Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom (22 page)

I guess it’s kind of sad that we had to have this event in the first place, and that so many people here felt like they couldn’t just be who they are at their own Proms. We shouldn’t have to dance separately.

But, I mean, at least we’re dancing to the same music. And that has to count for something.

After what seems like hours on the dance floor, Miss Kaboom announces, “All right. Last dance, everybody. Even Miss Kaboom needs to sleep sometime!”

Tessa comes over and grabs me from Kate. “Sorry, glamour girl,” she says, and takes me to the dance floor as Miss Kaboom fires up “Isla de Amor,” which seems to be her only slow song.

“I’m gonna have to insist that you stop flirting with my girlfriend,” I say.

“Look who’s got a girlfriend!” Tessa says.

“Well. I mean, yeah. But she’s totally cool, you know, she’s not gonna be all, why are you getting texts from Tessa and stuff. You know?”

“Will you shut up and dance?” Tessa says, so I do.

And when the dance is over and everybody’s slowly filing out, I’m standing there with Tessa, Kate, Danny, and Anabel. Mom comes over and says, “Who wants breakfast?”

Kate leans over and whispers in my ear, “That’s not really the post-Prom tradition I was hoping to observe, but I guess we’ll have plenty of time when we have dorm rooms. I’ve got a single next year,” she says, and it’s all I can do to remain conscious.

When I recover, I find that I’m actually starving from dancing all night, so we go upstairs and, as the morning sun breaks through the windows, we devour enough pancakes to feed most of Brookfield on a normal day.

And then I’m tired. Danny and Anabel head out, Kate gives me a luscious kiss good-bye, and I’m sitting there with just Tessa.

“Well, I’m beat,” I say.

“Not me,” Tessa says. “Come on. Grab a ball and a couple of gloves, and let’s go.”

“Come on, Tessa. I’m completely beat. Let’s get a couple of hours of—” I see the look on her face and stop. “All right. I’ve gotta change, though. I can’t pitch in a tux. Gimme five minutes.”

And so, twenty minutes later, we’re back where it all began, behind the loading dock at Giant Brooks. Like I’ve done a million times, I’m throwing to Tessa, who’s crouched down in a catcher’s position. She flashes a hand signal.

“Come on, T, not the circle change again,” I complain.

“Lucas. You’ve gotta get that pitch down.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I might do a little better at it when I’ve slept some time in the last day!” I say.

Tessa flashes an evil grin. “Not interested in your excuses, rookie. Just throw the ball.”

I unleash the circle change, and, finally, for the first time this morning, the ball floats down and in, probably at least ten miles an hour slower than my fastball.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Tessa says. “That’s a swinging strike or maybe a groundout every time. Now do it again.”

“You are killing me here,” I say. And I do it again.

“Strike two!” she cries. “Now bring the heat!”

Maybe it’s just because I’m sleep deprived, but this suddenly gets to me. I remember being ten years old back here with Tessa shouting at me to bring the heat, back when the heat was a “fast” ball that was slower than my slowest off-speed pitch is today. It’s like nothing has changed, and everything has changed, and it just suddenly feels overwhelming.

“T,” I say. “Are we gonna … like when we go to college and you’re busy and famous—”

“Who says I’m gonna be famous?”

“T, you’re the best-known lesbian in the Midwest. I think you’re gonna be a celebrity at Northwestern.”

She smiles. “I don’t know if I’m gonna do any more interviews, though. It’s exhausting. But if my current celebrity status gets me some dates, I guess that’ll be okay.”

I can’t help laughing. I’ve talked about my dates a lot with her, but she never reciprocated, and I never really knew why. It’s like I’m finally seeing Tessa for who she is, or maybe she’s just finally showing me her whole self.

“But so, when you’re, like, studying all the time and being a big stud on campus—” I start.

“I can’t be a stud,” she says. “That’s a male thing.”

“So what’s the female equivalent?” I ask.

“There isn’t one. Not one that expresses admiration the way ‘stud’ does.”

“How about ‘heartbreaker’?”

Tessa thinks for a second. “It’s not perfect, but I’ll take it. But you were saying. When I’m a heartbreaker making
the dean’s list, are we still gonna call each other? Are we still gonna be friends? Will I drive to Purdue to help you with your circle change? Stuff like that?”

