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At church the next morning, Emily noticed Chloe looked a little out of sorts. She assumed it was about softball. Softball was pretty much all she thought about lately, despite needing to pick a wedding date and educate the island’s teenagers, so it must be all the girls thought about too, right?
She wedged herself into a seat beside Chloe. “Penny for your thoughts?”
Chloe smiled, but her eyes stayed heavy. “I charge at least a dollar.”
“Can’t afford that rate. I’m a teacher.” Emily elbowed her gently. “Come on, spill it. I’m going to be your aunt soon, you know.”
That brightened her eyes. A little. “I’ll tell you later.”
“Oh, come on! Don’t do that to me. Now I’ll be worried sick all through the service and won’t be able to focus on God.”
Chloe feigned disgust and then looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. “I’m just thinking about prom.”
“Prom?” Emily said, too loudly.
“Shh!” Chloe scolded.
“Sorry,” Emily said, lowering her voice. “But prom? Where did that come from?” Emily didn’t even know Piercehaven had a prom—though, now that she thought about it, of course they did. They were still a high school, but oh what a Lilliputian affair a Piercehaven prom must be. A pocket-sized prom, Emily thought and tried not to snicker at her own joke, which she found hilarious. And where do they buy dresses? Her mind flashed back to the tote of gowns in the athletic locker. Ooooh! “When is it?”
“June 3.”
“Chloe, that’s like a month away. Why are you worried about it already?”
Chloe looked at her. “You can’t tell.”
“OK.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“I think Thomas is going to ask Juniper.”
“What? Won’t Juniper be going with Blake?”
“She broke up with him,” Chloe said, as if that was old news.
“What? When? I thought she really liked him.”
“She might have. But he cheated on her, so she said adios.”
“Cheated on her with whom?” Emily couldn’t help it. She was sucked into the drama.
“Some North Haven chick. Don’t know. But people are also saying that Blake’s parents didn’t want him with her anyway, because of the windmills.”
Emily put her head in her hands. “The stupid windmills,” she said through her fingers.
“Yeah. The stupid windmills,” Chloe agreed as Abe called the service to order.
The place was packed. Emily ended up stuck where she was, next to Chloe. Someone had taken her seat next to James. People were sitting on the stairs, and several were standing in the back. Emily wondered what the temperature would be in Abe’s basement come July. She thought maybe they should start having outdoor tent revivals instead.
As Abe and others shared some announcements, Emily reflected on how unmemorable her proms had been. Oh sure, she’d gone through the motions, done the makeup and the big hair, spent hours looking for the perfect dress, but she’d never actually gotten to go with a boy she liked, and she couldn’t remember actually ever having fun. She didn’t think she’d ever even danced at one of those things. She felt a little guilty about not taking Chloe’s pain seriously and promised God to be more compassionate. Then she also prayed, “I’m not sure you even want Thomas and Chloe to be an item, God, but if you wouldn’t mind, could you have him ask her to the prom?” Then she thought that prayer was more likely to be answered if Thomas were a follower of Jesus. “Also, God, could you draw Thomas to you, please? He could sure use you right now.”
She wondered briefly why the boys were all so gaga over Juniper. Yes, she was beautiful. But so was Chloe. And Hailey. And a bunch of other girls—including Sara, if one could see beneath all the extra-pale foundation and black eyeliner. But then as she thought about it, she figured it out. Juniper was new blood. All these kids had known each other since preschool. They were sick of each other. It was like dating extended family members. And here comes a girl they’ve never seen before, a girl with long dark hair and big brown eyes. No wonder. She looked at MacKenzie and Noah, sitting on the stairs holding hands, and smiled. At least one couple was working.
All week long, at school, Emily was tempted to say something to Thomas, but she couldn’t think of a way to do so that wouldn’t be inappropriate. She wasn’t really supposed to be getting involved with her students’ social lives. But still, she cared about the situation a great deal. She loved them both and didn’t want to see her precious Chloe get hurt.
