The white glow of the sun rose above the sea and shined into my bedroom window, with so much force the curtain acted like it wasn’t there. I quickly got changed and opened my blinds, standing there for a moment, like life was carefree, and without a single spark of worry, I breathed in the smell of pine outside my window, I saw the light of the sun that was the perfect shade of gold, and the whole garden seemed to be vivid with life.

“HEY SOFIE!! GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!”

I was jerked out of my little fantasy and back into the real world. The horror!
Then ... it suddenly rained down on me.
Prom!
Crap, crap, crap! The day of the school prom was in less than three hours.. And I haven’t found anyone to go with. Yet. Well, psh. Many guys had already asked me. I just said no. Well, not really since technically that isn’t allowed. I just ran to the girls washroom for the rest of the day. And risk my grades. And survive under the stare of the teachers. And murmuring. And,
Yuri? Are you okay, sweetie? Do you want me to call your mom, honey?

I survived, though! Life was pretty and bright and happy! In the girls washroom. Staring at the boring old pattern of the ugly wall all day.
Sighing, I got dressed, and headed downstairs to where my friends, Sofie, Konata, Mikuru, Akane, Penny, and Shampoo were combing their hair and giggling and making,
ooh, don’t I look just adorable faces. We lived in a hotel, so that figured.. It was owned by my father. No guys in the hotel, obviously. Sheesh.
Akane was chasing Sofie around. “Give me back my brush. GIVE IT TO ME!”
Sofie squealed and looked to me. “Yuri, help me!”
I groaned and faced them all.

“Aren’t you gonna get dressed?” I put my hands on my hips.
“We are dressed!” Shampoo squealed. “Look!”
Akane nodded, leaving Sofie for a second. “Yeah. I’m trying to tie this ribbon into my hair.”
Mikuru giggled. “I’m dressed for sure,” she whispered, looking at herself in the mirror again.
It was Sofie who made the decision. “Hey, Yuri’s not dressed,” she said to the other girls. “Let’s get her!”
No way, I repeated in my head, backing away.

About two seconds later, I was sprawled on the carpet, in a dainty silk white dress decorated with pearls and small pink diamonds. Eww. I hated girly things. I mean, I liked to dress fashionable, but a miniskirt was the farthest I’d ever go. No long flowing dresses for me. And yet, what was the clothing item that covered me? A long, flowing dress. Go figure.
I didn’t bother changing, because I knew they were going to do this again.
“I’m not even going,” I said, irritated. “Why does it matter what you wear?”
“You ARE going,” Sofie corrected.
“With us,” Mikuru chimed in. Penny nodded, and so did Akane.
I frowned, but I nodded. “So who are you guys going with?” I asked lamely, but it was mostly to make sure that I didn’t get a diamond sewn into my hair or something.
Sofie nodded eagerly. “Ranma,” she happily replied.
“My boyfriend,” Penny said. “Naturally.”
Mikuru blushed, but everyone already knew who she was going with.
Akane just shrugged. “Ryoga, I guess.” She didn’t like him. After all this time, she still didn’t believe that he was P-chan.
Shampoo scowled at Sofie. “You steal him from me,” she said in her Chinese accent.
“Great,” I said, with zero enthusiasm in my voice. But then, something else occurred to me.
I blinked. “Hey, guys,” I started. “Just out of curiosity – what if someone does ask me? What will I say? ‘No, sorry, I’m going out with Sofie, Mikuru, and ...?’”
Laughing, Sofie fell to the ground. “Yeah, do that.”
Penny giggled. “That sounds charming.”
“Sure does,” Mikuru said.

We all looked at the girl who hadn’t said a word since I’d come in.

“Konata?” I asked. “Why are you so quiet?”
Kona-chan was wearing a dress that looked about twice her size. She lifted up her sleeve. “Can’t you see?”
Sofie giggled. “Ohh. Cut off the rims,” she suggested.
“No way!” Konata demanded passionately. “They’re pretty!”
“Ah crap, we’re late,” Penny broke in.
So then, we headed out the front door. (Well, I tried, anyway. I’d rather not talk about it.)

--

We left for school, in our ugly normal anime girl school uniforms. In about an hour, we’d be dancing with ... people.

Except for me...
I’d be dancing with a pole.

Even worse...
A guy who thinks he’s a pole. I REFUSE TO MENTION WHO.