What's Your Status? (35 page)

Nate and I stepped to the side and headed for the doors that led to the ballrooms. “You go ahead,” I said, trying to appear like I was not currently experiencing a meltdown. I needed to figure out how to get around this bracelet thing. If I couldn’t, I should just surrender and turn myself in to Dr. Trent. “Official prom business,” I said, giving him my best attempt at a smile.

“See you in there,” Nate said, squeezing my hand and continuing in to the prom.

I wondered what I was supposed to do now. The plan depended on the assumption that we would have access to both proms. And apparently, eighties formal wear was no longer going to be enough to get us in. I forced myself to try to think clearly. Only people with Hartfield dates were being given red bracelets. Which meant…

Which meant I’d need a Hartfield date.

I scanned the Hartfield line—girls in bubble-gum-pink dresses and guys in baggy white suits. My eyes fell on a guy standing alone, and I took a deep breath and made my way over to him. He was cute, I saw as I got closer. He was wearing a houndstooth check bow tie with matching cummerbund and was medium height, with spiky black hair and killer cheekbones. A little stunned that I was actually going to do this, I tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hi there,” I said, with a big smile.

He turned to me, looking confused. “Um, hi.”

I held out my hand. “I’m Madison MacDonald.” He
tilted his head to the side, as though he recognized the name and was trying to place me.

“Andy Lee,” he said, shaking hands with me.

“Do you have a date?”

“Um.” He looked around, as though trying to make sure I was talking to him. “No.”

Jackpot.
“Wow, that’s too bad, Andy.”

“It’s not exactly my fault,” he said a little defensively. “I just moved from Minnesota, and it’s not like I know that many people yet.”

“Oh, totally understandable,” I said, nodding. “So, since you don’t have a date, I was wondering if it would be possible for me to go with you. Would that be cool?”

Andy was staring at me like I’d grown an extra head. “Is this some kind of dare or something?” he asked. He looked around again, this time as though someone might be recording us. “Is this going to end up on YouTube?”

“No, no,” I said as we moved closer to the front of the Hartfield line. I turned my back to Dr. Trent’s end of the table. “I just really want to go to this prom. And you seem…nice.”

Andy pointed at my bracelet. “Aren’t you going to the Putnam prom?”

“Yes,” I said quickly. “Well spotted, Andy. But I wanted to go to this one, too. I just really…love proms.” Andy didn’t say anything but, incredibly, seemed to be considering it. “Look, I’ll pay for my own ticket, and I promise that I won’t bother you or anything.”

“Well…” Andy looked around one last time, as if making sure that he wasn’t being punk’d. “I guess so.”

“Thank you,” I said, incredibly relieved. “I really appreciate it.”

“Sure,” Andy said, giving me a smile for the first time. “I mean, the prom’s more fun with a date, right?”

Oh, crap. “Well,” I said, trying to backpedal a little, “it’s not going to be like a
real
date, exactly….”

“Name?” The woman working the Hartfield list looked up at us.

“Anderson Lee,” Andy said. “And, um, date. But I need a ticket for her. I guess.”

“That’ll be eighty,” the woman said, checking off Andy’s name.

I dug in my purse and located the money that my mother had given me to buy food over the weekend. Travis and I would just have to make do with ramen, or something. “Here,” I said, counting out four twenties. The woman frowned at me, and I tried to act like this was completely normal behavior.

“Wrists?” she finally asked. I tucked my blue-braceleted wrist behind my back and held out my other hand to her. She snapped a red bracelet over my wrist and did the same for Andy. “I am to officially remind all students that there will be no…” she started.

“Got it,” I said, not wanting to have to listen to the speech again. She appeared relieved to be able to skip it as well, and waved us inside.

“Enjoy the prom,” she said. “Next!”