“Yeah. I guess that’s what I was going to say, more or less.”

“Lucas. Our friendship survived a doomed crush, a media firestorm, and a Big Gay Prom. What the hell makes you think it can’t survive college?”

“I dunno. I guess most people don’t stay friends, or they grow apart or something.”

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed,” she says, “we’re not most people. Now are you gonna bring the heat, or do I call for a reliever?”

“I’m bringing the heat,” I say. I wind up and give her the best fastball I’ve got.

It hits her glove with a slap you could probably hear all the way in Mason.

“Strike three! And damn, that hurts like hell!” she says, popping her hand out of the glove and shaking it back and forth. “You must really want to get out of here, huh?”

The funny thing is, I don’t. I’m in the sunshine playing catch with my best friend. Why would I want to be anywhere else?

“If you can’t handle catching me anymore, I totally get it. I mean, you are just a girl,” I say.

Tessa picks up the glove and puts it back on. “So that’s how it is, huh? Okay, tough guy, gimme the circle change again.”

I’m in the zone with the circle change. I watch as it leaves my hand, flies straight, and dives across the plate at the last second.

Tessa smiles. “Perfect,” she says.

By Cindy Alpert
Brookfield-Mason Regional

Brookfield was stunned on Saturday as pop star Miss Kaboom (real name Melissa Kabagleon) made a surprise appearance at an event on Brookfield’s south side called Tessa Masterson’s Big Gay Prom. This event, planned in the aftermath of the school board’s cancellation of the official Prom, drew partygoers from three states.

Prior to Miss Kaboom’s appearance, the event was a regular teen dance, unremarkable except for the number of same-sex couples on the dance floor and the rainbow lights.

In an exclusive interview with the
Bee
, Miss Kaboom revealed the reason for her visit. “I was invited,” she said. Asked what she thought of the event, Miss Kaboom said, “I have partied with the richest, most famous people on four continents. And I have honestly never had as much fun as I did tonight. I’m writing a song about it. Look for it on my next album.”

In an exclusive interview with the
Bee
, Tessa Masterson had this to say: “I am the luckiest person in the whole world. I have people in my life who love me because of who I am, not in spite of it. And, I mean, look, I might be a lesbian, but I did grow up here. I think every girl in Brookfield imagines that Prom will be the best night of her life. And for me, it was. So far.”

Asked what could possibly top a party bearing her name, with a celebrity guest star, Tessa had this to say: “My wedding day. I mean, not that I have any candidates right now, but when I can legally marry the woman I love on the front steps of Brookfield Town Hall, that will be the best day of my life. Everybody will be invited. And I already know who my best man will be.”

Thanks to Brendan Halpin, Faye and Doug, Emily and the crew at Bloomsbury, Adam and the offspring, Hooter von Binken. My seven-year-old daughter said, “Wouldn’t it be great if people could just love whoever they want and people could just be happy for them?” —E. F.

www.emilyfranklin.com
www.wellcookedlife.com

Brendan thanks Suzanne, Casey, Rowen, Kylie, and Cooper. Thanks also to Emily Franklin, Doug Stewart, Emily Easton, and Miss Kaboom. Thanks to the state of Massachusetts for equal marriage. Thanks to Dan Savage and the It Gets Better Project:
www.itgetsbetter.org
—B. H.

www.brendanhalpin.com

Jenna & Jonah’s Fauxmance

Copyright © 2012 by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First published in the United States of America in March 2012
by Walker Publishing Company, Inc., a division of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc.
www.bloomsburyteens.com

Electronic edition published in March 2012

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Walker BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Franklin, Emily.
Tessa Masterson will go to prom / by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin.
p. cm.
Summary: Feeling humiliated and confused when his best friend Tessa rejects his love
and reveals a long-held secret, high school senior Luke must decide if he should stand
by Tessa when she invites a female date to the prom, sparking a firestorm
of controversy in their small Indiana town.
ISBN: 978-0-8027-2350-5 (e-book)
[1. Best friends—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction. 3. Lesbians—Fiction. 4. Proms—
Fiction. 5. Indiana—Fiction.] I. Halpin, Brendan. II. Title.
PZ7.F8583Te 2012 [Fic]—dc23 2011025042