A Prom to Remember

by Sandy Hall

  “Henry, it’s time to get dressed,” Paisley said a half hour before they were supposed to leave. Henry sighed and went to gather his tux. When Paisley heard the bathroom door click shut, she threw off the pajama shorts and T-shirt she’d been wearing and slid her formal wear on.

  If the dress looked half as good as it felt, maybe this night wouldn’t be so terrible.

  She examined herself in the mirror for a minute before Henry knocked at her door. When she opened it, he stood sheepishly in the doorway, looking quite dapper in his tuxedo.

  Paisley led the way back into the living room, even though Henry obviously knew how to get there. Her mom made them go outside to take pictures next to some bush with a lot of flowers on it.

  “I’ll be sure to send these to your mom, Henry,” Paisley’s mom said.

  “Thanks, that’d be great,” he said, trying to hold his fake smile. At least Paisley’s mom knew enough not to force them into awkward prom poses. She was satisfied with Henry throwing an arm around Paisley’s shoulders.

  “You smell nice,” Paisley said as they broke apart. He smiled.

  “Thanks.”

  After that it was time to actually suck it up and go to the prom.

  “You’re a really good friend, Paisley,” he said as they got into the car.

  “Thanks, you’re a good friend, too.”

  “I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate you going to the prom with me. Like you have no idea how much this means, that you would do this. Even though you really don’t want to go.”

  Paisley moved far away from Henry, as far as she could get in the confined space. “This isn’t where you confess your love for me, right?”

  “Paisley,” Henry said seriously, looking her in the eye.

  “Oh god, oh no, I thought you promised it would never come to this!”

  “Paisley, I don’t love you like that.”

  “Oh thank god.”

  They pulled out of the parking lot of Paisley’s condo community.

  “But that means you do love me, right?” she said.

  “Yeah,” Henry said with a grin. “But only as a friend.”

  “And you better keep it that way, buckaroo.” Paisley pointed a threatening finger at him.

  “Well, I know you’re serious since you’re giving me the pointer finger.”

  She wagged it at him a few times, to show how serious she was.

  “Let’s go to the freaking prom now.”

  “Yes, let’s,” Henry agreed.

  Cora

  Teagan and Josie came over after school so that the three friends could all get ready for prom together. Cora figured it was probably because she was the only one of the three of them that had her own bathroom.

  Also Teagan was so much better at makeup than the other two, they would have begged her to help them no matter what. This way, it was more convenient for everyone involved having them all together in the same place.

  Teagan did her own makeup first, because it only seemed fair, while Cora and Josie worked on their hair and went through a variety of jewelry options, each vetoing the other’s ideas one after another, until finally Teagan said, “OMG. Both of you just wear whatever damn earrings you want to wear.”

  While Teagan did Josie’s makeup, Cora painted her toenails to match the awesome peep-toe heels she had bought special for prom night.

  “I’m going to be really relieved when this night is over,” she said. The thought had been following her around all afternoon, and it felt good to get it out in the open.

  “Are you going to break up with him tonight?” Josie asked, turning to look at Cora and in the process making Teagan draw a line of eyeliner across Josie’s cheek.

  “Dammit, Josie, you gotta hold still,” Teagan said, grabbing for a tissue to clean up the mess. “And of course Cora isn’t breaking up with him tonight. Right, Cora?”

  Cora chewed her lip and dabbed polish on her pinkie toe. “As relieving and wonderful as it sounds to just rip the Band-Aid off this relationship, no. I’m not going to break up with him tonight. Could you even imagine?”

  Cora let herself daydream about a dramatic breakup on the dance floor for a hot second before getting back to work on her nails.

  “It would be next-level evil to do it tonight,” she said firmly.

  “Agreed,” Josie said.

  “And thirded,” Teagan said.

  It was Cora’s turn to have her makeup done, and Teagan took her time putting everything in place to make Cora glow.

  “But what if, hypothetically, I broke up with him tonight,” Cora said.

  Teagan paused, mascara brush hovering in front of Cora’s face. Josie’s jaw hung open from across the room. Neither of them answered.

  “I’ll take that stunned silence as a no,” Cora said after a minute.

  “Even just waiting until tomorrow would be nicer,” Teagan said.

  “You’ve made it this long,” Josie added.

  By the time their dates arrived for pictures, Cora felt a little less resolute about breaking up with Jamie. She’d never done anything so dramatic before. And there was a pressure building up behind her eyes, like this was the moment to do it, no matter how ill timed it was. She couldn’t get the thought out of her head.

  The boys waited downstairs for their dates: Jamie; Tag, who was going with Josie; and Dave, Teagan’s date.

  Jamie smiled at her so wide as he slid her corsage on her wrist. Cora felt like her smile was a lie, like he’d be able to tell she wasn’t happy. But he didn’t say a word while Cora’s parents lined them up to take pictures next to the fireplace, and then instructed the group to go out on the lawn for a few outdoor shots.

  While they were outside, Cora’s heel got stuck in the grass. Not only did Jamie make sure she didn’t fall, he even leaned down to pull her heel out and still maintained his grip around her waist. He was damn near Superman, and Cora had to make it through the night, no matter how painful it sounded.

