Prom Planning

Credit for this fantastic fic goes to the goddess of the pen herself, Anthy. Well, I don't know if she likes that title, but I thought that it was the least I could do. ^_^;; Anyway, another one of the greatest fics ever written, the plot is in the summary. Some major silliness, Relena-bashing, basketball player hazards, and other such warnings are included in this lovely piece of genius. Hope you like it, I know I did! ---Sphynx ^_~

Author's Note: This was originally a line challenge that gone awry. Inserted lines are noted with an asterisk(*). Stumps Prom and Party is an actual company, their site and catalog (which is referenced throughout the series) can be found at www.stumpsprom.com. Why I have a prom catalog in my possession (the print version) is a long story.

Even though the sun shone brightly that snowy January afternoon, all Duo could see was red. He stomped angrily down the street, he feet made loud crunching noises on the newly formed snow. Grabbing his braid, he wrapped it around his neck like a scarf, and he lowered his head as the wind picked up. He should have known today was going to be awful the moment his alarm clock woke him an hour late. As he rushed to catch the bus two blocks away, he had forgot his scarf, gloves and hat. Then it began to snow, and the bus had already turned the corner. Not only was it a Monday, but it was the first day back from a long three week winter break. The minute he had stepped into the archaic building Duo called his high school, he had been whisked to the principal's office.

"H-h-h-hey! M-M-M-Mssss. Nnnnn!" Duo Maxwell exclaimed through chittering teeth. He bounded into the large room, leaving a long water trail behind him. "H-h-h-ow w-w-was y-your w-win-ter b-break? M-miste-rr N, g-get you anything sp-p-pecial, hmmm?"

"W-w-hat? Can't a guy express himself, g-geez." he grinned as he sat on his frozen hands. For the past few months, he found delight in tormenting Ms. Noin's new husband, who also happened to be his physics teacher. "S-sorry I-I'm l-late," he said abruptly, "w-w-what d-did my dear prinicpal have in store for her favorite J-class prez today?"

"May 5." Noin stated. She stood and walked over to her closet. Opening it she pulled out Zech's large coat, which she draped over the shaking teen's shoulders. She leaned against the desk as he stopped trembling.

"Sorry, Duo." she sighed as she pushed the boy out of his seat and ushered him to the door. The bell rang loudly outside the hallway and Duo could hear the all to familiar din of students filing out of class. Missing homeroom seemed a small consolation to the hell he was living in. Taking the coat from him, Noin added, "You're pretty smart, you'll think of something."

"At least someone does," he murmured as he stormed out into the already crowded hallway. Storming down the hall, he stopped at his best friend Heero's locker. Heero had his back turned from him as he rummaged through his eerily organized space. Duo stood behind him and placed the back of his hand to Heero's neck. With a move that didn't surprise Duo at all, Heero grabbed the book he was looking for before nonchalantly turning in Duo's direction. The slightly taller teen looked at Duo for a moment before setting the book back into his locker.

"Look, there's Relena, I've got to run." Heero said as he released Duo's hands. It was only then that Duo realized that his friend had been warming them. Pushing back confusing thoughts that raced through his head, Duo began to deposit his coat in the locker they sometimes shared. Feeling the sudden draft, Duo reached inside and threw on Heero's letter jacket. It was better insulated and it smelled like. . .

"Yeah." Duo muttered as he threw his bookbag in the locker with a clang. He watched as Heero walked over to the blonde-haired girl and she immediately latched onto his arm. Duo turned to face the locker because he made no secret of his dislike for the girl. Duo rolled his eyes as he heard the chorus of "Awww" from Relena's clique. Ok, he was jealous that his best friend was dating the most popular girl in school. And sure, it wasn't the jealousy that one would think.

"Oh yeah? Then why ya arguing with yourself?" Duo froze as he realized he muttered the last two thoughts out loud. He turned to look at the guy at the locker next to him. The younger boy smiled and offered a sympathetic chuckle before closing his locker. The boy turned and walked down the hallway.

Heero walked slowly down the hallway, all attention left on the brown-haired bundle of energy he had left at his locker. Relena still clung tightly to his arm, making him feel imprisoned as she chattered to the group of girls walking with her. He wasn't sure when or if she was talking to him, and for that matter he did not care. Visions of his best friend clicked through his mind, his pale face flushed from the outside weather. He thought back to the long thin fingers that made Heero feel warm even though when he had held them they were cold as ice.

