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Authors: Dorian Cirrone

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BOOK: Prom Kings and Drama Queens
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“How about brown? My legs can be like the stem of the grapes.”

81

“Perfect,” Lindsay said. “Now can we eat?” I’d lured Lindsay over my house to blow up balloons with the promise of pizza for dinner. I’d overheard my mom on the phone ordering some. I could smell the crust and the cheese as we walked down the hall to the kitchen.

But when we got there, I stopped short. “Eww, what have you done with our dinner?”

“Sorry,” my mom said. “I had to do it—to para-phrase an old joke, ‘It is better to look good than to taste good.’ I’m doing a photo shoot for a flyer.”

“Right,” I said, staring at the pizzas. They were spread out on different levels on the kitchen table, but had been pretty much rendered inedible. By the looks of the bottles and containers on the counter, I figured out my mom had doused the toppings with oil so they wouldn’t look dried out and painted the crust a more golden brown with shoe polish.

Lindsay looked at me with pleading eyes.

“Um, Mom, could you give us some money for pizza that doesn’t look as good but tastes okay?” I said.

She dug a twenty out of a kitchen drawer and handed it to me. “Bring the leftovers home.” As we backed out of the driveway, I caught a glimpse of Brian shooting baskets out front. I beeped the horn and waved.

“Aren’t we chummy these days?” Lindsay said.

82

“What’s going on with you two, anyway?” I shrugged. “I’m not sure. He’s either grateful that I saved the team’s butt by not saying who was at Saint Bart’s, happy that I’m being nice to his grandmother, or—and this is the one I’m hoping for—finally aware of my existence as a potential girlfriend.”

“Maybe a little of all three,” Lindsay said.

I turned onto the highway. “Maybe I’ll find out tomorrow night at the party.”

83

ELEVEN

Emily Reaches Shoreline

I shivered in the ocean breeze. I was wearing the tank top I’d planned to wear under my costume, but I had to help Lindsay before I put my balloon shirt on. I was wrapping her like a mummy in aluminum foil, when a few other cars pulled into the parking lot of Austin’s condo building.

“Ohhhh, sexy!” a voice yelled toward us. It belonged to Randy Clausen, who was dressed as a Girl Scout, complete with a box of Thin Mint cookies in her hand.

I was pretty sure it was her actual Girl Scout uniform from fourth grade. She could barely button the shirt, and the skirt just covered her butt. She looked like a middle-aged perv’s fantasy girl.

84

The guy with her, who was dressed in huge pants, a couple of T-shirts, and lots of gold chains, put his arm around her. “We’re the gangsta and the Girl Scout,” he announced.

“I’m a stick of gum,” Lindsay blurted. Her voice cracked.

The gangsta smirked as he passed by. “Hope nobody chews you up and spits you out.”

“That was rude,” Lindsay said, holding her leg out for me to wrap.

“They’re not exactly the most sensitive crowd,” I said. “But really, Brian is nothing like them. You should see him with his grandmother.”

“Whatever,” Lindsay said. “You just better stick by me tonight. Ha. Get it. Stick by me. I’m gum.” I stared at Lindsay, shining under the glow of the parking lot lights. “Please don’t say that inside.” I couldn’t decide if she looked like a stick of gum or someone’s Thanksgiving leftovers, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I had my own problems trying to get my T-shirt on without popping any of the balloons.

The lobby of Austin’s building looked like a ball-room. Everyone was waiting for the one elevator that went to the penthouse. Lindsay and I stood farthest from the crowd, next to a huge flower arrangement in a vase the size of our bathtub.

I scanned the lobby. Not as many ghosts and 85

goalkeepers as I’d expected. Someone in a gorilla suit stood in front of the elevator making grunting noises. A couple of people wore what looked like their older siblings’ Crestview graduation caps and gowns. Ariana James, the tallest and thinnest of the cheerleaders, was all decked out as a geisha, which seemed extremely appropriate given her reputation.

I wondered if coming had been a big mistake. A lot of these people weren’t in the classes that Lindsay and I took. Sure, they were wearing costumes, but even the ones whose faces were in full view looked unfamiliar.

That is, until Daniel burst through the door in his garbage bag. “It’s Goober t-i-i-ime!” he yelled. Then he pulled out a large box and began distributing Goobers to the group. I had to admit, he knew how to work a crowd. Everyone was cheering and holding out their hands for candy.

When he got near Lindsay and me, he stopped, looked us over, and nodded. “Very creative.” Behind him, his sister, Brianna, shivered in her genie costume, a bare midriff top with sheer sleeves that matched her puffy pants. Daniel stepped aside so she could join us. “She’ll grant you three wishes,” he said.

Brianna smiled as if she’d heard the joke a few too many times already. “Austin’s waiting for me,” she said.

“I’m moving closer to the elevator.” 86

As the crowd slowly moved forward, Lindsay, Daniel, and I finally got close enough to get on with the next group. But once everyone squished in, there was no room for me and my balloons. I stood before the open doors, staring at Lindsay, Daniel, two ghosts, three goalkeepers, and Goofy.

“Sorry, no room for the grapes,” one of the ghosts said. Then he quickly added, “Don’t
whine
about it.” As the elevator doors closed, the mocking laughter oozed through the crack and I stood alone in the lobby.

After a few minutes, a golfer and a grumpy old man appeared. Then, suddenly, I spotted something shiny coming toward me. As it got closer, I recognized a breastplate, a sword, and . . . Brian’s face. My heart swelled like one of my balloons. Then quickly deflated when I saw who was behind him.

Brandy Clausen. All decked out in a gymnastics outfit that I’m pretty sure would have been banned after one trick on the balance beam.