  “No worries, babe,” he said after she thanked him.

  Jamie made everything harder by being a good person. He was cheerful, he was kind, and he was helpful. The very least she could do for him was at least not ruin his night. But she was really sick and tired of being called babe.

  I will not break up with him tonight, I will not break up with him tonight, Cora thought as they finished pictures.

  She glanced at the other two couples as the pictures were taken, observing their body language. Dave and Teagan had been involved in an on-again, off-again thing for the past two years, and they seemed pretty on tonight. As for Tag and Josie, he was the kind of guy that could make anyone laugh, and Josie was laughing a lot.

  Cora looked up into Jamie’s face. He grinned his megawatt grin.

  Before she got in the limo, Cora’s dad proudly showed her one of the pictures he’d taken with his new camera. “Not just a cell phone picture for my little girl,” he said.

  Again, Cora was struck by the body language of the three couples. Josie and Tag were laughing uproariously. Dave and Teagan were leaning into each other like they were the only two people there.

  Jamie, for his part, looked casual and calm, while Cora looked uncomfortable in his arms. Why couldn’t she have realized all of this sooner? Why did it have to happen now?

  I will not break up with him tonight, I will not break up with him tonight. She continued rolling the phrase around in her head as they got into the limo and drove away.

  I will not break up with him tonight.

  Maybe if she thought it hard enough, she’d start to believe it.

  Chapter 25

  Lizzie

  The day had finally arrived after what seemed like months and years of waiting.

  The last week leading up to the prom had totally flown by, and Lizzie was more than ready to get this night started.

  Her nerves were so on edge she was having trouble putting on her mascara. She had to keep stopping to take deep cleansing breaths and
remind herself that tonight was going to be fun and only full of good things.

  Like Mystery Boy.

  She grinned so big at the thought of meeting him that she had to pause again in her makeup application.

  When she finally finished with her makeup, she put her finishing touch on, the lime-green necklace. Then she stood back in front of her full-length mirror and looked herself up and down. She was really happy with what she saw. Everything from her hair that she’d worked really hard to curl, to the earrings she borrowed from her mom, to the dress she’d gotten on mega sale, and the black-heeled sandals she’d bought at a thrift store that she’d never gotten to wear before, all made her feel completely prepared for the night.

  Lizzie’s phone vibrated in the little clutch bag that her mom was letting her borrow.

  Lizzie tried not to wonder too much about what the quick stop was. If Luke made them run late and risk the possibility of not being allowed in, she would literally hitchhike to the prom if she had to. She was not going to miss her moment with Mystery Boy for whatever detour Luke wanted to take. Lizzie decided to see if Madison had any insight.

  Lizzie slid her phone back in the clutch and walked out into the living room, feeling a little silly in her heels, especially when one got caught on a loose carpet thread.

  Both of her parents were in the living room, grinning. Her mom was holding the old camera, like, a real camera that required film and everything.

  They took her picture standing next to the front door and each gave her a hug.

  “Have fun tonight!” her dad said. “And be careful.”

  It all felt like something out of someone else’s life. She couldn’t believe this was really happening to her.

  When she slid into Luke’s car, Madison was in the front seat, putting the finishing touches on her makeup. “He picked me up so damn early I didn’t have time to finish my lips,” she complained.

  “Yeah, why are we leaving so early?” Lizzie asked.

  “I just. I need to see Otis. I yelled at him this morning, and we haven’t talked since. I tried to call him but he didn’t answer. And no matter how mad I am about what he did, I don’t want him to think I hate him.”

  He drove to Otis’s house and parked out front. Luke picked up a few small stones from the road and pelted one of the upstairs windows. A minute later, Otis opened it and leaned out.

  “Well, this is surprising,” Otis said.

  “Romeo, Romeo? I hope you don’t think I hate you, Romeo,” Luke said.

  “Wow, you went old school with this latest movie reference.” Otis laughed. “I don’t think you hate me. What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to see you on prom night and tell you that I promise to take a million pictures.”

  “Thanks,” Otis said, looking sad.

  “I wish you were coming!” Luke yelled.

  “I wish I was coming, too.” And then a light went on behind Otis’s eyes. “Wait right there.”

  Lizzie felt like she was watching a great love story unfold, even if she was slightly annoyed that time was ticking by. She kept reminding herself they still had almost an hour before the dance even started.

  Otis

  Otis leaned on the windowsill and looked down at his friends, Luke in his white dinner jacket, Lizzie in her red dress, and Madison in her sparkly jumpsuit. He wanted to be with them more than anything he’d wanted in his life.

  “I wish I was coming too,” Otis said. And he meant it. But then he had an idea. “Wait right there.”

  He threw on his navy-blue suit. He’d had every intention of renting a tux, but once he realized his parents weren’t budging, that had fallen apart. He looked in the mirror above his dresser and ran a hand through his hair, hoping the messy look would work for Luke. He stopped in the bathroom and swallowed some Listerine because there was no time to swish and spit. He’d grown out of his own dress shoes, so he stopped by his dad’s closet and borrowed a pair of his.

