Prom Kings and Drama Queens (16 page)

As Richard walked away, Daniel and I began a silent cheer—until we were interrupted by Kristin Turner’s accusatory voice. “Are you both trying to win a Gold Sword award?”

It was a strange accusation from someone who entered every competition known to Crestview. She once entered a songwriting contest even though she never studied a day of music. With the odds on her side, she’d won some kind of award every year since first grade. I guessed we were treading on her territory.

Each year the school nominated two people who performed distinctive community service. Nominees 158

from every school in the district were evaluated, and the two top contenders won scholarship money. The school got a lot of press and a big gold sword to display in the office.

“Uh, this might be a foreign concept to you, Kristin,” Daniel said. “But sometimes people do good things just for the sake of doing them—not for an award or another line on their résumé.”

Kristin huffed and walked away.

“What is her problem?” I said.

Daniel put the tickets back in the manila envelope along with the makeshift sign. “Who knows, but at least we’re up to eleven tickets now.”

I nodded. “Pretty good, huh?”

“It’s not quite enough to fund Mount Saint Mary’s prom and ours yet,” Daniel said. He paused and then added with his familiar smirk, “Maybe you could get your friend Harrington and his buddies to come over to the dark side.”

Somehow I’d managed to avoid Brian all day—even during the ticket sales at lunch. Cougar basketball mania had overshadowed anything else going on at Crestview, so it was a pretty good bet he and his friends still didn’t know about the alternative prom.

Nevertheless, I felt my face turn red. Did Daniel know about Brian asking me to the prom?

Could Brian have told Austin and then Austin told 159

Brianna? She did seem to have trouble keeping secrets.

“Um, well, you know those guys. I don’t know . . .” Daniel shoved the envelope in his backpack. “I was just kidding. There’s no way they’d give up a night of excess, not for anyone.”

Was that some kind of challenge? “Maybe they’d do it for the right someone,” I snapped.

Daniel shook his head. “Some traditions are tough to go up against—even for a hot girl with a social conscience.” Then he turned to go up the stairs to his next class.

I was struck silent. Had Daniel Cummings just called me hot? I was surprisingly not repulsed.

By the time I arrived at the cottage, Brian and Lily were deep into a heated discussion.

“Sweetie,” Lily said. “I can’t let you do that.”

“It’s okay,” Brian said. “There’s no way Dad would let me quit basketball.” Brian spun toward the door when it opened. He gave me a quick hug before motioning toward the couch where Lily was sitting. I was getting used to this easy familiarity we had when we saw each other.

“What’s this about quitting basketball?” I said. I couldn’t imagine a scenario that could make Brian give up the team.

“It’s a ridiculous notion that Brian has,” Lily said.

160

Brian shook his head in exasperation. “My parents don’t want Grams to go out with the captain again.

They think he’s just looking to marry someone to stay in the country.”

My mouth dropped open. Had my mother been right? Should I have checked things out before setting up the date? I turned to Lily for some sign that I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“It’s a bit insulting, isn’t it?” she said. “The idea that a man would only be interested in me to get a green card.”

I nodded. “Why do they think that?”

“When we got home from state, my parents met Captain Miguel. They noticed his accent and decided he must be illegal.”

“Which is just ridiculous,” Lily interjected. “He’s been in this country for years.”

“But how will Brian quitting basketball help?” I asked.

Lily put her arm around Brian. “He really is Sir Galahad after all, isn’t he?” she said. “He wants to give his parents an ultimatum—if I can’t see Captain Miguel, he’ll quit basketball. But I can’t let him do that.”

“Grams,” Brian said. “There’s no way my dad would let me quit. We just won state. He’s on a high. You should have seen him.”

161

“But, dear, I don’t want you to take that chance.” Brian turned to me. “What do you think?” I was flustered. Should I take a side? What if I agreed and Brian’s dad called his bluff? I ran the risk of incurring the wrath of the entire Crestview student body. Without Brian as point guard, who knows what would happen? But then I remembered. Taking a stand was my new thing. Standing up for the First Amendment. Standing up against the materialism of the prom. Funny how Daniel had influenced both. I didn’t know whether to thank him or blame him. I looked at Lily. “Did you really like Captain Miguel?” She practically glowed. “He’s a wonderful man,” she said. “So cultured. He even loves the ballet.” It wasn’t easy finding a guy like that at any stage of life. Captain Miguel was a definite keeper. I looked at Brian and shrugged. “Seems like it’s worth a try.” He broke into a big smile. “See, Grams—I’ll tell him later tonight.”

Grams shook her head. “I hope we’re doing the right thing. I know how much you love basketball. I don’t want you sacrificing that for me.”

“Trust me,” Brian said. “I know my dad.” I tried to think of something else to say in order to prolong the visit with Lily. I knew that as soon as we left, I had to tell Brian about the prom. I stalled as long as I could, pressing Lily for the details about her date.

162

But before long we’d gone all the way from the shrimp cocktail to the chocolate mousse. There was nothing left to tell.

We were on the couch when Brian put his hand on the back of my neck and pulled me toward him. But before our lips could touch, I blurted, “I have to tell you something.”

He pulled away from me. “You don’t want to kiss me?” he said.

“Oh no, that’s not it,” I said. “It’s just that we have to talk.” I hesitated. “About the prom.”

“Oh that,” Brian said. “Don’t worry. Even though my parents are mad about the whole Captain Miguel thing, we can still go together.”

