Chapter 03

"Please stop!" Her tiny voice quivered. She was behind the couch with her eyes closed and her hands on both her ears. She was trying hard to block the sound of broken dishes as her Mum threw them at her Dad.

She was sick and was home that day. Her Mum was supposed to take care of her but when her Dad showed up after leaving home on a Job for six days, she knew what was coming next.

The fight.

The cursing and the yelling were making her sick. She cried silently as she prayed for Salvador to show up. He was her only solace.

"Hey" Someone touched her shoulder and startled, she opened her eyes to see her Dad. She heard a car zoomed off and she knew it was her Mum. There were bruises all over her Dad face and arm.

"Dad," She cried Harder.

"Shhhsh" Her Dad cooed as he picked her up. He went upstairs to her room and gently placed her on her bed.

"Dad,.." but she only cried harder. "I want...I want Salvador"

"I know and he will be here soon. I am sorry I failed you" Her father smiled sadly. "But I promise it will get better Lena, I promise".

Elena's Pov

I paced about in my room. I refused to even let my Dad in. I was getting upset, I shouldn't have let Isabella talk me into having hope of ever going to prom.

Finn was thirty minutes late. I almost laughed. I wasn't expecting anyone at all but having hope that it will be Finn had made me go way over the top. I even took a lot of time to apply makeup. I was dressed in a red version of a Cinderella kind of gown and an almost glass stiletto. I made my hair a messy bunch and bundled it up with a large pin on my head, making a streak fall down my face.

I heard the doorbell ring and my heart skipped a beat. I placed my ear on my door but I didn't hear anything. I felt disappointed. My imagination was playing with me. The knocking on my door startled me and I yelped. I wasn't expecting it. I opened the door and met my Dad's smiling face.

"I am a proud Dad" He beamed. "You look stunning honey,"

"Did you trick me into opening this door just for you to say that?" I pouted. "Really Dad?"

"Well, that's not all," He said. "Your date is here".

I blushed and quickly put my head down. Different emotions were swimming in my head.

"No, no, no..head up" My Dad raised my head with his thumb."That's my girl..You will be fine. Let me have the honor of walking you down to him".

"A minute," I said and quickly went to glance at myself one more time. When I was sure everything was in check, I picked up my purse containing my phone and walked over to where my Dad was.

I smiled and linked my arm with my father's. He was my best friend and everything in-between. We walked down the passage to the front door where Finn was standing.

"Here is your date Finn," My Dad said to him as he released my arm.

"Good evening, Ms. Elena" Finn smiled shyly which send butterflies running up my tummy. "This is for you," He said and passed me a rose flower that was in the front pocket of his suit. Even with my heels, he was taller than me.

"Thanks," I said as I took it from him and smiled nervously. Finn was gorgeous. If a simple gesture from him could make me feel giddy, I wondered what the night ahead had in store for us.

I turned to face my Dad. "Later Dad" I smiled and gave him the flower to keep for me.

"Bye and have fun" He winked. Do take care of her Finn" He put on his serious face and told him.

"Of course, Mr. Benson" Finn responded and gave me his hand. I took him and we walked down to where he parked his car.

"The Benz?" I asked wide-eyed. "I mean, Mr. Tanner will never part with it"

"Well, he did it. For you" Finn started before opening the passenger door for me. I blushed at the proximity of him leaning over me. I hoped I wouldn't embarrass myself throughout the night as Finn went to enter the driver's door and got the car moving.

Redlands High School was full of loud bangs as Finn parked and we got out. We headed to the entrance which was also filled up with crowd. I got a lot of jealous glances from student's we passed outside. Even though Finn was a graduate, his reputation as the baseball captain and his gorgeous self had made him popular among girls.

Isabella appeared from nowhere the moment we got into the hall. I couldn't hear her well from the loud noise coming from the speakers.

"You are late!" She accused, her voice loud.

"But we are here" I defended. "That is all that matters".

"Hy Finn" She smirked at her brother. "You look handsome"

"I am handsome" Finn retorted.

"I am glad you guys are here" She smiled mischievously and I knew something was coming up. "I submitted your names for the prom queen and king"

"What?!"

"You crazy?!"

Finn and I exclaimed at the same time but before we could get back our composure, the music stopped and Mr. Leroy, our History teacher voice boomed.

"Well ladies and gentlemen! Here are our nominees for the Prom king and Queen!" He said and went on to call some names from his list including mine and Finn's."The rule is clear! They have to act like a couple and play some games. The winner is our Royalty! Let the game begins!"

The roar and clap that came were loud. The music stopped entirely and a bright light flashed down on all the nominees. We were about five couples and we were asked to stand on the platform before the rest of the students. I checked for Isabella but I was shocked to see her among the spectators. She didn't include her name.

"Are you ready?" Finn asked and I only nodded. "Do not worry, I know this game so we might have a chance of winning"

"The first game is filling the jug!" Mr. Leroy yelled into the speaker. I could swear his voice was louder than the music played earlier. "In this game, the couple will use their mouth to pick up these cups," He said and pointed at 5 red cups filled with juice in front of each of the nominees and continued. "They will go to the far end of the hall and with their mouth, pour the content of the cups into that Jug over there. The first person to get all five cups win"

"We can do it" Finn reassured me with his killer smile and I believed him. His smile was promising.

"Yes, you can do it," Isabella said to us as she winked at us. I gave her my purse to hold while Finn pulled off his suit before shoving it in her face. I caught a glance of his muscles behind the shirt. I gulped hard. Damn, he was hot!.

We got into possible and after the whistle was blown, We both went ahead to get hold of the cups with our mouths and in the process collided our foreheads together. We laughed which didn't last long as we noticed some of the couples already moving. We were able to get three cups to the Jug seconds before the bell rang.

The next game was killer dance as Mr. Leroy had called it. We were supposed to have a slow dance on the stage while others watch and rate the chemistry between each couple. I knew I was doomed as dancing was never my spec.

"I don't know how to dance" I whispered into Finn's ears but he smiled again, assuring me everything will be fine.

We got into position and a music by Elvis Presley "Can't Help Falling in Love" was played. I tensed as I felt Finn's hand went over my back and pulled me closer to him. He held my other hand and together we swayed on the dance floor. I kept stepping on his toes but there was no sign that he noticed at all. His smile was beautiful and I felt his hand went over my head and he gently placed it on his chest.

"Can you feel that?" Finn asked me. I could only nod as I felt his heartbeat. It was beating at a fast rate.

"You do this to me," He said and I jerked up to look at him. He nodded, confirming what I heard. I blushed so hard that my cheek turned pink.

"Can you see that!" Mr. Leroy yelled into the speaker. "We have got one real couple actually falling in love" and a bright light flashed on us. I blushed when I heard a roar of claps and laughter as I remembered there was a large TV screen recording us all.

"Let's get out of here," Finn said and I nodded.

Finn held my hand and we ran out of the hall. Abandoning the games and the title.