tight, with a
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plunging neckline, and she looked gorgeous. She paused to survey her domain as Sam walked in
behind her. Even though he was backlit by the bright light of the hallway, I knew it was him
because his hair was standing almost straight up, like he'd been pulling on it nonstop for hours.
When the door shut behind him, I saw he was wearing red Converse sneakers with his tuxedo,
and I couldn't help laughing to myself, as if Sam had just told me a great joke. I began to stand
up, planning to walk over and tell him I thought the sneakers were a good call, but just as I did,
he put his hand on the small of Jane's back to lead her to their table.
And all of a sudden, I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Because seeing Sam guide Jane across
the room, I knew. I knew. I knew why, that day in the studio, he was the person I'd imagined
slow dancing with. I knew why I'd missed him when he wasn't in class this week.
Most of all, I knew why tonight felt like the least magical night of my life.
I stayed where I was, half standing, half sitting, frozen for the long minutes it took Sam and Jane
to find their table. Then I forced myself to stop watching them, dropped to my seat, and took a
deep breath, unable to get out from under the hot wave of sadness that had washed over me.
"They really look great together, don't they?"
"I know. I love her dress."
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"It's sooo sexy."
Like everyone else, I had my eyes on the dance floor, where the prom king and queen were
dancing. Their crowns caught the reflected rays of the twirling disco ball and sent diamonds of
light around the room. Their arms were around one another, and I was trying to think if I'd ever
heard of a culture where brothers and sisters danced as closely as Kathryn and Connor were
dancing. Every few seconds someone whistled or yelled, "Go for it!" or just started clapping.
Kathryn was clearly relishing the attention. She kept smiling and waving, and when her crown
nearly slipped off, she caught it and dropped it back onto her head in a single graceful gesture
without missing a step.
I could feel Madison and Jessica's concerned stares even without looking at them. From the
second the prom committee chair had announced the names of the prom king and queen, they
hadn't left my side, telling me how crazy the committee was, how they'd just wanted seniors to
win, how Connor was totally in love with me.
"Connor's not even having a good time," Jessica said. She had her arm around me, and she
squeezed my shoulder.
"I think they look really awkward together," said Madison. "She's way too short for him."
"Excuse me," I said. "I'm going to go to the bathroom."
"Do you want us to come?" asked Jessica.
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I shook my head. "I'll be right back."
The hallway was quiet and empty. I trailed my hand along the elaborate chair rail, enjoying how
my heels sank into the soft carpet.
It was the first thing I'd enjoyed all night.
Jessica and Madison couldn't have been more wrong: Kathryn and Connor looked great together.
She'd been born to be prom queen. And he'd been born to be prom king. That they were fulfilling
their destinies was undeniable.
Equally undeniable was how little jealousy I felt.
The only thing I felt was relief. Total and complete relief. I didn't want to go to the Hamptons
and watch Connor and Dave and Matt get wasted. I didn't want to worry about whether or not I
liked kissing Connor anymore.
And most of all, I didn't want to talk about basketball. Not now. And not for a long, long time.
The season was over. It was time to get a real life.
As I approached the corner, I heard a girl's voice. She wasn't yelling, exactly, but she was
definitely pissed off.
"... believe it when you say that."
I turned the corner. Sam and Jane were in the hallway, halfway between me and the bathroom.
He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, and she was sitting on a low sofa across from
him.
"Jane," he said, "you're not listening to me."
I stopped in my tracks. Even though my overhearing
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them was a total accident, I felt sneaky, as though I'd been spying. As quickly and silently as
possible, I slipped around the corner and walked back in the direction I'd come from.
Kathryn and Connor were surrounded by other couples crowding the dance floor, but because of
their crowns it was still easy to spot them. Her arms were around his shoulders, and she had the
fingers of one hand buried in his hair. I went over to them and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Red," he said. "How are ya'?"
"I think I'm gonna go, Connor," I said.
Connor looked at me, his eyes bloodshot. "You're leaving, Red?"
"Yeah, I just don't think I have it in me to go to the Hamptons." Kathryn didn't bother concealing the fact that she was listening, nor did she try to hide the Cheshire-cat smile my announcement
elicited.
"Sure, Red," he said as they swayed back and forth to the music. "No worries."
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the cheek, wondering if he'd even notice that
someone else would be saying I am when he asked, Who's my girl?
"See ya, Connor," I said.
"Yeah," he said, still dancing with Kathryn. "See ya."
Crossing the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, I realized that
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at school on Monday everything would be the way it had been before Connor noticed me. I could
already see Jessica and Madison running off to meet Kathryn, too busy befriending Connor's new
girlfriend to bother with his old one. For a second I felt sad, thinking about how lonely lunch was
going to be. But then I remembered-- dinner. My dad would be home for dinner. And at lunch I
didn't have to sit alone in the cafeteria if I didn't want to, I could just go to the studio and work
on my landscape. So maybe everything was going to be okay. Maybe in the end it was better to
have an annoying stepmother and no prince than a wicked stepmother and an annoying prince.
Just before I pulled the door open, I felt a hand on my back. I turned around, Connor's name
already on my lips.
"Connor, I don't--" But it wasn't Connor. It was Sam. "Hey," he said, slightly out of breath.
"Hey," I said.
"I just ..." He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "I just have to ..." He looked at me, looked away, looked back at me. "I ..." He laughed. "I can't believe I'm doing this." He put his hand up to his glasses and took them off. "This is going to be way easier if you're blurry." I had a second to notice how dark his eyes were before he looked away again. "Look, I know this is
going to sound crazy, but the thing is, I like
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you." He laughed at what he'd just said. "I know that's an incredibly seventh-grade way of
putting it, and I know you have a boyfriend, and I had a girlfriend up until a few minutes ago.
And I know this is totally the wrong moment for everything I'm saying, but it's been on my mind
for weeks, and now I'm about to leave, and if I don't say it tonight, I'm never going to get up the
guts to say it again. So. I like you. And if you ever want to dump your current Prince Charming, I