Chapter 14

                                    

                                          
"Do I really have to wear this?!" Cody complained, holding up a bright orange vest that looks straight out from a cheesy romcom. 
"Come on, Cody..." Jim tried to reason with him. "...I mean, we did agree on this for Devin." 
Christmas break ended, which means classes have finally resumed. It was Friday a afternoon and right after school, Cody, Don, Jim, Lucas, and I went straight to Devin's place. Prom is only a month away, and apparently, Devin is yet to ask Yvonne out, and he is planning to do it in a very grand way, and we are part of his plan. The plan is to serenade Yvonne in front of the school gate, and we will be the ones performing in the background during the promposal. 
Cody will be playing the beatbox. Don is on the acoustic guitar. Jim suggested he play a tambourine. Finally, Lucas and I will be singing. God, prom is turning my friends into lovesick apes. 
"What song are we going to perform though?" Don asked as he browsed a few songs in his phone. "How about Ed Sheeran's 'Perfect'?" 
"Too overrated..." Devin shook his head. "...I want a song that tells her she's everything to me. That she's the reason my life means something." 
"That's the message to literally every love song known by mankind." Cody said sharply. 
All of us fell silent, then a song suddenly popped up in my head out of nowhere and I immediately started singing the words to it. 
"No more, it cannot wait~" I sang under my breath but Don's ears picked it up.
"Oh, I know that one." Don starts playing the chords to 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz. 
I started singing and Lucas followed shortly after. Before you knew it, all of us were singing along, the others started playing their instruments as well. Don stopped playing after the first chorus, and the look on Devin's face were telling us that the song was exactly what he was looking for. 
"Perfect!" Devin rubbed his hands together. "I knew I could count on you guys." 
"What if Yvonne says no?" Cody asked followed by an impish laugh. 
"That's impossible." Lucas answered. "I mean, even you managed to convince Elaine to go to prom with you." 
"Whoa, seriously?!" Don looked genuinely surprised. "Come on, give us the deets already." 
"Well," Cody cleared his throat, looking adorable as he blushed. "I just asked her straight out last week. It wasn't anything grand, but at least she said yes." 
"That's great Cody!" I told him. "You guys are perfect together." 
"So much for a non-serious relationship." Devin laughed. "But seriously dude, we're glad you finally found a girl who loves you for who you are." 
"Thanks..." Cody smiled, but it quickly disappeared as he found something wrong with what Devin just said. "...Wait, what's that supposed to mean?!" 
We all laughed at Cody, who tried to change the subject and put me on the spotlight instead. 
"What about you, Fred?" Cody gave me a studying look. "Are you asking someone out on prom?" 
DARREN.
"Um..." I stammered. "...Nobody." 
"Oh, is that what we're calling Darren now?" Cody teased. 
"No, seriously." I looked down at my feet. "I'm pretty sure he's not into me, and I just don't want to risk our friendship over something trivial like prom." 
For the record, I don't think prom is that trivial. However, if I were given the chance to choose between asking Darren to prom for a day (with the possibility of rejecting me and making things more awkward between us) or being friends with him for the rest of my life, I'd definitely choose the latter without question.