CHAPTER 35

“A merry heart does good like medicine.”

—Proverbs 17:22

The gym was covered with a ton of white tulle, streamers, glitter, and about a thousand stars hanging from the ceiling. Obviously a bunch of kids and probably just as many moms had spent all day decorating the place.

Jeremy supposed it was real pretty. The lights were dim, the music was good, and everyone looked like they were having a great time.

Unfortunately he was starting to wish he hadn’t come. It was now a quarter to nine. Bethany said she would be there by now but she wasn’t. He didn’t blame her for being stuck at rehearsal, but he still wished she would have at least texted him or something.

At first, after going to Finn’s dinner and arriving with the popular senior’s huge group of friends, Jeremy had been feeling pretty good. No one had questioned why Bethany had to arrive late. Instead, everyone had acted impressed—both with the fact that she had a starring role in the ballet and that he was her date.

But after a while, everyone had started dancing and he was now standing by himself near the door.

He felt like a loser.

He was pretty sure that out of everyone in the room, he was the only person who was standing alone. He hated that.

“Jeremy, are you okay?” Mrs. Keeperman asked as she approached.

His favorite teacher, who usually only wore baggy khaki pants, old-school Converse tennis shoes, and sweaters was dressed up in a dark-purple dress. She was even wearing high heels and red lipstick. It was enough to spin him out of the cycle he’d been living in for the last two hours. “Wow, Mrs. K. You look great.”

She rolled her eyes. “Everyone’s been teasing me from the moment I got here. That’s what I get for not wearing my usual clothes.”

He shrugged. “Maybe so, but you still look nice.” Feeling like a dork, he said, “Are you having a good time?”

“Even though I’ve almost tripped twice, I’m pretty sure that I’m having a better time than you are. You look like you’d rather be anywhere else.”

“I’m okay.”

“I could have sworn that you had a date for this shindig. Did I get that wrong . . . ? Or did something happen?”

“No. I do have a date. I mean, I thought I did . . .” His voice drifted off. What was there to say, anyway? He had a plastic container holding a flower corsage in one hand and a silent cell phone in the other. If Bethany had been trying to get a hold of him, she would’ve by now. “I’m probably not going to stay very long.”

Her expression sobered even more. “For what it’s worth, I’m sure sorry about whatever happened. But I’m glad you came here anyway.”

“Why’s that?” The words escaped before he could stop them.

Mrs. Keeperman shrugged. “I’ve always thought we get too much credit for doing the easy stuff. Who cares if you do things that everyone expects you to do or always say the right thing because no one will get mad? But doing that hard stuff? The things that hurt and cause pain and maybe even make someone think twice about you? Well, that’s what counts in the end. At least that’s what I’ve always thought.”

Had he done that? Thinking about learning to survive those other foster placements, it had been hard. Learning to trust Gunnar enough to be himself? That had been harder, but it had been worth it.

Was he doing that now, believing in Bethany and waiting around for her even though she might never show up? Maybe, but he wasn’t sure about that. “Uh, thanks?”

She chuckled. “No problem.” She looked like she was about to say something more but groaned instead. “Oh, great. I just got flagged over by Mr. Pauly. He better not be about to ask me to hunt down some wandering kids. My feet are going to kill me.”

She left without another word, but her grumpy statement had sparked a smile out of him. It looked like she’d been taking her own advice and her “hard stuff” was walking around the gym in high heels.

“Jeremy, what’s going on?” Phillip called out as he and three other guys approached. “Did you not see us waving for you to come over?”

“Sorry, no. I was um just talking to Mrs. Keeperman.”

“We saw,” Mark, another one of his buddies, said. “We decided we better come get you.”

“Why?” He realized then that their dates weren’t standing nearby. Like not at all. “Wait, where are your dates?”

“Ellie, Carson, and Alyssia ran to the bathroom together,” Mark said. “I don’t know where everyone else is.”

“Bethany’s over near the back,” Phillip said.

“What? I didn’t see her come in.”

“That’s what I told her. She walked in the back door and was looking for you. When I saw you were up here, I told her I’d come get you.”

“Wow. Thanks.”

Phillip grinned as they started walking through the crowd. “By the way, you owe me.”

“Because?”

“Because Erik Mason has been circling her like a shark. It’s obvious that she’s sick of him already.”

Craning his head, Jeremy switched from trying to locate Bethany to searching for Erik—who was one of the few guys in the school who made sure to tell Jeremy that he didn’t hang out with foster kids. “What’s Erik been doing? Has he been touching her or something?”

“Not anymore,” Connor said. “When he tried to put his arm around her waist, she glared at him.”

“Good. I can’t believe all this has been happening while I was on the other side of the gym.”

“It doesn’t matter. She came here to be your date.”

“Yeah.”

Phillip pulled him over to the side. “Look, I’ve got to go. Carson’s coming back. But listen, Carson has told me what Bethany’s told her. She really likes you, man. You need to stop worrying so much, it’s all good now.”

He nodded as the guys left. Some of their dates looked his way, but to his surprise, none of them were looking at him like they wished he was dead. Instead, a couple of them even almost smiled.

Then, at last, he found Bethany. She was in a dark-red dress that was fitted at the top and had a full skirt that brushed the tops of her knees. Her hair was in a complicated-looking bun. She looked like a ballerina and the prettiest girl in the whole gym.

She was also staring directly at him.

Everything inside of him kind of shut down and then opened again. He liked her. He liked her a lot. And what did it matter if half the school was going to be gossiping about them? They already were.

And hadn’t he been through a whole lot worse? Thinking of Kimber and Gunnar, he felt his cheeks redden. What did a little bit of embarrassment have to do with what they’d just gone through?

All the sudden, he stopped worrying about what everybody thought and started through the crowd.

Jeremy knew the instant Bethany realized he was walking directly toward her. Her eyes widened and then she smiled.

He felt his confidence rise and he picked up his pace. “Sorry,” he murmured as he almost ran over a pair of freshman.

Still obviously watching him, Bethany’s smile grew.

And that had been all he’d needed to see. It was going to be okay. Whatever happened next, it was all going to be okay.

Hopefully.

“Hey,” he said. “I’m really sorry I didn’t see you walk in. I was standing at the other door.”

“It’s okay. I meant to look for you right away, but everyone started talking to me. And my phone died. I’m sorry I didn’t text you.”

“It’s fine.” And that was true, because it was fine now.

She smiled up at him. She had on more makeup than usual and her brown eyes looked bright.

“You look really pretty.”

“Thanks.” She looked away.

“I brought you a corsage.”

Her eyes widened. “Have you been holding it this whole time?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but it’s okay. Here.” He handed her the box, silently thanking Kimber for suggesting a wrist corsage instead of one that had to be pinned on. He could only imagine how awkward that would be, with half the school watching him attempt to pin the flowers on the tiny strap of her dress.

She carefully opened the plastic container and pulled out the flowers. He set the box on a nearby table and helped her put it on her wrist. When it was in place, she looked up at him and smiled. “I love it. Thank you.”

Even though he felt all their friends watching them, he reached for her hand. “It looks better on you than in the box.”

She laughed. “So . . .”

“So do you want to dance?” he asked. When she nodded, he carefully led her through all the other couples who were slow dancing.

Holding her hand in his, seeing his buddies’ looks of approval, Jeremy felt like everything in his world had changed again.

This time for the better.