Promtastic Read online

  She had obviously expected too much of the evening – so typical of her to get it wrong. She was glad she hadn’t told Grace, at least. She bet Grace would laugh if she knew of her ridiculous expectations. And what on earth must Tom have thought when she had been gushing about Chris earlier? She blushed in embarrassment.

  She took a deep breath. I WILL have my first kiss. Come on, Alex, you can do this.

  Just as Chris started to lean in towards her, she heard someone tap the microphone on stage.

  Leigh

  7.51 p.m.

  Right, Leigh thought to herself, no one is going to help me. I am completely alone in the world. It had taken her an eternity to walk the mile or so to A&E. She had taken a wrong turn because of the rain, and it had taken her an hour to find her way back to a road she knew. What had people done before they had GPS on their phones? Leigh wondered bitterly. She could now see the hospital just up the road, but she felt as though she couldn’t take another step. She had taken refuge in a bus shelter, but the seat was broken and she had ended up on the pavement. She was trying to motivate herself to stand up again. Now I have two choices: I can carry on sitting here feeling sorry for myself like the kind of feeble girl I totally despise, or I can stop whining and do something. The entrance to A&E was only about a five-minute walk away – but every step was excruciating. She looked in her bag. There was the string she had been tying the stars up with and some gold ribbon. She plaited the ribbon into a fat rope and tied the ends together with the help of her teeth.

  She hooked the plaited band over her head and around her neck; then, very carefully, using her good hand, she lifted her wrist and placed it into the makeshift sling. Rolling forward on to her knees, she managed to push herself up into a standing position. Again the world seemed to reel around her for a moment before coming back into focus. She was glad of the cool rain.

  OK, Leigh. Walk! She began to put one foot in front of the other. I shall count steps, she decided; that will stop me thinking about anything else. I shall count all the steps until I’m in A&E.

  She was on step two hundred and three when a distant shout intruded into her counting. That’s annoying – where was I? She had lost count and was just considering whether to take a guess about where she had been or to start again when the voice shouted louder. “Is that voice shouting ‘Three! Three!’?” she muttered to herself. “Because that’s what it sounds like and it’s putting me off. Shut up, voice! And it’s a boy’s voice. I think I know that boy’s voice.” She shook her head and tried to focus … was she at two hundred and thirty or two hundred and forty?

  The shout was nearer now. “Two hundred and thirty-five, that sounds so like Owen, two hundred and thirty-six…” She sighed. But he would be on his way to prom with everyone else now, having a lovely time. “Stop it, Leigh!” she growled at herself. If you’d been a bit more thoughtful about him and Charlotte you might not be in this situation. I did work so hard, though – I can’t believe I’m missing it. It’s going to be the best prom ever. And I did it all for them. “Three hundred and twelve, three hundred and thirteen…” Did I? Did I really? Or did I do for me, because if I really had been thinking about them I would have paid them some attention, however busy I was. I truly am the worst kind of girlfriend and friend. She gave a bark of manic laughter, which made a little girl passing by cling to her mother’s legs. How ironic, in trying to be perfect I end up being the worst. And losing everything I care about. And now I’ve lost count again…

  “Leigh! Leigh! Will you STOP!”

  The automatic doors of A&E slid open in front of her but she stopped outside.

  She turned round. Owen was there, his face frantic with concern. “God, Leigh, look at you. What happened? Where have you been? I got your text and I’ve been everywhere searching for you – no one had seen you.”

  Leigh managed a damp smile and threw open her good arm. “Well, here I am! Ta-dah! All ready for my prom.”

  Owen pulled a face. “What on earth happened? As soon as I got your text I tried to call you back but your phone is off. I went to your house but your mum didn’t know where you were – she’s frantic, by the way – and then I tried going to the prom venue and when I saw the ladder on the floor and the sequins… Here, take my arm. Let’s get you inside out of the rain.”

