by Ann McCune
I took my overnight bag off the bed. It had a change of clothes for the after-prom party and other necessities I might need.
She came back in with the camera in hand. “Put the bag down and stand up straight,” she said, and started snapping pictures from every angle. “No one is going to believe you are my tomboy daughter.”
The doorbell rang, and I bent down to pick up my bag. “Mom, Shawn’s here. I have to go.”
“He can wait for a second.” She snapped another picture. “Give me your bag, I’ll carry it downstairs for you.” She reached for the bag and I gave it to her. “Stay here for a minute. I want to get pictures of you walking down the stairs.”
“Fine,” I fumed, but did as she asked. It had been a hard day for her, at least I could do this for her. I waited until I heard her greet Shawn, then I opened the door and walked to the top of the stairs. With a death grip on the railing, I made my way down, trying not to trip and fall on my face.
When I met Shawn’s eyes, I realized all the torture I endured getting ready was worth it. His eyes were bright, his mouth hung open, and I wasn’t sure if he was breathing. He was wearing a black tuxedo with white shirt and a black vest with silver lines swirling around the fabric. When I got to the bottom of the stairs he took a step toward me. “Hi,” I said in a low voice, looking at the floor.
“Hi, you look gorgeous,” he said, taking my hand causing me to look up and spun me in a circle. “Wow. Oh, this is for you.” He gave me a clear box with a white rose corsage.
“It’s perfect.” I opened the box and pulled it out. It had a wrist band thankfully. I was about to slide it on my wrist when my mom spoke up.
“Wait, Shawn, you put it on for her.” She was still taking pictures. I had forgotten she was there. I rolled my eyes and gave Shawn the corsage. He put it on my wrist, covering my mark, while my mom oohed and awed, still snapping pictures.
“Mom, where is Shawn’s boutonniere?” I asked, looking around the room.
“Burt, will you get it? It’s on top of the freezer in the garage,” Mom asked, still taking pictures. “I want to get some posed shots with them.”
“On my way.” Dad sounded relieved to get out of the situation.
“Okay, stand against the wall,” Mom dictated. “Put one arm around her and hold her other hand, perfect.”
“Here it is,” Dad said, handing it to me and giving me a wink.
“Thanks, Dad.” I opened it and took out the white rose with a spray of green behind it. “I’ll try not to poke you.” I pulled his lapel away from his chest and attached the boutonniere with some difficulty, while my mom never stopped taking pictures.
“Honey, I think you can stop taking pictures now,” Dad said, standing next to Mom. “Enjoy the moment.”
She brought the camera down and smiled. “I am, I just never thought she would go to prom.” She wiped the tears away and hugged me. “Have fun and be safe.”
“I will, I love you, Mom.” I pulled back and went to my dad.
“You look beautiful, sweetheart.” He took me in his arms giving me a bear hug. “Be careful tonight.”
I pulled back from him. “Thanks, Dad, we will. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Dad went over to where Shawn was standing. “You will respect my daughter and make sure nothing bad happens to her. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Shawn said, extending his hand to shake my dad’s. He took it, shook once then let go and put his arm around Mom again.
“Have fun kids,” Dad said, holding my mom’s hands down to stop her from taking more pictures as we walked out of the house and toward Shawn’s Jeep.
“I’m sorry Mom was freaking out,” I said, once we were seated in the car. “I kind of told her about the goblin and my mark when I was trying to find out where the rest of my bio-dad’s stuff was.”
“What? She knows about the Knights now?”
“She already did, Shawn. She didn’t know it was Knight Inc, but I had to tell her. She has a right to know what is going on in case something happens, and I don’t make it.”
“I know, I just hoped it wouldn’t come to that. I wanted to have the mark gone and everything back to normal, so you would never have to tell her. Does she still have Victor’s stuff?”
“Me too, but it’s too late now. No, she doesn’t have his stuff.” I told him about everything my mom told me. I finished just as we pulled into the parking lot at the mansion.
