly convinced himself that it was only from anger, though. He hadn't really said girlfriend, had he? Nahh, that would be ridiculous. Desperate to distract himself from his mental blunder, Simon threw himself into the spat between Micah and Izz. "Don't be silly, Izzy," he chuckled airly. "Katz can't think at all, much less a thought as complex as thinking he's actually skilled at anything." Reassured by his sly remark, Simon glanced back at Isaac and made his way to Izz's side. He wrapped his arm around her slim waist and gave Micah an innocent smirk. "You look absolutely incredible," murmured Simon to Izz while Jay, Will, and Sophia all made their way towards the rest of the group. "Really, I can't even tell you." His voiced trailed off then, as he slowly realized that he really couldn't tell her. For the first time in...well, probably ever, Simon had absolutely no idea what to say. He was left completely baffled.

Luckily, Sophia said something of interest just in time for Simon to turn his attention away his recurring loss of charm. Isaac wasn't there? But...he'd walked down there with Isaac. He'd been right by his side. Simon was suddenly guilt-stricken. He hadn't gotten upset with him being all couple-ish with Izz, had he? Before he could think about that possibility, though, Simon jumped to his own protection. Isaac had probably just gone to grab a smoke; the smell of fresh clothes was probably too much for him. And plus, Isaac had no say in how he expressed certain feelings he had for his sister...could he?

Clearing his throat nervously, Simon jumped back into the conversation once again. "So uh, who else are we waiting for? Anyone?" he mused before retreating to the comfort of squeezing Izz to his side.

It was really amusing to watch Simon scamper around the room between his mirror clothes and bathroom. He seemed nervous. As he should be, because he knew he was on the line here, not only in getting Izz’s attention and whatnot, but also in not having issues with Isaac. At first he hadn’t been happy about his best friend going to homecoming with his sister at all, but after giving it a while, he kind of decided that a) Izz could take care of herself, especially with someone like Simon and b) Isaac could always beat the shit out of him later. So he thought that for now he could handle them going together.

His real concern though was of the physical things dating usually involved. In as many ways as they had been raised at the ‘Cauldine twins’ they were also a form of mother and father to each other. The two of them watched out for the other on the issues in life, perhaps more than their own parents did sometime. And lately, Isaac had been getting some fatherly worry over this whole guy issue. He knew he was a hypocrite for not wanting her to be with people, but he could hardly help it. He had dated so many girls that he was beginning to realize that he would never want her to go out with a guy like him, and while Simon was not, the thought of Izz having a preference to her boyfriend over him was frustrating. Not to mention he didn’t want his little sister to go off and start having sex when she was this young. Okay so he was really a hypocrite, but it was his sister. There was no way around it though; he would just have to deal with their choices for now.

The process of getting ready for a nice night like tonight was simple, almost a pattern. After so many recitals, balls, political meetings and formal dates, he had this down. He decided to be ‘sleek’ tonight and go all black. It looked ominously dark lying on his bed, black tailored suit with black dress shirt and black silk tie, but after a few minutes of dressing, it looked fine on him. He was straightening his tie in the mirror after making sure his hair looked normal and everything else was in arrangement when Simon spoke up. He didn’t really sound nervous, but not cocky either. Damn it all, he needed to stop thinking about his sister and best friend and start thinking about his date. His date. He grinned. He still couldn’t believe she had said yes. After all, she had always refused him, said no, rejected his touch, but then he took her first kiss and she seemed fine to go along with things. He knew that wasn’t how things were though. She wouldn’t have said yes if she hadn’t actually believed she like him. He wondered vaguely if she would be uncomfortable doing something public about liking him. It wasn’t like her to show her affection openly, especially when it was to one of the school’s ‘womanizers’. After double-checking everything in the mirror one last time he turned to his friend. He looked pretty good. He gave him a brief thumbs up with a little smirk as the two inspected each other. Not too bad at all. He felt like they were besties again. Not angry at all. That was good.