Brian’s parents hadn’t even occurred to me. “It’s not that,” I said. “It’s just that when you asked me, I sort of forgot that I’d made another commitment.” Brian was silent, but his eyes revealed he was hurt.

“Oh, I didn’t mean another date,” I said quickly. “It’s just that, um, Daniel and I wrote this article for the
Crestview Courier
encouraging people to come to an alternative, less expensive prom, instead of the regular one.”

Brian’s eyebrows drew together. “I heard something about that today in school,” he said. “Isn’t that a gay thing?”

163

“No,” I said. “It’s a fund-raiser. We’re using the extra money to have a prom for the old people at Mount Saint Mary’s.”

Brian was still frowning. “So you’re having the prom at a nursing home?”

“One of them,” I said. “The other one, for the juniors, will be in my backyard. My dad’s getting a tent and chairs, and Casa Pollo is donating the food.” Even as I rattled them off, I knew those things were unlikely to sell the idea. I mean, really. We were up against strap-less evening gowns, limos, and hotels with no parental supervision. It wasn’t much of a contest.

“Wow,” Brian said. “So you can’t go to those
and
the regular prom?”

I shook my head. “They’re all on the same day. The nursing home prom’s during the day so it doesn’t interfere with their schedule. And the other one’s at night.

The same night as the regular prom.” Brian rubbed the back of his neck. “So what are you going to do?”

I looked down at the couch. “I don’t know . . . maybe you could come with me to the alternative prom?” Brian paused. “I don’t know. The guys and I made these plans . . .”

“I know,” I said.

“Couldn’t you just let the others handle that alternative thing?” Brian pulled me toward him and pressed 164

his lips against mine. They were soft and sweet and irresistible.

We parted and I took a deep breath. “Well, maybe the others could handle it.”

165

EIGHTEEN

Emily Stays the Course

It had been a week since Daniel and I had turned in our article and started the whole alternative prom movement. But it seemed like months. In just two and a half weeks, I’d managed to:

1. Make a successful match between Lily and Captain Miguel

2. Almost get arrested with Daniel Cummings 3. Get Brian to ask me to the prom, thus fulfilling a long-held goal

4. Start an antiprom movement, thus jeopardizing the above long-held goal

5. Gotten closer to becoming editor in chief of the
Crestview Courier
(even if it was a coeditor position with Daniel Cummings)

166

And yet, I was no closer to achieving my larger ambi-tion of taking the world by storm.

In fact, my life had become more like a series of confused funnel clouds bumping into each other in the atmosphere—if that was scientifically possible.

While I was reviewing for my psych exam in the cafeteria before school, it suddenly occurred to me that I was actually living out the types of conflict in the book.

Approach-approach conflict: I wanted to go the regular prom with Brian, but I also wanted to keep my word about supporting the alternative prom.

Approach-avoidance conflict: I wanted to do the right thing and go to the alternative prom, but I wanted to avoid losing Brian, which could happen.

Avoidance-avoidance conflict: I didn’t want to tell Brian I couldn’t go to the prom with him, and I also didn’t want to tell Daniel that I was bailing on the alternative prom.

I was trying to figure out exactly what had gone wrong with my master plan when Lindsay walked by the table. “Have you told him yet?” Her eyes had an accusing look.

I bit my lip.

“You have to tell him today.”

“I know, I know, but the minute I tell him I’ll have to let go of my whole prom fantasy. It’s like giving up the idea of Santa Claus.”

167

Lindsay jokingly patted my shoulder. “You got over that and it’s been okay, hasn’t it?” I pouted. “Yes, but I really miss Santa Claus.” Lindsay left for her locker while I stared down at my book. I was still feeling sorry for myself when Daniel dropped a newspaper on the table in front of me.

The leading headline: CRESTVIEW JUNIORS PLAN ALTERNATIVE PROM. And underneath: BY EMILY BENNET AND

DANIEL CUMMINGS.

“Check it out,” he said. “We’re Bennet and Cummings—saving the world, one alternative prom ticket at a time.”

“Whoa, cool. Where’d you get this?” I said.

“It’s hot off the presses. Ms. Keenan just gave it to me.”

“So where’s the story Carly and Ethan wrote?”

“Buried on page eight. The competition wasn’t even close. They wrote some unoriginal article about how to have the ‘best’ prom experience. Where to find the best clothes, the best hotel, the best
limo
.”

“Ha,” I said. “Wonder which limo service they rec-ommended.”

Daniel laughed. “We’ve got that coeditor position in the bag.”

“You think?”

“Definitely,” Daniel said. Then he got serious for a second and added, “That’s the good news.”

“There’s bad news?” I said, bracing myself.

168

Daniel frowned. “Ms. Burns wants to see us in her office.”

“Again?” I had successfully avoided any principal’s office in more than eleven years. But since my acquaintance with Daniel, I’d become a regular—visiting for the second time in less than three weeks.

Ms. Burns sat across from us with her birdlike face looking pointier than usual. “It has come to my attention,” she said, “that the two of you are plotting to boycott the junior prom.”

I’d previously thought the word
plot
was reserved for talking about novels and assassinations, not fund-raising events. But Ms. Burns seemed to think other-wise. She continued, “I believed you two had learned your lesson after the display at Saint Bart’s.” I was stunned. Suddenly, Daniel and I were the bad guys again.

“You know the members of the board of trustees have many business acquaintances who benefit from both the junior and senior proms: hotel owners, caterers, florists, limousine services. While I appreciate your desire to perform a service to the community, we can’t go upsetting the apple cart because a few students don’t want to go to the prom.”