“You are not wearing that.” My best friend, Mikki, lectured. “It’s the homecoming dance. You can’t go in jeans and a T-shirt.”

“I’m only going to take pictures for the yearbook, not for the dance. I don’t need to dress up.” I groaned. The last thing I wanted to do tonight was photography for the yearbook committee. I wouldn’t even be going to the dance if their photographer hadn’t backed out at the last minute. 

“I don’t care if you’re just there to take pictures, Harper.” She sighed. “There’s a dress code for these things. They won’t let you through the door unless you're in semi-formal attire.” I tried to avoid eye contact, but I could feel her glare penetrating my skull. 

Damn it. I knew she was right, despite me still wanting to just rebel. I hated wearing those stuffy dresses and heels. I had to do enough of that at my father’s work parties. I let out a long sigh.

“Fine.” I reluctantly gave in. I walked over to my closet which was pretty much only used for my formal clothing, courtesy of my mother. I rummaged through the dresses, trying to find the one I remember being the least itchy. 

It was a short, dark blue dress with sleeves just off the shoulders. The design was simple but cute. Out of all of the dresses I had worn over the years, this was probably the one I felt the most comfortable in. 

“Wow,” Mikki said, sarcastically. “Must be nice to just have a homecoming dress on hand.” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I know. My closet looks like a frickin’ boutique with how much formal wear there is.” I groaned. “Just looking at it makes me feel sick.”

“Remind me to raid your closet later. I need to go prom dress shopping.” Mikki laughed. Mikki was the type of girl who would have loved to have my closet. She had always been the super girl type since we were kids. Her room practically screamed I’m head cheerleader and love the color pink. 

“Girl, we both know you’ve had your prom dress picked out since Freshman Year,” I said, as I changed into the dress. 

“True. True, but you never know. I could suddenly change my mind.” She said, pulling out my makeup kit. “Now, sit down and do your makeup. We’re already running behind.”

“Hey! I’m already wearing a dress. Don’t push it.” I said, zipping up the back. Ugh, it already felt suffocating. I grabbed a matching pair of low heels from the closet before walking over to the chair. 

As far as I was concerned, mascara and tinted lip balm would be fine as far as makeup was concerned. I then sectioned my curly mop of brown hair, so that half of it was up and clipped in place. 

“Okay, let’s go,” I said, grabbing my camera from my bed. I ignored Mikki’s very loud sigh as we both walked out of my room and down the stairs. We made our way to my car. “You ready for a night of hell?” I asked Mikki as we both sat down and I turned on the car.

“Absolutely!” She said, sounding way more excited than I was. 

“Let’s do this shit, then,” I said, pulling out of the driveway.

It was loud and lights were flashing all over the place. I hated it. I looked around the room, trying to find Mr.Underwood, the yearbook teacher, amongst the crowd of unruly teenagers. I eventually found him, standing in the corner of the gym. 

I made my way through the crowds towards him. He was talking to one of the other chaperones.

“Hey, Mr.Underwood,” I said. 

“Hello, Ms. Martin.” He smiled. “You look lovely. You brought your camera, right?”

I gesture towards the bag on my hip. 

“Perfect.” He exclaimed. “So, we are going to need some crowd shots. Just try to get shots of people who look like they’re having fun. And then, later tonight we will need to get shots of the homecoming King and Queen. We’ll do shots of them getting crowned and of their dance. Got it?”

“Yeah. I’ll just send you the file on Monday.” I said, regretting agreeing to do this. I had hoped I would get just to take a few photos and leave early, but I should have known I needed homecoming royalty photos too. Last time I was doing anyone a favor. 

I made my way around the room lining up photos of people who were dancing. I took photo after photo, but I was sure I was only going to have a few be usable. I had a lot of people ask me to take photos of them, which I reluctantly did. I was just going to delete them later, but it made them happy.

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After about an hour, I sat down at one of the tables to take a break. I needed to sort through the photos I had already gotten anyway. I could go ahead and delete some of the blurry ones.

“You must be unlucky to be working at homecoming.” A voice came from behind me.

