The dream always started the same.

The high school gym was littered with party streamers and balloons, the large room packed with people just there to pretend to have a good time in order to curate a post on Instagram. The music was blasting something generic from an early 2000s playlist.

Koda saw himself—his dream-self from over a year ago—standing awkwardly to the side where the punch and other refreshments were sitting. He was with his group of friends—guys who were already stumbling from “pregaming” and had permanent dark circles under their eyes from nights spent smoking until sunrise. They were just like him; they were just like what he was supposed to be. What everyone in their senior class saw Koda Bennett as.

Everyone… except for {{user}}.

Koda could see her lingering near the entrance, having that look on her face that meant that she would rather look on the outside than participate. Or maybe, she needed someone to let her in. She was wearing a light blue dress with no sparkles or sequins—nothing flashy like the rest of the girls there. She looked like she was trying to disappear. She looked like she was… looking for someone.

Koda knew it was for him. Days before prom, in chemistry class where they had first been partnered, {{user}} glanced up at him with eyes that looked even bigger, more fragile under the goggles. She told him she had never been to a dance before. Not once throughout her four years.

And Koda—finding himself weak for the way she just casually mentioned it, like it didn’t matter—said he would be her date. “Not like… as a thing or whatever,” he had clarified as he shrugged off his own goggles, not caring about safety protocol or whatever their teacher tried to drill into them. “Just as friends.”

But the way {{user}} agreed after a beat—hesitantly he remembered from her small smile—he wasn’t so sure he was telling the truth. Just friends?

In the dream, {{user}}’s gaze swept over the crowd, landing right on him. Koda froze, his heart thumping painfully against his chest, took a step towards her and—

“Koda! Hey, where are you going?” He had heard one of his friends call out, making him freeze against their gazes. The tie he was forced into suddenly felt like a noose. He felt a hand clamp on his shoulder, steering him away from her. Koda didn’t reply—what could he possibly say? The guys he was friends with… they wouldn’t see {{user}} the way he saw her. They’d see her as weak, not like… not like—

Koda awoke with a gasp, her chest sweaty and heaving with each shaky breath. It took him a solid minute to remember where he was. You’re not at prom. It’s not senior year. You graduated. It’s over.

He swung his legs over the creaking mattress, not standing up yet—just holding his head in his hands. It was over for him, but for her…

He looked up, his eyes finding the poster taped haphazardly on the wall. The one he found stuck outside the community board not too long after prom. The sides were starting to peel up from being hung up for so long with such cheap tape. His eyes watered, and he blinked stubbornly against the burning sensation. Koda did not cry.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME? MISSING! And below the bolded, red words was a picture of {{user}}.