Hadn’t Brian told Grams that Brandy wasn’t his girlfriend? Why were they together?

“Hey,” Brian said, “cool. Grapes.” He spun around.

“Can you guess who I am? Grams gave me the idea.” I thought for a minute. “You’re Galahad, right?” Then, as if on cue, Brandy rubbed her practically naked gymnast body up against him and purred, “My knight in shining armor.”

87

I looked down at my costume. Why oh why hadn’t I thought to come as Guinevere?

When the elevator doors opened, we all stepped in.

At least I fit in this time.

I punched the PH button and wondered what to expect when I got upstairs. I’d never been to a popular crowd party before. Most of the parties Lindsay and I went to were pretty tame. Pizza, popcorn, a movie.

Twice a year—at Christmas and at the end of the school year—a few of us would get together and Lindsay’s mother would let us eat the food gifts she’d gotten from her fourth graders while we sorted through her other presents to see if there was anything we wanted.

The minute the elevator doors slid open onto a makeshift dance floor with blaring music, it was pretty clear this party would be nothing like sharing cheese logs and sifting through a stack of Best-Teacher-in-the-World mugs.

While several couples were grinding in the middle of the living room, others hovered around a bar in the corner of the room. Behind it, Austin stood surrounded by several liquor bottles and various mugs and glasses with sports team logos.

“There you are,” Lindsay said. She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward her. At the same time, Brandy tugged on Brian’s sword and dragged him in the direction of the bar. Brian rolled his eyes and 88

mouthed “help” toward me.

Help? Me? Brian wanted
me
to help him get away from Brandy Clausen? Hooray! It was like a dream come true. I was trying to figure out exactly how to do that when Lindsay whispered, “What do we do now?” I knew what
I
wanted to do—rescue Brian from the Clausen clutches. But I couldn’t abandon Lindsay. “Try to mingle?” I said.

Lindsay nodded as we stood there awkwardly, looking around for a way to blend in. I imagined how dorky we probably looked: a stick of gum and a bunch of grapes amid a sea of half-clothed gymnasts, Girl Scouts, and geishas rubbing up against one another on the dance floor.

Suddenly, I heard a familiar rattling noise behind me. I turned to find Daniel shaking his Goobers box over his head in time to the music. “So what do you think?” he said.

“About what?” I yelled over the music.

“You know, the whole half-naked girls-slash-athletes party scene. It’s the American Dream, isn’t it?” Again,
that
was the kind of superior attitude that annoyed me about Daniel. Why couldn’t he just enjoy the party? Why did he have to analyze everything to death? This wasn’t psychology class.

“Why do you come if you have such contempt for it?” I said.

89

Before Daniel could answer, Lindsay broke in,

“What are they doing over there with the lemons?” She scrunched her nose as we watched Brianna suck on a slice and swig something out of a tiny Miami Heat glass.

“Chocolate cake shots,” Daniel said. “It’s some kind of liqueur with vodka and sugar on the lemon. Austin’s got this party thing down to a science. Beer doesn’t get the girls drunk enough because they don’t like the taste, and they don’t want to gain weight. The shots taste good and get them drunk faster.”

“What’s so great about that?” Lindsay said.

Daniel laughed. “Think about it.”

Lindsay’s aluminum foil sounded a nervous crinkle.

I glared back at Daniel. “You seem to know a lot about these parties. Again, I ask, why do you come if you hate it so much?”

Daniel popped a Goober into his mouth and held out the box toward me. I shook my head. “I don’t hate it,” he said. “I don’t love it either. As for the reason I come—” He gestured toward the bar with his head.

“She’s over there, chugging a chocolate cake shot.” I followed his signal but there were about four girls in the vicinity. Then I noticed Ariana’s blond hair streaming down her bare, geisha back. Of course, even an outsider like Daniel would be in love with a goddess.

I was a little disappointed. I thought he’d go for a 90

brainier girl rather than a Barbie replica.

“Isn’t she dating Garrett?” The team’s best center was a male version of Ariana, tall and gorgeous.

“What?” Daniel said. He almost dropped his Goobers. “I’m not talking about Ariana. I’m talking about my sister.”

“Your sister?”

“Yeah, I may not be able to stop her from getting drunk, but I can make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid while she
is
drunk. She’s only fifteen. According to studies her brain isn’t developed enough to make good decisions.”

“And yours is?” The question popped out of my mouth without thinking. I hadn’t meant to insult Daniel, but he was only seventeen and, after all, he
was
standing there in a garbage bag stuffed with newspaper.

How mature could his brain be?

“Look who’s talking,” he shot back. “I’m not the only ex-con in the room.”

Lindsay leaned toward us and whispered. “Technically, you’re not ex-cons. You weren’t convicted of anything.”

Daniel laughed. “I know. I was just having fun with Miss Maturity here.”

Just as I was trying to think of a good comeback, I felt my grapes jostle. A crowd blew past us and down a hallway.

91

“Where are they all going?” Lindsay said.

“Chill room,” Daniel said. “You want to see it? It’s really the media room—wide-screen TV, state-of-the-art stereo and speakers.”

As we started toward the room, I caught a glimpse of Brian, who was finally away from Brandy. Now was my chance to go talk to him. “I’ll be there in a second,” I told Lindsay. “I just want to get a drink.” She glared at me. “Diet Coke,” I assured her. “You guys want one?”

They shook their heads.

I maneuvered my way into a spot between Ariana and Brian, whose back was toward me. I tapped him on the shoulder. “Do you know where the Diet Coke is?” He spun around. “Hey, Emily, I was wondering where you were.”

Be still my balloons. “Really?”

“Yeah. How do you like the party?”

BOOK: Prom Kings and Drama Queens
13.45Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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