'The only one who doesn't consider you as my girlfriend.' the inner voice tormented, and Heero shrugged as they continued to walk toward their next class. He didn't know why he kept dating her, sometimes she was fun to be around, and she was cute. But in comparison to Duo, she just couldn't compete. Oh, he had tried to end things, but each attempt was dashed. Relena needed him right now, her father had died last year in a plane accident and Heero was the only person that she considered family.

She had a brother, but they weren't all that close considering the large age difference and the fact that they grew up in different homes. When she was three her parents had divorced, and they split the kids instead of split custody. Both parents were very successful and they were to give Relena and Milliardo whatever they wanted. Unlike her brother, she was a little spoiled, not accustomed to things not going her way. A year before her father's death she had lost her mother to cancer. She was devastated. When her father had passed, she had completely shut down. It was Heero who brought her back, and he knew that leaving her now would cause her to break down again. He knew because she told him almost everyday.

Heero looked up to see Duo bouncing down the hallway. Sure enough, Heero could make out the "Yuy" on the back of the blue and black jacket. He couldn't help but grin as Duo dragged a well-dressed blonde male down the hallway, pointing at various classrooms. Heero recognized him as the new kid who had the locker next to his, and he wasn't surprised to how quick Duo befriended the boy.

"Not very romantic, but it'll do for now." she relented as the continued to walk down the hallway. Relena continued to smile, but inside her mind began to throw ideas that she just couldn't push away. There was something about Heero's relationship with his friend that she just found odd. Her friends always hinted at it, but she always thought that they were joking. But when she saw them standing at his locker this morning, Duo's hands sandwiched between Heero's, she knew that there was something there, she just didn't know what "it" was. She just had to find out.

"Okie-dokie!" Duo sang as his stopped abruptly at two large double doors. "Sophomore PE is in there. Your next class is down the hall, take a right, then up the staircase, make another right, a left at the first door, and Mr. Noi-, er, Peacecraft should be at the front of the room. Any other questions?"

"Nah," Duo guffawed as his face flushed slightly. "This is my best bud's jacket. You'll soon know him as the second best athlete this school has to offer. Not much on conversation, but he's cool."

"Yah. And I'm not being mean or anything, it's a fact. For one he's a junior, and two there's Trowa. That senior is everywhere. He plays almost every damn sport this school's got to offer and he excels in all of them." Duo rambled as he leaned against the gym door. "A transfer like you, but he used to be a circus performer or something. Even choreographs stunts for the cheerleaders. Rumor has it that he was a clown. Seeing that guy smile, hoo, that's something I'd pay for. Man, this guy is about as readable as upside-down hieroglyphics."

Duo made a move to leave when the door opened, propelling him forward. Before his face could make contact with the cold floor, a strong hand grabbed his arm and painlessly pulled him upright.

Quatre looked up at the tall teen and felt a blush grow to his cheeks. He couldn't help it, the guy was hot and he was staring right at him. One emerald green eye was visible, for half of his flawless face was covered by a thick bang. "Hi." he squeaked.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm late. Now, if you'll excuse me, I was in the middle of a bad day before being politely interrupted. Nice to meet you, Q." Duo said as he leisurely strolled through the thinning crowd.

"Hey, Heero!" Duo yelled as he bounded into Heero's room. He was on the computer, the keyboard making rhythmic sounds as Heero continued with his work. Duo threw off Heero's jacket and stretched out on the bed with a loud sigh. "I didn't see you after school."

Heero continued to key as Duo relayed his meeting with Mrs. Noin. "I know nothing about proms, much less how to run one. I don't want it to suck, but I really wish someone else would do it. What should I do? And don't give me the usual, 'I have faith in you speech' because I've already heard it from her."

"Yes. But not a good mouse." Duo joked as he slapped Heero's hand away. Heero shrugged in frustation and leaned back in the chair, using his free hands to play with Duo's braid. He personally didn't mind being this close to Duo. "Ok, it looks like Mrs. N took care of December already, the only thing she left out was selecting a prom committee. No biggie, I can put the junior and senior cabinet to work plus few volunteers. You've been volunteered, by the way. Let's see, I'll print this, and I'll order a catalog. It says it should be here by Thursday. . . hey Heero?"

