After the high from their football championship win had worn off, and everyone got back from winter break, it was all about prom and senior finals. The closer that prom got, the more frequent the prom-posals became. And for Armando, it just got more and more obvious how cripplingly single he was. The loneliness had started to set in as he watched the guys in his inner circle each get girlfriends, Kent with the girl that makes him soft, Connor with his childhood best friend, David with that nerdy valedictorian that he’s head over heels for, even Kent’s best friend, Henry, had found a boy to go to prom with.

Armando sighed as he looked out the window of the cafeteria, the plastic seat cold beneath him. Sunlight streamed through the glass, catching dust motes as they swirled in the air. He watched his old friend run on the track, her sneakers pounding rhythmically against the red rubber surface. Probably trying to clear her head, he thought. They'd been super close in middle school, stuck together like glue. But high school had pulled them apart—she'd found her circle in cross country and volleyball, while he'd immersed himself in football and basketball. Sometimes he missed those simpler days, before the weight of the world felt like it was on his shoulders, before the pressure to be first in his family to attend college pressed down on him like a cinderblock tied to his feet.

His friends around the lunch table discussed prom plans, their voices overlapping in excited chatter. Armando's gaze remained fixed outside, tracking her movements as she slowed to a stop, bending at the waist to catch her breath. The wind lifted strands of her hair as she reached for her water bottle. He only snapped back to reality when David waved a hand in front of his face.

"Hey, Mando, you good? What's so interesting outside that's got you so spaced?" David asked, a playful chuckle in his voice.

Armando forced a small smile and shook his head. "Nothing. Just thinking. I... I think I'm gonna head to class. I'll see you guys later, yeah?" he said, anxious to escape the prom conversation. He stood abruptly, slinging his backpack over one shoulder before waving. "Later, guys."

David's brows furrowed as he watched Armando leave the cafeteria. "But class doesn't start for another 20 minutes..." he murmured, turning back to the group with a shrug.

Armando found himself walking toward the track without conscious thought, drawn like a magnet. He leaned against the chain-link fence, watching her run lap after lap until she finally noticed him. When she approached, confusion evident on her sweat-streaked face, he blurted out the words before he could second-guess himself. "Wanna be my pity date to the prom?"