They traveled together in silence, both a little anxious, before seeing their group waiting for them. His eyes automatically found Sophia, facing away from him, her back delicate lean and muscled from dance. Then his eyes caught the movement of Simon traveling to his sister. She looked stunning and he began to feel the pang of betrayal in his chest. His brow moved into a slight frown. Not only was Simon going to her, there was another boy already there. He slipped back into the previous hall before anyone saw him, realizing he needed to get his act together before heading out there. Tonight was about Sophia. And for Izz it was about Simon. For Simon it was about Izz. He shouldn’t be thinking about anyone but Soph, he had promised her that much. And besides, it wouldn’t be fun for anyone if he was snooping on another couple’s time. His hand automatically reached for his smokes only to remember he had left them upstairs so he didn’t indulge. Tonight may be harder than he thought. But he was Isaac Cauldine. He could handle it. His eyes closed, picturing Sophia’s face looking up at him with a smirk. He grinned then remembering to breath went back around into the area his group was meeting.

His date was facing him now and he gave her a long, modest look-over, taking in the dress and the way she looked in it before snapping his eyes up to hers. He realized he had a grin plastered to his face as he moved over to her, placing his hands casually on her hips and without breaking eye contact gave a small laugh. ”You look. absolutely. stunning,” with each word he moved his face closer to hers, laying a soft kiss brief on her lips after a pause at the end. He was of course aware of his friends around him, but he simply didn’t care at this point. PDA was never really a problem with him and he hoped Sophia would be okay with this at least. Isaac grinned, still looking at her for a little before he remembered he had a sister he needed to see, he could greet all the other afterwards. ”Excuse me for just a moment.” This grin was ridiculous; his mouth was going to be sore.

He pulled his sister away from the boys. He got preference to them all; after all, bros before hoes. He gave her a big hug, careful not to smush her hair down or wrinkle her dress, as she had yelled at him numerous times for that exact offense, ”Hello darling sister,” He pulled away and kissed her forehead lightly, noting her attire ”I recognize that dress. And it looks even better than it did in the store.” He had in fact been with her at the shop as a highly trained outfit consultant when she picked it out a while ago, back home. She seemed happy enough. He could deal with everything else for that.

Both Izz and Micah brightened up as Jay showed up, looking adorable as usual. Micah couldn't help but pull a little at the knot of his tie, suddenly feeling very warm as he tucked her under her arm and gave her an affectionate hug.

"I bet we do!" Isabelle agreed, nodding and smiling brightly. She had almost entirely forgotten Micah's assholeishness, and took Jane's hand, squeezing it once before letting her hug Micah, who seemed completely doe-eyed over her. It was kind of nice to see him grow a soul...

"Jane," Micah beamed, pulling her out to take in the full affect, "you look like the bee's kneeeees."

With a happy wink, Micah patted her lightly on the head and leaning back against the wall with his hands tucked in his pockets. As he began to ask who else they were expecting, Sophia Vittorno showed up, followed not much longer by that dastardly villain Lysander, trying to steal his Jane!

Isabelle, on the contrary, pulled off the wall and swept to Sophia's side, rescuing her from Will and tucking her arm through hers- guess she was feeling a little more friendly tonight... at least, she would be until Isaac showed up and she had to watch her dancing rival become her rival for his affection.

"Soph, you look lovely. I'm sure Isaac will be thrilled to see you when he and Simon get down here..." Isabelle managed to force a smile, her blue eyes flashing icily at the idea of her brother and Sophia. Not that Sophia was a bad girl, probably better than half the trash he was usually with, but STILL. He wasn't COMMITTED to those girls, and she sure as hell didn't KNOW them. Ugh, this was awful.

But before she could dwell too long on Sophia's usurpation, Simon was slipping his arm around her waist and snuggling in close, and her breath was completely gone. Looking up at him with sickeningly sweet and shining blue eyes, and making Micah physically gag, she tucked her shoulder into his and smiled up at him. She looked absolutely incredible? Isabelle couldn't lie, he looked handsome as ever, and she told him so with a happy smile as she smoothed the shoulder of his jacket with her free hand.

"You look mighty handsome yourself there, Mister Theodore," she grinned widely, her heart fluttering madly in her chest as Simon kept his arm around her waist.

As he asked who they were waiting for, Isabelle began to answer "Only Isaac..." but was caught off at the appearance of her very twin brother. Her smile of joy however dropped almost immediately as he turned to Sophia, planting a kiss on her lips. Oh. So that's what mattered to him.

Isabelle cleared her throat a little, pushing into Simon more and crossing her arms. Fine, if that was how he wanted to play, then she'd do nothing but pay attention to her Simon all night. Not like she didn't plan to anyways... But she couldn't be angry for long, because Isaac was pulling away from Sophia and tugging her to him by her wrist. Almost immediately, and most reluctantly, it was all smiles from Izz.

