Promtastic Page 3

  Her mum was always working. Her new job at the care home meant long hours, and her dad’s warehouse hours demanded long shifts as well. And of course Jessie had her job at the Style House. It was her dad’s work that had caused them to move to this town. Nobody appeared to notice that arriving new at Harper High at the beginning of the year had been hard for her. Certainly her family were all much too busy to pay any attention to the fact that it was her prom tomorrow. She considered the conversation she’d just overheard and felt a pang of sadness. How great it must be to have a mother who took you out of school to treat and pamper you. No older sister to take all the attention, either. Grace didn’t realize how lucky she was. No wiping tables for her. Everyone else seemed to have all the luck. While Kristyn, it seemed, could never catch a break. Really, was it too much to ask? Just one break.

  The saleswoman held out a pair of black satin heels. “You’re a very lucky girl,” she said flatly. “They were the very last pair in your size.”

  “Of course they were,” Kristyn sighed and began pulling off her school shoes.

  Charlotte

  4.45 p.m.

  “Yes, well, I’d like to be on your list too, Leigh.” Charlotte had finished her after-school guitar lesson and was sitting on the wall with her by the bus stop.

  “What? Oh don’t you start, as well. It’s bad enough that detention set me back an hour. I didn’t have time for coffee.”

  “An hour, you say!” Charlotte crammed a black beret on her head. “OMG! Call Superman – perhaps he can spin the earth in reverse for you!”

  Leigh looked at Charlotte, her blue eyes narrowed. “You really have no idea, do you.”

  “I know it seems to be a lot of fuss about nothing very important.” Leigh choked on her crisps – but Charlotte wasn’t finished. “I mean, what is prom? What is it really? Just a night where everyone gets together, has a bit to eat and drink and has a dance. Oh, and not forgetting the ridiculous popularity competition for Prom King and Queen. Like that’s going to be a surprise … not.”

  Leigh brushed a bit of crisp off her shirt. “Well, that’s all you know. For everyone else except you, Miss Party Pooper, it’s a never-to-be-forgotten night, a magical night—”

  “Oh please!”

  “A magical night where dreams really can come true. A rite of passage. It marks the end of one part of your life and the beginning of another. And you’re saying that’s not worth making a fuss about?”

  “I know it’s important to you, Leigh, and I am trying to respect that.”

  Leigh raised her eyebrows, sniffed and popped another crisp into her mouth.

  Charlotte went on, “But you need to respect that it’s simply not important to me. What could be important about which vehicle you’re arriving in: limo, bus, Ferrari, skateboard … what does it matter? Just a chance for people to make money out of you. Who cares where you got your dress and how much it cost and where you’re getting your hair done and who your date might be? It’s all so … so … superficial.”

  “Well, lots of people do care, actually – because they think it’s important to mark change in their lives. It should be celebrated in a special way. It’s fun thing to do, to feel special, like a film star. Most of us don’t lead film-star lives and for one night we can dress up and feel glamorous and know it’s our night. Honestly, Charlotte, you’ll regret it if you don’t come, you truly will. Please come. Pleeeeease? For me?”

  Not this again. Charlotte was grateful to see her bus arrive. She gave Leigh a quick hug, flung her bag over her shoulder and hopped on. “I’m just not interested in all the prama.” That was her word for all the craziness going on around prom. Thank goodness it was all going to be over tomorrow and then they could all get back to normal.

  Charlotte got out her notebook and pencil. She wanted to get down some lyrics about what she was feeling at the moment. Angry, frustrated and, she suddenly realized, alone. She missed Leigh. The Leigh-before-prom. But she missed something else as well – and the weird thing was she wasn’t even sure what it was…

  She knew what Leigh would say. Leigh would say it was a boy. But that was crazy.

  How can you miss a boy you’ve never met?

  The bus pulled up in front of the coffee shop.

  “You’re so not going to believe my sick idea!”

  She looked up from her notebook to see two girls from her year, Lexie and Lindsay, clambering into the empty seats at the front. They hadn’t seen her because of the enormous man sitting in front of her and she was glad; those two were not her favourite people.

