Prom King Read online

  Adam leans down and gathers my things. He puts my books and pens back in my bag and gently puts the bag back on my shoulder. I can’t move as he does it. Then he hands me my now soda-stained and bloody copy of World’s Waterfall. He gives me a small smile. “Do you like it?”

  I’m a little star-struck. Adam Carlisle helped me. He’s so close to me. “What?”

  “The book.”

  “Oh,” I say as Lorraine arrives next to me. “Yeah, I do.”

  “I hope you get the chance to finish it soon.”

  I can only nod, and he smiles again as Lorraine takes my arm and leads me away towards the doors and the nurse. The mistake I make is looking back, and noticing how the whole school is watching me walk away with blood down my face and shirt. By the time we’re outside the doors of the gym, I can’t hold back the tears anymore, but Lor doesn’t stop to comfort me, guiding me straight to the nurse’s office. Then she pulls me into a hug. “It’s okay.”

  “It’s really, really not,” I say. “Sasha was already up to something, and this is only going to give her more fuel. People are going to stare at me for weeks, and Adam—” I hiccup, and flinch as the nurse is cleaning up my nose, seeing if it’s broken. “Adam probably thinks I’m a total spaz now. He’s seen me bloody and crying. That’s really sexy.”

  Lorraine rolls her eyes. “Girl, I love you but sometimes you’re stupid as hell.”

  The nurse gives her a look, and I’m staring at my best friend in shock. “I’m sorry?”

  “Didn’t you see what Adam did?”

  I wince as the nurse puts some antiseptic on the scratches. “No, I was a little busy flat on my face in front of the whole school.”

  “We were about to win. Adam had the ball and was about to score, and then you fell. He dropped the ball and ran off the court when you fell. The game didn’t stop, the other team took the ball and scored and we lost.”

  I think my heart stops in my chest. “What?”

  “Adam threw the game to help you. So if you think that he cares about the blood on your face, you need to get your head on straight.”

  My heart is pounding now. Lorraine has no reason to lie about that. But if it is true, what does it mean?

  6

  Ollie

  Present Day

  Like being conjured out of that memory, Sasha suddenly appears in front of me, a giant smile on her face. “Hi!” She wraps me in a giant hug that I absolutely do not want to be a part of and I hold my breath until she lets me go.

  Lorraine is staring at her like she’s an absolute idiot, and even though I’m uncomfortable, I have to try hard not to laugh. That day on the basketball court was not the only, or even the worst, thing that Sasha did to me. There was the time she accidentally ruined my work in art class, got me blamed for a low score on a group project that was entirely her fault, started multiple rumors about me that resulted in more than one horrifying lunch hour, and of course, prom. And those are just the ones that are coming to mind now.

  “Oh. My. God,” Sasha says. “I love your dress.”

  Lor steps closer. “It’s Marchesa.”

  “Well it’s working on you.” She smiles again. “How are you? I’ve missed you. It’s been so long!”

  There’s a phantom pain in my nose, and I touch the bridge of it, remembering that day in the gym. It has been so long, but I sure as hell haven’t missed her. But I don’t get the same vibe from her that I got in high school. She seems more genuine, like she’s actually excited about being here. “Good to see you, Sasha.”

  She waves to someone across the room. “I have to go say to hi to Corey, but I totally want to catch up! I’ll swing back around.” She blows us a kiss and floats away toward a group of girls that look like they might be from her old clique.

  “Fake bitch,” Lor says with an eye-roll.

  “I don’t know. She seemed a lot more genuine. I suppose it’s possible that in the last ten years she’s changed.”

  Lor shakes her head. “Girls like Sasha don’t change. They think the world is something they can manipulate, and they never stop trying to do it.”

  “Maybe.” I like to believe that people can change. That people do change. If not, that’s just kind of depressing. Now that I’m here, I need a drink. I definitely need a drink. I point to the bar, and Lor nods. I’ll find her once I’ve waited in line and have something that’s going to dull my senses a little bit.

  Luckily the line isn’t too long right now—the Plaza bartenders are on top of it.

