like you do | leah clearwater

fuck the prom

The front door shut softly, and Juliet could hear Charlie sigh as he most likely made his way back to the couch. Peering out her window, she could see Bella getting into Edward's car. Almost as if he knew she was looking, Edward looked up at her. She held eye contact for a moment before sinking back into bed. She picked her book back up, and had gotten lost in the pages when the phone rang downstairs. After a muffled conversation, she heard Charlie coming upstairs.

"Come in." She called after the soft knock. Charlie stuck his head in, and she noticed he was wearing a jacket.

"Billy's invited me out for a fish fry." He said. "You wanna come?"

"I have plans with Leah already." She sat up, checking her watch. She still had two hours before Leah was off. "We might stop by."

"Alright. Have fun, and if I don't see ya, tell Leah hi for me." He nodded.

"I will. Have fun dad." He mumbled something as he left, and a few minutes later she heard him leave. Her eyes scanned slowly of the page, the words echoing in her mind as she read.

'Under the crimson, primordial sky, surrounded by the jagged rocks of the ancient volcanic mountain, the wretched Warlock reached into the dark embrace of the fissure until his hand touched a smooth glassy surface. Cold as ice. His fist closed around The Serpent's Eye. Slowly, he withdrew it and held it before him in the fading light of the blood-red suns. It glowed from within. A ghostly emerald light. Strange and eternal.'

Juliet had gotten so lost in the book that she almost didn't hear the phone ringing downstairs. When she did hear it, she quickly dogeared her page and ran downstairs, catching it before the ringing stopped.

"Hello?" She was slightly out of breath.

"Hey, I'm about to be off." It was Leah. "Why do you sound like you've been running?"

"Because I had to run down here to answer the phone." Leah laughed. "Where do you wanna meet?"

"Eh, just come over." Leah said. "I gotta shower, and my moms been wanting to see you anyway. She says you don't come over enough."

"I've been there everyday this week." Juliet snorted.

"Yeah well, apparently Sue Clearwater doesn't think that's enough." They both laughed. "So, I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah, be there soon."

————

"So, are you excited?" Juliet smiled. Leah rolled her eyes, kicking a little sand towards Juliet. "Come on, Lee! You're graduating, this is huge!"

"Yeah I guess." Leah shrugged. Juliet frowned, scooting down the log closer to Leah.

"What's up?" She asked lightly.

"I just..." Leah sighed, kicking at the sand again. "I feel like I'm missing something. Like...like I haven't completed high school yet."

"Well you better figure out what it is, because you graduate next week." Juliet snorted.

"I already know what it is." Leah pouted.

"Well come on then, the suspense is killing me." Leah shot a playful glare at Juliet.

"You're gonna think it's stupid." Leah frowned.

"What?" Juliet scoffed. "I don't think anything you want is stupid Leah. Just tell me."

"Ugh, fine." Leah groaned, throwing her head back. "But you can't make fun of me."

"I would never." Juliet joked, and Leah looked at her. "Fine, I promise I won't make fun of you. Now will you just tell me already?" Leah sighed again, her eyes fixing to a random spot out on the water.

"I just...I wish I could've gone to prom." Leah frowned. "I know it's dumb and it's just a stupid dance but I...I dunno." She shrugged.

"Hey, that's not stupid." Juliet said. "Tons of people want to go to prom, even if it is just a dance. It's like...part of high school, or whatever." Leah rolled her eyes.

"Wasn't it you who said yesterday, and I quote, 'fuck the prom'?" Leah asked.

"Well yeah." Juliet nodded. "But just because I don't want to go to prom, doesn't mean I think it's stupid to want to go. I just hate being around that many people, that's all." Leah's bad mood still didn't let up. Juliet sighed, standing up and heading up to her truck. Leah turned around, watching her.

"What are you doing?!" Leah called.

"Just gimmie a sec!" Juliet yelled back, now digging through her backseat. "Hold on! One minute! Ah, there it is!" From under a too-large pile of jackets and blankets she kept in her truck, Juliet pulled a small stereo. It only had a tape-deck in the front of it, no cd-player, but that was for the best. She quickly dug around in her glove compartment before finding the right cassette, shoving it in the player, and hurrying back down to Leah.

"What are you doing with that?" Leah asked, raising her eyebrows. Juliet set the stereo down where she had just been sitting.

"You'll see." Juliet said, already skipping on the cassette to get to the right song. "It's your favorite song from your favorite movie." Her words were drawn out as she skipped and skipped until, the quiet beginning of Almost Paradise by Mike Reno and Ann Wilson started to play. Juliet quickly turned up the volume.

"Oh my god." Leah mumbled. Juliet straightened up, walking over to Leah and holding her hand out. "What are you doing?"

"Just because you can't go to a real prom doesn't mean you can't dance like it's one." Juliet shook her hand expectantly. "Come on, this song is only so long." Leah sighed, taking her hand and standing up. After a bit of awkward adjusting, due mostly to the uneven sand, the pair were slow dancing on the beach. "So, how's your prom going?"

"I hate you, you know that right?" Leah's smile betrayed her. "Yeah, it's great."

"Good." Juliet beamed up at her. Leah chuckled, shaking her head lightly.

"Did you have to choose the song from Footloose, though?"