Luna shoved another spoonful of Nutella in her mouth as she logged into her favorite website, Tumblr to run her popular hipster blog. After about five minutes of scrolling, she became aware of the drool that was dribbling down her chin and quickly swallowed the mouthwatering chocolate. After realizing it was too quiet she grabbed the remote for her iHome and lazily hit the “play” button. Her bittersweet chocolate brown eyes lit up when she heard the familiar intro of her favorite song by her favorite artist, Marina and the Diamonds.
It was a Friday night, Luna’s mom was at work and her sister was at college; this was the perfect time to just be weird. She turned the music up to full volume and brought her spoon up to her luscious lips. “THIS IS HOW TO BE A HEARTBREEAAAKER!” she squealed. She ran her hands through her sandy, fluffy hair and pretended she was Brooklyn, the nastiest girl in school. She started spinning around in circles, whipping her long locks in a halo around her head when she saw an unknown figure in her doorway. Her first instinct was to attack the intruder but he pulled her in for a warm hug instead.
“Luna, it’s just me!” Niall snorted, his cheeks burning a shade of red as he burst intolaughhter.
Niall and Luna had been best friends for as long as they both could remember. From the second Luna could walk, they walked together. Their parents used to joke about the two of them growing up and falling in love, but when they advanced to high school, Niall settled in the popular crowd, and Luna was classified into the “middle class”, which made it unacceptable for him to have any feelings for her. But here was the catch: Luna did like Niall, as more than a friend. She remembered how Niall would chase her around the playground for a kiss, and what her sister had said about “playing hard to get”. She’d had a crush on him since she knew what a crush was, but there was no chance of Niall liking her now. He’ll be friendzoning me to infinity, Luna thought with a sigh.

“How did you know I was home?” Luna panted, exhausted fromlaughhing so hard.

“Are you kidding me? I could hear you singing from my house!” Niall replied, surprised. “My sides hurt,” he whined, squinting his yellow speckled sky blue eyes.

“Well, considering you live across the street, it couldn’t have been that bad.” Luna reasoned, giggling again, making her cringe in pain. “It hurts tolaughh!”

“Laughing is real work out for the abs, isn’t it, Luna?” Niall said, flashing her a smile that made her stomach do flip flops. “So, the real reason I came over here was because I wanted to ask you something. You know, prom’s coming up...” His tone suddenly dropped, and he started running his large hands through his bleach blonde hair, causing Luna to die inside.

“Yeah?” Luna replied hopefully.

“Well I was wondering if you had any advice on how to ask Brooklyn to prom?”

“Oh,” Luna simply stated, deflated. “Have a bunch of roses delivered to her during school and attach a note. She’ll love reading it in front of the whole class,” Luna playfully sneered.

Anything for attention, Luna thought.

“I still don’t get why you hate her so much,” Niall shook his head.

“That’s because you don’t know the half of it,” Luna mumbled.

Ever since Brooklyn was transferred to Luna and Niall’s school, Sunset Elementary in fourth grade, she had tormented and teased Luna about every little thing she did. She made fun of her clothes, her grades, her handwriting, even her name. Luna cursed the day she was born, because for some reason, her parents chose the name Luna, which, according to Brooklyn, meant she was loony, whatever that was. ‘Where did you get your skirt, Loony?’ Brooklyn would jest. ‘It looks like you just walked out of bed - or should I say, your nest?’ Loony, Loony, Loony, Brooklyn and her posse would chant. Luna would cry in the bathroom at school for hours on end. Brooklyn’s bullying was truly the worst part of Luna’s childhood.

Deep in her heart Luna knew that Niall would never ask her to Prom; they were just too close to love each other. She made plans to go to Prom accompanied by the enjoyable presence of her long time girlfriend, Chelsea.

“I’m aloooone!” Luna sobbed dramatically as she rested her head on the irritating surface that was Chelsea’s bedroom floor. Luna was at Chelsea’s house, when suddenly, all her frustration that had been accumulated over the past few years was released. It was the Friday before prom, and Luna had a mental breakdown. Luna’s tears stuck to Chelsea’s ginger hair as she laid her head on her comfortable shoulder, which frustrated her even more so she decided to just lay on the floor.

“Look at me,” Chelsea demanded, her chestnut eyes staring straight into Luna’s. “You are a main meal that don’t need no side dish.”

For that moment in time, Luna was convinced that she was okay with just being Niall’s friend, but the next day, that belief came to an end and her mindset was totally converted.
***

I tugged on my baby blue tie and checked myself out in the mirror, making sure my quiff was high enough, my suit didn’t look too baggy, there was no food in my braces, stuff like that. I raised my eyebrows. I didn’t look too shabby.

About ten minutes later I arrived at Brooklyn’s house. I pulled up to her family’s estate and rapped on the front door. Immediately after, Brooklyn opened the door and smiled widely at me. Was she waiting for me? Weird. She stared me down a little creepily and rested her eyes on my tie. Her eyes narrowed.

“It’s blue,” Brooklyn frowned.

“Yeah... Is there something wrong with that?” I asked, confused.

“IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PINK,” Brooklyn screamed. “MY DRESS IS PINK, YOUR TIE IS SUPPOSED TO BE PINK. NOW WE’RE CLASHING.”

“I didn’t think it mattered! Sorry,” I said.

“Fine, let’s just go,” Brooklyn said, puffing out her chest and walking out the door.