"You have nothing better to do, so I'm making you useful." Duo chided, making no move to stand. Shrugging, Heero leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Duo. Placing his head on Duo's shoulder, he began to key.

"You see, that wasn't so bad." Duo murmured. 'In fact this is great.' They sat in silence as Heero filled out the small form. After hitting send, Heero placed his arms around Duo's waist and continued to peer over his shoulder.

"What did it say for December?" Heero murmured into Duo's shoulder, not yet wanting to break contact. Duo's breath caught when he felt Heero's breath across his neck. Shaking his head, he stared at the computer screen as if it held the answer to the meaning of life.

"Nothing important really. January is were the junior cabinet really comes in. It's says that-" Duo began when there was a loud knock on the door. The two turned their heads to see Relena fuming in the opened doorway, her blue eyes narrowed into thin slits.

Relena opened her mouth to retort, but all that erupted from her where unintelligible sounds. She pointed angrily to the lap the Duo was sitting on, and to the arms around Duo's waist. Duo's lips thinned and the ends began to turn downward as he tried hard not to laugh. Turning his head in Heero's direction. Their gazes locked for a moment, and Heero intentionally crossed his eyes. Duo's expression exaggerated itself as he saw his friend's expression. He fell off Heero's lap, laughing hysterically, only infuriating Relena further.

"I-I'm not laughing at you," Duo sputtered between laughs. He stood and walked over to Relena's side. "It's just that Heero. . . and then I was. . ." he trailed off as her eyes narrowed even thinner. Duo cleared his throat and again resumed with his serious expression. "Hoo, look at the time! I'll be late for work."

"In your lap?" she countered sarcastically. Walking briskly over to the computer, she peered over his shoulder. Looking at the silver and purplish theme of the prom site, she wondered why in the hell Duo needed to plan prom anyway. 'Well, at least they weren't lying about that. But still. . .'

Relena dramatically clutched her hands to her chest and rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know there was a difference!" she mused sourly before punching him in the arm. "What in the hell is wrong with you? Must I remind you that he's your best friend?"

"Listen carefully. You said it yourself, Duo is my friend, repeat friend. I've known him a lot longer than I've known you, and maybe we are a little close, but that's all." Heero soothed. Relena found herself lost in his low voice, his intense blue eyes, and she began to feel embarrassed for her actions. "You're seeing things that aren't there, it's just a big misunderstandi . . . Duo, you're hosting tonight."

Relena blinked rapidly. His gaze was still locked on her, did she just imagine that last part? Turning her head, she realized that Duo had left the bathroom and was putting his school clothes in his bookbag. Duo had his braid tucked into the back of his bright red T-shirt and was wearing slightly wrinkled khakis. Duo made a frustrated groan and walked over to Heero's closet. Opening it, he grabbed a freshly ironed pair of khakis and a forest green polo shirt that was hanging neatly on the side of the door. He gave Heero a half-hearted salute before marching into the bathroom.

"Heero!" Relena snapped. "Pardon me, seeing things that aren't there? What am I seeing exactly? Could it be that you're seriously creeping me out right now? Should I even ask why his uniform is in your closet? Let me guess, since his job, and the school, is closer to your house, he changes here after class."

"And to not sound like a brat or anything," Duo added as he walked out of the bathroom and sat on the bed, "but as much as I love my foster home, the little kids just love hogging the bathroom. Not to mention the walk home is hell when you miss the damn bus!" he rambled as he began to slip on his work shoes. Grabbing his thin coat, Duo stood and walked out into the hallway. "Well, I'm gone, sorry about eavesdropping, but the walls of your bathroom aren't that thick."

Duo's laughter could be heard as he bounded down the stairs. "That explains why I could only make out Relena. And Heero, could ya print out that schedule for me? Thanks, man. Check you later, Princess!"

Duo stood in the small cramped space, a tiny workstation set apart from the kitchen in the back. Grabbing a freshly washed knife and fork from the large silverware holder. They were warm to the touch, probably just out of the dishwasher. Setting a large stack of napkins in front of him, Duo placed a knife close to the corner of the top napkin. Add fork, fold corner, wrap, wrap, throw. Repeat. Duo thoughtlessly continued on his task, all the while being pushed aside by waiters and waitresses who needed silverware for their tables. "Folding forks," Duo muttered as he threw another perfectly rolled set into the bin, "the hosting pastime of champions."

