It was the weekend of Halloween, 2083. My date, Tye Roblin, and I were just finishing up with our homecoming pictures. Our friends would arrive within the next few minutes. It was hard to believe this was our final year in High School. Then, we’d be off to college. However, nothing except tonight mattered.

“You doing okay, Cerenity?” My mother, Eliza, asked.

“Oh, how I wish dad could be-” I began.

“I can’t believe my little girl is off to her final dance already! Next is college, huh?”

Thrilled from head to toe, I jumped at the melodious voice, “Dad! I can’t believe you made it! Although, you’re not quite accurate in dates. I still have my graduation to go through.”

It was hard to believe my dad, Chris, was here. He was on a business trip on the other side of the world. Never would I have expected him to come home for at least another 10 months.

“Ah, at least I have one more event to treasure with my little girl before she’s gone. Off into the world of the unknown…” His face was scintillating, though I could tell he felt a little gloomy at the thought of this.

“Oh, daddy. Graduation isn’t until mid-June. This is still October, nearly November. You won’t be h-”

Honk, honk, honk. Our friends arrived. Hugging my parents goodbye, dad whispered “Yes, Cia, I will be here for your graduation. I promise!”

“Hey Cerenity, you ready?” I heard Maggie call from the back seat of the vehicle, only to respond with a smile and a slight nod.

After an hour or so into the party, Tye and I took a walk in the garden. All seniors were requested to walk the garden just before the main dance. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the announcement of the king and queen of homecoming began.

“Excuse me, students. I know you all are having a wonderful evening, but our hostess, Mrs. Arwall, would like to announce the king and queen of homecoming. As always, ladies first.” The announcer’s voice rang through the ballroom-like gym. Then, Mrs. Arwall stepped up.

“Good evening students. I’d like to announce this year’s homecoming queen is-” Suddenly someone screamed out in pain.

“AHHHHHH!!!”

Surprised and shocked, I found the voice came from...ME! Everyone around heard the voice but saw nothing. Again, the ear piercing scream was heard.

This time yelling, “ASLEEP, WE FALL!”

Suddenly, and without warning, everyone fell to the floor; except me. Leaning over Tye, I tried waking him. Nothing. No movement or sound could be heard or seen. Absolutely nothing. Rushing over to Maggie, who was a few feet away, I attempted the same thing.

“Why is everyone suddenly asleep? Why am I the only one perfectly fine?” I said aloud in anger and confusion.

This made absolutely no sense. Then, I realized the entire room was extremely foggy. This fog was very unusual for it was vibrantly colored purple. Racing outside, I found the entire building trapped inside this giant, crystal clear, dome structure. Peering out of the dome, every building, plant, and form of life was gone. It was almost like my eyes refused to view anything more than fifteen feet away.

I stood there riveted. The screaming voice was now calm. Growing louder with each moment of silence, until I was finally able to hear the words spoken. “You won’t win...” Cautiously, I turned around, only to see myself.

Instantly, I woke up on the floor of my room. My apparel, makeup; everything all set out and ready for homecoming night. Baffled, I scanned my calendar. Today’s date: Saturday, October 30, 2083. Homecoming Dance: 7-10 PM

“Cerenity, what happened!? We heard you scream! And what was the loud noise?” Mom and dad inquired as they rushed through the door.

“Mom, dad, it’s okay. I’m fine. I just fell off my bed.” I excitedly, but calmly replied.

Laughing, dad said to mom, “Eliza, my dear, we have a wonderful daughter, don’t we?”

“Indeed we do, hun. Hopefully, her homecoming won’t be so frightening.”

“Oh, mom. It will be perfect! I promise.” I confidently said, though secretly hoping tonight will be perfect.

Unsure of what exactly happened, I just smiled and laughed. My parents joined in once they were calm enough.

Later, during the homecoming pictures, Tye asked: “So, how has my Cia been today?”

Smiling brightly, I nodded, saying, “Wonderful, but I have a great story for you.”

“Oh, and what kind of story could you have come up within just twenty-four hours?” Tye playfully asked.

“Well, it starts very similar to what’s happening now. You and I were getting our pictures taken. Maggie, Tyria, Rainne, Alberto, John, and Marcus were about to pick us up. Dad surprised me when he announced he was here to see us in our homecoming attire. How I do wish he were here, though.” Dad had to commute today, thus, not returning for at least three months.

“I’m sure he’d be as proud as I am, Cerenity!” Mom blurted in.

I was completely unaware she was even behind us. She was radiantly glowing in the cool autumn colors. However, her appearance was no longer holding my attention, as I dropped my eyes to see my dad smiling brightly through a camera.

“Yes, I am as proud, if not prouder than your mother,” Dad said melodiously.

“Dad! I can’t begin to describe how happy I am to see you! I’m surprised you were able to connect through.” I was beaming with joy as I tried holding my tears back. Dad was almost never able to connect through video cam when he commuted.

“It’s only been eleven and a half hours since we last seen each other. Look at you! All prettied up and ready to accomplish every one of your biggest dreams. Oh, how beautiful you are and how alike your beauty is to your mother’s!”

Still beaming with joy, “I must say, this day gets better each and every mo-” I began, only to be interrupted by the arrival of our ride.

“HEY, CIA, ARE YOU READY?” I heard Maggie nearly yell since there was a great distance between us.