“I feel so bad for her,” Shawn said, putting the Jeep in park, and turning to look at me.
“Me too, it’s hard to imagine. Listen, I don’t want this to ruin our prom. Can we just forget about it until tomorrow?” I looked out the window and saw Billy’s mom’s car pull into the parking lot.
“Deal, I don’t want it hanging over our heads all night either.”
We got out of the car and I prepared myself for another round of photos. Billy and Jo looked perfect together. Jo’s dress was long and bright blue, and Billy’s vest was the same color. They both looked nervous but excited.
Pictures at Shawn’s were not as bad as they had been at my house, but only because it wasn’t my mom taking eight million of them, it was Mrs. Ericson, Billy’s mom, and Jo’s mom. Shawn’s dad made a quick stop to say hello and tell us to stay out of trouble before he disappeared again. Heather smiled from behind her mom laughing at how many pictures everyone wanted.
“You look amazing,” Heather said, while Billy and Jo were taking their turn in front of the camera.
“Thanks, I feel like I have ten pounds of makeup on.” I wanted to scratch my nose, but I didn’t want to mess up my makeup.
“You look perfect. I’m surprised Shawn can take his eyes off you. Have fun tonight,” she said before walking away.
“Thanks, we will.”
After we all piled into Shawn’s Jeep and were on our way to dinner we all let out a relieved breath. “No more parents,” Billy said.
“Thank God,” I said, laughing. “Now we can be ourselves and have a good time.”
“I’m starving. Where are we going to dinner?” Jo asked, from the backseat. “My mom wouldn’t let me eat all day, she was afraid I wouldn’t fit into my dress.”
“The Diner, you can pig out all you want,” Shawn said, laughing.
“Perfect I want the biggest cheeseburger they have,” Jo said.
“Me too,” Billy chimed in.
Shawn parked the car, came around to my side and opened the door for me. I stepped down, glad there wasn’t any ice on the road for a change. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” he whispered in my ear and offered me his arm.
“Thank you. You look like a stud,” I said, taking his arm, and walking toward the diner’s door.
We sat at one of the few tables in the middle of the room. There were a few other couples and groups from school and everyone looked nervous eating in their formal clothes.
“Liz, I almost didn’t recognize you,” Mrs. Baneberry said, as she handed me a menu. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I said, ducking my head down. I didn’t think I would ever be used to people telling me I was beautiful.
“Billy, you clean up well too,” she said, giving him a good once-over.
“Thanks, Mrs. Baneberry.” Billy ducked his head as I had.
“You two are new in town I’m guessing.” She waited for Shawn and Jo to introduce themselves.
“I’m Shawn Ericson and this Jo Nicholson,” Shawn said, for them both.
“Well it’s nice to meet the new kids in town. Now what can I get you to drink?”
We ordered our drinks and Mrs. Baneberry shuffled off to get them.
“She seems nice,” Jo commented.
“She’s a snoop and one of the town gossips,” Billy said, leaning back in his chair before remembering he was in a tux and sat up straight again.
“What town doesn’t have a least two snoops and gossips?” Shawn asked, chuckling.
Mrs. Baneber
ry came back with our drinks and took our orders. After she left we all looked at each other.
“I feel like we should be having some very adult conversation since we are dressed up, but I cannot think of a thing,” I said, before taking a sip of my soda.
“That is what I was thinking too,” Jo said, looking around the room at the other prom goers. Most of them were laughing and talking, but there were a few who looked too uncomfortable to eat.
“I remember this one time about six years ago,” Billy started, and my eyes grew huge. “Liz and I were hiking behind my house. We were only ten or eleven, so we couldn’t go too far away from the house, but it was far enough. Liz’s grandpa had given her some Black Cat firecrackers and there was this huge boulder. We were convinced if we could crack it in half it would be filled with gold and we would be rich.”
“How big was the rock?” Shawn asked.