He felt someone stand beside him and begin the same monotonous work. Duo reasoned it to be Hilde, her shift must have started a while ago. It wasn't until a slender hand waved frantically in front of him did he snap out of whatever trance he was in.

"Tim's opening the door. . . looks like Jane and Melissa are sitting. I've got clipboard once Chris's shift ends. What's your assignment?" she informed him, turning to see he had blanked out again. "You know that you are out of forks?"

"Hilde," Duo warned as he grabbed the basket, slid past Hilde and began to briskly walk to the host station at the front of the restaurant. After setting down the basket, he began to organize the menus that had been thrown during the evening rush when Hilde's fingers began to poke him in the side.

"Chris?" he pleaded to the curly-haired girl standing in front of a crowd of people. She turned and gave him an apologetic smile before mouthing ten minutes. "I wasn't asking how long the wait is!" Duo exclaimed in defeat as he removed Hilde's arms from around his waist.

"For all you know it could be about the prom we've been designated to plan." Duo countered. He watched as his fellow cabinet member and junior class vice-president cross her arms and wrinkle her nose.

"Yeah," a female voice behind them blurted out, "what next? This is getting good." Spinning on his heel, Duo realized that the large party that Chris had been talking to were staring at the two teens. They were all grinning.

Quatre closed his locker and looked around the large hallway. It was early, only a fair smattering of students could be seen. Classes didn't start for another hour, most of the kids he knew were probably just getting out of bed. The students that were there probably had before school practice, he had spotted the JROTC drill team marching in the empty parking lot. Others were at their lockers, sleepily lounging with friends or finishing homework. Some were stuck with early morning detention. He, on the other hand, had other plans.

Walking briskly down the hallway towards the cafeteria, Quatre could see the large blue sign. "Prom Committee Meeting Here!" was printed in still dripping white paint. He had no clue why he was joining the prom committee, for he was only a sophomore, and the new kid to boot. Duo had insisted that he should come, but he still felt that Duo had a different reason besides wanting all of his friends to be a part of the prom committee. Quatre paused at the cafeteria door as he promptly remembered that Trowa was also a friend of Duo's.

Heero walked briskly down the hallway, Relena clinging tightly to his arm. He still had no clue why she was coming to this meeting with him; in fact he was annoyed. Last night, after finally convincing the girl that her suspicions were unreasonable, Relena insisted on joining a committee to make it up to him. He secretly thought she had other motives.

Those worries became a reality the next morning when Relena arrived at his house 10 minutes late. Her excuse or apology was oversleeping; but he could tell that she took no pains in rushing, she looked as pristine as always. All the way to school she ranted and raved about how this year's prom was going to be a bust.

"Duo!" she had exclaimed, "Of all the people to be in charge of prom, it had to be him. He's nothing but a goof off, and he is not all that bright either. Sometimes I wonder how you can put up with him."

He had wanted to snap at her, tell her that Duo had a higher G.P.A. than her, but he kept his mouth shut. The second they had reached inside the school doors, Relena began to complain about it being "chilly". Throwing his letter jacket at her, he began his walk to meeting. He paused at the cafeteria doors and silently prayed his girlfriend would not stir trouble.

"Welcome everybody!" Heero heard from inside the room. Bracing himself, he shot a warning glance at Relena before stepping inside. Duo was sitting at the head of the table, wearing a pair of dark slacks and an off-white sweater that appeared to be a couple sizes too large. It was different from his usual dark wardrobe, but professional looking nonetheless. Hilde was sitting next to him in a similar outfit; their usually cheery expressions were replaced by more serious grins. He stood still as he watched Duo start the meeting; Relena tugged angrily at his arm.

"I'm pleased that you could all make it to-" Duo paused as Heero and Relena entered. As he made eye contact with the girl across the room, their eyes narrowed slightly. Relena huffed and pulled once more on Heero's arm, making sure that they sat on the farthest end of the table. She grinned, hoping that her presence would fluster him.

Duo grinned as he looked back at the door. "Anyone else?" His grin widened as the people in the room began to laugh. As if on cue, the door opened and Mrs. Noin walked in, causing the room to laugh harder and applaud her tardiness.

