Chapter Twenty-Four
The following week was chaotic. Prom fever had infected the entire senior class, or at least the entire female half. All anyone talked about during lunch was where they’d made dinner reservations and what type of boutonniere they’d ordered for their date. The girls on the lacrosse team were so preoccupied with describing their dresses to one another that Coach Peters made us run sprints until we were wheezing too hard to talk.
I bought two tickets from Megan Malone, our class treasurer, before school on Tuesday morning. That same day, Elizabeth informed us at lunch that her father had offered to pay for the limo rental. Devon’s resolve to go stag held strong even when Rick sent her a dozen roses and an “I’m sorry” teddy bear. I’d never been more proud of my best friend.
I still didn’t have a dress, but Mom promised that she would “take care of it.” I appreciated her newfound interest in my life, though I was a little nervous about what she would pick out. I had no idea what I’d do if it was hideous – hopefully the gods would look out for me on this one. Mom and I continued our truce, and she made every effort to be home from work in time for late-night dinner.
Devon finished going through the password-protected file on Dad’s laptop, finding a whole bunch of random clues that led absolutely nowhere. The only ones that held any interest for me were the six scanned receipts from a jewelry shop in Hilo, Hawaii, all for dream catcher necklaces. This I found odd, considering there had only been one necklace in the ornate box. I tried calling the phone number on the receipt, not sure what I intended to ask, but the phone just rang and rang.
On Wednesday, Kaydon came over and we went through more of Dad’s notes. Having Kaydon in my bedroom was a little unnerving; he’d never made it past the first floor on his previous visits. But he appeared at ease as he perused the photo collages and band posters that decorated my walls. I sat in my computer chair, embarrassed by the pile of dirty clothes that hadn’t quite made it into the laundry hamper but rather sat next to the laundry hamper.
I showed him the sections that Devon marked, the ones about the Daughters of Cassandra and the Apollo Society, but his blank expression confirmed that he was telling the truth when he said he’d never heard of either.
“Can I take these?” he asked holding up the spreadsheet my father had made with names and contact information for the other Egrgoroi he’d found.
“Sure,” I agreed, somewhat surprised by his request. “Devon emailed them, but she hasn’t heard back.”
Kaydon smiled. “I’m willing to bet that my resources are better than hers.”
“The other mysterious Egrgoroi that you’ve met?” I teased.
“You got it.” He pulled out his cell phone and checked the time on the display. “I should probably go before your mom gets home.”
We collected all the books and notepads and returned them to their hiding place underneath my bed. Before we had a chance to say our goodbyes, with no warning, I heard the front door close.
“Endora! I’m home!”
My heart actually stopped beating for a brief moment. I nervously glanced between Kaydon and the bedroom door. This looked bad, really bad. Mom was going to kill me. I’d never had a boy in my bedroom before, and while she’d never strictly prohibited me from doing so, she’d never said it was okay either. I considered shoving him in the closet, then realized that would be fruitless since his Jeep was in the driveway. Kaydon laughed at my obvious panic.
“We weren’t doing anything wrong.” He glanced at the bed skirt that concealed the evidence we’d been doing something my mother wouldn’t approve of. “Okay, well, we weren’t doing that.”
Honestly, knowing my mother, I wasn’t sure which was worse – her thinking we were researching Egrgoroi or her thinking we were getting busy in my bed.
“Endora?”
Crap, crap, crap. She was on the stairs; I could hear her heels clacking on the wooden steps.
“What should I do?” Kaydon whispered.
There was no time for me to answer. Mom was at the bedroom door. It was cracked and she pushed it open without knocking. The smile dropped from her lips when she saw Kaydon standing in the middle of the room.
“Hello, Mrs. Andrews,” Kaydon said, the only one of us not tongue-tied. He moved forward, and offered his hand to my mother.
Ever the well-mannered politician, Mom recovered quickly. “It’s nice to meet you, Kaydon,” she said, giving him a thin smile.
