"Thank god you came to your senses and look normal again." Annie muttered for what had to be the 17th time that night.

It was nearing the end of prom night and Matthew had spent the whole night discreetly looking for a certain redheaded girl with grey-blue eyes...

"Oh my god! Matthew!" Matt winced at the sudden tight grip around his wrist and forced a smile as he looked down at Annie.

There was no denying that she looked beautiful tonight because she did. She wore long, tight-fitting, black dress and her blond hair was pinned to the top of her head with two delicate curls coming down to frame her face.

s103. Annie?"

"They're about to announce the Prom King and Queen." She hissed excitedly and Matt bit the inside of his lip as her grip tightened. He was so busy concentrating on the pain that he didn't even bother to register what name was called out; he only knew because Annie shrieked happily and released his hand fortunately before planting a quick, hard kiss upon his lips.

"What?" He muttered as she pulled away and pushed his forward.

"You won! You're the king!" She exclaimed and his eyes widened in shock slightly before a smirk appeared on his face and he smoothly made his way up to the stage were he graciously accepted the crown and staff.

"And for you're queen..."

Dramatic pause.

Annie smiled happily, if her boyfriend...her date...Matt, was chosen for Prom King then it was only normal that she would be the prom queen.

"Sophia Dane!"

Then again, things at Millsbury High were never normal.

Annie held in her scream but allowed her jaw to drop as Sophia's name was called.

Matt sucked in breath and looked around to see where the girl would come from.

After a few seconds, Matt was almost positive that she wasn't going to come up or that she hadn't come to prom at all...

He was proved wrong however when the crowd parted for Sophia Dane...and his eyes widened in awe.

Annie shook with jealousy.

Julie smiled like a proud parent.

Jake eyes twinkled appreciatively as he watched his girlfriend accept her crown.

Wow, Matt thought, she looks gorgeous.

He usually curly red hair was straightened pin straight and instead of having it all the way up, she put it in a half pony tail and lightly re-curled curled the hair that was in the pony tail part. Her dress was a light blue dress that looked wonderful with her dark red hair and the bottom kind of...flowed as she walked.

s103. turned to each other as the class president announced that the had to dance and Sophia reluctantly allowed Matthew to take her into his strong arms.

Sophia tried to turn her thoughts to anything other then Matt while they danced but Matt apparently had other plans.

"Sophia." He whispered.

She ignored him and he groaned.

"Sophia, I know you're listening and even if you refuse to listen to me, I'm still going to talk to you." Matt took a deep breath and spun Sophia around once before he spoke again. "I...I did it." She looked straight up at him, eyes wide and face pale.

"What?!" She asked harshly. "With who? Annie?! Oh God, I didn't want to know that!" She whispered to him.

Yes, she said that she was done with him but it was easier said then done.

He was her first love and the fact the he had said that to her...that he had done that with someone else hurt her.

Matt was confused.

What is she talking abo- Oh...Oh!

"Wait, no Sophia, no!" He said in a shaky voice, that was not what he had meant. "I meant that I did what you said...I dressed like the way I used to." At this Sophia's face slowly returned back to normal and she nodded.

Oh.

"Well then, how did they treat you?" She asked monotone as the song went on; she looked around and saw Jake and Annie watching them like hawks.

Jake trusted her, she knew that, but he didn't trust Matthew. Not after that day at lunch...

"Like sit." He answered truthfully.

"See? I warned you about it and you didn't listen to me."

"I know but I'm sor...I'm...I know."

"So what's going to happen now? Did you already tell them that you no longer want anything to do with them?" Asked Sophia in a tired voice.

"Well...not exactly.." Sophia's eyes snapped up and narrowed as her usually soft tone turned sharp.

"What do you mean, 'not exactly'?"

Matt thought back to what had gone on when he went to get ready from prom with the guys...

"Dude, what was up with you yesterday?" Jimmy asked as he ran gel through his hair.

"Yeah, you looked so.." David added as he lounged in the computer chair, not bothering to try and comb his always messy hair for prom.

"So what?" Matt asked as he put his left contact in.

"So not you." Matt repressed a smirk, if only they knew...

"I told you guys, I didn't have time to get ready."

"Bull sit." Jimmy said and turned to look at him. "It never takes you long to get ready and even if you didn't have time, you could have picked something other then what you wore!"

"Yeah! And what's up with the glasses? Just bring the contacts to school and skip homeroom to put them in."

"And your hair, dude, you should have heard the way Kendra was talking about it. I have no clue what the hell she meant but I could tell she thought it was bad."

"You could have worn a hat or somethin-"

"Okay!" Matt yelled as he turned to them; they shut up and he repressed another smirk.

Power. Ahh, how he loved it.

"Don't tell anyone but I was dressed that way because of Sophia." He answered truthfully.

Jimmy and David both looked confused until Jimmy snapped his fingers and an amused smile crossed his lips.

"That red head who yelled at you during lunch last week?" When I nodded, David smirked also.

"She was feisty. I like a girl with an attitude, I'd tap that."

Matt bit back a comment and curled his toes instead of allowing them to see his fist clench.

"Anyways, what about her?"

"She said that you guys aren't cool with me, that you only like my looks." At this, Jimmy snorted.

"She makes us sound gay."

"You mean, you're not?!" David asked in mock shock causing Matt to laugh and Jimmy to punch his shoulder. "Ow, man...that really hurt."

