Prom Kings and Drama Queens (17 page)

What? If she only knew how much I
wanted
to go to the prom. How desperately I wanted to be Brian Harrington’s date. I was giving up my entire junior year 169

fantasy and she was upset because Carly Kendrick’s father might lose a couple of limo deals.

In between my thoughts and rage, I heard Daniel’s voice. “Ms. Burns,” he said, “with all due respect to the apple cart . . .”

Oh no! Was Daniel going to mess this up even more with his sarcasm?

“. . . we had no intention of upsetting the board of trustees. We’re on your side. Emily and I were hoping our community service project would put the spotlight on how compassionate the students are at Crestview—

you know, in addition to being smart and athletic.” What? I glared at him.

Ms. Burns’s eyes widened.

Daniel leaned closer to her. “We were hoping to win a Gold Sword award for the school.” So that’s what he was planning—to stab me in the back with a Gold Sword. I could almost feel the blade.

Ms. Burns straightened in her seat. I imagined the inside of her mouth, salivating at the mention of the Gold Sword.

Daniel folded his hands on her desk and smiled. Her face softened. She opened a drawer to her left and pulled out some papers.

“Well then,” she said, handing them to Daniel. “Fill out these award applications and return them to me so I can process them.”

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She handed Daniel the applications and we got up to leave the office. I was happy to be getting out of there, but something inside me felt sick to think that Daniel had been playing me all along. I was positive he’d been sincere about the alternative prom.

Once we were outside the main office, I turned to him. He had that grin on his face that I hated. “What was all that about the Gold Sword?” I said. “What happened to ‘sometimes people do good things just for the sake of doing them’?”

Daniel laughed and held up the applications in front of my face.

My stomach tightened. At that moment, I hated him. He’d been using me all along so he could just fill in more blanks on his college applications.

His lip curled up in that smart-alecky way.

Then suddenly, Ms. Burns burst out of the office.

“Don’t you two have classes to get back to?” Daniel saluted. “Yes, ma’am. We’re on our way.” He marched toward the stairs while I walked the other way, seething with the sting of betrayal.

“So you mean Daniel was using you all along to get a Gold Sword award?” Lindsay said.

I stared at a bowl of apples my mother had just finished photographing. “Apparently.”

“Are you sure?”

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“Well, he sat there right in front of Ms. Burns this morning and said so. He even took the application.”

“Maybe he was just humoring her,” Lindsay said.

I grabbed a waxy piece of fruit from the bowl. “He’s as fake as the shine on this apple.”

“But it really seemed like he was into the whole non-conformity thing.”

“Then why did he laugh and hold the applications in front of my face when I questioned him?” Lindsay shrugged. “I don’t know.”

I threw the apple back into the bowl. “I’ll tell you why. It’s because he’s just as much of a suck-up as Carly and Kristin and everyone else. He’s only out for himself—just like they are.” My voice got louder and Lindsay’s eyes widened. “You know what?” I said.

“Someone’s got to take a stand on this. Someone’s got to have some integrity. I’m calling Brian right now and telling him I can’t go to the prom with him.” Lindsay sat quietly as I punched the numbers on the phone.

“Cougars rule!” Brian’s voice mail announced.

“Leave a message and I’ll call you back.”

“Hey, Brian.” I tried to sound friendly but firm. “It’s Emily. I just wanted to let you know that I really have to go to the alternative prom. A lot of people are counting on me. And . . . it’s the right thing to do. I’m sorry I can’t go to the regular prom with you. I’m 172

really sorry . . . but . . . if you want to go to the alternative prom with me, that’d be great. Call me if you do and I’ll get you a ticket . . . Bye.” I hung up the phone slowly.

Lindsay’s eyes were even wider than they’d been when I was ranting. “Wow. I can’t believe you just did that.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Me neither.” I grabbed an apple and furiously scrubbed it under running water till the shiny veneer was gone.

“What do you think he’ll do?”

I crunched into the apple. “I don’t know,” I said.

“But it’s out of my hands now.”

Once Lindsay left, I tried to concentrate on my Latin homework, but all I could focus on was an empty feeling I had inside. I’d probably lost any chance I had with Brian. And I’d inadvertently helped Daniel scam Ms.

Keenan by doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.

I didn’t even have conflict to sustain me anymore. Just emptiness.

I stared at my Latin book, but my vision kept blur-ring from tears. How would it go?
Veni, vidi, flevi
?

I came. I saw. I cried.

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NINETEEN

Emily on Her Way

For the rest of the week, I waited for Brian to call. After he’d made his stand about basketball so that Lily could go out with the captain, I thought for a brief moment that he’d go against the team and come with me. But I’d been looking at Brian through crush goggles. He knew his father would never let him quit basketball. Just like I knew my phone wasn’t about to ring. He seemed to be avoiding me in person, too, because I never spotted him at school or at home. Although I didn’t go out of my way to find him either. Maybe because I didn’t want to hear his answer. If he didn’t have enough guts to stand up to his parents and his friends and come to the alternative prom with me . . . if he cared more about 174

following the crowd than following his heart, then he wasn’t Galahad after all.