“We were just…” I had no lame excuse for us being in my bedroom, so I just let my voice trail off.
“It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Andrews. I should probably go, but I’ll see you on Saturday.” Kaydon stepped closer to me and leaned down, kissing me softly on the cheek. “Dream well,” he murmured.
Mom stepped aside, allowing Kaydon to exit without further comment. Neither of us spoke until the sound of the Jeep’s engine broke the silence.
“I’m sorry, but I swear we weren’t doing anything,” I blurted out, at the same time Mom said, “I have something for you.”
Clutched in one hand, my mother held a shopping bag from Bloomingdales, and in the other a dress bag.
“Is that what I think it is?” I asked, jumping to my feet.
“I hope you like it,” Mom told me. “I stopped at the mall on the way home.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she warned. “Wait until you see it first.”
Mom handed me the dress bag and I carefully removed the plastic wrapping. Inside was a strapless, forest green gown. The bodice was silk, and the sweetheart neckline was rimmed with tiny crystals that twinkled. It had an empire waist with a small green-and-gold bow. The skirt was long enough to skim the tops of my feet in the front, and a foot of train would trail behind me. And the back was better than the front, with a diamond cutout in the middle and two ribbons of green satin that tied into a bow between my shoulder blades.
“It’s gorgeous,” I breathed. It was. The color, perfect. The cut, one I’d never worn but would definitely complement my shape.
“That’s not all,” Mom said, smiling. She produced a shoebox from the Bloomingdales bag. Inside was a pair of shiny gold heels, taller than any she’d ever bought me. “I thought your dream catcher would go nicely with the dress, and you are welcome to wear a pair of my earrings.”
I rushed over and hugged my mother. “Thank you,” I whispered into her hair.
Mom was startled at first, but quickly recovered and hugged me back. “You’re welcome. And I’ll let it slide this time, but please don’t invite him into your bedroom again.”
The blood that rushed to my face was so hot that I broke out in a light sweat. Mom and I had never had the birds and the bees talk, and I really hoped that we weren’t about to now.
“It won’t happen again,” I promised her, turning to hang the dress in my closet before she saw my bright red cheeks.
“Have you eaten? I brought sandwiches from Hal’s.” Hal’s was a sandwich and salad shop next to the courthouse.
“Sounds good. I’ll be down in a minute.”
I waited until I heard Mom’s heels on the stairs again. Then I put on the dress, the silk soft and cool against my skin. The emerald fabric highlighted the green flecks in my eyes and made my auburn hair appear more red than brown. I twirled in front of the full-length mirror behind my door, unable to stop grinning like an idiot.
When I came to a standstill, the image in the mirror made my heart leap to my throat and every inch of my skin prickle. The gorgeous gown that I’d pulled from the dress bag had been replaced by a tattered, soot-streaked green rag. Jagged holes dotted the skirt, each one ringed with black. The bodice was ripped, most of the crystals hanging by threads. My eyes were red-rimmed and a crown of gray ash sat on top of my hair.
I gasped and tentatively reached out to touch the girl in the mirror. The palm that met mine was bright red with angry white blisters. I squeezed my eyes shut and took several deep breaths.
Smoke, fire, death, Devon, flashed through my mind.
Tears leaked from beneath my closed lids, making almost inaudible thudding noises as they fell to the carpet. I counted to ten before working up enough nerve to open my eyes again. To my relief, the image staring reflected was me as I looked right now. But I couldn’t get the previous one out of my mind. Even worse, I realized it was not the first time I’d seen myself in the damaged version of the gown. Or the first time I’d seen myself in the undamaged version. I’d dreamt about both.
I nearly tore the zipper in my haste to shed the dress. Once it was nothing more than a pool of green silk puddled beneath my feet, I kicked it towards the open closet. I was scared to touch it, like the fabric might bite me. Wearing nothing more than my underwear and dream catcher, I climbed under the covers and hugged myself until I fell asleep.