It’s your senior prom. He likes you. And if he likes you that much, he’ll want to go with you.
I glanced at the address on the scrap of paper in my hand and looked up at the old colonial house in front of me. It was Friday night, and I was supposed to be meeting Ryan and his friends at Brody Walsh’s off-campus house so we could all go to a concert together. One of Lazy Daze’s favorite bands was coming to play, and half his school had bought tickets. Ryan, thoughtful as ever, scored an extra one for me.
And after a week of sweet phone calls that lasted way into the night, I had decided it was time for me to pop the question. Now. In person. When he saw how much it meant to me, he’d have to cave and say he’d be my date. He’d just have to.
Otherwise there was a decent possibility I’d be staying home on prom night. That was so not an option.
I rolled my shoulders back and walked up the three steps to the door. Inside, I could hear a ton of shouting and laughter, and the music was turned up to a deafening level. Knocking seemed rather pointless, so I held my breath and opened the door.
The first thing I saw was Johnny Jackman, the guitarist, running past me as he sprayed champagne everywhere. He laughed with his head thrown back, chasing one of the groupie girls from the concert, who shrieked at the top of her lungs. In the background tons of people chatted and cheered and handed out bottles of beer. Clearly, there was a celebration going on.
“Noelle!”
Ryan rushed over from a crowd of people near the fireplace, lifted me up in his arms, and twirled me around.
“Hey! Nice to see you, too!” I shouted.
“We did it! We made the finals!” Ryan told me gleefully. He set me down on the floor and gave me a celebratory kiss. “We’re going to the Showdown!” he cheered, loudly enough to make the tendons in his neck pop out. Everyone else in the house responded with hollers of joy.
“I knew it!” I shouted, hugging him again. “I knew you’d make it!”
Ryan held me so tightly, I could barely breathe. “You have to come,” he said into my ear. “You have to be there. My good-luck charm.”
I leaned back and looked him in the eye. “Are you kidding? Of course I’ll be there!”
He kissed me again, and I knew for sure I was stressing about nothing when it came to the prom. Look how much I meant to him. There was no way he was going to turn me down. Not when he realized how important it was to me.
“Dude! Check out the flyers Lea made up!” Brody said, rushing over to us, all hyper. “The girl is mad talented.”
He handed over a white flyer, and Ryan and I both checked it out. At the top was the circular Lazy Daze logo, drawn by hand, and underneath was all the info for the Showdown.
“We’re gonna put these up all over campus tomorrow,” Brody said. “At the Showdown the bouncer’s gonna ask everyone as they come in which band they’re there to see. Those record company guys are gonna know everyone turned out to see Lazy Daze!”
“Whoo-hoo!” Johnny shouted from across the room, dousing himself in champagne.
“Here. Take one,” Ryan said, handing the flyer to me. “Maybe you can get some people from your school to come.”
“Totally,” I replied with a smile.
“Want something to drink?” he asked me.
“I’ll take a soda,” I said.
Ryan squeezed my hand and hurried off toward the kitchen. I glanced at the flyer again. This was insane. They actually had a shot at a recording contract. In a few weeks Ryan could be making an album.
I had to get all my friends to come. They would love it. I whipped out my phone and was about to call Aurora to give her the info, when my eyes fell on the Showdown date.
The entire world came screeching to a halt.
June eighth. June eighth?
I swallowed hard, feeling sick to my stomach. Apparently I wouldn’t be getting a bunch of people from my school to show up. At least not seniors.
The Showdown was the exact same night as the senior prom.
Saturday afternoon, I took out my prom dress and hung it up on my closet door. Then I pulled out my prom tickets and sat down in my desk chair. I fingered the gold filigree border on the thick white cards and stared at the pretty pink beading on the bodice of my dress.
I could give this stuff up, couldn’t I? I didn’t really need to go to the prom. I mean, so what if I’d been dreaming about it basically my entire life? This was Ryan’s future we were talking about here!
So why did my whole body feel sick at the thought?
“This totally sucks,” I said under my breath.
“You talking to yourself again?” my sister asked, sticking her head into my room.
My hands flew to my chest. “Scare the crap out of me, why don’t you?”
Faith pushed open the door and walked into my room. “What’s the matter? Why are you staring at your prom dress as if it holds the meaning of life?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and raised one eyebrow behind her square glasses. Suddenly I remembered there were benefits to having an older sister. Right here in my very room was someone who had, very recently, been through all this stuff.
“Faith, do you think you’d regret it if you had missed your senior prom?” I asked, tossing the tickets onto my desk.
