The loudest calls of all come from a group of teammates running out of the locker room. Some are on foot; others are being carried. Each of the carried guys wears a merfin made of synthetic cloth scale material running down their legs to meet plastic tail fins. They have nothing on the real thing, but it’s still pretty cute. Each mer swimmer has a word painted on their chest, and as they’re tossed into the pool one by one, they shout the word scribbled on their skin.

Will—You—Go—To—Prom—With

“Me?” Alex asks, right at the last beat of the song, getting down on one knee with his hand held out for Omar to take.

Omar glances left and right, still looking like he can’t tell if this is all a joke. Then the guys in the pool start splashing around and chanting, “Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!”

Snapping out of his daze, Omar nods frantically and shouts back, “Yes, already! Yes!”

It is so fucking adorable. I couldn’t have directed a better promposal if I tried.

We all lose it again as Alex bear-hugs Omar and flings the two of them into the pool. All of us, that is, except for Miguel.

“Fucking #Fishing,” he mumbles. He catches me looking and adds, “No offense. It’s cool what you’ve got with Ross and all, but”—he motions toward Alex and Omar—“when is that going to happen for me?”

“What do you mean? You already have Dominic.” And even if he is sad, it seems especially cruel to rub that in.

“Yeah, but everyone knows how Dominic promposed to you last year. It was epic. But for me, he hasn’t mentioned it once, and instead I’m forced to hear about you constantly. And I’m pretty fucking positive that when I see him after this, he’s already going to know all about this #Fishing promposal inspired by the stupid trend his ex had a hand in creating, and instead of getting asked to prom, I’m going to be hearing about you even more.”

Dominic’s promposal last year was pretty surreal. He waited until our film class showcase when the school rents out an old theater in the Palisades. Everyone goes, and Dominic loves an audience. He made this whole spoof trailer about some Indiana Jones knockoff, him playing the title character looking for the “greatest treasure of all.” He played it in that crowded screening room before the showcase started, and in the final snapshot, the camera panned into the same theater. In real life, Dominic burst through the doors, saying he knew the treasure was in there. A spotlight zeroed in on me and D pushed through the crowded seats to ask if I’d go to prom with him.