  “Olivia.”

  I turn, and my feet drop through the floor. It’s Adam. Adam is here, so close to me, and that same memory from the gym overwhelms me. That’s the last time we were this close. I can’t help how breathless I sound. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” Then he grins. “I’m really glad you came. Honestly I didn’t think you would.”

  “Yeah. I wasn’t planning on it. Lorraine convinced me.”

  “Good thing she did.”

  My body lights up with joy because he wanted to see me. But then I go cold. Is he making fun of me? Is this some kind of joke with Sasha? If Lorraine is right and people like Sasha never change, then what if Adam is the same too? What if it’s all another cruel joke?

  “How have you been?” he asks quietly, and he glances down toward my hands. I stretch my fingers and the bracelet Lor gave me jingles. Probably just distracted by it.

  I nod. “Pretty good. I was…very nervous about coming here.”

  “Why?”

  I laugh. “You really have to ask that?”

  “I suppose not.”

  “I have a life I really like,” I say, word vomit spilling out of me before I can stop it. “I moved on from all of this, so I wasn’t sure that I wanted to bring that back into my life.”

  “I get that,” he says, and for a second we’re quiet. I move forward a place in line and Adam moves with me, hands in his pockets. “Listen, I—”

  “ADAM!” There are whoops and hollers and I stumble out of the way as we’re swarmed by four members of what used to be the basketball team. A bunch of guys surround Adam, giving him overly amped up hugs and clapping him on the back. He looks as startled as I do, and I wish we hadn’t been interrupted. I wanted to hear what he has to say.

  Adam glances at me apologetically, and says hello to his friends. It’s at that moment that they all decide to notice that I’m standing there. “Damn, Olivia!” It’s coming from a guy whose name I think is Brandon. “You got hot.”

  “Yeah, when did that happen?” Another guy asks. “I’d be happy to take you home and—”

  “Okay.” Adam interrupts.

  Oh my god. Oh my god I can’t win. I have guys telling me I’m not attractive enough to spend the night with and then I have assholes telling me how fuckable I am because I have a pretty face.

  “Come with us,” Brandon says. “We trying to get the Plaza to set up a hoop at that end of the ballroom and get the band back together.”

  A third from the group puts his hand on Adam’s shoulder and tries to guide him away, but he shrugs the hand off. “No thanks, guys. I’m in the middle of a conversation. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Seriously?” guy number three asks. Jason, maybe? And then he whispers far too loudly for me not to hear. “I mean, I know she’s hot, but it’s Olivia Mitchell.”

  I feel myself flush red, and I watch Adam’s face go white with anger. “Fuck off, man.”

  The guy backs up, hands raised in surrender. “Whatever. Come find us when you want some fun.” He looks me up and down, and I feel sick, the look on his face somehow conveying want and disgust at the same time.

  “Go,” Adam says, and they leave. One of them nearly trips over a chair. It’s possible that they might be drunk already. “Are you all right?”

  Again, I’m having déjà vu. He said those same words to me that day in the gym. I couldn’t believe that he intervened for me then, and I’m honestly having a hard time believing that he did
it just now. It seems like way too good to be true.

  “I guess so,” I say. “Thank you for doing that. It was uncomfortable.”

  “No kidding.” He shakes his head.

  Finally up to the bar, I order a glass of wine. When I turn around, Adam is right there, so close. Closer than he was standing just a second ago. He reaches out and takes my hand. “I’d like to talk to you, if that’s all right. About that night and some other stuff. But I’d like to do it where we won’t be interrupted again.”

  My heart is pounding in my chest, and I’m not sure that I can breathe or speak right now so I just nod. He looks down again, holding up my hands and sweeping his thumb across my wrists. “Thank you.”

  I’m not sure about the wrist thing. Maybe he’s developed a wrist fetish in the last ten years, but honestly I’ve heard of weirder stuff and there’s nothing at all in this moment that’s going to stop me from saying yes.

  Adam guides me toward the door and that perfect summer air. From across the room I see Lorraine’s jaw drop open. I manage to send her a tiny wave before we disappear out of the ballroom through a balloon arch that’s way too similar to the one that was at prom. The last time I saw Adam.