"Hello, darling brother," she responded, beaming up at him radiantly as he planted a kiss on her forehead and spun her around. Flaunting her dress a little, Isabelle posed once or twice for her older brother and smiling brightly before slipping her arm around his waist and snuggling him affectionately, surveying their group.

"I think we're about ready to go... all ready for the limo?" Izz said with a wink. The Senator had it covered- Isabelle was thrilled to be riding in a limo, though it wasn't like she hadn't done it before.

Will caught the look - hell yes he did. If he hadn't been toasted he most likely would have felt some measure of guilt, but in this situation, he only felt...nothing. Audie wouldn't have said yes, anyway. And he didn't want to go with anyone, he just wanted to have fun! Jane would understand. He grinned crookedly and shrugged at Jane as he pulled back from the hug, eying Katz bemusedly over her shoulder for a moment before returning his easily-distracted eyes to his best friend in the entire whole wide humongous big world. That thought made him grin even more and he finally found words somewhere in his throat. He felt so relaxed, telling Jane that he screwed up. That wasn't a typical thing. Then again, when Will Gates was in the clouds, nothing was ever, ever typical. "She wouldn't have said yes anyway, Jay." He shook his head and pointed at himself. "Me, I'm not good enough for her." Well, at least it made him honest. He was trying to think about how disappointed he would be if Jane was upset with him, but he just couldn't fathom it. It was impossible, wasn't it? Will could never be upset with Jane, anyway.

He was instantly distracted by the arrival of Simon and Isaac, and before she could reply, he turned, grinning raucously, and patted Simon on the back in greeting, trying not to think about how Izz had been acting around him lately. His wifey had been totally pissed about their little incident, but really...he was drunk! He didn't have any better judgment than her! Will just thought it was all ridiculous, really, but he was going to try to leave Isabelle alone for now, even if he was silently dying to compliment her - it was what he did. Try being the operative word, of course. His eyes swept over her and fell on Isaac, but before he could greet him, he was kissing the...Will coughed in pure disgust for a moment and turned so as not to meet Isaac's eyes if he were to notice. Damn, that boy had just lost points. Shaking his head, Will turned back to Jay and Katz, and wrapped his arms around Jay once again before pulling away. "By they way, Jay-love, you look bloody beautiful." He was practically beaming, having almost forgot about the conversation just moments before. His best friend was the prettiest girl in the group. She was always the prettiest. That's why she complimented Will so well - because, he thought, he was always the prettiest boy. Bird of a feather flock together...forever! His grin could have shattered walls.

........................

Sophia tried to breath silently as her heart rate increased as she realized that with the appearance of Simon, Isaac was not far behind. Why was she so damn nervous? It was almost as though she felt like she was living up to the practically legions of girls that fell all over her date constantly. He had assured her that she didn't have to, but somehow, she was still feeling just a bit uneasy. Her eyes slowly turned, then her head, then her body, perfect timing to meet him as he finished the flight of stairs. She expected an embrace, a sweet kiss on the cheek, something that Isaac would have done before the incident in the dance room - instead, what she got was much, much more appealing, and as such, that much more nerve-wracking. He was close instantly, those hands on her hips, skin separated only by silk (why was she so aware of that?), and in seconds his mouth was on hers again. They hadn't shared a kiss for weeks, and suddenly, Sophia didn't understand why. It was simple and short, but so sweet and tender and real. Her hands found his upper arms and she clung to them gently as he pulled her just a bit closer and finished the surprise, and as her stomach dropped into her feet due to the sudden realization that people were watching, a smile still made its way onto her lips. She couldn't pretend that she wasn't pleased.

She felt totally bare under his eyes for a moment, goose bumps beginning to raise on her arms before he excused herself. She just nodded and rubbed the bumps away, turning around and looking at Jay, practically glowing even as the smile faded, a small flush on her cheeks. This was so terrible. Having Isaac as a date, she thought, wasn't so bad at all. He didn't expect her to be like the rest of those girls. He just expected her to be Sophia. Had she been worried about pressure this entire time? She let Isaac have his moment with his sister, and as Izz parted slightly from him to ask the group about the limo, she swooped in silently and slowly, sliding her arm under Isaac's and smiling slightly. "We are." 'We'. It had never meant before what it did in that statement. Sophia's fingers lightly brushed the fabric of his tuxedo as she waited for the night to continue.

