by K. K. Perez
Although Jess looked incredibly sophisticated in black satin, her short hair sculpted in a Marcel wave, she adamantly refused to join them in the photos. Lucy had been surprised—Jess didn’t seem like the self-conscious sort—but selfishly glad. Going to prom with her best friend was the way things should be. Claudia’s turquoise dress had a drop-waist cinched with peacock feathers that complemented Lucy’s crescendo of gray. They struck a pose gleefully. Giggling, arms around each other, huge smiles.
No matter what lay in store for her, Lucy would have these photos as proof that, at least for tonight, life had been good.
Pride swelled inside her as more students took the dance floor oohing and ahhing at the scenery. Lucy had positioned the spotlights so they hit the mirror ball in such a way that blue and purple snowflakes fell on the speakeasy patrons.
“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
Claudia thrust out her hand, a mischievous grin spreading her lips.
“I told you I was manning the battle stations,” Lucy protested.
“I wanna dance with somebody who loves me.” She winked.
“Where’s Jess?”
“My moll’s outside yammering on the phone.” Claudia shrugged. What could be so important that Jess would take a call in the middle of prom?
Lucy sighed. She had zero interest in dancing but she couldn’t leave her bestie hanging. “Don’t touch any of the dials,” she commanded the DJ, another Heron student, with more piercings than she could count. He grunted his compliance.
“He’ll be fine,” Claudia assured her and tugged Lucy down the rickety stairs toward the center of the gym.
To her left, King Kong did a tap dance on the Empire State Building. To her right, cars beeped their horns in a vintage Times Square.
“It’s incredible, Clauds.”
“Thanks to you.”
“Thanks to you,” Lucy corrected.
Looping her arm and swinging Lucy onto the dance floor, Claudia compromised, saying, “Thanks to us!” and erupted into contented laughter.
Lucy tried to follow her lead as Claudia performed some kind of mash-up between swing dancing and the Charleston. If only she’d been a teenager in the ’90s when moshing was cool. Headbanging Lucy could manage. Nevertheless, after a few minutes she was breathless and chortling and didn’t give a damn if she was writhing like she’d stuck her hand in an electric socket.
When she spied Jess making her way back toward their vicinity, she pecked Claudia on the cheek. “Thanks for the dance, doll face. I’ll cut in later.”
“You’d better!” Claudia wagged her finger.
The second Jess laid her hand on Claudia’s waist, Claudia smiled at her like she was her whole world. Tightness pinched Lucy’s chest. They would beat the odds and make long distance work. They had to. Claudia deserved to be happy more than anyone she knew. And Lucy wanted to believe in love, believe that someone would stare at her with the same adoration one day.
If she made it that long. The deck seemed stacked against her.
Perspiration trickling down her spine, Lucy decided to get some air. She was halfway out the side door of the gymnasium when a familiar voice asked, “Leaving so soon?”
Lucy twirled on the spot.
Wow.
Ravi stood before her in white tie and tails, light bouncing off his patent-leather brogues, no glasses. He’d even slicked his hair back with gel.
“Just something you had lying around?” she said.
“A gentleman never travels without formalwear.”
“I can see why not.”
Lucy detected pink undertones to his cheeks even under the lavender mood lighting. He coughed into his hand.
Methodically, Ravi raised his eyes to hers, appraised the length of her body, and met her eyes again. “You look captivating tonight, Lucinda.”
Captivating. He did have a way with words. There was nothing Lucy could do about the buzzing beneath her skin.
“Dance with me,” she said, feeling brave. He licked his lips. She held his gaze and leaned into him. “Ravi.”
One second. Two seconds. Three.
He lifted his elbow to escort her. “It would be my honor.”
Lucy had gone to school dances with Cole, of course, but she’d never had this same exhilaration coursing through her veins, as if someone had popped a Champagne cork inside her. They wove their way between the other couples but Lucy was scarcely aware of their existence.
Wordlessly, Ravi interlocked his fingers with hers and placed a firm hand on her lower back. It felt so right there.
The tempo slowed to a ballad as he pressed her closer, searched her face. A smooth, yearning saxophone played the opening bars to a Cole Porter song Lucy knew well. She wouldn’t put it past Claudia to have provided the DJ with a set list of Prohibition Era music.
Ravi’s fingertips tensed on her ribs as he led her in a box step. Mostly that involved swaying to the beat. Good thing. Lucy was positive she’d be swaying in his arms, no matter what.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I was thinking the universe has a sense of humor.”
“Oh?”
“This song. I’ve got you under my skin.”
“I see your point.” He laughed, twirling her in and out.
