Lola, the class president, valedictorian, who ran all of the clubs and stayed at the top of the social chain all four years of high school. Girls hated her because of her personality, teachers loved her, and boys were intimidated; but she was never really affected by any of their opinions. Why would she be? She would be the owner of the company they work for one day.

Lola never really got into drinking or drugs or partying unlike the rest of her class. She just didn’t like losing control of her body; being taken advantage of was one of her biggest fears. So, homecoming and prom really weren’t all that fun for her, since everyone was either wasted or high while she was completely sober. The only part she really cared for was dressing up, because it was the only time of the year that she actually felt beautiful. Most of the time her curly brown hair was thrown up in a bun, with an old tshirt and athletics shorts. She didn’t really care if it bothered people though: she was very comfortable with herself.

The coolest guy in school, Charlie Rose, was every girl’s dream guy. Even though Lola won’t admit it, she thinks his blonde hair that was always perfectly flipped and his mesmerizing blue eyes were exhilarating. They had never really talked, but every time he saw her he smiled or waved which put little butterflies in her stomach. With homecoming being right around the corner, all the girls prayed that he would ask them. Halle, the lead cheerleader, and the prettiest girl in school, got the honor of going with him for the first three years of high school; so nobody actually expected him to ask anyone else.

There were floats being made, streamers being strung, and excitement all around the school. It was bittersweet for the seniors to be preparing for their last dance though. Who knew time would fly so quickly? Homecoming was a good time to help them relax and get their minds off of preparing for college. It was a big deal at Century High, and not a single person missed the dance. Lola factually found her dress her junior year so she wasn’t panicking about it. All she needed was shoes, jewelry, and a tan.

One hot Saturday morning, her and her friend Lauren went out to finish shopping before the dance. Lola found the perfect pair of shoes, and Lauren found a beautiful dress. Anything would look beautiful on her though, Lola thought. They’d been friends for as long as they could remember, and Lola was always a little jealous of Lauren. She didn’t party a lot, but when she did she always went overboard which left Lola babysitting her all night. After awhile it stopped bothering her, but sometimes she wished she could let loose like that.

It was the Monday before the dance, and Lola was selling tickets at lunch. Charlie came up and said he needed two tickets, which automatically let her know he had a date. She took the money and exchanged it for two tickets, and surprisingly enough he handed one back to Lola and asked her if shes go with him.

“Is this really happening? CHARLIE ROSE ASKED ME TO HOMECOMING!!” she thought. Then she realized she was staring awkwardly at him and hadn’t replied yet, so an overly obnoxious, “yes,” slipped off her tongue. He smiled and handed her his phone so she could add her number. She really couldn’t believe this was happening. As soon as he walked away she went to the bathroom and called Lauren to tell her. Lauren screamed in excitement! They discussed dinner plans, pictures and what they would do after. This made Lola think that she actually might have to go to a party, you know, to hangout with the most attractive guy in school. She found herself excited instead of being nervous like she usually is. Nothing could go wrong now that Charlie was her date.

Saturday, October 14th, was finally here. Lola woke up and ate breakfast with her family; who found it utterly surreal that it was her last dance. She saw her mom start to shed a tear so she laughed a little and hugged her. Every year, they went to the same place to have her makeup and hair done. Lola wasn’t an over the top kind of girl, she she still did a simple makeup look with a brighter lipstick than normal. Her hair, in spiral curls, lied across her back. Finally, it was time to put on her dress. It was a black, bikini strap, flowy dress that went down past her toes until she put her heels on. She jazzed it up with a silver choker and silver heels that glistened in the sun. Her dad cried as soon as she walked down the steps; his little girl was all grown up.
Before she knew it, Charlie was knocking at the door. He shook her parents hands and introduced himself. He looked so handsome she found herself staring in awe, which made him laugh. As he promised to take good care of Lola, they walked out the door. He told her how beautiful she looked as they got into the car. Once they were settled in, he grabbed her hand and told her how excited he was to have her as a date. They joked about how they never really talked, but both had ginormous crushed on each other since middle school. As they pulled out to the restaurant, Lauren and her boyfriend were already there waiting. They got there seats and enjoyed a good meal before heading to the dance. Charlie made her promise that she would dance, and even though it made Lola nervous, she pinky promised.

