Rachel

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I TOSSED ANOTHER KLEENEX into a flower pot and plopped down onto my porch’s rocking chair. I’d been tempted to go to prom without Clive and have a good time anyway, but my make-up was a disaster, and the second my dad’s new girlfriend (i.e. my mom’s best friend) showed up to “help” me with it, I fucking lost it.

As if my dad’s idiocy wasn’t enough, Clive’s cruelty cut me deep. He was the first guy at our school to ever ask me out, and I thought he actually liked me.

My heart felt heavy and I couldn’t believe that he could be so mean. We’d texted each other nonstop for three weeks straight about all the things we were doing to prepare for our big night and he’d said, “I want to share my prom with someone I’ve secretly had a crush on for a long time.”

I can’t believe I fell for that shit...

I picked up my phone and sent him another string of nice texts to prove that I was the bigger person.

Me: FUCK YOU, Clive! I hope your dick falls off!

Me: I can’t believe you played me for all those weeks!

Me: Fuccckkkkkkkk Youuuuuuuu!

Shaking my head, I tried not to think about how much fun everyone else was having. Tried not to picture the parade of luxury vehicles that was standing outside the ballroom and the nonstop nineties music hour that our principal had promised.

I was tempted to text some of my friends (Well, “associates”) and ask them how everything was going, but I held back. Not a single one of them returned my text when I said I wasn’t able to come to prom anymore.

They didn’t even ask me why.

As I was contemplating how I was going to spend the rest of my night, Ethan’s blue convertible cruised down the street and into his driveway next door.

Stepping out of his car, he tossed his jacket over his shoulder and I waited for him to walk over to the passenger side and escort Shelby up to his room, but he didn’t.

As he let the top down, I realized no one was sitting in the passenger seat.

He took off his bowtie and tossed it onto the backseat, then he made his way over to me.

“Don’t you dare think about stepping onto my porch, Ethan Wyatt,” I said. “I will scream bloody murder.”

“I’ll take that risk.” He smiled and sat in the rocking chair next to me anyway. “How was your night?”

“Seriously?” I snapped. “Like, you have the audacity to sit there with a straight face and ask me that?”

He didn’t say anything. He just stared at me.

“I just want you to get it over with,” I said, sighing. “Go ahead and rub all the salt in my wounds. Tell me everything I’ve missed out on tonight, and try not to say it with too much enthusiasm if you can.”

“Trust me, I really want to, but there isn’t that much to say.”

“You could at least tell me who won Prom King,” I said, surprised that he was being somewhat decent about this. “The fact that it’s not ‘you’ is the highlight of my night.”

“There was no Prom King because we never got to that point,” he said. “Prom was cancelled.”

“What?”

“Well, more like postponed on the account of a certain incident.”

“Oh...Was the incident something awful? Like, did something fall from the ceiling?”

“Not necessarily.” He shrugged. “Halfway through the nineties hour, the fire sprinklers came on and everyone got drenched within seconds.”

“Right...I don’t believe that at all, Ethan,” I said. “You’re just making that up to make me feel better. How was the prom, really?”

“You honestly think I would concoct a story to make you feel better about anything? After you got me grounded for most of my senior year?”

“No, not really.”

“Exactly.” He leaned back. “The night was overrated to begin with. For starters, the DJ we all wanted called in sick at the last moment so they brought in the guy from Boomer FM.”

“The oldies station?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “The caterer only brought enough food for half our class, so the only thing that was left after an hour was crackers and caramel popcorn. Oh, and the photographer bailed after he realized that the class president didn’t have a check for his services. For me, though, these weren’t even the most annoying parts.”

I leaned forward. “What were the most annoying parts?”

“Well, for one, your asshole date was going around the ballroom bragging to me and the rest of his teammates about how he had “that frizzy loser Rachel” going for weeks, and how you were sending him tons of mean text messages. He said he almost felt bad about it.”

“Almost?”

“Yeah, almost.” He let out a breath. “Anyway, I got tired of hearing about that, and I also got tired of Shelby begging me to compliment her every few minutes, so I stepped outside. Next thing I knew, everyone was rushing out of the ballroom and to the parking lot since the sprinklers went off.”

He was silent for several seconds. “There’s going to be a make-up prom next weekend and the dry cleaners are offering free presses and cleaning for every wet dress.”

“What about the guy’s tuxedos, though? And all the money people spent on cars and stuff?”

“Mr. Walsh said he’ll try to work some discounts out with all the rental companies. So, looks like you’ll get to go to prom and wear your red dress for everyone to see after all. Maybe this time, you should go to the prom by yourself.”

“I will.” I looked down at his soaking wet pants and shook my head. “You were outside the building when it happened and you still got wet?”

“There are fire sprinklers outside as well, Rachel,” he said. “Unfortunately.”

“I never noticed,” I said, shrugging. “Who the hell would pull the fire alarm and ruin the prom for everyone? I mean, I’m sure the DJ wasn’t who everyone wanted and the night wasn’t perfect, but why would anyone—” I stopped talking and looked at him, my eyes widening with each second that passed.

There aren’t any sprinklers outside that building at all...And he shouldn’t be wet unless...

“Do you think that the someone who triggered the alarm will eventually get caught?”

“I doubt it.” He smiled. “I heard he disabled the cameras before turning on the sprinkler system. Something tells me he has plenty of experience doing that when he sneaks dates into the school’s pool overnight”

“That’s what you heard?”

“Verbatim.” He looked at me. “Funny how life works out sometimes, isn’t it?”

“Yes, very funny...”

We stared at each other in the darkness, not saying a word.

I cleared my throat and broke the silence. “So, did you and Shelby Hannah fuck in your backseat, or are you going back there tonight?”

“No.” He laughed. “We didn’t get a chance to do anything. She was pissed about the night being ruined—on top of me looking like I wasn’t focused on her, so she thought it was a sign from the universe that she shouldn’t sleep with me anymore.”

“Maybe you should go by yourself to the next prom, too.”

“I will.”

Silence.

He stood up and handed me a white rose corsage. “It’s a satin one, so it won’t die. I bought it at a floral shop on my way home tonight. I figured you’d need it since you won’t have a date to give you one next time.”

“Thank you.”

“Yep.” He started to walk off my porch.

“Hey, Ethan?” I called, making him look over his shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“I still hate you.”

“Good.” He smiled. “I still hate you, too.”