“You’re good at this,” Lucy told him.
“I’ve had lessons,” Ravi explained. She arched an eyebrow. “The benefits of a boarding school education.”
Lucy laughed as he spun her once more, then she slipped her hands around his neck, teasing the tiny hairs resting there. She felt an involuntary tremor cascade through him.
Ravi touched one finger to the tourmaline at her throat and she held her breath. “I like what you’ve done with it.”
“Beautiful and practical,” Lucy quipped.
“Like you.”
Oh boy. The tourmaline could do nothing for her pulse now.
Ravi glanced at his hand as if remembering he was still technically a chaperone for the evening, and dropped it back to Lucy’s hip.
“I hope the Eaton High prom doesn’t disappoint,” she said lightly.
“Nothing about Eaton has been a disappointment.”
Emboldened, Lucy tipped forward until they were almost nose-to-nose. She couldn’t kiss him in the middle of the dance floor, all of her classmates and Principal Petersen ogling them, but she wanted more.
“Let down your shield.”
The song was almost over.
His eyes went wide and curious. “You don’t know how hard it is for me not to let you in, Lucinda.”
“Stop trying,” she said.
Ravi obeyed. Tingles crashed over her and Lucy laughed in a giddy way. “I wish you could feel what I feel,” she murmured into his ear.
He braced one hand between her shoulder blades and dipped her, low and deep. “Believe me, I feel far more than I should.”
His gaze traced her like a caress.
“I’ve heard enough shoulds to last a lifetime, Ravi.”
Lucy floated up, up, up. There was hunger to his energy tonight.
And she liked it.
Extraordinarily slowly, Ravi raised her back to an upright position and drew up his shield. That had been more intense than kissing. More intimate than anything Lucy had ever done with Cole.
“It’s hard for me to keep you out too,” she told him, and a pained look crossed his face.
Nearby, one of the bulbs on a floor light blew. Perfect timing.
“I’d better go check on that,” she said.
“Lucinda—”
Now she really did need a breather.
Flashing him a wobbly smile, she promised, “Be right back,” and dashed off before Ravi could finish whatever he’d been about to say.
Prom had been perfect. Reality could wait.
WHITE LIGHTNING
The beat picked up as Lucy hurried along the edge of the dance floor but she glimpsed Claudia and Jess still dancing cheek to cheek. No one el
se seemed to have noticed the burst bulb. Maybe it was just a fluke. Maybe it wasn’t Lucy’s mojo.
She clutched the pendant, twisting it in place.
A hand shot out from the crowd and Lucy stumbled.
Megan.
“Having a nice evening?” The other girl dazzled her with a sharklike smile. Had she been sharpening her incisors? “Glad there are no hard feelings about Cole. Who would’ve thought Seizure Girl would snag Mr. Darcy?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Megan plumped the poofy pink taffeta of her skirt. She looked like walking cotton candy. “He’s quite the dancer,” she said, raising a supercilious eyebrow. “Cole caught the show too. Thank you for that. Should clear his conscience about the whole overlap issue.”
Lucy twisted the tourmaline so hard the chain nearly snapped.
“Overlap?”
“I knew it was only a matter of time,” Megan continued blithely. “I’ve had my prom dress picked out for months.”
As if there were a time delay, Lucy’s ears picked up on the end of Megan’s sentence.
“Months?” she repeated.
The razor-sharp smile widened. “Some things are just inevitable. We were celebrating our admission to the U of Northern New York—didn’t Cole tell you we’ll be freshmen together in the fall?—and one thing led to another…” Megan drummed her fingers against her chin as if she had a quandary. “It only took him this long to break up with you because he felt sorry for you.”
“I am not some charity case.” Lucy bared her teeth.
“Aren’t you? Giving Cole the physics exam in the hopes of winning him back smacks of desperation.”
Is that what he’d told her? Before Lucy could clarify a few things, including the fact that she had dumped him, the devil himself appeared.
Cole emerged from the crowd of glimmering, sweat-soaked bodies with two cups of fruit punch in hand. Oblivious as always.
Lucy regarded him with nothing but disgust.
“You two deserve each other.”
Shoving the punch at Megan, he demanded, “What did you say to her?”
Lucy didn’t stick around to hear any more of Megan’s lies. Storming toward the DJ booth, she did some quick math. She’d slept with Cole for the first time after he’d found out about his scholarship—which meant he and Megan had already hooked up. Had he really stayed with Lucy because he held the caveman belief that her virginity was some kind of prize to be won?
“Lucy! Lucy, stop.”
