A Prom to Remember

by Sandy Hall

  Cora pulled away and took a breath, grabbing for the tissues herself.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I don’t mean to be so dramatic.”

  “Um, did I or did I not just get super dramatic with you?” Jacinta asked.

  “I wouldn’t say super dramatic.”

  “Do you feel any better?”

  “I do.”

  “Do you want to talk more?”

  “I do,” Cora said, but then she glanced at the clock. “But we should really get to English, even if Ms. Huang has a substitute.”

  Jacinta nodded. “But just know the offer stands. If you need a friendly ear.”

  “Thanks,” Cora said. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

  The two girls walked in the direction of their English class, making a quick stop to wash their faces in the girls’ room along the way.

  Chapter 21

  Henry

  It was Memorial Day weekend, and Henry needed to pick up his tuxedo from the mall, because he definitely would not have time to before the prom on Friday. Of course the whole place was packed and forcing Henry to play his usual school hallway game of trying not to touch anyone in the long corridors. There were children and strollers and people crawling up the walls, or so it seemed.

  If he hadn’t promised to give Paisley a ride home after her shift at work, he would have turned and walked out, abandoning the tuxedo and just wearing his baseball uniform to the prom. Paisley wouldn’t have minded.

  When he turned into the storefront of the tuxedo rental shop, it was immediately quieter, cooler, and a more relaxed atmosphere than the mall proper. He took a deep breath. This was far more his speed.

  And there at the counter was Cameron Wyatt, obviously waiting for his own tuxedo rental.

  Henry scratched at his forehead and cleared his throat.

  “Hey,” Cam said.

  “Hi,” Henry said, squinting toward the curtain separating the counter from the back of the store.

  Cameron drummed his fingers on the counter.

  “Have you been waiting long?” Henry asked.

  “Um, you know, a little while.”

  More awkward silence.

  Cameron blew out a long breath.

  Henry had the distinct urge to turn around and flee. “I feel like there’s something we need to talk about,” he said instead. This was not the place that Henry had ever envisioned a conversation with Cameron happening, but maybe that was for the better. Less pressure to live up to in his own head.

  It was just that more and more lately, Henry couldn’t stop thinking about his former friend, and he didn’t want to have regrets in life.

  “All right.” Cameron was obviously taken aback, but Henry needed to get his thoughts out before he lost his nerve.

  “I hate talking about this crap, but it sucked that you stopped talking to me, all right? I didn’t know how to talk to you because you know me. That’s not, like, my strongest quality. So I kept waiting for you to come to me.”

  Cameron nodded but didn’t interrupt, so Henry continued.

  “But I guess I wanted you to know that I don’t hate you or anything. That’s not what the problem is or was. I didn’t know how to deal with you not talking to me all of a sudden, but I definitely didn’t hate you. I just didn’t know how to deal with being ignored.”

  “I didn’t know how to deal with everything going on with my mom and her getting remarried. I didn’t like how she was acting, and I didn’t know how to talk about it without sounding like a jealous kid.” Cameron’s cheeks flared with red, as if guys aren’t supposed to talk about their feelings this way. “Anyway, I didn’t know how to deal. It was just a thing that happened. We don’t have to talk about this at all.”

  “I’m the one who brought it up,” Henry reminded Cameron.

  “Right, yeah,” Cameron said, letting out a long, slow breath.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t … I don’t know, try to be friends again, or something. I don’t know exactly what I’m sorry for, and I’m also sorry that I can’t be more specific than that.”

  “I’m sorry,” Cam said. “For everything. And that I can’t be more specific than that.”

  “In that case, I totally forgive you.”

  “I totally forgive you,” Cam said with a shrug. It was like neither boy could stop himself from shrugging after nearly every uncomfortable thing they’d said.

  “So, does anyone actually work here? Have you like talked to anyone?” Henry asked, changing the subject.

  Cameron nodded. “I gave them my ticket like eight years before you even walked in.”

  “Does this mean you’re going to the prom?”

  “Um, yes,” Cameron said.

  “Do you need a place to sit? Because Paisley and I are going, and we had to do some table rearranging and ended up with mostly empty seats.”

  “You wouldn’t mind?”

  “We definitely have room for you.” Henry grimaced. “Do you have a date? This feels like a really nosy question, seeing as how we’ve barely talked in the past year.”

  “I have a date, but it’s a long story,” Cameron said.

  “We might have time,” Henry said, trying to peek into the back of the store to see if there were any workers around.

  Of course, at that moment, a guy came from the back room.

  “Here you go!” he said cheerfully, handing a garment bag to Cam.

  Cameron looked at it. “I didn’t order a red tuxedo.”

  “No?”

  “I would remember that,” Cam said. “I did order a lime-green shirt, though.”

  “Ah yes, the chartreuse.”

  “Is that another word for lime green?”

  “Yes.” The guy disappeared behind the curtain.

  Henry leaned on the counter, about to ask more about Cameron’s complicated prom story, but Cameron spoke up first.

  “I thought you were going to the prom with Amelia Vaughn.”

  “Uh, yeah,” Henry said. “That was a thing that was happening for like five minutes. Turns out my prom story is kind of complicated, too.”