  There was no way Otis wanted to live the rest of his life with this level of guilt about missing the prom. It was time to be brave.

  He’d promised Luke a grand romantic gesture to make things up to him. It might as well be now.

  Otis was prepared to go out in a blaze of glory.

  His parents were in the living room, watching the evening news.

  Otis grabbed the remote and muted it, then stood in front of them and made sure he had his parents’ full attention. He folded his hands in front of him as if preparing for a presidential address.

  “Hello and good evening,” he said formally. “I know I’m grounded. But I have to go to the prom. My boyfriend is outside, and I know I’ll regret it forever if I don’t go.”

  His dad opened his mouth to speak, but Otis held up his finger. “For the record, I didn’t plan this rebellion and neither did Luke. He loves grand romantic gestures, so he stopped on his way to prom to throw pebbles at my window and tell me that he wasn’t mad. This mutiny is my idea.”

  He tried to gauge his parents’ response to his monologue, but they were both sitting on the couch with their jaws dropped.

  “You can ground me for the rest of the school year, for the entire summer, I don’t really care. You can even ground me while I’m away at college, though I’m not sure how you would accomplish that. But suffice it to say, I need to go to the prom with my boyfriend. I said yes to him when he asked. And it is a responsibility I’m going to uphold.”

  His dad stood up with a grimace, but his mom tugged on his hand.

  Otis began inching toward the front door. He cleared his throat, preparing for further declarations, but then he caught his mom’s eye and she mouthed, “Just go.”

  So, he went.

  Otis opened the front door and called over his shoulder, “See you tomorrow!”

  He jogged down his front walk, yelling at Madison, Lizzie, and Luke to get in the car. The girls slid into the back seat, and Otis made a dramatic leap through the already-open passenger door. It was like something out of an action movie even though no one was chasing him.

  “Go, go, go!” Otis said, drumming on the dashboard, full of too much energy.

  Luke drove off, and it wasn’t until they were stopped at a light on Main Street that what happened finally got through Otis’s brain and he started to laugh.

  Lizzie and Madison started to laugh in the back seat.

  Luke started to laugh so hard he had to actually pull over out of fear of crashing because he couldn’t see through his tears of laughter.

  Luke took Otis’s hand and threaded their fingers together over the center console.

  “And you say you never do anything grand or romantic,” Luke said, kissing him square on the mouth. “That was by far the most romantic thing I could have imagined.”

  “Thanks,” Otis said.

  Madison leaned up from the back seat. “So like how much trouble do you think you’re going to be in, when this all shakes out?”

  “So much trouble,” Otis said, leaning against the headrest and laughing again.

  “Do you think it’ll be worth it?” Lizzie asked.

  Otis squeezed Luke’s hand. “I know for a fact that it will be.”

  “Aw, that’s so cute. I love it when you’re so cute,” Luke said.

  An I love you was on the tip of Otis’s tongue. But he’d save it for a better time, when Madison and Lizzie weren’t staring at them from the back seat of the car.

  “Well, that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Madison said to Lizzie in the back seat.

  “So darn cute,” Lizzie agreed.

  “We should probably get the hell out of Dodge before your dad comes after us,” Luke said, pulling out of the spot where he’d stopped.

  “Oh god, seriously. You should have seen his face as I fled the house. I’m shocked there’s not a SWAT team coming after us.”

  That set everyone off laughing again.

  It was going to be a great night.

  Chapter 26
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  Jacinta

  Jacinta took her own car over to Kelsey’s house for pictures before the prom, mostly because she wanted to be able to drive herself home afterward. Especially now that she was going to the prom alone. She didn’t need to drag the night out any longer than necessary.

  As Jacinta drove down Kelsey’s street, she realized that her mom hadn’t even given her a curfew for the night. Jacinta’s usual curfew was eleven, but that was when the limo was picking them up from the venue after the prom, so her mom knew that Jacinta wouldn’t be home by then.

  Jacinta laughed giddily at the thought of the freedom this night had given her. She was wearing a pretty dress and she had no curfew. She could go anywhere.

  That thought took her by surprise. Because she’d been looking forward to the prom, even with all her date issues. But now, the idea of not going suddenly felt like the best idea she’d ever had.

  When she got to Kelsey’s house, there were no available parking spots close by. The limo had arrived and was taking up most of the driveway.

  Jacinta drove around the block, and when Kelsey’s house came back into view she got to observe the moment Landon saw Emma.

  Jacinta was happy that Landon was happy, but suddenly she was even happier at the prospect of just not going. She pulled to the end of the street and looked back, making sure that no one had noticed her car passing. When she felt it was pretty clear, she turned left, away from Kelsey’s house, away from the hotel, away from the whole evening.

  Toward freedom.

  Her phone beeped and booped in the passenger’s seat. She knew she couldn’t leave them hanging, so she pulled over and sent a few texts without really reading the ones she already had.

  One text went to Kelsey, saying they could leave without her and that she wasn’t going to make it to the prom. She offered no further explanation, and another little thrill went through her.

  The next text she sent was to Landon, saying she hoped he had a great time with Emma.