  “I’ve got this brilliant plan!” Lindsay shrieked. “A fake promposal! It would be such a laugh, wouldn’t it?”

  “But who would you do it to? And what would you do?” Lexie sounded perplexed.

  “I’m not sure yet. Someone who is lame enough not to have already been invited. I’m going to have to think about it. Maybe one of those stuck-up girls who think they’re so clever. And suck up to teachers all the time. Someone who Mrs McDonnell likes – because she’s the one that’s got me chucked out of prom.”

  “Unless you pass that history test.”

  “Yeah, we all know she thinks that’s not going to happen unless a there’s a miracle. She doesn’t want me there. Stupid cow! My mum even went into school to say it was unfair, but – can you believe it? They wouldn’t listen! Mrs Keane said my attendance had been so poor and my mark on that last history test was so bad…”

  “You did have quite a lot of warnings before that…”

  “Yeah, I know, but I didn’t think they’d actually have the nerve to do it! Ban someone from their own prom?! That’s got to be against my human rights or something.”

  “You could study really hard for the test tonight,” Lexie ventured.

  “It’s at midday tomorrow! Mrs McDonnell is coming in specially. Jed’s got to do it too. He’s also on last warning for prom. Imagine Jed not being at prom.”

  “So you’re going to revise tonight, then?” Lexie knew, although she would never dare say it, that Lindsay had a big crush on Jed and had high hopes they would get together at prom.

  “Are you kidding! I’ve got a better plan than that. I’ve just spotted Kristyn in Maison Marie. Don’t know why she was there – way out of her league.”

  Charlotte made a face. She sometimes wondered why Kristyn hung out with Lindsay; Kristyn seemed like a nice enough girl and she was so much smarter than Lindsay.

  “So?” Lexie asked.

  “And she aced that history test. I’m going round to pick it up from her house tonight. She thinks it’s for revision but I’m going to sneak it in.”

  “You’ll get caught.”

  “No I won’t. I’m clever like that. Remember when I nicked that make-up from the chemist’s?” Lindsay waggled her fingers, “I’m like a magician! I’ll be at that prom, don’t you worry. Now, about that fake promposal; we’ve only got tomorrow. Let’s see … who do I know who it would be a laugh to make a fool out of?”

  “Can’t we talk about who we think is going to have the worst dress instead?” Lexie asked, feeling that was safer ground.

  Charlotte pulled her beret down over her eyes and leaned against the bus window. She thought for the millionth time how completely right she was to hate prom and every single thing about it. If only she wasn’t the only person in the whole school who felt that way.

  Kristyn

  5.00 p.m.

  Kristyn was staring at her feet in the Jimmy Choo shoes. The delicate heeled sandals were beautiful and there was no doubt that they would look perfect with her dress. She would have a look down the market tomorrow to see if she could find anything similar. Shoes were important, but her dress was so lovely that she wasn’t going to stress too much about any other part of her outfit. Her long dark auburn hair and green eyes would stand out against the pure white satin. There were silver sequinned straps and a ribbon of sequins under the bustline. It was so stylish. For the first time she wouldn’t f
eel “second best” to everyone at school. Even Jessie had admired it, had actually asked to borrow it when it arrived. Kristyn had said firmly, “Absolutely, one hundred per cent no. It’s my special dress and I’m going to be the first to wear it.”

  The door of Maison Marie jangling behind her making her jump again.

  “Kristyn! I thought I saw you in the window.” Lindsay looked at her shoes. “Wow, cool. Are you going to get those?” She didn’t try to hide the surprise in her voice.

  Kristyn looked at Scary Eyebrows: time for their little game to finish. “No,” she said firmly. “They aren’t quite right.”

  The sales assistant smirked knowingly.

  Kristyn blushed and bent down to take them off.

  Lindsay flopped down in the chair next to her. “What are you doing here? Bit late for prom shopping.”

  “Just looking for shoe ideas. I have a pair I could wear, but I don’t know if they’re right with my dress.”