When Halle saw them walk in together, she was furious. She thought that she deserved to be his date and couldn’t understand why he would choose anyone else. When Charlie saw her, he waved and walked by without saying anything. As Halle watched them dancing and laughing like they were having the time of their lives, she grew more angry. The after party was at her house, so she started coming up with a plan to ruin their night. Her and her friends plotted against Lola, as if it was her fault. They thought of the worst way to ruin this innocent girl’s last homecoming.

After the dance was over and everybody headed to the party, Lola and Charlie were still having a great night just enjoying themselves. They honestly thought about just going to a park, but then realized it was the last big party of the year. Once they got there, Lauren convinced Lola to just drink a glass of Vodka and Sprite to loosen her up. Charlie and her stood by the pool table talking while every girl envied her. Lola put her cup down and told him she had to use the restroom. While she was gone, Charlie went to talk to a couple of his best friends. Halle knew this was her moment to get her. She snuck over to her drink and slipped a ruffy in it. She mixed it in casually and walked away. When Lola got out of the bathroom so picked up her cup, took a big swig, and went to play beer pong with Lauren. As the night went on, she started feeling dizzy and out of control. It really started to scare her, so she went over to Charlie and he automatically knew it wasn’t just the alcohol. He took her to a bedroom and layed her down with some water. Lola begged him to stay and lay with her, but he insisted to find out who did this. She didn’t understand what was going on so she just turned over and tried to sleep.

When Charlie went downstairs he turned off the music and asked who had ruffied his date; but everyone was silent. Halle played innocent and asked if he needed any help, so he asked her to make everyone leave. She did so, and then went and sat next to him on the couch. He was torn apart, wondering how this could have happened, and thinking about the promise he made her. He was suppose to protect her. What would he say to her in the morning? How would she respond when she woke up? Halle tried to take advantage of him at this point, which made Charlie think. He started questioning her until the truth finally came out. He couldn’t believe her. Who even thinks to do that to someone? Halle went on, trying to justify herself, but Charlie went to the room Lola was in and locked the door. He held her and cried until he fell asleep, wondering how he was going to explain this to her.

The next morning, Lola woke up with no idea how she ended up in bed with him. Did they…? Did she actually get drunk enough to give it up on the first night? She started to panic and got up to puke. Running towards the bathroom, Charlie followed and held her hair back. As she started to cry he began apologizing which made her even more confused. Once she was done throwing up she turned around to ask what happened. He started to explain things, and as he went on Lola felt herself getting nauseous again. Halle put a date rape drug in her drink because a boy chose to ask her to homecoming instead? Who is that sick and twisted? All she wanted was to get out of that house, so that’s what they did. Charlie went on apologizing for everything, but she really didn’t blame him. It was her fault for leaving her drink where anyone could get it. Lola was just glad he was such a gentleman about it.

Charlie drove them back to Lola’s and insisted she tell her parents. When she walked in, her parents were sitting in the living room and she just started bawling. He sat her down and explained everything to her parents. Apologizing over and over again, tears started to stream down his face too. Her parents were furious that someone would do this to their daughter, and promised that she would not be getting away with it. They thanked Charlie for being honest and taking care of their daughter. He walked her to her bedroom and told her he really had a good night before things went wrong, and would love to go out with her again. This made Lola feel better, but she was too upset to say much. He kissed her forehead and shut the door behind him as he walked out.

The next day at school, everybody was talking about what happened. There were rumors that Charlie did it too her and rumors that she just was too drunk. The principle called Halle and Charlie down to explain the situation. Halle still tried to justify herself, which was pointless because the principle had already decided to expel her. Tears fell down her face as she realized that she just messed up her entire life because a guy didn’t choose to ask her to homecoming. Even though she never apologized, she felt really bad for the mistake she made.

Later that night, Halle went to a college party to get her mind off things. She met a guy, Grant, and they hit it off quite well. After talking for awhile, Halle set her drink down to use the restroom. Would the same mistake be made twice?