Prom Kings and Drama Queens (18 page)

T WENT Y

Emily Changes Course

Later, when I was hauling the party stuff out of my car, Brian pulled into his driveway. I still wasn’t sure if I’d been avoiding him or he’d been avoiding me all week, so I decided to pretend I didn’t see him. I purposely dropped about twenty small bags of balloons on the grass and then proceeded to pick them up one at a time so I could keep looking down. I was tossing yellow balloons into The Party Store bag when Brian’s sneakers came into view.

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Brian said.

I pointed to the balloons. “Well, you know. I’ve been busy.”

He looked at the bag as if he didn’t understand the connection.

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I stood and clutched the bag to my chest. “They’re decorations,” I said, “for the nursing home and the backyard.”

He nodded without changing his expression. After a few awkward seconds, he blurted. “Hey, I’ve got good news.”

My heart pounded. Could Brian see it thumping like a cartoon heart, behind the bag of balloons in front of me? Had he chosen me over the regular prom after all?

He went on. “My plan worked.”

“What?” I said. “What plan?”

“I told my dad I’d give up basketball if Grams couldn’t go on another date and he caved. Now she can see Captain Miguel again.”

My heart joined the remaining balloons on the ground. Was that all he had to say? I
was
truly happy for Lily. At least one of us deserved to be with her dream guy. “Great,” I repeated, trying to muster some enthusiasm.

“Why don’t you go over later,” Brian said. “I know she’s really excited to talk about it with someone. And, you know, I don’t think I’m the right person.” He smiled that smile of his, the one that made his eyes sparkle like the morning sun on the Intracoastal. “And I think she wants to ask you something.”

Brian picked up the last balloon and handed it to me. “My parents are going out and I’ve got a poker game at Austin’s so she’ll really be happy to see you.” 181

He paused. “I’m really sorry about the whole prom thing. But I just have to go to the real one. The team is counting on me. My dad’s real excited about the limo and my mom can’t wait to see me in a tux. So . . . I had to ask Brandy to go with me. I really wish it was you.

But, you know, I couldn’t disappoint my parents after all the plans they’ve made.”

And just like that, it was over. The Boy Next Door was now just the boy next door.

“I’m afraid my family isn’t happy with us these days,” Lily said. She poured me a cup of her now familiar green tea.

The feeling was pretty mutual.

“I hope you’re not too upset about the prom,” Lily said. “Brian explained it all to me.” She offered me a blue-berry muffin. “I’m sorry, dear, but Brian isn’t like us.”

“Us?” I said through a mouthful of muffin.

“You can’t expect him to go against the crowd. He just wasn’t raised that way.”

I wanted to shout,
Neither was I
. My dad’s an accountant and my mother takes pictures of food.

Whoopee! Where’s the daring originality there? But then I remembered the whole closing-the-draft-board story and my mother’s deferred dream of taking pictures to save the environment. Deep down, they
were
activists.

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“He’s my grandson and I love him very much, but . . .

he’s still a bit immature. He’s like those silly snow globes his parents collect, stuck inside with everyone else. He isn’t ready to break out yet . . . maybe he never will be.” I felt like a fraud. I’d
wanted
to go to the regular prom with Brian. Plans just got carried away. “I don’t know if I’m any different,” I confessed. “The alternative prom came about by accident—it wasn’t anything I really planned.”

“That’s what proves your character,” Lily said.

“When things got out of hand, you rose to the occasion.

You could have backed out and gone to the prom with Brian. But you didn’t. You made the right choice. It’s all in the choices, my dear.”

“But we only got seventeen people together,” I said.

“I haven’t made that much difference.”

“Oh, but you have, dear. You’ve set an example. And look at all those people in the nursing home you’ll be helping.”

“Do you really think a prom will help them?” Lily’s eyes brightened. “It’s like Captain Miguel says,

‘Anything you can do to make the world a more beautiful place is worth trying.’ It’s the little gestures, my dear.

The little gestures that make other people smile, even for just a short time.”

I nodded. “Maybe you’re right.”

Lily took a sip of tea and sat back in her chair. “And 183

now I have a favor to ask you.”

I hoped it didn’t involve the delivery of any more notes. My matchmaking days were so over.

“Next Saturday night Captain Miguel is taking me for a cruise on the
Conga Queen
.” Lily brought her hand to her forehead in a salute. “I’m going to be his first mate.”

“So, you had a good time?”

“Oh, yes, lovely,” Lily said. She leaned toward me and continued. “But since I won’t be able to dance for the
Conga Queen
and the other boats next Saturday night, I’d like you to take over for me.”

“What?” She
had
to be joking.

“Take over for me and dance for the boats,” Lily said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“But I don’t know how to dance.”

Lily laughed. “Of course you do. Everyone knows how to dance.”

“No,” I argued. “I honestly don’t. I was kicked out of ballet classes for not being able to point my toes the right way.”