Audrey couldn't believe herself. Of all days to get distracted with playing music in the practice rooms. She hurried while putting away her bassoon and practically ran back to her dorm. It seemed like the rest of her roommates had already left, which would mean Jane and everyone else would be waiting on her. She dropped her bassoon case onto her bed and hurried over to her closet. She pulled off her sweats and tee-shirt before reaching into her closest and pulled out her Dress. She was obviously making somewhat of a tradition this year. What with not even showing up to the back to school thing. Why couldn't she just do things normally? Late back to school, late to the homecoming dance, what next, late to prom? Graduation? She shook her head and pulled on her dress while walking over to the mirror. She She had never been go with doing her hair. To be honest she was going to beg on of her roomies to do it for her, but considering they had already left she couldn't do that. She pulled her hair out of it's low pony tail quickly. Great, it's a wavy mess. She rolled her eyes and grabbed a thing of moose off of the closest dresser. She pulled her hair brush through her hair before running her moose covered hand through it. She was hoping, hoping, it wouldn't look horrible. After messing with it for a total of two minutes, she decided that it looked decent enough for the dance. It laid curly and not so messy around her shoulders, a little better than it usually did, that counted for something right? She shrugged and hurried back over to her bed. She reached under it for her heels, she slipped them on before, once again, going back to the mirror. Since she was already running super late, she decided to just add a little mascara and be done with it. No reason to go completely over board. She was after all just going to be hanging out with friends. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, before hurrying out the door.

Audie finally got down to the dorm lobby, looking alright, but rush and she knew it was obvious looking. Usually she looked forward to dances and always had fun, but usually she didn't wait till the last ten minutes to get ready. She pushed some hair behind her ear, hoping it didn't look horrible. "Sorry guys." She smiled, trying to act like she didn't just get ready in a rush. "You all look absolutely amazing!" She said as she passed people. She found her way over to Jane and gave her a quick hug, before looking up at Will. She had been hoping he was going to ask her to the dance, but he obviously didn't. Which totally didn't matter because...it didn't matter. She hit him lightly on the arm before laughing. "What happened to us hanging out!" They had been talking of hanging out, but they both seemed to be to busy. Though she wasn't sure if was intentional or not. She shook her head slightly, "Anyways, were we just waiting on me? Or are we still missing someone? If not lets get going!" She asked the entire group. To be completely honest, she did want the dance to be over, she wasn't very coordinated with dancing, but she did want to have fun. If she wanted to have more fun, they'd need to do something instead of stand around.

Jay positively beamed at Micah's compliment; she shouldn't have been so worried about what he would think. Gawd, why had she been so stupid? Well, she'd done right, anyways, and he'd conveyed that point in his usual awesome way. "And you're the whale's tail, lovah." she said, winking saucily at him before she resumed her conversation with Will. She rolled her eyes at his lame excuse, but there was no real frustration or disappointment behind the gesture. She just thought Will was being silly, but that was why she loved him after all. Even if his silliness did sometimes get in the way of her doing what was best for him. Holy moly, she was trying to be his mother! Maybe it was kinda selfish for her to try to get him to take Audie, but that didn't mean it also wasn't in his best interests. "Uh-huh. Since when did you start doubting yourself, big shot? No girl in their right mind would say no to you." she smiled impishly, "Probably." She flashed him a grin, then was interrupted by the entrance of Isaac and Simon. She smiled and waved at both of them, but they seemed to have their own agendas that currently didn't involve her. When the novelty of their arrival faded, she let Will pull her into a hug and kissed the middle of his neck. "Yeah yeah, so they say." She put a hand on her hip and cocked it out at his compliment, though she was starting to think she was kinda rocking the whole homecoming thing. Go Jay!

Audie's arrival brightened Jay's face and she returned her hug exuberantly before passing her along to Will. She smiled happily as her best friend and her Will interacted. How could Will not see the absolutely amazing potential of adorableness? Ah well, boys will be boys. She took this opportunity to slip away from Will and Audie and join Micah at the wall. She mimicked his posture, pretending to slip her hands into invisible pockets. "Are we being cool? Wanna go be cool in the limo, now?" She pushed away from the wall and grabbed his right wrist in both of her hands, pulling him gently in the direction of the exit and the waiting limo.