I hesitantly walked after her, thinking about how simple this would be if Luna was my date.

Brooklyn and I strolled into the ballroom with our arms linked. The first thing I thought of when I walked in was Luna. The ceiling was covered with tons of twinkling stars, and there was some dangling too. In the corner there was a crescenet moon. The setting was perfect for Luna.

And then I saw her. Her hair was in a braid that rested on the side of her neck. There were a few curls around her face that bounced when shelaughhed. Her dress was dark purple with sparkles on some parts of it and there were no straps. I thought she looked absolutely beautiful.
***

Luna stood awkwardly in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by couples swaying to the smooth beat of the music. She felt like she was going to heave. Everyone seemed so happy... everyone but her. Everyone was wearing far too much perfume for her liking, and the ballroom was packed like a box of sardines. The floor was vibrating, lights were flashing... Luna dashed to the bathroom and leaned over the sink, wheezing heavily. Her asthma was making it hard for her to breathe on the crowded dance floor; she needed a break.

“Stop wheezing, Loony, it’s not going to make anyone feel sorry for you,” a snotty voice said. Luna looked in the mirror and saw that her arch nemesis, Brooklyn was standing behind her, her tacky hot pink dress gleaming in the light.

“I have asthma, I can’t help it,” Luna argued.

“Blah, blah, blah,” Brooklyn mocked. “I know the real reason why you’re here.”

“What?” Luna questioned. She had no clue what Brooklyn was rambling on about.

“You’re here to steal my boyfriend, aren’t you?” Brooklyn said in a sing songy voice, which scared Luna quite a bit. “You think you can just slap on some makeup, throw on a dress and make him fall in love with you, but that’s not how it works! He likes ME!”

Luna started backing away towards the door but Brooklyn just followed her out.

“And it will always be like that! Niall will never like you! You’ll never be more than a friend to him! He doesn’t like you, I certainly don’t like you, so why don’t you just go home?” Brooklyn screamed at Luna, her frown lines on full display. She pushed Luna against the wall in the narrow corridor of the bathrooms. She panted and pointed her finger at the door, showcasing her perfectly manicured nails. “GO HOME LUNA.”

“Leave her alone,” a stern voice commanded. Luna whipped her head around and widened her mascara coated eyes when she saw her best friend standing in front of her.

“Niall, I’m fine, go have fun with your friends,” Luna insisted. The last thing she wanted was for Niall to see Brooklyn bullying her. It would ruin their relationship, and Luna never wanted to hurt anyone.

“No, Luna. What’s going on here?” he gestured to Brooklyn with a look of concern on his face.

“Niall it’s okay, I can handle this myself!” Luna argued. She loved Niall, with all her being, but sometimes he could be a little too protective of her. He still thought of her as his little girl with chocolate ice cream on her face and mud on her hands, riding her pink scooter across the street for a playdate. “I’m fine, really.”

“I can see it in your eyes, Luna, your beautiful brown eyes,” Niall said with sincerity. “You’re not.”

“Ugh!” Brooklyn grunted. “That’s it! I’m done with you, Luna. I’m not even gonna bother to tell you you’re ugly, because Niall’s opinion is all that matters, right? You’re still as useless as an aglet!”

With that, Brooklyn trotted away, stumbling in her four inch Jimmy Choo heels. Niall immediately pulled Luna in for a huge hug, closing his eyes to stop himself from crying. Luna shut her eyes as well, and inhaled the masculine scenet of Niall’s cologne. She felt so safe and protected; she never wanted to let go... But all good things have to come to an end. Niall pulled away and raised an eyebrow at her.

“What is an aglet, anyways?” he asked with a crooked grin.

“It’s the end of a shoelace, duh! Don’t you watch Phineas and Ferb?” Luna bantered.

“I don’t think I saw that episode,” Niall smirked. “We should watch it together sometime.”

After a brief moment of silence, Luna faintly heard the instrumentals of what she thought was the best love song she had ever heard, Yellow by Coldplay. She cracked a smile and started humming along to the melody.

“I love this song,” Luna swooned, staring into nothingness, lost in the music. What she didn’t know was that Niall had been staring at her lovingly, the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile.

“May I have this dance?” Niall asked, slipping his callused fingers in between Luna’s Bath and Body Works lotion abused ones and turning towards her. Luna felt her face flush with infatuation.

“Of course,” she managed to say without her voice cracking.

Niall and Luna walked to the ballroom swinging their entwined hands back and forth, just as they had done in their preschool days. They reached the ballroom and stood in the middle of the floor, not sure what to do.

“I’ve never danced with a guy before,” Luna admitted.

“I think it’s like this...” Niall’s voice trailed off as he brought Luna’s hands to the back of his neck and snaked his strong arms around Luna’s tiny waist.
Luna shivered under the touch of Niall’s hands on her back. Niall started rocking back and forth to the beat of the music. It was a bit awkward and handsy at first, but then Niall did something that shocked Luna to the core.
“Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do,” Niall sang tenderly. He continued singing until the very last notes of the song were playing. “You know I love you so.”
“I love you too,” Luna whispered with a gingerly smile.
Luna had never felt so happy in all her life. The scenee was enchanting, the ceiling glittering, couples pressed together with passion. I guess happy endings do exist, Luna thought contently. All the pain that Luna had suffered in her life had been washed away. Her anxieties, her fears, her hardships were all gone. She had fallen in love with her best friend, and there was nothing that could stand in between them. They were infinitely inseparable.