I turn around to see a face I instantly recognize as Liam Randell, our basketball team’s captain.

“Umm, yeah. If I had it my way, I wouldn’t be here at all.” I said. I had never actually spoken to him before, just taken photos for the yearbook and newspaper. 

“Not a fan of parties?” He asked. 

“Or people.” I laughed, nervously.

“I get that. I’m only here because I was nominated for homecoming court.” He smiled. It's truly unfair how outrageously handsome some people are, specifically this man. Talk about winning the genetic lottery.

“Oh? Wouldn’t have guessed that our famous basketball captain doesn’t like crowds.” I said, skeptically.

“What can I say?” He shrugged. “I like it when it’s quiet.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, still not believing him. He stepped closer and looked over my shoulder at my camera.

“Are these the pictures from tonight?” He asked. He was close enough that I could feel his breath on my neck, nearly sending shivers down my spine. 

“Umm, yeah,” I said, trying to focus on the pictures. “Though, most of them are probably gonna get thrown out. You’re welcome to look if you want.”

I lifted the camera so he could get a better look.

“Woah.” He gasped. “These are great. Do you always take photos of these types of things?”

“Sometimes,” I said. “I usually take sports photos though. My best friend is a cheerleader, so I go to most of the games anyway.”

He looked at me in awe for a moment. 

“So, you’re the one who took all of the killer photos for the basketball team last year?” He asked. I just nodded. Photography was just a hobby of mine, but I couldn’t help but blush at his words.

“That’s so cool. I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve met you.” He smiled, excitedly. “I’m Liam, by the way, though you probably know that already.” He held out his hand to shake mine.

“I’m Harper,” I said, shaking his warm hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to finally meet you too.” He smiled. “Anyway, I should probably go before people start looking for me, but I’ll catch you later.”

He hurried away back into the crowd. It felt like my heart was beating damn near a mile a minute. It took me a minute to collect myself again before I finally got up to take more photos. 

I got some more crowd photos, including some of Mikki as she danced cheerfully with the rest of the cheer squad. 

Eventually, the time came for them to announce the prom queen and king. I made my way over to the front of the stage. Mr. Underwood had made sure I had a designated area to stand for the best angle. 

Mrs. Garcia, our principal, made her way to the stage followed by two other teachers holding crowns. 

“Okay, everyone.” She said brightly. “It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Let’s go ahead and start with Prom King.”

She held a white, sealed envelope in her hand, and everyone was silent. She was silent as she opened the envelope, smiling upon seeing the name. 

“Okay everyone, this year’s Prom King is…..” She paused. “Liam Randell!” 

People cheered loudly and patted him on the back as he made his way to the stage. He was smiling but I could tell he was a bit uncomfortable. I barely remembered to take pictures until Mrs. Garcia was placing the crown on his head.

After everyone settled down, she was ready to announce Prom Queen.

“And, this year’s Prom Queen is….” She paused once more. “Ciara Brownly.” People clapped again, though not as loud as she made her way to the stage. It wasn’t unexpected, but I couldn’t say I was happy about it. After all, Ciara Brownly was bitchier than karma in its period. But she had money, and a lot of it, which translated to a large friend group of shallow people who would do anything she asked. 

It took some more photos as the two of them were dancing, and couldn't help but take notice of how uncomfortable Liam looked. Maybe he was telling the truth and didn’t like being around large groups like this, or maybe, he just really didn’t like Ciara Brownly.

Either way, he was far more interesting than I thought. Everyone cheered after the song ended and a new upbeat song began to play. 

I decided to make my exit. Mikki was going out to eat with the rest of the cheerleaders so she didn’t need to ride home. So, I was free to escape. I needed to crash anyway. I had to be up early for a brunch which I was being dragged along to by my parents.

Just as I was about to get into the car, a voice called out. 

“Harper, hold on a sec!” Liam called as he ran towards my car,  the cheap plastic crown nearly falling off his head. “Give me your phone number.”

“What?” I asked, confused. 

“Give me your phone number.” He repeated. 

“Why?” I asked, still confused. 

“Because you’re cool, and I want to hang out with you.”