  “I think we have time,” Cameron said.

  Paisley

  It was so busy in the mall, Paisley hadn’t checked the clock in hours. Time had no meaning when the only reason you were put on this earth was to serve baked potatoes to the masses.

  “Why are people even at the mall?” she muttered as she pulled another vat of sour cream from the refrigerator in the back. “Don’t people go to barbecues anymore? Or the beach? Isn’t this the unofficial beginning of summer?”

  Her boss John poked his head into the back. “You ever coming out?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m coming, I’m coming.”

  It wasn’t until nearly three, long after traditional lunchtime had ended, that there was a lull in the lunch rush. John was leaving for the day, and Paisley was going to be alone at the counter until the dinner people came in to relieve her.

  “You sure you’re gonna be okay?” John asked for the millionth time.

  “Of course. Just get out of here before I change my mind.”

  With that, he fled through the back door and Paisley was alone. There were still plenty of people in the food court and the mall in general, but no one else was looking for a baked potato. Thank god. She wasn’t sure if she could pour even one more ladle of melted cheese.

  After organizing and wiping up behind the counter, she made herself a lovely cocktail of Hawaiian Punch and Coke. Paisley settled in to wait for her coworkers to come in and relieve her. Only an hour left, she noted, looking at the clock.

  When she turned back around, there, standing in front of her, was Stewart Smith.

  “Hi,” he said.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “So, when should I pick you up on Friday? Also where should I pick you up? I don’t know where you live,” he said with an uncomfortable chuckle.

  “What are you picking me up for?” she asked, trying to remember if Henry had mentioned t
hey were going with other guys from the baseball team.

  “The prom.”

  “Um. I never said I’d go to the prom with you.”

  “You never said no,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

  “I never said anything,” Paisley replied, slurping the last of her drink through her straw.

  “Come on, go to the prom with me, please?” he said. And then he leaned in, conspiratorially. “We could split the money from the bet.”

  She angled toward him. “How much are we talking about?”

  “Forty bucks,” he said.

  She snorted as she stepped back. “Hell no.”

  “Oh, come on, please? I assumed all this time we were going together. Now I won’t have a date.”

  “What about Margie Showalter? She asked you and you said no.”

  His jaw dropped.

  “Oh yeah, I know about that. You can’t make me feel guilty for rejecting you. If you can reject people, then so can I.”

  “I just assumed we’d go together. I thought…” He trailed off and shrugged.

  “You never even talked to me! This is literally the first conversation we’ve ever had.”

  “But you could totally go with me.”

  She threw up her hands in frustration. “I’m going with Henry.”

  “Wait a second, why would Henry act like you didn’t have a date when you were going with him all along?”

  “Well, back then he was going with Amelia, but that, um, fell through,” she said, not wanting to air Henry’s dirty laundry. “And it all kind of started because he was getting back at me for something. It’s a very long story. But I promise you, I’m happy to be going with him now. Or at least not super crabby about going with him.”

  “You could have told me no,” Stewart said.

  “Are you kidding me?” Paisley asked, her eyes wide. She picked up a plastic knife and broke it.

  Stewart flinched. “Okay. Fine.”

  He turned on his heel and walked away into the crowd. Paisley shook her head and watched him go.

  Henry appeared next to her with a too-big grin on his face. “So what was that about?”

  Paisley picked up another plastic knife. This one was harder to snap, but she managed to get through it.

  “Yikes,” Henry said.

  “Stewart Smith,” Paisley said through clenched teeth, “still thought I was going to the prom with him.”

  “Aw, poor guy.”

  Paisley shook her head again. “I hate boys. They are all the worst. Prom is the worst. And I also hate potatoes.”

  “So, you wanna leave?” Henry asked.

  “I would love to, but I’m still waiting for people to relieve me.”

  “So you wanna make me a chili and cheese potato in the meantime?”

  “Listen, Henry. I’m not going to waste another knife, but please imagine that I broke another one.”

  “So that’s a no on the potato?”

  “I will make you a potato, but only because I have to be here for another fifteen minutes anyway. And also because I recognize this Stewart Smith stuff isn’t really completely your fault.”

  Henry grinned.

  “But it’s not free.”

  Henry frowned and Paisley made him a potato.

  “I’m watching you, buckaroo,” she said, handing him his potato. “Your good mood is suspicious.”

  “I’ll tell you all about it in the car,” he promised.

  Chapter 22

  Lizzie

  Luke pulled up in front of Lizzie’s house, and she shaded her eyes from the late afternoon sun. It was hot for the end of May, but in a good way, like she could feel her bones thawing out from winter finally.

  “Hey,” he said as she slid into the front seat.

  “Hi.” He leaned over the center console to give her a hug. Even at this awkward angle, Luke was a very good hugger. He hugged with his whole body.

  “A million thank-yous for agreeing to entertain me this afternoon,” Luke said as he pulled away from the curb. “Otis remains on lockdown, so I feel like I’m grounded, too. And it’s just too nice to stay home.”

  “Totally,” Lizzie said, buckling herself in.

  “Do you mind going to the mall?”

  “I suppose, if we must,” Lizzie said dramatically.

