Page 203 of Wicked Brutal

Penny reaches across the table and steals Becca’s pen. “Fuck you.”

“Give it back.”

“No.”

“I’ll stab you with Cat’s.”

Cat immediately gathers her pens against her chest. “Please leave me out of this.”

I smile despite myself. This is so stupid. So stupid… And normal. Maybe that’s why I don’t know what to do with it. Prom. Dresses. Hair. Who’s going in which car. Normal senior-year problems. Not international boarding schools. Not custody petitions. Not figuring out how to get my little brother out of our house without getting everyone helping us arrested. Just prom.

Penny retrieves her phone and keeps scrolling. “We’ve got time, anyway.”

I look at her. “For what?”

“For the dress.”

“I don’t need one.”

Her thumb stops. Cat looks up. Becca slowly turns her head toward me. I immediately regret speaking.

“What?” I ask.

Penny blinks. “You don’t need what?”

“A dress. For prom.”

Becca sets her pen down. “Okay, explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain.”

“There is very clearly something to explain.”

I look between them. “I’m not going.”

Silence. Then Cat laughs. Not cruelly, which somehow makes it worse.

“What?”

“Sorry.” She presses her lips together. “I thought you were joking.”

“Why would I be joking?”

Penny stares at me. “Because you’re going to prom, obviously.”

“I really don’t think prom is high on my father’s list of priorities right now.”

Becca shrugs. “Okay, so, fuck your father.”

I glance around. “Could you say that a little louder?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Please don’t.”

“Fine. Fuck him quietly, then.”

Penny nods. “It’s a compromise.”