“That snoozefest? Are you kidding?” she said. She plopped down onto my bed. “I would’ve been better off staying home to watch that Buffy marathon.”
I laughed. “There was a Buffy marathon on that night?”
“Yes! And the fact that I remember just goes to show how very lame the night was for me,” she said. “But you? I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, even though I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say.
“Noelle, I was never that big on all that high school crap,” she said. “You know, sports and spirit and ‘Omigod! We’re going to keep in touch for the rest of our lives!’” she said dramatically, clasping her hands together. “But you? You live for that stuff.”
“Thanks,” I said sarcastically.
“It’s not a bad thing! We’re just different,” she told me. “I wouldn’t regret missing the prom. You, however, probably would. You’d probably stay up nights sobbing about it until you get old and you’re all wrinkled and smelly.”
“Great.” I slumped slightly and stared. Not exactly the pep talk I’d been looking for.
“What’s going on? Do you have another offer for that night or something?” she asked.
“Yeah. Ryan’s band is playing in this Showdown thing in the city and—”
“The Showdown!? You have got to be kidding me,” Faith said, standing up. “His band made it to the Showdown?”
“You know about it?” I asked, surprised.
“Everyone knows about it! That’s a huge deal!” Faith exclaimed. “And he wants you to go?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Then you have to go. Noelle, the Showdown is, like, impossible to get into,” she said. “And your boyfriend would be in one of the bands? That is so cool!”
“What happened to ‘You’ll regret missing your prom until you smell’?” I asked.
“Screw the prom! Screw high school! This is real life! It’s the city! It’s hot boys in bands!” she cried, curling her fingers into fists.
“I literally don’t think I’ve ever seen you this excited,” I told her with a laugh.
“Then take me seriously!” Faith said. “You have to go to this. It’ll be so much cooler than some alcohol-free, twinkle-light, and chicken Kiev crapfest.”
I laughed, suddenly feeling much happier. “You’re right,” I said. “Screw high school! It’s practically over anyway. Who needs it?”
I grabbed the prom tickets off my desk and was about to tear them in half, when something stopped me. I stared down at the swirly script, the words Jefferson High School Senior Prom, and I just couldn’t do it. Instead I whipped open my desk drawer, shoved them inside, and slammed it shut.
“Way to make a statement, Noelle,” Faith said dryly.
“One step at a time,” I told her.
I could feel Ryan watching me as I raced forward to return a short lob to my opponent, Genevieve Price, and I smiled. Even in the heat of battle, just knowing Ryan was there made me smile.
Genevieve returned my shot, and I reached for it, turning my racket to slam it directly into the court six inches from the net. She had backed up in anticipation of a long shot, and she had no chance. She dove for it but missed by a mile.
“Game! Set! Match! Bairstow!”
The crowd cheered, but no one louder than Ryan. As I shook Genevieve’s hand, he stuffed his fingers into his mouth and whistled. It was so piercing, a few people winced.
“Nice win!” Ryan said as he loped down the metal bleachers in his black boots. “You went all Sharapova on that girl!”
I laughed and shoved my racket into its bag. “What does that mean?”
Ryan blanched slightly. “Isn’t that how you pronounce it? I thought she was some sick tennis player.”
“Oh, no. She is,” I said. “I just thought you meant I did something specific that was, you know, Sharapova-esque.”
Ryan reached for my duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder without even asking. “Actually, I wouldn’t know. I didn’t get that far in my research.”
I paused. “You did research? Again?”
“Not did. Am doing,” he said, walking backward as we headed for the parking lot. “It’s an ongoing thing.”
“That’s so—”
“What?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t know. Totally unnecessary and yet ridiculously sweet?” I suggested.
Ryan tilted his head and turned to walk next to me. “I just wanted to find out more about the sport, you know, since it’s such a big part of your life.”
I felt warm all over and not from the sun. Ryan cared about me. Really cared. Like took time out of his busy college-student/drummer/barista life to read up on things that were important to me.
I gazed at his profile, and I knew. This was a person I was willing to miss the prom for. There were just certain things way more important than a high school dance.
“So, what else have you learned?” I asked.
“Well, I read a lot about the Williams sisters. I even watched one of their old matches on ESPN Classics. Which, by the way, was a channel I didn’t even know I had,” he said. “Those girls throw more aces than anyone.”
I laughed. “You don’t throw an ace.”
“Oh. Sorry. They’ve aced more people—”
“Actually, an ace is really more of a noun, not a verb,” I said.