  After giving her name at reception, asking the nurse to notify her father and phoning her mother, they settled on to the hard seats of the waiting room. Leigh looked at the puddle forming at her feet as the water ran off her dress, and leaned her bedraggled head against the wall behind her. “I know you hate me,” she sighed. “I’d hate me. I’ve been such an idiot. A total idiot. But I wasn’t always this stupid, was I? I did use to be a nice person…”

  Owen gently took her bag, took off his tuxedo jacket and wrapped it round her shoulders.

  “So why have I been such an idiot?” She waved her good arm wildly. “Now you DESPISE me. And I totally deserve it. I completely and totally deserve it. I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON!” A few people in the waiting room looked round.

  To her surprise, Owen looked as if he was trying not to laugh. “I think you’ve had a bang on the head and might be a little concussed.”

  She tentatively felt her head. “Ooh, there is a big bump. Ouch!” She turned to face him with a solemn expression. “I may be a tiny bit woozy – BUT, I’m very clear that I have been a terrible girlfriend and I won’t blame you for never, ever, ever, ever…”

  “Yeah, that’s probably enough of the never, evers…” Owen grinned.

  “I don’t blame you for never, ever wanting to see me again.” She burst into tears. “Because you are the best boyfriend in the world; you’ve been so patient and kind when I’ve been so not. I can’t imagine not being with you, but you’re right, I don’t deserve you…”

  “I never said that,” Owen interrupted. “It’s just that prom took over your life and I thought you didn’t want me – it … it … felt like that.”

  “I know,” she whispered, taking his hand. “I was really thoughtless and I’m sorry. I didn’t deserve you anyway with my perfectionism and my bossy ways. Well, I’ve certainly learned my lesson. Look at me. All the bossiness in the world, all that planning for perfection, and this is where I am on prom night.” She noticed the waiting-room clock and jumped. “Hey! You must get going, Owen. It’s started. You can’t miss the big surprise.”

  He took her face in his hands and stared into her eyes. “I’m not going anywhere. I know that you wanted it to be a special night; I know you like things to be perfect and can go a little crazy trying to do it. You have been on Planet Prom – but you know what? It is going to be the best prom ever – and you know why?”

  She shook her head.

  “Because we are going be together – possibly rather late, but the important thing is that we’ll be together.”

  She looked into his eyes, “Really? Together together? You can forgive Promzilla?”

  “I can forgive Promzilla. And now I’m going to kiss you – very, very gently because I don’t want to hurt your arm, but I have to kiss you right this minute. Is that OK?”

  She nodded her head, and as she felt his lips on hers she felt that not even the best prom in the world could beat the feeling of happiness and relief that flooded through her.

  “Ahem.”

  They broke away from their embrace to find a tall figure in surgical scrubs staring down at them.

  “Someone told me my daughter was in need of medical assistance.”

  Charlotte

  7.51 p.m.

  Well, she had been stood up, she thought morosely as she walked towards the exit, trying to hold back her tears.

  And she had spent ages getting ready at home, in front of the mirror.

  Charlotte’s fingers had refused to obey her brain and had smudged red lipstick way outside the lines. Maybe he likes clowns, she had thought, snatching another tissue and rubbing make-up remover into her face for what seemed like the hundredth t
ime. What had made it extra annoying was that she had done two make-up sessions already that day, and although she hadn’t quite finished Leigh’s because of their row, her hand had been as steady as a surgeon’s for the other girls. So why can’t I do my own?

  She had thrown the lipstick down on the dressing table and flopped on to her bed. The kitten hopped on to her chest. Why am I going to some random venue? she agonized. I mean, I’ve only met him for five minutes. I don’t know him. It’s crazy. I hate feeling like this. I’m not going.

  But she knew she was. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the record-shop boy all day and the thought of seeing him again had made her stomach turn somersaults. “God,” she’d wailed to the ceiling, “if this is what liking a boy is like it should come with a health warning. What if it meant nothing to him and I turn up and he’s embarrassed that I took him seriously?” She’d picked up the kitten and lifted it up in front of her face. “Aaargh… I don’t know what to doooo…”

  “Please?” She could hear his voice asking her. He had sounded genuine. He really had. But what did she know?