"As I was saying, welcome. I'm glad to see such a large turnout." Duo said to the room as he did a mental count in his head. He guessed around 50 students, but he wouldn't be sure until after the sign-up. "I thought we'd start out by introducing the cabinet. I'm Duo, junior class president. This lovely lady next to me is the Junior Vice President, Miss Hilde Somethingorother, which sounds a lot like somethingorother."

"Administrative Assistant slash Treasurer." Duo playfully resigned, causing the room to erupt into laughter once more. "To round out our list is the ever busy sponsor, Mrs. Noin. Unfortunately, she's *not here* for the meeting."

"What was that Miss Peacecraft?" Mrs. Noin asked as she walked over to the end of the table. The room became temporarily silent. Duo continued on speaking, knowing that a scene was the last thing he needed.

"Now that we've introduced ourselves, I think that we better start. We've got a lot to cover in only a few months." Duo continued as he watched Mrs. Noin warn Relena out of the corner of his eye. He stood so that he could be seen and heard by the entire room. "In general, we will officially meet twice a month to check on the status of the subcommittees and to vote on various things. Attendance to those meetings are important. If you miss, please contact one of the officers immediately. Unofficial meetings may be scheduled at the spur of the moment; you don't have to come to those, but I recommend it. Today we will be picking our theme and colors. Subcommittee sign-up will be at the very end. Hilde?"

"Right now we have seven committees." Hilde began as Duo sat down and handed her a piece of paper. She stood and read off the list. "After-Prom events, clean-up, flowers, food and refreshments, invitations, programs and memory books, ticket sales. We will put up separate sign-up sheets at the end of the meeting."

"There will also be flyers that will explain what you will be responsible for along with the phone number of the student or teacher in charge of the committee." Duo added from his seat. "Some committee members will have outside meetings, they are also marked on the sheets. Gotta go to those meetings no matter what. If you can't make the meetings, please do not sign up."

"The cabinet will be responsible for the budget," he stated loudly, reading from a page in his notebook. "Purchases must be made by 2/3 vote, as with selection of theme, colors, and decorations. Teachers will solely be responsible for security, chaperoning, and prom court. A court committee will be formed after the candidates have been selected. A prom court candidate may not join this committee. All other matters concerning prom will be handled at the bi-weekly meetings."

"Well!" Duo exclaimed as Wufei sat down, "Now that we've got the boring stuff out of the way, let's get on to the fun stuff!" He took the stack of papers next to him and handed them to Hilde. "Take one and pass them around. Here's a list of the most common prom themes this year. Most are song titles or show themes. Everyone, go through this list. Yell out the ones that call to your soul!" he bellowed out, adding quickly at the end, "And then we vote."

"I can't believe. . ." Relena grumbled to herself as she shared a list with Heero. The meeting was going well, better than she had hoped. It seemed that Heero's longhaired idiot was much more intelligent than she had thought. Though she was impressed by the layout of the meeting, almost envious, Relena had a plan for this meeting herself. She looked around the room and waited, made sure that everyone was looking at the list that Heero had helped Duo find a few days ago. Turning to glare the head of the table, she raised her hand.

"How are we possibly going to pick from this list!" she exclaimed before any of the officer's could acknowledge her. "There's more than 300 themes on this paper. And pretty lame ones at that."

Relena leaned back as she listened to the hushed whispers that floated across the room. She held back a giggle as she watched Linda send another insult loudly in Duo's direction. Turning to look at the boy, she was surprised to see that he seemed unfazed, in fact he seemed calm. Heero on the other hand, began to look around the room quickly, his eyes focusing mainly on the exit.

"You know," Duo mused loudly as he leaned back in the chair. "Relena does put up a valid point. I mean, I admit, these came straight out of a catalog. Can anyone name a prom the DIDN'T have a cheesy theme? Tradition states that every prom must ham up the cheese factor!" he stated, tapping on the table for emphasis. The room began to laugh at the joke. Motioning them to be quiet, he continued. "Seriously, I do want the theme to mean something. I mean that for some of you, this is your last prom ever. To us juniors, it means sh. . . little, but for the seniors it means a whole lot. We've got to try our hardest. Think back to this fall, think of all the experiences you've gone through. Read the list; mark the ones you like. If you find nothing, think of something else. Instead of voting today, we will vote on Friday. Let's have this week to brim up ideas. So, I'm just gonna cut my losses and close the meeting a few minutes early."