  7

  Ollie

  Prom Night

  “Tighter.” Lorraine pushes out all the air in her lungs, and I try to pull the laces of her corset tighter.

  “I really think that’s it,” I say.

  She sighs. “Fine, I suppose that’s good.” She reaches insider the top edge of the crimson corset and adjusts her boobs so that they’re practically falling out of it.

  I look at myself in the mirror. The dress I ended up choosing is purple, and it’s pretty much the opposite of Lorraine’s. Mine has a lacy collar around the neck and no cleavage. It’s floor length too. I really love the way this dress looks, but I don’t want the attention that Lorraine does. I didn’t even want to come, really. My nose is still healing from the last event I attended with the whole school.

  “Ollie, relax. Try to have fun.”

  “I will.”

  “You could dance with Adam.”

  I immediately flush bright red, “That’s not going to happen.”

  “Fine. But I’m still saying that you could.” She smirks at me in the mirror. “I promise that we can dance with each other later. Just as soon as I finish dancing with Joey Lancaster. He’s going to notice how fucking sexy I look tonight.” Those last words are more for her than for me.

  “I’ll hold you to it,” I say.

  “Perfect,” she says, sweeping out the door. “Wish me luck!”

  “Luck,” I say softly even though she’s already gone. I run some water over my hands, hesitating. All night people have been asking me how my nose is. If they were just asking me how I’m doing it would be fine. It’s the laughter after they ask that gets me. But Lorraine is right, if I’m already here, I might as well try to go out and enjoy it.

  The hallway of the school is dark, and I can hear the music thumping in the gym as I head down the hall. Sasha is in the doorway and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her look so pissed. I’m thinking about ducking back down the hallway when she spots me. Instantly her entire face changes. “Hi, Ollie!”

  I don’t know if I’ve ever heard Sasha say my name before, but it sounds strange. Only people who know me really well call me Ollie. Finishing the length of hallway before I reach the door feels like it takes forever. I’m kind of hoping that I can just go inside and she doesn’t want to talk to me, but of course I don’t have that kind of luck.

  She holds something out to me. “Will you sign my yearbook?”

  “Uh, now?”

  “Of course! When will there be another time with so many of the upperclassmen in one place?”

  She has a point, and I take the book and pen from her. Snow days and unexpected repairs to part of the gym pushed our prom back a bit. We’re almost done with classes and everybody’s gotten their yearbooks. I flip to my senior portrait and go to write something, but the pen is sticky. Glancing down at my hand, I see that my fingers are now stained with glittery blue dye. I go ahead and start writing. ‘Happy graduation, wishing you the best.’

  “By the way, your pen is leaking,” I say, holding up my hand.

  She grabs it and looks closer at my fingers. “Oh god, I’m sorry!”

  “It’s okay.” I pull my wrist out of her grasp. Suddenly Lorraine appears at my side and she’s tugging on my arm. “Dance with me!”

  I wave bye to Sasha as I’m pulled into the crowd of dancers. “You looked like you could use a rescue,” she says.

  “Thank you.”

  “No problem. Now I’m going back to dance by Joey.”

  She dances away from me and I slip back out of the dancers, keeping an eye out for Sasha so that she doesn’t see that I’m not dancing. I take up a post near the refreshment table and get myself some punch. It’s not lost on me that I’m quite the cliché. But I can’t say that I’m not enjoying it.

  I watch from the sidelines as Lorraine finally does get her chance to dance with Joey. The look of sheer joy on her face is one that I will never forget. A couple of times I think that I’m about to be asked to dance, but it’s never me. That’s fine, I like watching everyone. I like seeing the connections form and break and come back together.

  And of course, I watch Adam. He dances with a few girls, but also spends a good amount of time on the sidelines. He doesn’t seem like he’s quite comfortable, and I totally get it. I’m not comfortable either.

  Later in the night the music stops, and the librarian Mrs. Marsden takes the stage. “It’s about that time everybody! Time for us to find out who’s King and Queen of the prom.” She waves two white envelopes in the air. “First, our King.”