“SURE, JUST ONE MOMENT, WE’LL BE DOWN,” I called back, then turning towards my parents again. “Mom, dad, thank you for all that you’ve done. I would not be here if it weren’t for you both. Oh, and dad, have a good trip!”

“Yes, darling. Now you go have a good night!” My dad proudly replied.

Heading down to catch our ride, Tye asked me quietly, “Would you like to continue on with your story yet?”

I completely forgot about the whole thing. “Sure, however, what if I told it to everyone else as well?”

“I’d like it, but only if you’re fine with the idea and are up to it.”

“Definitely, besides, it will make our ride much more interesting and fun.”

Unfortunately, about five minutes after leaving, we were so caught up in our conversations that I forgot the story once again. Later on that night, as Tye and I were taking our walk through the garden, just before the main dance, Tye pulled me aside.

“It’s a beautiful night, tonight, Cia. We are at a wonderful party. Have perfect friends. Everything is perfect, or almost everything. I can see there is something on your mind. May I ask what it is?”

I hadn’t even thought about it, I felt perfectly fine. Although, I was in deep thought upon my dream. “All it is is the story I was telling you. I forgot about it until recently.”

“Ah, yes, may I ask you to continue it?”

“Certainly!” I assured Tye. As we continued our stroll through the beautiful gardens, I told the remains of my dream.

“Wow, everything you just said blows my mind away. To think that you could have a dream like that. Wow.”

“I know. However, I am overly glad it was just a dream. I couldn’t imagine living a life like that.”

“Me neither,” Tye responded. “Well, we better go find our places before we end up missing out on the best seats.”

Finishing our walk, we found the perfect place we would station at. Soon, the gym filled back up with students. About 15 minutes later, our announcer stepped up, “Excuse me, students. I know you all are having a wonderful evening, but our hostess, Mrs. Arwall, would like to announce the king and queen of homecoming. As always, ladies first.”

Was I hearing things, or were those the exact words I heard in my dream? Baffled and slightly nervous, I patiently waited to see what would happen next.

After speaking a few private words to the announcer, Mrs. Arwall stepped up. “Good evening students. I’d like to announce this year’s homecoming queen is-”

No, no, no, no! This couldn’t be happening! Millions of thoughts rushed through my head as I impatiently waited to hear the shrieking scream that would soon be heard by all.

“Tyria McLoute! Please, would you come up onto the stage for us?” Mrs. Arwall continued. Extremely baffled, but greatly relieved, I signed and joined in on the cheering and applause. Softly and gracefully, Tyria came forth and was crowned.

“Tyria, is there anything you would like to say to your fellow teachers and classmates?”

“Only one thing,” Tyria said as she gently began backing away.

Eagerly waiting for her response, I bumped Tye and asked what he thinks she would want to say.

Just then, someone called out from the crowd, “You got this Tyria. You can do it!” Suddenly, everyone began to cheer, “YOU CAN DO IT!” repeatedly.

Gaining a lot more confidence from this, the crowd quieted down as Tyria walked towards the front of the stage.

“All I wanted to say was thank you for this wonderful experience, but the crown belongs to Cerenity. The one person who deserves all of the credit. Tonight was her idea, after all.”

Shocked and embarrassed, Tyria motioned me onto the stage. With a few gentle, yet encouraging pushes from Tye, Maggie, and the rest of our group, I made my way up the stage and towards Tyria.

“Cerenity is the reason we are all here tonight. All of our thanks and gratitude goes to her.” Tyria said before turning to me. “Cerenity, would you do the honor of rightfully taking this crown from me?”

Still shocked, I nodded with gratefulness. “I do accept, however, you do not have to give this up.”

“I want to.” She frankly, though politely, response as she placed the crown upon my head. It was a wonderful, although kind of an odd feeling. Never, in the history of our school, had anyone turned down the crown of homecoming.

“Alright, now that we have our queen, I’d like to announce our homecoming king.” Mrs. Arwall announced as Tyria and I sat down. “Tonight’s homecoming king is,”
I never thought a few seconds could ever feel like years. Holding my breath, I awaited the final announcement.

“John Alton! John, please come join us on the stage.”

Within a few moments, John was on stage with us. Crowned king, he found his way to Tyria.

“You made the right decision, although not many will completely agree with you.” He whispered to Tyria, just loud enough for me to hear.

“I think there will be enough of us that believe Cerenity truly deserves it. We’ll all be fine.” Tyria assured him, and me unintentionally.

Finally, the end of the night was drawing near. Tye and I were back together in the gardens. Turning to me, he gazed down upon my face.

“Well, I guess tonight turned out alright, like I said it would,” Tye exclaimed.

Laughing, I said, “It was, and still is, beyond perfect! Now, all we have to wait for is graduation.”

“Yes, Cia, yes.” He said caressingly.

We finished our stroll, found our ride, and departed for our homes.

“So, how was your night?” My mother asked as I closed the front door behind me.

“Beyond perfect! Everything turned out better than I could have ever imagined.” I responded, thinking of everything that happened. “I might have a good tale for you tomorrow, though,” I added just before turning the lights out. Although it was an exhausting day, every moment was worth it. One final glance at the clock, a quick prayer, and I was consciously fast asleep.