The room sat in silence as Duo stood and walked over to an empty table and began to lie out the subcommittee lists. A few began to clap, and it grew to thunderous applause. Duo turned and over dramatically clutched his heart then bowed.

"Sign the lists already!" he said loudly. "We don't want to anger the cafeteria gods." Everyone stood and walked over to the lists, talking to each other as they went along. Things went back to normal, conflict forgotten-as if it never happened. Duo walked over to Relena and Heero. They were standing at the rear of the cafeteria, Heero's eyes staring directly at the doors now.

Relena huffed as she turned and walked over to the table, fully intent on signing up for a committee. Heero stood frozen, unable to move. Duo glared angrily at him now, his violet-eyes narrowed. Grabbing Heero's arm he pulled him out into the hallway and pushed him against the wall.

"Bullshit." the longhaired teen muttered as he let go of his arm. "Even if you did know, you'd be too scared to do anything about it. You're too scared to even-" Duo drew in a breath as he realized what he was saying.

"I'm sorry, but. . . *this* has got to stop. Keep her in line. If you can't, then. . . I don't want your help either." he commanded, his voice low. He turned and walked into the cafeteria, not noticing Relena leaning against the opposite wall. Walking up to Heero, she reached for his hand.

"Don't touch me." Heero said coldly as he walked past her. She smiled at his retreating form. Sure, he was mad at her now, but she could easy get back in his graces. Duo on the other hand, wouldn't have the slightest chance.

"Oh." Quatre said as he turned his face to the floor. Blushing madly, he began to scuff the floor with his foot. 'That's not what he meant!' he scolded himself. "You can go ahead of me if you want. I'm still making up my mind."

"Opps, wrong list. I, um, I could have sworn this said. . ." Quatre stammered as Trowa took the pen from his hand and scratched out his name. Signing them both up for Ticket Sales, Trowa stood and walked out of the cafeteria, leaving a confused Quatre behind.

". . .oh, my." the blond boy gushed as he leaned back against the table, ignoring the confused looks by the girls standing beside him. Seeing a long brown braid fly past the corner of his eye, Quatre picked up his book bag from the floor and ran to tell Duo what had happened.

The two walked briskly to in companionable silence to Quatre's locker. Watching Duo easily open the locker next door to his, he remembered Duo's earlier mood. "So what happened after the meeting?"

"I was cool. I handled it well," he ranted as he heard his books fall with a clang. "Then I grabbed Heero's arm and caused a little scene in the hallway. I don't know why I snapped at *him*, it was his girlfriend I was mad at!"

"I don't know. But this whole thing with Relena is starting to bug me. It's pissing me off." Duo ranted. "She never really liked me to begin with, but now she's trying to put the two of us against each other. It's all because of that whole computer thing. Now Heero's probably pissed at me. I almost accused him of. . . never mind, you'd think I was crazy." Shaking his head, he threw another book in the locker. One of Heero's books tipped over, causing a calculator to fall and land in Duo's palm. A post-it note was attached to it. "I lost my calculator, find it for me," it read.

Duo began to laugh. "You have got to be kidding. We haven't done this since . . . middle school." he told the blond Arabian as he stared at the object in his hand. "Whenever we had a fight, we'd leave something of ours behind where the other could find it. That way we would have to return it. Perfect excuse for an apology. But being the stubborn people we are, we never could say sorry."

"Sheesh, you're no fun." Duo groaned as he rolled his eyes. He slapped Heero's arm and began to walk away. Slamming his locker shut, Heero caught up with his friend, putting Duo in a playful chokehold. Duo laughed as he slipped free and began to sprint down the hallway, Heero running not too far behind him.

"'An affair of love'. . .no. . . it's too, eh. . . 'another day in paradise'. . .'as time goes by'?" Quatre mused as he sipped from his milk carton. It was lunchtime and unfortunately for Quatre it seemed that none of his friends had the same lunch hour. Immediately grabbing a round table in an empty corner, the small blond covered the table with the contents of his book bag. He spent most of the lunch period thinking about prom themes, and ignoring the rowdy table next to his. Not even bothering to look up, he could tell from the massive amounts of blue grazing through his peripheral vision that they were varsity players.