  She’d brought the purring kitten’s face close to hers. “Look, Kitten, if I don’t go, I’ll never know. If it’s a disaster, you say I’m brave enough and tough enough to deal with it, whatever happens. It’s not as though I’ve got anything else on tonight. Everyone’s at prom. No one was interested in my anti-prom party except you. They all appeared to want to dress up and go to that mad showing-off and popularity contest.”

  Putting the purring kitten down, she had got up and took out her lipstick again, “So, if I don’t go out tonight I’ll never know what might have happened. If I do go…” – she had stared at her lipstick as if they were about to do battle – “at least I won’t spend the rest of my life wondering. I know what my dad would have said.”

  She had given the lipstick a hard glare. “OK, lipstick, it’s you and me and we are going to take a chance. This roller coaster has started and we’re not getting off till the end of the ride.”

  *

  The thing that didn’t make any sense, she thought to herself, reaching the exit, was how she had ended up at prom. She could understand being stood up – she should have known better than to put any faith in something a boy said – but to have ended up at the one place she never would have voluntarily gone to… She wondered darkly if Leigh had had something to do with this.

  “Charlotte!” Zoe called to her, as she was about to open the door to leave. “I’m so pleased you’re here! You haven’t heard from Leigh, have you?”

  Charlotte frowned. “Leigh still hasn’t arrived? That’s strange. I mean, that’s more than strange. I saw her earlier, at the Style House – but that was ages ago.”

  “Was she all right?” Zoe asked.

  Charlotte didn’t know what to say. “She was certainly talking about nothing but prom.”

  “So she didn’t give a reason why she wouldn’t turn up?”

  “No! The opposite.”

  Zoe frowned. “I can’t imagine what would keep her from her own prom.”

  Charlotte felt a sense of alarm. If something had stopped Leigh from being here, it must be big.

  Zoe disappeared to look outside.

  Her own prom – Charlotte thought about Zoe’s words. This was prom. All around her. She wandered into the main room, taking in the LA skyline, the chocolate fountain, the candyfloss booth, the Hollywood cocktail bar, even those wretched pink marshmallows which were the perfect powder-pink Leigh had wanted. This was definitely Leigh’s prom. Charlotte had heard about every detail, apart from, obviously, the most important detail of all – the venue. Charlotte turned her head up towards the gold glittery stars spinning slowly in the lights above her. She stopped short. Was she seeing things? One had her photo on it.

  Why would Leigh do that?

  She began to search the crowd and with a growing sense of unease realized that Leigh was still nowhere to be seen. Only everyone else from her year. At their prom. When she got back to where she’d started, she gazed up again. She recognized the photo – it had been taken at Leigh’s last birthday party; she knew that green dress. Leigh had cut herself out of the photo so it was just Charlotte’s face, but she could just make out Leigh’s hand on her shoulder and they had been laughing at … what? She couldn’t recall exactly; she just remembered they hadn’t been able to stop and had collapsed on the lawn in giggles. They hadn’t laughed like that for a long time. She missed that.

  She took a deep breath. Had Leigh somehow worked with her mystery boy to get her here?

  But there was no Leigh and no mystery boy.

  Disappointment, anxiety and anger hit her all at once.

  What was going on?

  Grace

  7.51 p.m.

  “I don’t deserve this,” Kristyn said wretchedly from the stage. “I’m not the one who should be wearing it.” She suddenly burst into tears and tore the crown from her head. The whole school gawped in confusion as she ran from the stage.

  “Well, that has to be the shortest Prom Queen reign ever,” Alex whispered. She raised her eyebrows at Grace and went on, “What happened there? I mean, seriously?”

