Everyone in the gym had confused looks on their face. Typically during a prom queen speech the winner says stuff like, "Oh my gosh thank you guys so much! I love each and every one of you! Party on!" Then people go back to dancing. I never was typical though, why start now?

 
"You see-" I cut myself off mid sentence. I mentally face palmed myself, I had been too busy trying to distract Mark from JB that I forgot all about my plan to change. I had to think of a quick and believable excuse to momentarily leave the stage. Before I could I speak up again, the fire alarm bell filled the gym.    I assumed it was one of jocks who pulled the alarm to mess up my speech. What they don't know is, they're doing me a huge favor.
 
When everyone began exiting the gym, I scurried down and headed to my bag, which I had my second dress inside. I grabbed my bag and ran to the bathrooms. Once I reached the bathroom, I panted a bit from the short session of exercise. Jogging in heels is so much harder than expected. "Now let's do this thing." I struggled to change my dress. Once I got the first dress off, I shoved it in my bag and slid on the second one. I looked at my hair and finger combed through it. I looked at my face and made sure to fix my makeup before re-entering the gym. 

By the time I got back on the stage, most of the students were back also.

"Now I know that pulling the fire alarm seems like a pretty hilarious joke but let's just reframe from that until the end of prom." The vice principal spoke into the mic. "Sorry about that Isabelle, the stage is all yours." The vice principle moved back from the microphone. 
 
I softly cleared my throat. That was the moment when everyone noticed that I changed my dress. I could see a few people whispering to each other. Most likely saying stuff like 'wasn't she wearing a different dress?' and 'how the hell did she change so fast?'  My lips formed into a grin as I positioned myself in front of the podium with the microphone near my mouth, "Now where was I? Oh yes, as many of you may have noticed, I have changed my outfit. Very nice, right?" I gave a little twirl to display it, "I thought it would be a fitting wardrobe to announce that I'm not Isabelle Yu. My name is Kali Deleon." Once again, there was more chatter and confusement amongst the students.  

"Not what you were expecting from the 2015 Kingsman High prom queen?" I let out a nervous chuckle. "Some of you might be wondering why I did this. Reinventing yourself and masquerading as someone you're not is not an easy task." I spotted Mrs. Bailey and motioned her to pass me my essay, which she had been holding for me the whole night, "I'm sure even if you haven't been assigned Miss B's project, you've heard about it from your friends. We were told to write about something that matters to us. I decided to write about popularity and how if you're pretty and girly or handsome and sporty, it is simple to get accepted and treated better than everyone else. I don't think that's fair. Quite a lot of people, including myself, have been bullied for not meeting the stupid standards. I finally got sick of it and started gathering proof, right under your noses. I'll admit not all of the popular groups were horrible and rude. I made a couple friends and I hope we can still remain friends now that you know I'm not who you think I am."
 
I focused my eyes at Liah who was staring at me, wide open, "Hey Liah Dallas, I've never had a friend like you. Honestly, I've never had any true friends that were girls. I've loved spending these past few weeks with you. It reminds me that sometimes people aren't what they seem. If you don't want to hang out with me anymore then I'll respect that and just have to deal with it."
 
"Isabelle." She stopped herself, shaking her head, "I mean Kali. I-I don't know what to say. I do understand why you did this. I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. I've never known anyone like you either. I don't think the fact that your name and appearance is different will change anything between us. You're one of my best friends."
 
I let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks. That really means a lot."

 I turned to where the boy nominees were standing but my date was no where to be seen. "Mark Tuan you can't run from me." The startled crowd parted to reveal Mark, attempting to leave the gym. "There you are. I just want to tell you that everything was real. None of my feelings, or even my personality, was a sham. Well I mean I'm not really that perky of course.  But yeah, I really like you. I have since you let me win the bet we made in history. I just want you to know it wasn't a complete lie."
 
I fiddled with the necklace Mark bought me on our first date. I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eyes. When I did look up I saw he was still standing in the middle of his classmates. "I don't know Isabelle, Kali, whoever you are. I just.... I need to figure this out." Mark pushed through the  bodies and stormed out the gym doors.
 
"Well to all you guys who thought I was real, you might want to think twice before making fun of someone or judging them. I've learned a valuable lesson from this and I hope some of you have as well. People aren't what they seem. You only know part of the story. Change their clothes, hair and way of thinking and you might just have a completely different person in you hands. I hope you don't hate me for this and Miss Bailey, I really do care about this subject and I hope you enjoy my essay." I handed the stack of papers that I had worked on for weeks back to her. Then I shrugged my shoulders, "Go Jaguars?"
 
About half of the crowd cheered and the vice principal came back up to the microphone, "Um, nice speech uh..Kali. Now it's time for the prom king and queen dance." I guess the vp realized what he had said because he quickly rephrased himself. "Uh...since our prom king sort of.. stormed out, I guess we can skip that part." He gave a smile, "DJ, let's get some music playing." 

The DJ started playing music again. It only took about 30 seconds for everyone to go back to normal. I stepped off the stage and headed towards the food table. I let out a huge sigh, I never knew how hard this was going to be. Who knew I would feel this bad inside? I pour myself a cup of the questionable red 'punch' that was in a huge bowl. I began to walk along the long table, searching through the various sweets and plopping them in my mouth. I was just about to throw a brownie bite into my mouth when I felt someone behind me.
 
"May I have this dance?" My head snapped to the left to put a face to the voice.
 
I smiled because no matter what the situation was he always got that reaction from me, "I couldn't think of anyone better to dance with."
 
Jr took my hand and led me to where the spotlight was being shone upon, "Great speech, Oscar worthy for sure."
 
"You think so?" I laughed as he spun me.
 
"Oh I know so." He pulled me back towards him and I rested my head on his shoulder, "Hey Kal?"
 
Jr's tux was less expensive than Mark's but I liked the material better, it was softer. I murmured, "Yeah?"
 
"I've come to find that I don't like you anymore." I jerked my head up, "What?"

"I actually love you."

 
I let myself breath again, "Okay one, I almost had a heart attack and two, that has to be the cheesiest thing anyone has ever said to me." I moved my hands from his neck to his face, "I love you too Jr. I always have." 

Jr's began leaning in, his lips inches away from mine. I closed my eyes and our lips connected. The kiss didn't last long but it felt like hours. After a few more seconds went by, we both pulled away.
 
"So does this mean I still have a chance?"
 
He looked down at me with a smile, "Of course. I think I'll break up with Mark, he's a great guy but I don't think we're meant to be together. My best friend kind of owns my heart anyway." I fake gagged at my words, "Ew. When did I become mushy?"
 
Jr laughed and kissed my forehead. For the rest of the night, the boys and I danced liked idiots, gaining the attention of about half of the gym. I almost forget about the the situation that happened nearly hours before. 

Now I have to just get threw this play...