I’m waiting for my alarm clock to go off. I hardly slept last night, because I was so excited about becoming Brent’s future girlfriend. Now I’m trying to think up reasons to talk to him. Funny, most of my daydreams had been about creative-yet-happy ways for Claire to be out of the picture and she solved that one for me herself! The only thing I’ve thought of so far in regard to Brent is to ask to borrow a pen or something and that is beyond boring. Besides, I always have plenty of pens with me. I buy them by the pack at Paper Plus.
The alarm buzzes. I hit the off button, since I’m too awake to snooze. I get up and head to the bathroom to wash my face and try to think of all the stuff I have to do today besides finding a way to talk to Brent. One thing I need to do is call that Springfield Fish and Chips place and see if I can convince them to lend me the caldron for Macbeth in exchange for free advertising in the program.
Randi, Tanya, Nina and I all walk to school together, but scatter shortly thereafter. That’s the way it’s been lately. Nina is always going to talk to Duke or Marc or Trevor about Macbeth, Tanya somehow splits her time between Todd and Del without major fireworks and Randi somehow manages to be with Kurt when Justin “just happens” to be nearby. Kurt always looks so love-struck and happy, and, interesting thing is, so does Randi. Maybe she’s an even better actress than Nina, though. Why else would she always be at her oohie coo-iest exactly when Justin is looking her way?
Suddenly, across a crowded hallway, I see Brent. The lyrics to Some Enchanted Evening float through my mind. I know I can’t put off trying to talk to him. Graduation is only a few weeks away. I take a deep breath and slither through the well-scrubbed masses until I reach his side. “H-hi-hi, Brent.”
I want to crawl into a locker after that stutter greeting, but I remind myself that Brent is a really nice guy and I am not being graded on this.
“Hi, Becca.” Brent gives me a thoughtful smile and says, “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have a pen I could borrow, would you?”
Am I suddenly living a charmed life or what? I mean, could this be any easier? Okay, I was the one who risked being compressed and flattened worming my way to his side, but still. “I do!” I dig into my book bag and pull out one of those many pens I carry. For me, having enough pens is kind of like having a security blanket. “Here.”
I touch his hand as I give it to him.
“Thanks!” Brent says, his eyes lighting up with sunny cheerfulness. “I’ll get it back to you at the end of the day.”
I’m about to say, keep it. But then I think that if he gives it back to me later, it’ll be a reason to see him again. The stars are aligning!
In English class Colt and I discover we got an A on our paper on Pride and Prejudice. We celebrate with a fist bump. “It was the power of you and me working together,” Colt says, and I have to agree.
At lunch, Tanya makes an announcement. “Todd and I are done. Del and I are going together again.” She does not elaborate. I’ve been seeing Crystal Weatherall lurking around both Todd and Del. Maybe Todd was more susceptible to Crystal’s lie-in-wait strategy.
“Since prom is so expensive,” Tanya continues, “and none of us are going with anyone who can drive, anyway ….” She seems to be checking Randi’s reaction out of the corner of her eye. When Randi doesn’t announce that she’s going to prom with Justin or anything, Tanya goes on. “So, I thought, why don’t we all go to prom single. On the cheap. We can walk to The Valley Inn. It’s not that far and we can meet up with Del and Kurt and, um ….” She looks at me and Nina. “And whoever.”
“How do we go on the cheap?” Nina tilts her head to one side. That’s especially important to her, since she has to count every penny.
“I’ve got it all figured out.” Tanya wriggles her brows mischievously. “The tickets are the least expensive part. It’s the dress, shoes and splurging at the salon stuff that’s so expensive for us girls. If the guys were taking a date, they’d have to worry about a tux, going out to dinner, buying a corsage and everything. No date, no worries about all that.”
“Um, no dress? No—” Randi starts to say, but Tanya holds up her hand to cut her off.
“We can go to Victoria’s Vintage over by the university for dresses. I’ve heard they have great gowns for seriously low prices. And, hey, we can do our own hair and makeup.”
“What about the guys?” I ask, although I’m not too concerned about anyone in particular. If I go to prom, I’ll be able to see Brent and maybe even dance with him. I’m sure Claire will make it easy for me.
“They’re freshman guys. Who’s going to even notice them, never mind care if they show up in a jacket and tie instead of a tux. I mean, I’m sure they’ve got jackets and ties buried in their closets somewhere. What else do they need if they’re going single?”
Randi, Nina and I look at each other and shrug.
“I’ve already pitched this idea to Del and he’s fine with it,” Tanya says. “So who else is going to talk to what guy about going?”
“If I suggest it, Kurt will go,” Randi says, all calm and sure of herself.
Ah, so apparently Randi has decided against the whole pre-prom thing with Justin! I mean, who would go and do “that” and then meet some other guy at the prom?
“I think probably Marc would go, if I mention it,” Nina says.
All eyes turn to me. I, of course, want to go so I can see Brent there, but I don’t want to say that. “I don’t know,” I say. “I … I could go and take pictures for the school paper.” Yeah, that’s a good reason! Even if I’m not sure there will be another school paper that late in the year. Probably no one else will think of that.
“So you’ll talk to Colt about it?” Tanya asks.
Colt? Well, why not Colt? It was actually fun dancing with him at the Cotillion. “Yeah, sure. He can shoot videos.”
Tanya claps. “It’ll be so fun!”
* * *
After lunch, the perfection continues. Colt and I find out we got an A- on our biology lab work, Nina talks to Duke about the cauldron idea and he’s good with that. I decide to head to the sidewalk in front of the school, so that I am technically off campus, and call the manager of Springfield Fish and Chips during my study session with Colt. After I tell him the manager likes the idea, Colt volunteers his Dad and their truck for us to pick it up when the time comes.
Then, just before going over our biology notes during our free period, I suggest the prom thing to Colt, emphasizing the pictures and videos and making sure it does not sound at all like a date.
“Sure,” Colt says. “I can always post the videos on the internet, but I don’t know if there will be another issue of To Be Frank-lin for your photos, Becca.”
“So that’s a yes?” I ask. I mean, I can go even if he doesn’t, but it would look better if he goes too. Otherwise it might look a little weird if I’m the only one documenting prom for posterity.
“Yeah. Definitely, it’s a yes.” Colt gives me a wide, open smile.
“Great,” I say. With both Colt and me there, no one will be suspicious of my motives for going and that’ll make it easier to connect with Brent.
After our study session I head into Health class thinking the day can’t possibly get any better, when I notice Ms. Bianco sitting in Ms. Prentice’s chair. Funny, I walked right by Ms. Prentice in the hall this morning. I wonder if she suddenly got sick. I hope it’s nothing contagious.
The room starts filling up and there’s a definite buzz going on. Kids are whispering and talking behind their hands. When Todd Cook sits down next to me, I ask him if he knows what’s happening.
“You haven’t heard?” Todd’s eyebrows shoot up.
“Um, no.” If I’d heard, would I have asked, I do not say.
He leans across the aisle and whispers, “During lunch Ms. Prentice got pulled over for running a stop sign. Turns out she was holding a glass of wine, and the cop saw marijuana on the passenger seat.”
I gasp. “What happened to The Triangle of Life? Trust? Respect? Responsibility?”
“Good question,” Todd says. “All I know is that with DUI and possession charges, we might not be seeing Ms. Prentice for a while.”
“Yikes,” is all I can say. My stomach is clenched tight. What happened? The day had been going so perfectly. Of course, this isn’t about me. The arrest is Ms. Prentice’s problem. Not mine. Still, I stir uneasily in my chair for the rest of the period, trying to shake off a feeling of impending doom.