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“Consider yourself officially ungrounded.”
My heart sunk as I thought about Topher. If I had made another choice, things would be different. I’d be wearing this gown for him.
“It’s beautiful, and I’m so grateful, but I don’t think I’m going.”
“What do you mean you’re not going. Of course you are.” Dad scoffed.
“Well, I was supposed to go with Scarlett, and—”
Someone knocked on the door, interrupting me, and Sara giggled.
“Come in,” Dad shouted, and a moment later, the door swung open to reveal Scarlett looking like a runway model in a knee-length red beaded gown and sky-high heels.
“Girl,” she said, strutting into the room, “we need to do something about that hair. It’s tragic, truly. Ooh, are those Fritos?” she said, then popped one into her mouth with a crunch, and I nearly laughed.
“Thanks Mr. Ewe,” she said, taking the garment bag from me, “but I think I can take it from here.” Waving for me to follow, she headed to my room as I glanced helplessly at my father, who simply shrugged, a grin splitting his face in two.
“Hurry,” Scarlett hollered. “At this rate, we’re gonna need a lot of time to get you ready.”
A moment later, I entered my bedroom to find her at my vanity, going through my makeup. “Listen, I don’t think I’m . . .” My words faded as Sara’s mention of Romeo struck a chord.
Romeo and Juliet—Topher and I argued about it that first day in the library when I said it wasn’t a love story. Maybe he and I weren’t exactly the Montagues and the Capulets, but we were two people from very different backgrounds, and Topher would’ve stuck by me if it hadn’t been for my mistakes.
And maybe I couldn’t take it back. I couldn’t right my wrong, but unlike Juliet, I was no fool. I refused to lay down and play dead. If Dad could take a chance and put himself out there, so could I.
I once told Topher my greatest fear was to be seen.
So maybe it was time to stop standing in the shadows. Maybe it was time to put myself out there and face my fears.
When we arrived at the ballroom, it was after dinner, which suited me just fine. With the nerves doing acrobatics in my stomach, there was no way I could choke down a meal without an uprising.
I took a deep breath and surveyed the room. Unsurprisingly, a prom at Lakeview meant luxury. Chandeliers dripped from arched ceilings, while blue and purple lights illuminated the room in an ethereal glow. On the dancefloor, a mass of students moved to a fast song, swaying their hips and grinding to the music. There, amongst them, I spotted the Royals—all of them except for Topher, I realized, and my heart sank. My plan wouldn’t be nearly as effective without him there to hear it, but if there was one thing I could count on, it was that if I embarrassed myself in front of the whole school, someone was bound to get it on camera, which meant he’d see the replay.
The song ended and the music died before Mrs. Leads, a chaperone and Lakeview’s guidance counselor, took the stage. After clicking on the microphone, she cleared her throat and began giving the introduction I imagined would lead to announcing the homecoming king and queen.
“Are you ready for this?” Scarlett asked beside me.
I turned to her as icy fingers gripped my chest. Any moment I’d start hyperventilating, but now was not the time to crack under pressure. “How do I look?” I asked, touching the ends of my hair. One side was swooped off the side of my face with a jeweled clasp, while the rest of it spilled down my back and shoulders in dark waves that took a painstaking amount of time to perfect.
“Beautiful.” She smiled.
“I don’t have lipstick on my teeth?” I flashed her a half-smile, half-grimace. If the whole school was going to make fun of me and I was going down in infamy, I wanted to do it looking good.
“No.” Scarlett placed her hands over my shoulders, meeting my eyes as Mrs. Leads droned on behind me. “And you’re going to kill it.”
“Yeah.” I nodded like I believed it even though I felt like I might barf. “You know, either that or make a complete fool of myself for nothing in front of the whole school.”
“Make a fool of yourself? Yes. For nothing? No. Now, get up on that stage Penelope Ewe or so help me, I’ll drag you up there by your perfectly styled hair. And it’d be a shame to ruin such good hair.”
I snorted, and when she released me, I spun around before I could second guess myself and made a beeline for the stage, taking the steps quickly in the hopes no one would stop me.
Mrs. Leads glanced over at me, seemingly startled, and stumbled over her words as she began to announce the royal court. Then she covered the mic with one hand and hissed, “Penelope, honey, what are you doing up here?”
I cleared my throat, ignoring the eyes that shifted to focus on me, along with the voice inside my head that told me to bail. “Um, can I have a moment?” I motioned toward the microphone, and Mrs. Leads frowned. “Please?” I asked.
“Uh . . .” She straightened and took a tentative step back as she said, “Okay,” and retreated to the corner, lending me the stage.
And then it was just me and the hot lights, the hundreds of faces peering up at me, and the pulse beating in my ears. I stepped forward, toward the microphone, and took it in my hands. I had a general idea of what I was going to say, but now I cursed myself for not deciding on a way to begin. After all, beginnings were important, and I couldn’t help but think back to mine with Topher, to all those years ago when he cracked the first joke about my name and everyone laughed. What would’ve become of me had he not done that? Would I be the same girl, standing here shaking to the core at the thought of speaking in front of a roomful of my peers?
