One thing about West Alabama Academy: they knew how to do prom right.
“The yacht club,” Paris said. “Fancy folks. I never thought I’d be playing music here.”
“This is nothing,” Robbie said. “Next month you’ll be shooting a national commercial. Bet you didn’t see that coming either.”
“Can’t say I did,” Paris replied.
“Stick with me, kid,” Robbie said. “I can take you places.”
In the dressing room, the girls found the peanut-butter pretzels, ginger ale, and barbeque chips, just as Kyra had promised. The girl from the prom committee stopped by to see if the girls needed anything else before they went on. “No, thanks,” Tig said. “We’re great. I mean, not like, ‘We’re great’ like we think we’re great or something—”
“We have everything we need,” Robbie said, shaking her head at Tig.
The girls put the finishing touches on their stage looks. Robbie wore spandex pants and a patterned top; Olivia, a graphic tee, jean shorts over purple leggings with combat boots, and a knit beanie; Tig, a plaid peplum top and jeans; Paris, a black leather skirt and black top with a big necklace; and Claire, neon glow-in-the-dark bracelets and black leather pants with a white T-shirt with black stars.
When they were situated on the stage and the lights were still down, Tig could hear the murmur and shuffling of the crowd. It made her nervous, but also excited. When the prom committee chairman said, “Ladies and gentlemen, Pandora’s Box!” Robbie gave a quick nod to Tig before they launched into “Blitzkrieg Bop.” That upbeat tune went over big with the already enthusiastic crowd. Parents, teachers, and all the students were on the floor jumping all over the place. No one was hanging back. The crowd cheered the end of that song as the girls seamlessly segued into “It’s Only Rock ’n Roll.”
Next they launched into “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” followed by the One Nothing song Tig had feared she would mess up. But surprisingly, it wasn’t Tig who flubbed . . . it was Robbie. During the intro, Robbie missed a half step, which threw her off on the drop. She picked it back up in the chorus, though. She turned around and looked at Tig and stuck out her tongue and squeezed her eyes shut. Then they both smiled and nodded at each other. Tig was kind of relieved to see that even Robbie could have an off moment once in a while.
When Claire thanked the crowd and said good night, the girls listened as the audience clapped and requested more. They waited only a minute or two before the encore. There were cheers and whistles when they returned to the stage.
“I hope you all had fun tonight!” Claire said. The crowd whooped. “I know we had fun. And you know. . . .” Claire began slowly singing the title verse of the iconic chorus without musical accompaniment. Even though she sang it drawn out and dramatically, without its customary bounciness, the audience knew what was coming next and went absolutely berserk.
When the band struck up “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” the floor was packed with more dancers than before. As Kyra had promised, balloons came down from the ceiling, and the students, teachers, and parents all squealed as they danced around and sprayed one another using the cans of spray string.
As Pandora’s Box packed up and New Haircut set up, the prom chairman piped music from his phone through the speakers to tide the crowd over. Mrs. Marquez handed Kyra a check. “You ladies did not disappoint,” she said. “Thank you for an excellent opening act!”
“Our pleasure,” Kyra said. “Thank you.”
“Such big things ahead for you girls! National exposure! Who knows what might result? I’m really looking forward to your commercial!” Mrs. Marquez said.
The girls, tired but still racing with adrenaline from a great set, smiled.
“Thanks. So are we,” Tig said. “So are we.”