“About ten feet long and five feet high.” Billy smiled. “Anyway, we had one of my mom’s garden spades and dug a hole under the rock. Once the hole was dug we put one firecracker in the hole, lit it, and expected the rock to crack in half. Of course, it did no damage at all. We decided we needed more bang, so we took the rest of the package, dug further under the rock and lit them.”
“Did you split the rock in half?” Jo asked, trying to hold in her laughter.
“No, but we both ended up with rock-shrapnel in our shins because we stood too close.”
“I still have a scar,” I said, about to pull my dress up to show them but thought better of it at the last second.
“Shawn and I got in big trouble about the same age, only it included BB guns,” Jo said, looking over to Shawn.
“I still owe you for the doctor’s visit,” Shawn said, laughing, and rubbing his arm.
“You didn’t shoot him in the eye, did you?” I asked, starting to laugh too.
“No, in the arm, but it got embedded. I think it was the last time my dad actually spanked me.”
“I got a spanking out of it too, plus all the shots and stitches.” Shawn laughed.
Mrs. Baneberry brought our food out at that moment and sat it down in front of us. We chatted about all the trouble we got into as kids while we ate and we all finally relaxed.
Shawn and Billy were dividing up the bill when Tiffany came over to the table dressed in a very short, dark pink, sequined dress. The neckline dipped dangerously low, giving everyone a view of her cleavage.
“I hope everything was alright,” she said, leaning over between Shawn and me, forcing him to look at her boobs.
“Everything was fine,” Jo said, in a clipped voice.
“Good, what did you think, Shawn?”
“I was great until a few seconds ago.” He pushed his chair back. “Are you guys ready to go?”
“Yeah,” Billy said, standing up and offering his hand to Jo. “I’m ready to leave all of a sudden.” Jo took his hand and stood.
I got to my feet. “I definitely lost my appetite.”
Shawn stood, and Tiffany straightened but didn’t move away, so she was practically pressing herself against him.
“Tiffany,” Todd, another senior, called to her. He looked hurt she was flirting with my date.
“I better go. See you guys at the dance.” She turned and strutted back to Todd.
“She doesn’t know when to quit,” Jo said, taking Billy’s arm, and heading toward the door.
“No kidding,” I murmured as Shawn took my hand and we went to the door. He jerked to a stop in front of Tiffany’s table and pulled me into his arms.
He brought his lips down to meet mine and I wrapped my arms around him as he deepened the kiss. He pushed his tongue past my lips and I snuck mine through his. Shawn was letting me mark my territory and I loved him for it.
The sound of someone clearing their throat had us breaking the kiss, but not eye contact. After a second, he winked and pulled me toward the door.
“You should have seen the look on her face,” Billy said, walking toward the Jeep.
“You guys saw?” I asked, blushing. I could kiss him in front of the whole town but Billy seeing it made me blush? What was wrong with me?
“Yeah, Tiffany just about fell out of her chair,” Jo said, laughing.
“If her jaw was hanging open any wider she would have dislocated it.” Billy laughed.
“I just hope she gets the picture,” Shawn said quietly.
“It was worth a try,” I said as we got to the Jeep and he opened the door for me. Billy did the same for Jo. Once we were all in, we made our way to the high school, where the prom was waiting for us.
CHAPTER 31
When we entered the gym, I was taken back by the decorations and the lights. The theme was a Midsummer’s Night Dream, and everything looked like a forest, there were even little creatures from the play hidden in the trees. We did the picture thing, again, then entered the party.
As soon as we went into the gym it felt like everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at us. I wanted to shrink back, take Shawn, and run out of there, but Shawn pulled me forward, not giving me a chance to escape. I stood, pulled my shoulders back, then let Shawn guide me to a table. He took his jacket off and hung it on the back of a chair.
“Are you ready to dance?” he asked, tapping his foot to the upbeat song the DJ was playing.
“Dance?” I looked at him questioningly. “I don’t know how to dance.”