  Grace could guess, but she didn’t say anything. A bewildered Mrs Keane leapt in and swiftly introduced Evan. He wouldn’t let her down with his speech. Grace could see Mrs Keane beaming at him: Evan was going to be a perfect Prom King. No surprises with him. Mrs Keane handed him the microphone and stepped back.

  He caught Grace’s eye in the crowd and managed a smile. She smiled back. In spite of everything she was happy that he was going to have this moment. Even though she had lost her relationship with Jason for it, she’d get over the pain of that, one day – and wasn’t it more important that she had stood by her friend?

  Alex whispered to her, “Don’t want to stress you out, Grace, but your mum and dad are here. Did they come for the Prom Queen announcement? I can see them at the back – your mum seems to be being revived. Ooh, dearie, she does not look a happy bunny.”

  Grace didn’t even turn round. Evan had started talking.

  “Hi, everyone.”

  Grace could hear the tremor in his voice and saw that his knuckles were white on the microphone.

  “I want to say thanks for voting for me. It means a lot, more than I can say. Here we all are, together for the last time. I can’t believe that we’re all leaving Harper High. It seems like we only started yesterday. Over the past five years you’ve been everything friends should be. You’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. You’re all so smart and funny and honest. Yes, honest – especially you, Tom, who told me my new yellow shirt sucked and turned my boy-band dreams to dust by pointing out the tiny detail that singing talent was a requirement. I still beg to differ.” Evan paused as the audience laughed. “I don’t know how the years have gone by so fast but now we’re all leaving. We’re all grown-up and going on to the rest of our lives. I hope they’re all everything you want them to be. I’ll always remember the friends I made here, and tonight I especially want to say thank you to someone who has been a very special friend to me.”

  All eyes turned to Grace.

  “Yes, Grace – she has been the best friend in the world. She has always been there for me. But I have to ask myself: have I been a good friend to her? No, not really, not at all.”

  People were beginning exchange puzzled glances.

  He looked around the crowd of faces in front of him. “And I’ve not been such a great friend to all of you, either. Because friends are honest with each other and I haven’t been honest with you. I’ve kept something from you.”

  No one moved a muscle.

  “I want to say sorry for that. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. Sorry that I was afraid of being mocked, afraid of aggression, afraid of losing friends. But Grace made me realize that I have to trust the people I care about. And be true to myself. Kristyn has just done me a big favour. You don’t know it, but she’s just showed that the truth is
n’t always the easy way; it can be messy – it can hurt and take courage.” He took a deep breath.

  The room was completely silent.

  Evan went on. “I certainly didn’t plan on doing this in front of the whole school. But what the hell – if Kristyn can find the courage to tell you all the truth, so can I. Grace, because of my secret you’ve lost the person you really love” – he found her face again – “so I’m going to do what you’ve been saying I should have done a long time ago.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I’m gay. There you have it. It’s part of who I am, what makes me… me. I hope that all of you who have been my friends over the past five years will still be my friends now, because this is who I really am. This is me.” He fell silent.

  The room appeared to be holding its breath. Evan stood there alone in the spotlight, suddenly a stark, lonely figure.

  “That’s it. That’s all I have to say.”

  There was a pause, a beat – before the air rocked with the roar of cheering as the room erupted.

  Mrs Keane and Miss Summerfield were staring at each other in stunned silence before Grace saw Mrs Keane mouth “What the hell!” at Miss Summerfield and they both joined in the yelling and clapping as hard as they could.

  “Oops!” Alex laughed. “Don’t look now, Grace, but I think your mum is actually having a heart attack. I can’t believe it – how could you have kept this a secret from me?”

  Grace looked at Evan.

  “Well, OK, I guess it wasn’t your secret to tell …” Alex continued, “but … who is the secret boy – or person, should I say, as we’ve all suddenly gone very modern and I don’t want to presume…”

  Grace smiled. “Boy,” she said, before being overwhelmed by a now familiar ache, “and I don’t know where he is.”

  “He’s here,” said a deep voice behind her – and two warm arms encircled her.