"But seriously man, nah. No clue where the hell she got that." Jimmy said reassuringly to Matt an David nodded along with him. Matt smiled at this.

"Thanks man."

"No prob, listen though - don't worry about that chick, she may be hot but she obviously doesn't have a lot of brains if she thinks that." Jimmy said and at this, David turned to raise an eyebrow.

"Dude, didn't she say she got into Princeton though? You need like...brains for that or serious cash." Jimmy shrugged and looked at me expectantly.

"Well, there are plenty of other ways that she probably got it. What's your guess, Matt?" There was a silent challenge in Jimmy's eyes.

It was as though he was saying that what Matt said next determined if he was siding with Sophia or him. Matt smiled.

"She probably slept with the guys in charge of admissions." Matt said with a smirk.

David looked slightly shocked but Jimmy looked pleased.

"That's it, that's it!" He said as he high fived Matt. "Now, lets go and get those ladies. I plan on getting some tonight and if we're late then they'll throw a btch fit." He grumbled and grabbed his tux jacket.

Matt silently grabbed his, all the while trying to fight back the guilt that was building up.

"You son of a btch." Sophia choked just as the song ended. She yanked herself from Matt's arm and smacked him across the face claiming the attention of quite a few people.

Matt refused to look her in the eyes with fear of what he'd see when he did. He was sorry, truly sorry but he couldn't get himself to say the words.

He tried, he really did, but he couldn't.

"You know I'd never degrade myself to do something like that; you know how hard I worked! You know that I got in off my brain, not my body! God, I don't even know you anymore Matt! And maybe that's something I should be thankful for."

And with that she was gone; she left Matt standing there in the middle of the gym where Annie eventually came up to him. She grabbed his forearm softly and looked up at him.

"God, she's such a drama queen. I can't believe you used to hang out with her..." Annie said in disgust but Matt didn't hear a word of it. He was to busy watching as Jake held a crying Sophia and led her to the exit were he met Matt's eyes.

Matt had honestly never seen such an intense glare before; he honestly felt kind of scared. Matt watched as Jake mouthed 'Stay away from her' before turning and continuing with Sophia out. He watched as they walked from his view but seconds before they disappeared, Matt watched as she turned for one last glance at the prom.

And the look on her face was honestly one Matt knew he'd never forget. He knew that as long as he lived, the look of utter distress and defeat would be forever carved into his mind and he hated it.

He wished he could take it all back.

All of it.

He'd trade in his new friends for Sophia and Julie.

He'd trade in his new found popularity for being 'Hilary's younger sister's best friend' again.

He'd trade everything he could just to have Sophia back and to erase that look from his mind.

But he knew he couldn't.

He'd lost Sophia. He couldn't change the past and truth be told, the future wasn't looking all the bright for him either so there was only one thing he could do now.

He knew that the only thing he could do was listen to Jake and stay away from her.

He'd made sure she was happy and content and that his friends and Annie would leave her the hell alone.

He'd make sure that Sophia would remember her last few days of High-school as happy ones filled with memories of Jake and Julie and even though he'd like nothing more then to be included in those memories, he wasn't about to try and invade.

He was going to leave her alone even if it killed him; why?

Simple. Because he was in love with her.

Yes, Matthew Cresent was in love with Sophia Dane and he was finally willing to admit it to himself.

It's a shame that it took all this time though and it's a shame that he's to late.

--

Months later Sophia was finishing up her packing for college.

She was going through her pictures, only taking a few with her and leaving the rest in her bedroom for her return.

There was one of her and Jake at prom, she'd take that one.

One of her and Julie at the beach with their arms wrapped around each other and big smiles on their faces; she take that one too.

There was a picture of her and Hillary from the summer before as they posed in front of a sufboard. That was one of her favorite and would be coming.

Then, behind all of her other pictures there was one of her and Matt. It was taken about a week before he left for soccer camp the summer before.

They were sitting on the edge of a fountain in the middle of the mall; Matt had his arms around her from behind and she was leaning back into his arms, truly happy.

Her eyes had a glint in them that hadn't been there since they fell apart and Sophia had a feeling she'd never get it back.

Some would call her an over dramatic teenager who was hooked up on her first love and maybe she was.

Others would call her an example of what happens when you lose your one, true love and maybe that's what she was.

Sophia didn't know for sure what she was, she spent all summer trying to work it out but she couldn't figure it out.

She did however, come to some realizations.

She realized that she had hit that point in life where she had to let go.

She realized that people change, boys lie, & life is full of problems - some worse then others.

But she also realized that somehow, you just have to forget about it and put it all behind you, & act like nothings wrong.

She realized that it really was time to move on and while Matt may have been her first love, she was determined to make sure that he wouldn't be her last.

--

Matt watched from his car as Sophia hugged Julie, Jake, Hilary, her parents, and other close friends + family goodbye.

She had smile upon her face and that was all Matt needed to know that she was going to be okay; she was finally happy.

However, it was that same smile that made him ache inside.

He wished that he was the one who had placed gotten her to smile like that. He wished he could be over there with them saying goodbye to Sophia.

But he knew he couldn't.

Matt sighed as he put the car into drive and took off with one last glance at Sophia before she took off for Princeton and the words 'you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone' had never wrung louder in his mind.

But it was true and he was living proof.

You really don't know what you've got 'till its gone.

I'll start posting the sequel either tonight or tomorrow, alright? Alright. :)

-Violet xo