“Then now is a great time to learn.” Shawn took my hand and led me onto the dance floor. He wrapped one arm around my waist and took my hand with the other one, before I knew what he was doing we were moving around the floor to the beat of the music. “See, you can dance. Just feel the beat and I’ll show you where to go.”
I laughed, hardly believing I was dancing with the best-looking guy in the room. The song ended and a slow one started. Shawn stopped, let go of my hand, and put it around my waist. “Put your hands behind my neck,” he said, pulling me in until the only thing keeping us from touching everywhere were our clothes.
I rested my head against his shoulder and let him move us to the beat of the music. “This is perfect,” I whispered in his ear, and he squeezed me tighter. In that moment nothing could bother me, not the mark on my wrist, the goblin trying to suck my soul out, or Tiffany trying to steal my boyfriend. Everything fell away except for the feeling of Shawn’s strong arms around me.
When the song ended and a fast one started, he pulled away and looked down at me. “Do you want to keep dancing?”
I looked around at the other people who were already moving to the music. “Why not? It’s a dance, right?”
We danced until they started to announce the royal court and I excused myself to go to the bathroom. It was blessedly empty when I walked in. I went into the stall and did my business. When I was done, I flushed the toilet, and was about to unlock the stall door when the outside door opened, and I froze.
“Did you see Liz Lawson?” someone whose voice I didn’t recognize asked.
“Yes, I wonder how much she spent at the salon.” I heard Tiffany say, recognizing her voice immediately.
“No kidding, I wonder how she got the oil out from under her nails.”
“Her hands are disgusting; it looks like she never washes them. She must be a pretty good lay if she is here with Shawn. What else would he see in her?”
I looked down at my hands. They were clean now, the soap they gave me at the salon worked. My throat tightened, and I felt tears burn the back of my eyes. I never knew girls could be so mean, it made me glad I never hung out with them.
The door opened and someone else came in to join the girls. “Liz are you in here?” Jo asked, looking around.
Great, I thought, I was planning on waiting until they left to leave the stall, but now I had no choice. I took a breath, opened the stall door, and walked to the sink ignoring the now silent girls staring at me in disdain. I held my head high, washed my hands, dried them, and pretended to check my makeup before tur
ning to Jo. “Sorry, are you ready?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking confused. I walked out the door with Jo trailing behind me. I entered the gym and looked around for Shawn. “Hey, are you okay? What was going on in there?” Jo asked, taking ahold of my hand.
I pulled away from her wiping a tear off my cheek and turned to face her. “Tiffany was talking shit behind my back again. I need to find Shawn, I want to go home. This was a mistake.” I turned and began searching the crowd for him.
“Don’t go. She’s just jealous because you look better without makeup than she does with it. Come on we can still have a good time.” Jo rubbed her hand on my back.
“Hey, we got punch for you two,” Billy said, coming up behind me.
I turned trying not to meet their eyes. “Thanks,” I mumbled, taking the punch from Shawn, and swallowing the cup in one gulp. “Can we please go now?”
“What? What’s wrong?” He gave his cup to Billy and pulled my chin up with his fingers. My eyes were filling with tears and I jerked away from him. “What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. This was a mistake. Can we please leave? Or you stay and have fun, I’ll call my dad he’ll come get me.” I would not let myself fall apart in front of everyone. I turned, hurried out of the gym, down the hallway, and out into the cool night air. Tears streamed down my face as I walked to Shawn’s Jeep where my phone and everything else I brought was. I pulled on the door handle and it didn’t open. I slammed my palm into the door in frustration before I bent over and sobbed. There was no way I was going back into the gym. I would just sit here until someone came out. Then I would ask to borrow their phone.
Something was draped over my shoulders and I stood and sniffled.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Shawn asked, as he rubbed my arms up and down trying to warm them up.
I gasped trying to hold a sob in. Talking about it was going to make me cry even harder. “Can you unlock the car? I just need to get my stuff, then you can go back and enjoy yourself.”
“Come on, Billy’s truck is here. We don’t have to wait for them.” He unlocked the Jeep and opened the door for me.