I walked around to Andy’s other side and kept my head down to avoid being seen by Dr. Trent. When we made it through the doors without anyone yelling at me
to stop, I let out a small breath and looked around, happy to see that the résumé kids had followed through on their one job. The area in front of the Rosebud Ballroom had been transformed since I’d last been there, with balloons and streamers in our prom colors—silver and blue—everywhere. There was a hotel employee standing outside the doors to the Rosebud Ballroom, checking bracelets as people went in.

Andy gestured to the staircase, which had white and gold balloons—presumably Hartfield’s prom colors—tied to the railings. “Should we go up?” he asked.

“Um,” I said, glancing toward our ballroom. “I’ll meet you up there in a minute. Just have to…check in on the other prom.”

“Okay,” he said, smiling at me again. “This might actually be fun, Madison. I’ll see you soon.” He gave me a wave and headed up the staircase, showing a hotel employee standing on the stairs his red bracelet. As I watched him go, it hit me that I probably should have mentioned that I had a boyfriend.

Well, I could do that later. I showed my blue bracelet to the employee at the door and entered the ballroom.

For all of Kittson’s tyrannical methods, I had to give her credit. All the errands and lectures and extra work had truly paid off. She had pulled together a beautiful prom. The ballroom was stunning—silver and blue balloons covering the ceiling, silver and blue soft swirling lights over the dance floor, and streamers everywhere. The tables that surrounded the dance floor were covered in silver sparkles that picked up the light, making
the entire ballroom seem like it was underwater. Which was ironic, considering the theme. But it was magical. I allowed myself a moment to stand there and just take it all in.

“Madison!” I turned to see Kittson hurrying toward me.

“Hey,” I said. “Congratulations. This is amazing. It’s just—”

“We have a problem,” she interrupted me.

Oh, dear God. “What now?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

“Look around, Madison,” she said. “What’s missing?”

I looked around. Everything seemed to be perfect. People were milling about the tables; the decorations were immaculate; the lights were in sync; it was very quiet….

“Where’s the music?” I asked.

“Exactly,” she said. “Tanner was your responsibility. He better not have flaked, or you’re DJing this prom yourself.” She took a breath and looked down at my wrist, her eyes widening. “You got a red bracelet,” she said, looking relieved. “How’d you manage it?”

“I got a date to the Hartfield prom,” I said. “Don’t tell Nate.”

“Well played,” Kittson said, looking at me with more respect than I’d ever seen from her before.

“I’m going to find Tanner,” I said. “Um, if you see Nate, tell him I’m on my way.”

“Sure,” Kittson said, heading back across the ballroom. I looked in the direction she was walking and
saw that she had commandeered a table off to the side. Normally, it never would have been the table Kittson—or anyone else, for that matter—would have chosen. It was tucked away, almost pushed against the wall, not well lit, and near an exit door. So for our purposes, it was perfect.

I walked out of the ballroom toward the checkpoint area. I was worried that the hotel employee guarding the door might stop me, but he was busy examining a bracelet and didn’t notice me. As I looked around for Tanner, I saw that the person currently at the front of the line was Ruth.

She looked great, I noted with a flicker of former BFF pride. Her dress was lovely, a simple cream-colored gown that suited her perfectly. Her hair was up, and she carried a small evening bag in one hand. But she was standing alone, and I wondered if she’d driven herself over. Then I wondered if she’d had to shop for the dress by herself. The thought made me sadder than I was prepared for. I looked down at my own dress, then across the room at hers, and felt a pang, thinking of the picture of us in our prom dresses that we would never take. Ruth got her bracelet, and I forced myself to look away and get back to searching for Tanner.

He was nowhere to be found, but standing off to the side was a guy clearly too old to be a student, texting on his phone. He was wearing a black T-shirt that read
Play That Funky Music!
and was carrying a bag that appeared to be filled with electronic equipment. He looked so professional I was immediately ashamed of Tanner. Clearly, this was a DJ who understood what someone
meant by “prom music.” He also looked lost, and I took pity on him.

“Hi,” I said, walking up to him. “Are you the DJ?”

“Yes,” he said, closing his phone and looking relieved to see me. “I’m Chris, from Play That Funky Music Entertainment. Are you from the prom? I’m supposed to talk to someone named Isabel so I can get set up.”