  “Saw Grace and Evan on a date just now. Her mum handing over the dosh. I suppose that’s one way to keep a boyfriend.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Get your mum to pay for your dates. I think most boys wouldn’t complain about that.”

  “I don’t think Evan is actually like that,” Kristyn said warily. She didn’t want to offend Lindsay, who took every opportunity to point out that she was the only real friend Kristyn had at school. She finished unstrapping the Jimmy Choos and handed them to the sales assistant.

  “Suppose not.” Lindsay pulled a face. “But still, it must help. I can’t see what he sees in her.’

  Kristyn raised her eyebrows. Even she, who was mad about Evan, could see what he saw in Grace.

  “OK, she’s quite pretty. But hey, we could all look good if our mum spent as much money on us as hers does. I bet she’s had the works done before this prom and with no expense spared.”

  “Mmm…” Kristyn murmured. “I heard them in here just now – she’s been everywhere today, top-to-toe pampering…”

  Lindsay pounced on this information. “Of course she has. How can anyone else compete with Princess Perfect? Swanking around school showing off that she’s going out with Evan.”

  “She doesn’t really…”

  “She’s so full of herself. She’s not even that bothered about prom. Lexie heard her telling someone she’ll be glad when all the fuss is over. Can you believe it! Maybe she’s just using him so she can be Prom Queen. It’s like she doesn’t even care about him, just the crown.”

  That dart struck home. “It’s not fair if she doesn’t appreciate him,” Kristyn said hotly. “He’s not just good-looking; he’s always so nice to everyone, and funny… like when he talks to you – as if you’re the only person in the world…” Kristyn stopped herself; she was giving away too much. Too late.

  “You’re so right. He should go out with someone like you. Someone who could really appreciate him, someone who doesn’t take things for granted. Grace does, doesn’t she? Everything just gets given to her; she doesn’t have to work for anything. You wouldn’t see her working in a coffee bar, cleaning tables…”

  Kristyn blushed; she wished she hadn’t told Lindsay about that. That time that Evan had come into the coffee bar with Chris, and she had been standing over a dirty bucket mopping the floor. In her brown nylon apron. She blushed at the memory. She had felt so humiliated. It’s not exactly how you want the boy of your dreams to see you. Chris had started nudging and pointing at her, but Evan had shut him up and been so charming and friendly he had almost made her feel that cleaning the floor was the best job in the world… That was the kind of boy Evan was – but it stung to know he would never see Grace with a dishcloth in her hand, wiping coffee stains and cake crumbs off tables. She would probably be having a tray of breakfast tea and toast brought to her in bed on Saturday mornings, white linen pillows plumped behind her while she watched all her favourite programmes.

  Kristyn thought of all the early weekend mornings she had wanted to stay in her warm bed and had had to get up, catch a bus, put on an apron and start washing up and cleaning tables. Grace simply swans into this swanky boutique and her mum buys her the most expensive dress in the shop. It just didn’t seem fair!

  “It’s not fair!” Lindsay cried. Kristyn swung round, surprised to hear her thoughts spoken out loud. “It’s not fair that a girl like Grace gets to go to prom with Evan, when you are so much more genuine than her. She’s so spoiled – but you, you really value how important your friends are. You are a truly loyal person. I think you’re an exact match for Evan – you’re so kind to people and always try to help your friends out. You’d be such a good couple. Whereas Grace doesn’t know what wanting something and having to work hard for it is like. Living her dreamy princess life and not appreciating a thing about it.”

  Kristyn thought about Grace’s tone of voice as she left the shop. She had sounded tired. As if she was under some kind of strain! As if!

  “It’s also so not fair I’ve got to pass this stupid history test or miss prom. Can you imagine that? Me, miss prom? I’m going to have to work all night revising for it. In fact I’d better go now.” Lindsay let out a great sigh and suddenly looked close to tears.

  “Don’t worry,” Kristyn soothed, as she pulled her school shoes on. “If you really work you will pass that test.”