  “I know it’s your day off and all. We’ll avoid the food court. I’m craving one of those sour cream and onion pretzels from that kiosk by the fountain.”

  “Works for me,” Lizzie said. They drove most of the way in silence, and Lizzie enjoyed the warm air coming through the open windows. She imagined that she had been a dog in a previous life because it took all her control not to stick her head out and really feel the breeze.

  After a quick stop at the pretzel kiosk, Lizzie sipped the biggest lemonade money could buy and Luke ate his pretzel while they wandered around, mostly window shopping. He stopped a few times to check out shoes.

  “I’m always in the market for brightly colored sneakers.”

  Which reminded Lizzie. “I still need to find something lime green to wear to the prom so Mystery Boy recognizes me.”

  Luke gasped. “You haven’t found anything?”

  “That’s a little dramatic,” Lizzie said. “I have almost a week.”

  “But lime green is so specific. And you have a red dress, so it has to be something just right.”

  “You’re right. It does need to be just right.”

  After that, their shopping excursion became much more focused. Store after store, Lizzie couldn’t find anything that would look good with her dress.

  “Let’s check one more place,” Luke said, pulling Lizzie toward a small boutique-type store with a font so fancy on the sign that Lizzie had trouble reading the name.

  Lizzie stopped. “There’s no way. Everything in there is so expensive.”

  “Oh, come on,” Luke said. “We have to at least try.”

  The answer to Lizzie’s problem was right at the front of the store. A short necklace made of several strands of lime-green ribbon with a fake red rose attached to it. And it was only $9.99.

  Luke saw it the same second she did.

  “Unbelievable,” he said. “And look at how cute it looks on you.”

  Lizzie turned to look in the full-length mirror in the middle of the store. It did look cute on her. It was a much bigger statement piece than she would have normally picked, but at least Mystery Boy wouldn’t be able to miss it.

  As they waited in line to pay, Luke got a text message.

  “What?” he said to his phone as he read the message.

  “What?” Lizzie asked. The clerk rang her up, and when she was done paying she had to lead Luke out of the store because he was still staring slack jawed at his phone.

  “What is it?” Lizzie asked again when they’d sat down on a bench in the center court of the mall. “What’s wrong?”

  Luke shook his head and handed his phone to Lizzie. “I can’t even read it out loud. I might cry.”

  Lizzie took his phone. A line of long texts from Otis filled the screen.

  Lizzie’s jaw dropped.

  Lizzie looked at Luke. “This is terrible!” she exclaimed. “Of course he feels guilty.” She rubbed Luke’s arm while he sat on the bench staring sadly at the ground.

  “I don’t even want to go to the prom without him,” Luke said in a quiet voice.

  “That’s okay,” Lizzie said. “I don’t think anyone would be shocked if you didn’t go. But you know, Madison and I will still be there. And a bunch of people from the GSA. We can still have a lot of fun together. Otis is important, obviously, but he’s not the only friend you have.”

  “I just, I had this whole thing planned,” Luke said, his shoulders deflating even farther. “I got us a hotel room for afterward.”

  Lizzie smacked his arm. “What? You never told me that!”

  “I know, I didn’t want to jinx it or act like I was bragging about getting a room with my boyfriend. But Otis
never even seemed all that interested in it.”

  “I’m so sorry, Luke,” Lizzie said. She wasn’t sure how many other ways she could say it. She was biting her tongue to keep from dragging Otis through the mud, even if he deserved it. But he and Luke were actually still dating, even if this news made it feel like a breakup.

  “But I think you should go to the prom,” Lizzie said. “And I think you should use the room. Madison, you, and I can have an awesome hotel sleepover party.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Sure! Does it have a pool?”

  “Yeah,” Luke said.

  “Come on. That would be totally fun. We’ll even split the room with you,” Lizzie said, calculating how much money that would cost. She didn’t want to dip into her savings, but at this point she would do anything to cheer Luke up.

  “You’d really do that for me?” Luke asked.

  “Of course.”

  “You’re the best Lizzie to ever Lizzie,” he said.

  “You’re the best Luke to ever Luke,” she said.

  “God, we’re adorable.”

  He gave her a quick hug, and they headed back out to his car, both of them chattering away about the epic hotel slumber party they would have on prom night.

  Cora

  Cora was filled with regret.

  An hour ago, Teagan and Josie had texted her to see if she wanted to go to the movies with them. She had said no. Of course now as the movie was starting, nothing sounded better than sitting in a dark, cool room and getting lost in someone else’s world.

  Cora was antsy and anxious and not having the best long weekend. She wished that she could go back to school. And even though she’d regret having those thoughts in the morning, right now she had too much energy and nowhere to put it.

  Her parents were at a barbecue at one of her dad’s coworkers’ houses. Cora had begged off, but now even that sounded better than being home.

  She could call Jamie, and he would find something fun for them to do. But it would also likely involve his family, seeing as how it was a holiday. And Cora wanted to become less entwined with Jamie’s family. Calling him and going over to his house wasn’t the best way to do that.

  After pacing her room for another ten minutes, she decided to lace up her sneakers and go for a run.