and we are conscious of a long town history

[cross_and_bow]

Prom arrives.

Bella wears her indigo dress and her indigo heels with their straps that go all the way up her calves, and she nukes Sherlock some breakfast, and she waits.

Comments

[eversomuchfun]

"Will do."

[cross_and_bow]

She looks around, tapping a foot to the thinly instrumentated pop in the background. "I don't exactly keep a finger on the pulse of social life here, but unlike you I actually attend school here, and I know those two weren't dating yesterday," she frowns, nodding in the direction of a girl in a blue dress and her disinterested date. "I sorta know her, I'll go talk to them." And off she trots.

If Sherlock intended to follow, this may be slightly derailed by a girl who - unaccompanied by any obvious companion - says: "Wow, you look just like Tony Stark!"

[eversomuchfun]

"Yeah," he says, laughing, "I've heard that one before."

[cross_and_bow]

"No seriously you're like identical, I would know, I had such a crush on him, I had one of those magazine covers on my wall, and you look just identical. What's your name?" she asks.

[eversomuchfun]

"What's yours?" he inquires cheerfully.

[cross_and_bow]

"I'm Kayli!" she says. "D'you wanna dance?"

Across the room, Bella has apparently determined to her satisfaction that her acquaintance and that boy she's with are dating enough, and has moved on to another possibility.

[eversomuchfun]

"I'd like to know if either of our dates would object, first," he says.

[cross_and_bow]

"Pfft, I came with my cousin, he couldn't find anybody 'cause he waited till the last minute, and yours went and left you all by yourself, didn't she?"

[eversomuchfun]

"Then yes," he says, "why not."

[cross_and_bow]

Meanwhile, Bella has not found any single targets for the Ghost of Promenade Past -

Oh, there's a girl standing by herself, a bit more in keeping with the theme than the others, hiding behind a mask so if Bella knows her she doesn't recognize her. "Hey," she says. "Did your date ditch you?"

[pythbox]

The stranger tosses her hair carelessly over her shoulder. "He's around here somewhere," she says. "You?"

[cross_and_bow]

"He's dancing with some girl, but I don't mind," replies Bella.

[pythbox]

"You sure he's your date?" she asks, with an odd edge to her voice.

[cross_and_bow]

"Yeah? He's my boyfriend as of months ago. He got me a corsage," Bella adds, holding up her wrist. "I don't mind if he dances with somebody else, he's going home with me after."

[pythbox]

"Ooh," she says, looking approvingly at the corsage. "Pretty. Do I know this guy? What year's he in?"

[cross_and_bow]

"He's not a student," Bella says. "Why?"

[pythbox]

She tsks and shakes her head. "Bad news, you know," she says.

[cross_and_bow]

"Bad news? What do you mean?"

[pythbox]

"What is he, a dropout? You can get in trouble with those."

[cross_and_bow]

"Sort of homeschooled," says Bella. "Why are you concerned with my boyfriend's education?"

[pythbox]

"You never know about those guys," she says vaguely.

[cross_and_bow]

"How does their being enrolled in a public high school help one know about them?"

[pythbox]

The strange girl shakes her head, curls bouncing this way and that.

[cross_and_bow]

"...What's your name?"

[pythbox]

"Minnie," she says.