(though it may have been Romania--they were vague on the geographical details). Whether or
not I resembled European royalty, I must have looked pretty good because Connor kept winking
at me and smiling. He was winking and smiling at Madison and Jessica, too, telling them how
hot they looked and how lucky Matt and Dave were.
"Hi, kids!" Kathryn shouted, waving to everyone on the lawn from the deck. I don't know if she'd been drinking upstairs at Jessica's, but she was more than a little unsteady on her extremely high
heels. And while the rest of us were wearing long dresses, Kathryn's dress ("dress") was short.
Very short. It was so short that, when she stopped waving and started giggling, my first thought
was she was embarrassed because she'd come down without her skirt on.
269
Connor didn't seem to mind, though. When Kathryn crossed the lawn to say hi to us, Connor
gave her the same smile he'd given me, Jessica, and Madison. When he told her how hot she
looked, Kathryn laughed.
"Stop," she said. "I'm blushing." Then she gave him a very unsisterly hug, and I wondered if Connor's compliment had encouraged in Kathryn the idea that I was the one going stag and she
was the one with the date.
The limos began to arrive at seven.
"Come on, guys," yelled Jessica. "Let's go."
Madison started maneuvering Matt toward the front. I walked over to where my dad and Mara
were talking to Connor's parents.
Mrs. Pearson extended her hand. "Hello, Lucy," she said. "It's so nice to finally meet you."
"It's nice to finally meet you, too," I said. They say nobody knows a guy like his mom, so I was tempted to ask Mrs. Pearson if she thought it was a little odd that Connor had spent most of the
cocktail party trying to get Kathryn in a headlock. But before I could put the question to her,
Jessica came over to me. "It's showtime," she said.
"Oh, right," I said. I turned to my dad and Mara. "Well, I guess I should get going."
My dad gave me a hug. "You look gorgeous."
"Thanks," I said. "And thanks again for the painting." I looked over his shoulder at Mara. "And 270
thanks for the easel," I said to her. "It's really beautiful."
"I'm glad you like it," she said.
"Here, let me get a picture," said Mr. Pearson. He came over to me and my dad and placed us
next to each other, putting my dad's hand on my shoulder and wrapping my arm around my dad's
waist. Mara was standing a few feet away, and I could tell from the way she was watching us
that she really wanted to be in the picture. I kept expecting my dad to call her over, but he didn't;
he just let Mr. Pearson pose us.
It was so tempting to let her stand there.
"Okay," said Mr. Pearson. He took a few steps and turned around, training his camera on us.
"One, two--"
"Wait!" I shouted.
Mr. Pearson moved the camera away from his face. "What's the matter?" he asked.
"I just need to ... hang on a second." I stepped from under my dad's arm and went over to Mara.
"Come be in the picture," I said.
"It's fine, Lucy," she said. "Why don't you just get a picture of you and your dad. I really don't mind."
She's telling you it's okay. Just take the picture without her.
I shook my head. "No, really," I said. "I'd like one of all of us." And as soon as I'd said it, I realized it wasn't even a total lie.
She and I looked at each other for a minute, and then she smiled at me. I smiled back. "Okay,
then," she said.
271
She followed me over to where my dad was waiting, and we let Mr. Pearson arrange us so that
my dad was on one side of me and Mara was on the other. Just as Mr. Pearson was about to snap
the picture, there was a scream. I looked over in the direction it came from to see Emma and
Amy racing across the lawn to where we were standing. "Wait!" shouted Emma.
"We want to be in the picture," said Amy. They slid in on either side of me and put their arms
around my waist.
"We did her hair," Emma said to Mrs. Pearson, who was standing next to her husband.
"Well, it's lovely," she said absently.
"I did her hair," said Amy. "You did her makeup."
"That is such a lie," said Emma. "I totally did her hair!"
"Oh my god, what are you talking about?" Amy stamped her foot. "You didn't even touch her hair."
"Girls, girls," said my dad. He put a hand on each of their shoulders and nudged them to face Mr.
Pearson.
"Did so," muttered Emma.
"Did not," answered Amy.
"Let's focus here," said my dad, and I felt Emma's and Amy's arms tighten around my waist as I
smiled and Mara said, "Cheese."
"One, two, three," said Mr. Pearson. And for a second after the shutter clicked we all stayed just where we were. A family.
272
Chapter Twenty-nine
"Whoa, dude," said Connor, as we stepped into the lobby of the Plaza. He shaded his eyes with
his hand. "That's bright."
While we'd all sipped genteely at our flutes during the champagne toast at Madison's, like
consuming alcohol was no big deal, as soon as we got in the limo everyone started chugging
from flasks that Connor, Dave, and Matt had brought. Unfortunately one sip of whatever they
were drinking was all I could handle. It burned my throat and I gasped.
"What is that?" I asked.
"J.D., baby," he said, tapping the flask against his chest and belching. "Your good ole friend Jack Daniel's."
We'd been warned that once we arrived at the prom, we couldn't leave, so everyone wanted to
drink as much as possible on the thirty-minute drive to Manhattan.
273
Kathryn, who apparently was a good friend of Jack Daniel's, sat on Connor's left, while I sat
squeezed between him and the door of the limo. The closer we got to Manhattan, the further
Kathryn's dress edged up her leg and the less aware of my presence Connor seemed to be.
I don't know what I'd expected, but prom wasn't exactly turning out to be the most magical night
of my life. If anything, it seemed to be like a lot of other nights. As soon as we arrived at the
hotel, all the girls went into the bathroom and all the guys went into the Palm Room. It was
almost as if we'd come together and they'd come together. Standing in the bathroom with
Madison and Jessica, I had the strangest feeling that we weren't even at the prom; we were just in
the bathroom at Piazzolla's. When we walked out, we'd be in the familiar linoleum and wood
dining room, and there'd be Dave and Connor and Matt sitting at a table littered with pizza crust
and crumpled paper napkins.
The table didn't have any pizza crust on it, but by the time we got there, the guys had thrown
their dinner rolls at one another. Madison went ballistic, and Matt looked sheepish. We sat down,
and without thinking, I took my napkin off my plate and lay it on my lap. Jessica hit Dave on the
shoulder and gestured for him to put his napkin on his lap. Then we all just sat there, not saying
anything.
Across the room I saw Jane come through the doorway. Her dress was bright yellow, long and