Lunch held no meaning for Trowa Barton, just something to pass the time until gym. He sat at the 'jock table' bored out of his mind. If this was what high school life was supposed to be like, he would take his trailer school any day. Everyone at home, well, his circus home insisted that this was best for him. He disagreed. Six months later and reluctantly one of the "popular" kids, Trowa still felt that he was better off at the circus. That is until *he* showed up. Running into Duo the same day he was showing Quatre around was no accident. Trowa had seen the teen earlier in the attendance office that day, and he was rendered speechless. Any reason, any excuse Trowa could find to be near Quatre, he used it.

Heaven had opened its gates and the angels began to sing in a chorus only heard by Trowa's ears. Swinging his body around in his chair (briefly strangling himself in the process), Trowa saw Quatre sitting alone at a table, angrily swiping at a piece of paper.

"Don't worry about it." he informed his friend as turned around. The teammate shrugged as he removed his arm from Trowa's neck. Whatever fancy trick the guy did while turning around really hurt.

"So they ate lunch together, right? Well, they didn't actually eat lunch." Duo rambled as he stretched across Heero's bed. "Q said that they didn't realize that they had the same lunch together until the very end. They didn't really start talking to each other until the passing period, and that's only because I had to pick a topic for them. Geez man, I've never seen somebody crush on somebody so bad! It's kinda cute. I think you need to help your friend out, Tro's pretty dense on the whole relationship thing. And since you two are on the b-ball team. . ."

"Try and get him to do something with his bangs. I mean they're starting to cover more than half of his face. Maybe get him to open up more and talk a bit, hehe, um, never mind. Leave that to me."

"No more!" Duo groaned as he rolled onto his side. He propped up his head in one of his hands and began to pout. "If I have to hear another prom theme I'll go insane! You know that Wufei came up today pissed about the "Shanghai Moon" theme. I told him earlier-"

"You're the one. . ." Heero started before looking back at the screen, a grin crossing his face. The two had been playfully snapping at each other all day, finding arguments about the most silliest things. They even "fought" over who would put popcorn in the microwave and who would get soda from the refrigerator.

"'Fantastic Voyage'. . .'Feels like heaven'. . ." Heero began to read down the computerized list, briefly pausing to hear Duo's opinions on them. There were none. ". . .'Feels like love'. . . 'Fly with me'. . .'Forever in my life'. . ."

"I'm about to break my record. You keep looking at those lists." Duo whined. Heero began to grab for the game from his friend's hands. Trying in vain not to lose his game, Duo continued to play the game, dodging Heero's advances by standing and walking around the bed. "Heero! Quit."

"Not for long!" With that, the two began to wrestle each other, their actions unseen from under the blanket. Hands flew out from under the blanket. One hand gripped the other, causing it to hit the nightstand and the clock radio in the process.

"Come to think of it, where is it?" the violet-eyed boy asked between laughter. "I kinda threw it off the bed when you tackled me." He began to laugh even louder when he realized the position they were in.

"You know, um Heero, if Relena was to walk in right now, or anybody for that matter. . .wait a sec!" Duo's eyes widened as he listened to the song playing on the clock radio. He threw himself at Heero, throwing the surprised boy backwards and on his back.

"I know that, but it's the soundtrack version. It's guaranteed cheese, but listen to the lyrics." Duo pleaded as he rolled of Heero's body and sat next to him. Heero tried to listen to the lyrics, but he found it hard to concentrate.

Duo sat in silence as the song continued, leaning against the headboard. Though he was pleased at himself for finding a theme for the prom, he wanted to die. Somewhere during that wrestling match, the emotions changed from annoyance to fun. To well. . . you know. Avoidance was key. 'Pretend it didn't happen, all is well. Listen to your damn song.' he thought mournfully. "Well?" he suggested as the song ended.

"Disney, I know." 'Weird factor is up, time to leave.' He stood from the bed and grabbed his book bag. "Well, now that I have a theme everyone can vote on, which they better, I better go to work. It's getting late, so I'll just change there. Hey Heero, call your Relena. I don't want you guys to get all heartbroken on me or anything. About . . .Tetris. . ."