In the meantime, I’d also managed to avoid any serious conversation with Daniel by taking the lunch shift with the tickets, while he sold them after school. I vowed I’d never have anything to do with him once the two proms were over. I’d even decided to give up the coeditor position if it was offered to us. The thought of working with him for a full year made me more nauseous than the ride on the Zipper and the
Conga Queen
put together.

By the end of the week, we’d sold six more tickets, making a total of seventeen. It wasn’t exactly cause for celebration, but if we counted the donations my parents had gotten for us, we had enough money to put on the two proms.

Two proms. Any girl’s dream. Too bad one involved hanging out with my grandmother’s peer group and the other meant giving up my dream date.

How could I have been so wrong about everything?

Brian wasn’t Galahad.

Daniel wasn’t . . . well, Daniel.

And I was never going to take the world by storm.

The least I could do was throw myself into the whole alternative prom. We’d recruited three people to help with the decorations and entertainment: Lindsay, Natalia, and one more unexpected volunteer—Brianna.

When Austin found out her parents wouldn’t let her go 175

to a hotel after the prom, he dropped her and found another date. I don’t know if it was altruism or just plain anger that got her on board, but either way, we decided to bend the rules and let a sophomore join us.

The five of us planned to meet on Friday afternoon to shop for decorations. We had a week left to plan for the two proms—plenty of time when you considered the days we were saving by not shopping for shoes or going to the spa and beauty salon.

We’d all agreed to meet in front of The Party Store, which turned out to be a big mistake.

I got there early and was waiting in my car when Daniel popped up next to my window.

“Hey,” he said. “Long time no . . . well, you know.

Have you been avoiding me?”

I stared straight ahead.

“Whoa,” Daniel said. “I was just kidding, but apparently you’re not. What’s going on?” I took a deep breath and faced him. “I don’t know.

Maybe it has something to do with you being a lying, duplicitous creep.”

“Those are some harsh words,” Daniel said. “But I do like the ‘duplicitous’ part—it has a nice ring.”

“Figures,” I said, sneering.

“Well, now that we’ve taken care of
why
you’re avoiding me, could you tell me exactly what event caused you to come to this erroneous conclusion?” 176

“Don’t try sounding like a lawyer,” I said. “You know what you did.”

Daniel’s face got serious. “No, I really don’t.”

“Gold Sword award?” I said.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I thought we were doing the alternative prom for the right reasons, not for the glory of an award or a line on a college application.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.”

“Then why did you take those papers from Ms.

Burns?”

Daniel laughed. “Is
that
what this is all about?”

“Yes, and apparently I don’t find it as funny as you do.”

“Maybe that’s because I have no intention of winning a Gold Sword award.”

“Then why did you take the application?”

“What was I going to do? I had to humor her.”

“So what did you do with the papers?”

“I threw them away,” Daniel said. He pointed to his car where Brianna was sitting inside. “Ask her; she’ll tell you.”

I looked over at Brianna and then back at Daniel.

“Are you telling the truth?”

“I swear on a stack of
Crestview Couriers
.”

“Well . . . okay, then I’m not mad at you anymore.”

“Did you really think I was serious?” Daniel said.

177

“Totally.”

He made a fake sad face. “I’m hurt.”

“You’ve got to admit you were pretty convincing.” Daniel cocked his head. “I was, wasn’t I?” Then he added, “So, we’re cool then?”

I nodded. But before I could say anything else, Lindsay and Natalia arrived and we all went inside The Party Store.

“Hey, how about these?” Lindsay yelled down the aisle.

I turned to find her posing in a pirate’s hat and eye patch.

“Arrrgh, matey,” Daniel said. “That’s a fine outfit—”

“But not exactly right for the residents of Mount Saint Mary’s,” I added.

“Probably not,” Daniel said. “I think they’ll need the use of both eyes when they’re dancing.” Natalia held up a tablecloth with zebras, giraffes, and elephants. “How about a save-the-animals theme?” I pictured Natalia’s posters of animals crammed in cages plastered all over the recreation room at the nursing home. “I don’t know,” I said. “Let’s try to come up with something more festive.”

Lindsay and I stayed back a little so I could tell her about Daniel.

“So he really is a good guy after all?” she said.

“Yeah, weird isn’t it?” I whispered as we caught up 178

with Daniel and Brianna.

Daniel had on a grass skirt and lei over his Country Ridge Elementary Jump-a-Thon T-shirt. He was dancing next to Brianna and laughing. “Darn, you caught us,” he said. “Friday night is hula night at the Cummings house.”

Brianna pushed him with her shoulder. “You’re such a nerd,” she said with affection. Then she added, “How about Island Adventures?”

I was beginning to think Daniel wasn’t the opportunistic jerk I’d made him out to be. Maybe there was something decent underneath that cocky exterior after all.

I turned to Lindsay. “Do you know any island music the residents can dance to?”

She thought for a few seconds. Behind her, Daniel started humming a familiar song.

Lindsay glared at Daniel. “I think I can come up with something better than the theme song from
Gilligan’s Island
.”

“Okay,” I said. “An island theme it is.” After assuring Natalia that there would be no roast-ing of pigs in the backyard, we picked up some more grass skirts, leis, plates and cups with tropical flower prints, balloons, and other decorations.

I left The Party Store with the sound of Daniel’s humming still in my head.

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