“This is the only chance you’ll get to have a senior prom. Do you really want to miss out on that?” “It’s just a stupid dance. Besides, I can’t go with the person I really want to go with, so why go at all?” “Lots of people take dates who are just friends to dances. It doesn’t mean anything, and at least you won’t miss the opportunity.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “So you’re saying that you want me to go on a date with Ben?” “Not a date-date. And he better keep his hands to himself.”
“Or you’ll what?” I teased.
“I can throw things, you know.” His smile disappeared. “This is important, Abbey. It’s a rite of passage that I don’t want you to look back on and regret missing.” “Do you really think I’ll regret missing a rubbery chicken dinner in bad mood lighting?” I laughed. “That won’t happen.” “Please, Astrid?” he said quietly. “Please go? For me.”
Caspian knew how to pull out the big guns too. Sexy eyes, and lips, and hair that he kept brushing away … “I’ll think about it,” I said. “That’s what I told Ben, so that’s what I’ll tell you, too. Okay?” “Okay.”
“I can’t believe my boyfriend is trying to talk me into going to the prom with another boy,” I grumbled. “On what planet does that even make any sense?” “I’m doing this for your own good, you know,” he replied.
I snorted. “So if I go, do you think that means the Revs will go too? That would be kind of funny, seeing them try to blend in. I can just imagine their outdated formal wear.” Then I cocked my head. “Speaking of, I haven’t seen them around as much. Were you able to convince them to give us some space?” “Yeah, I talked to Uri. He agreed to tone it down. They’re still hanging around, but I think now they definitely take longer lunch breaks.” He shot me a grin. “Trust me, though. One day you’ll thank me for pushing you to go to your senior prom. Dances are a lot of fun.” “Oh, yeah?” I said, raising an eyebrow. “And how do you know that?” He looked sheepish. “I’ve been to my fair share.”
“Mmm-hmm. Really.”
He ran a hand through his hair and looked embarrassed. “What can I say? I was the mysterious, quiet guy. Girls wanted to get to know me.” I moved closer to him, feeling a surprising stab of jealousy spike through me. “And how many girls did you want to get to know?” “There were quite a few dances …” A mischievous smile tugged at his lips.
“And?”
“And … I don’t kiss and tell.” “Ooooooohhh.” I narrowed my eyes.
Caspian laughed. “I love when you get all grumpy, Astrid. It’s quite adorable.” He held a finger next to my cheek. “This number right here is the number of girls I’ve danced with that I wanted to get to know. One.” My heart melted a little. “Me?” I said hopefully.
He nodded. “You.”
I thought about what Caspian had said about the prom all weekend but was still undecided, and I found Beth and Ben standing next to the flagpole before school Monday morning, having a heated discussion about the best way to rig the pulley if you wanted to send something heavy up. Like a body.
“You guys have the weirdest ideas,” I said, joining in. “Like, seriously weird.” “Do you think it could be done?” Beth asked.
“It’s totally possible,” Ben replied. He launched into some long explanation that involved physics and weight and mass versus matter, as my eyes glazed over.
“Yes, but why would you do it?” I just shook my head at him.
Cyn walked over, smoking a cigarette and wrapped up in a long black coat. “How’s it hanging, peeps?” I didn’t know how to act around her. I wasn’t exactly mad at her, but I wasn’t entirely comfortable, either. “We’re analyzing the merits of hanging a body on the flagpole,” Ben said.
“Vertical or horizontal?” she asked.
“Vertical. Unless we’re talking a stiff stiff.”
“What would happen if the body didn’t have a head?” said Beth. “Ooh! That would be the coolest thing ever!” “Doable,” Ben said.
They all looked at each other and grinned.
I laughed loudly, and it echoed around us. My friends are really strange. The bell rang, and the group turned to go. I stood there for a moment, gazing after them as they walked. That thought sinking into my brain. My friends …
“Yo, you coming?” Beth yelled.
“Yeah.” I smiled down at the ground. “I’m coming.”
“All right, superstar.” Ben grinned at me as I walked out of English. “What color bow tie should I wear? I know you probably don’t have a dress yet because girls have to wait until the last minute for everything, right? I know the ‘girl rules.’ But just let me know when you know, so I can get the right one.” “The right color bow tie?” I gave him a confused look. “Um, what?” “For the Hollow Ball? I got your note. In my locker.” A suspicious feeling filled the pit of my stomach. “Can I see the note?” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper. I recognized Caspian’s handwriting right away. He’d even taken the time to draw little hearts.
One word was all there was: YES.
Clearly all signs were pointing to yes.
Why fight it? I sighed. “Yup. It was about the Hollow Ball.” “I knew you couldn’t resist me.” He grinned, then said, “Beth’s going with Lewis, so do you want to rent a limo with them? We could take Candy Christine, but the limo is classier.” Ugh. This means dress shopping … “Um, yeah, sure. That’s fine with me.” “Okay. I’m on it. Oh, and what about the wrist flower thing?”
“Corsage?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He looked relieved. “Okay. Great. Let me know about the bow tie, though. Gotta go.” “Will do,” I called as he walked away. I’ll get on that just as soon as I’m done chewing my boyfriend out.
* * *
When Caspian came to pick me up at the end of the day, I was waiting for him. Arms crossed. He read my face. “You found out about my note, didn’t you?” I glanced over at Cyn, who was rearranging her dead plant menagerie to make room for another one. “Not here,” I said quietly.
“All I wanted to do was-”
“Something that I didn’t want you to do,” I interrupted. “I told you I wanted to make my own decision. Why didn’t you respect that?” Cyn paused and glanced over her shoulder at me.
I moved away from her, away from Caspian, and started walking down the hall. We needed to finish this discussion somewhere private. Where no one could hear me. I didn’t let loose again until we were home, in the safety of my room.
“How could you do that?” I stormed, stalking around the bed. All of my words were pent up inside me and ready to burst out. “I just can’t believe it.” “I thought it would help.”
“Help? How is making the decision for me helping me? In what way, shape, or form is that ‘help’?” “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have-”
But I was too mad to listen. “Now I’m going to have to go. I told Ben yes, and I can’t back out. How is that fair to me?” “You’re right. I’m sorry. It was a stupid thing to do.”
I paced back and forth. “This also means that I’m going to have to go dress shopping. Most likely with my mother. Which is never fun, by the way.” I blew out an angry breath. “And now-” “Astrid.” He stood up, and came to face me. “Give me the note.” “What? Why?”
“Because I’m going to write a new one. I got you into this. I’ll get you out. Consider it already done.” I fished the note out of my pocket. It was crumpled around the edges from where Ben had been holding it. As I stared blindly down at it, all I could see was the expression on Ben’s face as he talked about his bow tie and the limo. Then I saw him giving me the tickets in case I said no.