“Mad!” I turned toward the voice and saw Tanner running full speed toward me. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I kept trying to find this place, but the hotel people kept directing me to this bat mitzvah. And there was this really long hallway, and I don’t know why they kept sending me there….”

It might have had something to do with the fact that Tanner looked about Travis’s age in his T-shirt and backpack. It was kind of depressing to see the contrast of Tanner standing next to a real, professional DJ.

A terrible, devious idea suddenly occurred to me. It was going outside the plan, but it would fit nicely with Kittson’s revenge initiative. But I dismissed it. I couldn’t do that to Isabel.

But a second later, I remembered the sight of my mangled dress hanging off her bag, and the way she’d smiled when she’d taken our crown from a crying Schuyler. She
deserved
this.

“Well!” I said brightly. “So glad you’re both here. Sorry about the confusion. We have two events here tonight, so things are a bit hectic. Chris, you’re going to be doing the Putnam prom.”

“What!” Tanner said, looking affronted.

“And, Tanner, your special skills are going to be used to entertain the Hartfield students.”

“All right,” Chris said. “Where do I set up?”

“Just go to that table,” I said, gesturing to where Dr. Trent was sitting, “and tell him that you’re here to DJ the Putnam prom. And they’ll tell you where to go!”

“Great,” Chris said, shouldering his bag. “Thanks.” He headed straight up to the table, walking around the line, and as I watched, Stephanie snapped a blue bracelet on his wrist, and he headed through the doors toward the Rosebud Ballroom.

“Thanks a lot, Mad,” Tanner said, his voice cracking a bit. “I really worked hard on this gig. And then you replace me at the last minute with a total sellout like that? I thought we were friends.”

“We are,” I said, turning to Tanner, “which is why I need you to DJ this other prom. Because they’re the ones who can appreciate your unique…vision. Do you still have that playlist you made? The one with Satan Muppets?”

“Yes,” Tanner said slowly. “And it’s
awesome.
But I don’t know what…”

“I think you need to play what’s on that playlist,” I said. “And
only
that. And even if people tell you to play other things, you should stand strong. Don’t take any requests. Stay true to your vision!”

“Yeah,” Tanner said, his eyes lighting up. “I can do that.”

“Great. Go up to that table,” I said, gesturing to the Hartfield side, “and tell them that you’re Chris the DJ
from Play That Funky Music Entertainment. Can you do that? Or should I write it down?”

“No, I’ll remember,” he said excitedly. “Is that, like, my DJ alias?”

“Exactly,” I said. “You’ll do great, Tanner. Go rock out!”

“Thanks, Mad!” Tanner said, beaming at me. “Catch you on the flip side!” I watched long enough to see him walk up to the table and get a bracelet; then I slipped back inside and headed to the Rosebud Ballroom.

Chris was setting up his professional-looking equipment, and I smiled as I headed to our table. It was overcrowded, which was funny, since it was clearly the worst table at the prom. But wedged around it were Nate, Jimmy, Liz, Schuyler, Connor, Kittson, Turtell, Brian, and Melissa.

I caught Liz’s eye as I got closer to the table, and she came over to meet me. “Hi, Liz,” I said as we walked together toward the table. I handed her my small prom purse. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, fine,” she said. She handed me her bag. “How are you?” she asked.

“Can’t complain,” I said as we reached the table. Nate stood up and smiled when he saw me. It looked like he’d been sitting next to Melissa, and my heart gave a funny little twist.

“Where’s Tanner?” Kittson asked me as I approached.

“DJing the Hartfield prom,” I said quietly.

“Madison, I think I underestimated you,” Kittson said
in an awed voice. I felt the bag in my hand vibrate and saw that the phone was lit up with an update. Schuyler, Kittson, and Turtell looked down as well, and I knew it must have been heist-related.

Dave Gold → the crew
Getting all set up in the greenroom before the show. Ready when you are.