  She tears open the envelope and pulls out a piece of paper. Immediately she breaks into a wide smile. “Adam Carlisle!”

  The gym bursts into cheers, and I join them. It’s not surprising to me at all that Adam is prom king. He’s gorgeous and the star of the basketball team, and tonight the tuxedo that he’s wearing makes me feel faint, the same way they say that Victorian ladies swoon. I wish that I could be the one standing up with him, the one that gets to dance with him. But that won’t happen, because I don’t even think half the people in this room know that I’m here. Adam certainly doesn’t.

  He makes his way to the stage and gets crowned. His smile lights up the room and he waves to the crowd in a mock gesture of a king to his kingdom, and everybody laughs.

  “And now for the queen.” She tears open the second envelope, but she doesn’t break into a smile this time. Instead she looks confused. “Well, this is a surprise. Olivia Mitchell!”

  I freeze. What?

  The entire gym goes silent, so that all you can hear is the pop song in the background. And then the whispers start, and people looking around for me. Oh god. Someone spots me and a path forms between the stage and me . Adam looks confused, and a spike of pain goes through my chest. I mean, I never expected to be voted queen, but the fact that he thinks I couldn’t or shouldn’t be…hurts.

  Someone next to me whispers, “Olivia, go.”

  I find myself walking slowly towards the stage even though I can’t feel my feet. This can’t possibly be right, can it? Did my wish that I could dance with Adam as his queen somehow reach the universe? I look around and everyone seems as confused as I am. They’re staring and whispering, and I think I might be sick.

  But then I look at Adam again, and he smiles. It’s a miracle, and I find myself smiling back. Because if this is true, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted and the best moment of my life. Stepping onto the stage, I cross to Mrs. Marsden, who puts the silver tiara on my head. “Everyone give it up for our King and Queen, Adam and Olivia!” There’s half-hearted clapping from the crowd. “They’ll now have their first dance.”

  Adam takes my hand and I can’t breathe. “Ready to dance?” he asks softly.

  “Yeah.”

>   We move off of the stage and into the middle of the dance floor where everyone has formed a circle, and we’re in the center spotlight. I can’t believe this is actually happening. Adam pulls me close, puts a hand on my waist, and if I wasn’t sure that I would kill myself for missing this moment, I think I would faint.

  “Stop!” An angry voice comes from across the gym, and then Sasha barges into the circle followed closely by Mr. Andrews, another of the chaperones. She’s looking straight at me, and I recognize that same burning anger I saw in the hallway earlier. “Olivia Mitchell is not prom queen.”

  I just blink at her. “What?”

  “She cheated. She switched her name in the envelope. It’s supposed to be me.”

  Still on stage, Mrs. Marsden clears her throat into the microphone. “That’s a serious accusation, Sasha. Do you have proof?”

  Sasha scoffs, walking over to the stage. “Of course I do. Look at the way the name on that paper is written. That blue ink.”

  “What about it?”

  The way she’s looking at me, now I know how a bug feels that’s about to be stepped on. “I saw her coming from the hallway near the offices earlier, and I saw something else.” She comes to me and rips my hand out of Adam’s, holding it up for people to see. Suddenly I understand and I’m lightheaded. I really do think I might pass out. The blue ink is still on my fingers from when I signed her book. Lorraine pulled me onto the dance floor and I didn’t go back to the bathroom to wash it off. She set me up.

  “See?” Sasha says, a smug smile on her face. “She wrote her name herself.”

  Mr. Andrews looks uncomfortable, but he steps forward. “I’m sorry, Olivia, but I wrote Sasha’s name myself, and I did it in black ink.”

  “It’s not true,” I say.

  “What was that?” She asks.

  I swallow, trying to hold myself together. I’m flushed and shaking and I can feel tears dangerously close. This isn’t the way this is supposed to happen. “It’s not true. You asked me to sign your yearbook with that pen.” I look at Mr. Andrews. “Look at her yearbook. You’ll see that I’m right.”