  Lindsay got out a tissue. “It’s just that I’ve lost all my notes – I think my dog might have been at my things or something … I can’t find them anywhere.”

  “Lost all your notes?” Kristyn gasped. “But how are you going to revise?”

  “What I really need is that history paper – but one that someone did well on. So I can use their answers to revise from.”

  Kristyn paused. She didn’t feel very comfortable giving out her paper – but Lindsay was her friend, wasn’t she?

  “Well … you can have mine, but I’m working later tonight, so you’d have to come now.”

  “Can’t. I’m not free – something I’ve got to do – but I can come and get it from your house later.”

  “I suppose I can ask my mum to give it to you if I leave it by the door.”

  Lindsay jumped up. “Thanks, Kristyn – you’re a star. I told you you were a great friend. Got to dash now … meeting Lexie.” As she reached the shop door she turned round. “Will Jessie be in?”

  Kristyn, who was putting on her jacket, tensed. “She might be, but I’ve told you, she won’t do any of my friends’ hair for free. I did ask her.”

  “OK, just wondered!” Lindsay opened the door, “Bye-ee!” she cried over the jangling bell as she disappeared into the street.

  As Kristyn too escaped into the sunshine, her phone rang.

  “Hello – Mum? What’s up?”

  “Kristyn? Where are you?”

  “Mum! What’s the matter? You sound weird. Are you OK?”

  “Yes. Everyone’s OK. No one’s hurt or anything like that. It’s just that something’s happened.”

  “What? What’s happened, Mum?”

  “Before I tell you, you need to know that Jessie is very, very sorry.”

  Alex

  6.30 p.m.

  Alex wondered if the kiss was ever going to happen.

  Taylor Lautner always made her heart beat faster, and now it was the moment she had been waiting for. He was leaning in, his eyes fluttering shut … she was actually feeling a bit giddy…

  “Popcorn?” Grace shoved a red-and-white-striped bucket in front of her.

  Alex nearly jumped out of her red plush seat. “No, thanks.”

  It was all right for Grace. Grace was cosily sitting next to Evan. Alex was sitting next to no one and therefore had to study the world of romance by watching films like these.

  The way things were at the moment, it was the closest she was going to get – and why? She had never even been asked out by a boy. At this thought Alex changed her mind, took a huge scoop of popcorn in one hand and began popping it mechanically into he
r mouth, piece by piece, with the other. She might as well not worry about eating healthy food. At this rate she was going to die alone, in a dingy flat, a grey old lady probably found eaten by her cats and on her tombstone they would write, “Here lies Alex Robertson WHO NEVER HAD A BOYFRIEND.”

  What was wrong with her? Alex stopped herself. She didn’t want to go down that road or she’d be sitting in this cinema all night working out the list she already knew too well. And adding extra bits too.

  “You worry too much.” Alex’s mum had told her that morning as she handed her some toast.

  Not for the first time, Alex wished her mum didn’t have a spooky way of knowing what was on her mind.

  “You go to prom and you’ll have a lovely time, you’ll see. I wish I could make you believe what a pretty girl you are.”

  “Ooh. Steady, Mum. We mustn’t give false hope…”

  Alex hit her younger brother on the arm.

  “Very funny, Harry. Ha. Ha. Thirteen is such a hilarious age, is it not?”

  Harry waved his slice of hot buttered toast, dripping with strawberry jam, dangerously close to her face.

  “Stop it, you two.” Her mum sat down at the table. She pushed aside the butter and chocolate spread to make room for a white plate with a grilled steak in the middle of it.

  “No carbs is it today, Mum?” Alex asked.

  “That’s right, it’s protein, protein, protein for me all the way from now on.”

  “Just protein?” Harry frowned. “That doesn’t sound too healthy.”

  “And oranges.”

  Alex and Harry grinned at each other. Their mum had complained she had to lose a stone for as long as they could remember.

  “What happened to the big bowl of porridge for breakfast yesterday? Er … the high-fibre diet, wasn’t it?” Alex asked innocently.