“Nonsense, dear,” Lily said. “It won’t matter what you look like. Just dance from within. Dance from your heart.” Her eyes pleaded with me. “I’ll show you some easy steps to do.”

“No, really,” I said. “I can’t.”

“Dear,” Lily said. “It’s not just about the dancing. It’s about the freedom. Breaking away from the hum-184

drum. Getting out of the snow globe.”

“But I’ll make a fool of myself.”

“Nonsense. Fools refuse to try something new.” I thought about Brian and his crowd waiting for the limo at his house. What if the limo came late and everyone saw me dancing?

And there was no way I could hide from Daniel and everyone at the alternative prom.

“Dear, do you want to be like those Clausen girls and everyone else? Or do you want to
dance
?” Lily sure knew which buttons to press.

But the way she said the word
dance
, I knew she meant more than just doing steps. It wasn’t about entertaining the ships. It was about living, living in such a way that you didn’t care what people thought.

It was about not answering to the Harringtons or Crestview Prep or anyone but yourself. It was about being true to who you were.

It all made sense. I wasn’t like those other girls. I had goals. Ambition. I was going to take the world by storm someday.

Maybe this was a start.

“You want me to dance?” I said. “I’ll rock the whole Intracoastal.”

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T WENT Y-ONE

Emily Grows in Strength

For the whole next week, it seemed all anyone talked about was their preprom, prom, and postprom plans.

Meanwhile, Daniel and I were trying to figure out how we could coordinate the “senior” prom at Mount Saint Mary’s during the day, and then pick up the food and decorate for the junior prom in my backyard at night.

Because of the strict schedule at Mount Saint Mary’s, the nursing home prom would be held between lunch and dinner in the recreation room. Frances said she’d take care of the snacks since so many residents had dietary restrictions.

We all arrived at the nursing home around noon.

Daniel brought a helium tank for the balloons. And 186

Brianna was right behind him with a gallon of water in each hand and some fishing line under her arm.

“Huh?” I said. Water and fishing line did not seem conducive to festive partying—even for senior citizens.

“It’s for a balloon archway,” Brianna said. She set a gallon of water on each side of the doorway to the recreation room and tied the ends of the fishing line to the handles. Then she blew up an orange balloon and attached it to the fishing line. Then, whoosh! The balloon rose to the ceiling, taking the fishing line with it.

“Each time you tie a balloon on the string, it rises. Soon you have a whole archway of balloons.”

“Cool,” Lindsay said. “Can I try?” She gave a yellow balloon a squirt of helium, attached it, and then watched it ascend. Lindsay, Daniel, and I formed an assembly line to do the arch, while Brianna and Natalia hung shiny blue streamers over the windows to look like waterfalls. Frances came in and offered us the use of two palm trees in the lobby, so Daniel went out and got those, too.

With the trees, the archway, the fake waterfalls, and the tropical-print tablecloths and napkins, the rec room was starting to look pretty islandy. We dimmed the lights so it wouldn’t look like afternoon. Lindsay took her place at the piano and the rest of us greeted the residents with shouts of “Aloha” and tossed leis around their necks and pinned grass skirts over their clothes.

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Lindsay had picked out some tunes from Broadway shows like
South Pacific
and
Once on This Island
and started playing. One of the older men grabbed Natalia’s hand and spun her around. I thought she was going to haul off and slap him, but she actually started dancing with him. Maybe she figured it was a captive audience for her antibeef speech.

Brianna helped with drinks and cookies, and Daniel and I waited by the archway in case anyone else came in late. Some of the residents began to pair up and sway together to the music. Since there weren’t as many men, some of the women danced with each other.

“They look pretty happy,” I said.

Daniel smiled and then walked toward a man sitting alone in a chair, staring off into space. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I watched their exchange.

After a minute, Daniel picked a pink flower out of one of the centerpieces, handed it to the man, and said something else before coming back to me.

“What was that all about?” I said.

“He wanted to ask that woman over there to dance, but he was too shy.”

She was a petite woman with curly gray hair and bright eyes. The man handed her the flower. She stuck it in the buttonhole of her blouse, and they began to dance.

“You’re quite the matchmaker,” I told Daniel.

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His lip curled up on the end, but it didn’t seem so obnoxious this time. “I just told him I thought she’d love to dance with him, but she was probably shy, too. . . . and that the flower wouldn’t hurt.” The two of them swayed together in the middle of the rec room. “I guess you called it right.” Daniel smiled again. This time the lip curl almost looked cute. “So how about you?” he said. “Wanna dance?”

I recognized the song from when Crestview put on
South Pacific
. It was “Some Enchanted Evening.” I felt Daniel’s fingers lightly touching my back as we stepped from side to side with the music. Neither of us really knew how to do that kind of dancing. What was it my grandfather called it, the fox-trot? The words played inside my head . . . something about finding a stranger in a crowded room.