Ryan’s brow knit. “This sport is more complicated than I thought,” he deadpanned.
I looped an arm through his and kept walking. “Don’t worry. I’m sure that together, we can figure it all out.”
“It is going to kick ass,” Jonah proclaimed as he approached our lunch table on Monday afternoon. “My dad is going all out, dude. It’ll be even better than the prom.”
I squirmed slightly as he sat down and I saw that he’d been talking to Zach, who was trailing behind him. Zach glanced at me coolly, then sat down at the far end of the table. He hadn’t joined us since our breakup, and I was surprised to see him here now, considering he hadn’t deigned to talk to me since I’d told him we weren’t getting back together.
“What’re you guys talking about?” Aurora asked, popping a baby carrot into her mouth.
“Jonah’s post-prom party,” Danielle told us, sliding into the seat across from mine. She grabbed her lemonade and shook it up. “His dad is renting out one of those party boats that cruises the lake. Jonah’s inviting half the class.”
“The cool half,” Jonah said with a laugh, then slapped hands with Zach.
“Sweet. Drake and I will definitely be there,” Aurora said. She glanced at Zach, then looked at me mischievously. I could feel the drama coming on. “So, Noelle, have you asked Ryan yet?”
Zach looked up. His face turned red. I could have killed Aurora. But then, what was I supposed to do? Protect Zach from the details of my social life forever? He was going to find out sooner or later.
“Actually, no,” I told her, clearing my throat. I looked around at my friends, feeling almost sorry for them. They were going to flip out when they heard what was coming next. “I don’t think I’m going to the prom.”
“What?” every single one of them exclaimed in unison. Including Zach.
“Well. Hello there,” I said to him, trying to deflect a little of the attention.
“I’m sorry, but you’ve gotta be kidding,” he protested. “Suzy High School not going to her own senior prom?”
“No, it’s just that Ryan’s band made it into this huge competition thing in Chicago that night, and they might even get signed by a record label. I can’t ask him to miss that.”
“So go with someone else,” Zach said.
“I…can’t.”
“Why? Are you, like, seeing this guy now? I thought he was gay.”
“He’s not,” I told him, swallowing hard. “I just recently found out that he’s not,” I clarified, hoping to put the subject to rest.
“Lucky girl,” Danielle said under her breath, winking at me.
“What?” Jonah asked.
“Nothing!” she trilled, smiling sweetly. She rubbed his upper arm and smooched his cheek. “I love you!”
Jonah smiled and went back to his lunch.
“Anyway, it looks like I’ll be going to this Showdown thing that night,” I said, shrugging. Trying to make it look as if I was totally and completely fine with the whole situation.
“I’m sorry, but I cannot approve of this plan,” Danielle stated, scrunching up a napkin and tossing it onto her tray. “I don’t care how hot the guy is. I can’t imagine the prom without you.”
“This band of his better be the next Coldplay,” Aurora muttered.
“They are, you guys. Well, not Coldplay exactly, but they’re so good,” I gushed.
“I’d have to see for myself,” Danielle said. “Then maybe I’ll be able to give my stamp of approval.”
“Then why don’t you?” I suggested. “They have a gig on campus this weekend. We could all go!”
Aurora and Danielle looked at Jonah and Zach.
“I’m sorry, I just don’t believe this,” Zach said, glaring directly at me. “I don’t believe that you, of all people, are going to miss the senior prom. You’ve been looking forward to it for three years.”
My stomach clenched as I stared back at him. “No, Zach,” I wanted to say. “We’ve been looking forward to it for three years. But you kind of screwed all that up when you went for Melanie Faison.”
“Well, things change,” I said finally.
“Not this much.” Zach shook his head. “I just don’t think you should let this guy make you miss the prom, that’s all.”
Oddly, I actually felt touched at this sentiment. Maybe Zach did still care about me, at least a little. And he knew me well. Part of me couldn’t believe I was missing the prom either. But at least I knew it was for a good reason.
“He’s not making me do anything,” I said. “This was my decision. So, who wants to go see Lazy Daze this weekend?” I added quickly, dying for a subject change.
“I’ve got better things to do, thanks,” Zach said grumpily.
“I’ll be doing better things with him,” Jonah said.
“Fine. Be lame,” Danielle told them. “We’re in, right, Aurora?”
“I’ve been looking for an excuse to wear my new purple leather pants,” she said with a shrug.
“Cool,” I said, shaking off the negativity Zach had brought down on me. “This is going to be fun.”