Cole raced around from behind her and planted his feet, blocking her exit path. Bass pumped out of the enormous speaker next to them.
“Lucy!” he shouted again. “Lucy, can we go somewhere quieter to talk?”
“I have nothing left to say to you.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair?” she yelled back. “Using my key to steal the physics exam isn’t fair! Leaving me to take the fall isn’t fair!” There was a frenzied twang to her voice. “Cheating on me for months with Megan isn’t fair!”
Cole pushed back his shaggy bangs. “I didn’t cheat on you. Megan kissed me—once. Nothing happened before you dumped me.”
“Do whatever you want with Megan. You can go to hell. Together.”
“Luce, come on. I’m sorry about the exam. You were never supposed to get into trouble,” he said like he was actually concerned. “But it’ll blow over.”
“Principal Petersen is threatening to expel me! It won’t just blow over!”
Lucy’s heartbeat strained against the pull of the tourmaline. Her energy didn’t want to be leashed. “And you know what’s sad? Despite everything, I would have helped you study if you’d just asked. Megan’s right: I am pathetic.”
He grabbed her hand. “You’re not pathetic.”
“Don’t touch me,” Lucy scolded him as a torrent of nausea struck. Cole’s conflicted emotions—anger, hurt, concern—churned Lucy’s stomach. She shook him off. His feelings weren’t her problem.
Grimacing, Cole said, “I couldn’t do it on my own. I’m not as smart as you. I needed to keep my scholarship.”
“You never think about anyone but yourself.” She hugged herself tight.
“You’re wrong! I tried so hard to make you happy, Luce.”
Lucy laughed an unkind laugh, a buzz rising inside her.
“You tried to make me happy by hooking up with Megan?”
“It happened once. But at least she wants me. I was never enough for you. Do you know how hard that is to take?”
Static blasted from the speaker. A horrible, nerve-rattling noise.
Cole took a step closer, not realizing he was in danger. Lucy’s eyes darted toward the rafters. She couldn’t tell whether the disco lights were flashing the way she had programmed them or as the result of electromagnetic interference.
Her interference.
“Stay back,” she warned.
“Don’t be so dramatic. I’m not going to hurt you.”
I might hurt you. She lurched back, bracing her hands on the speaker.
On. Off. On. Off. The lights were definitely not supposed to do that.
Some of her classmates gasped, others laughed.
“I wanted you to fight for us, Luce,” he said, pleading. “But you didn’t.”
Searing-hot rage bubbled just beneath the surface. She wouldn’t listen to any more excuses.
“What a mistake that would have been.”
Cole shrunk back as if she’d slapped him. Good. Power rushing through her, Lucy was too scared to actually touch him, but she wanted him to hurt.
“Either you turn yourself in to Principal Petersen—or I will.” Her nostrils flared as she lay down her ultimatum.
Doubt smoothed his features before creasing again in anger.
“Do that and I’ll tell Petersen about your extracurriculars with the Brit. Being a sex offender could really put a cramp in his teaching career.”
“This isn’t about Ravi.”
Cole scoffed. Then his eyes rounded. “Lucy?” His voice trembled. “Lucy? I think you’re on fire.”
She followed his gaze to her hands.
The entire speaker—as well as Lucy’s arms up to her elbows—was engulfed in undulating emerald flames.
Cole staggered back in fear. For the first time, Lucy truly understood how Frankenstein’s Monster felt when confronted by torch-wielding villagers.
Boom!
Sparks sprayed from overhead as the speaker combusted. Static raged from those remaining. Lucy’s classmates braced their hands over their ears. A few made a valiant attempt to keep dancing.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
One by one the spotlights exploded.
Lucy was too stunned to move.
The final bulb burst and the gymnasium descended into darkness.
Boom! There went the last of the speakers.
Quiet and dark. Almost peaceful. Like the moments before the Big Bang.
Glass tinkled as it cracked and began to fall.
Then screams shredded Lucy’s eardrums.
EYE OF THE STORM
“Come with me.”
The rasp in her ear sounded very far away, as if she were at the bottom of a deep well. Lucy wouldn’t mind staying there. Just for a bit.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Ravi said in a calm, efficient tone. Battlefield calm.
She didn’t move. She was still glowing green.
He reached for her elbow and her heartbeat bucked.
“Don’t,” she barked. Lucy pushed herself away from the speaker, her thoughts in a million pieces. How could Ravi dare to touch her in that state? And, oh God. Cole had seen her illuminated with fire but not burning. And she had blown up the prom. Claudia’s prom. Oh, Clauds.
Ravi tucked her hand in his and pulled her toward the exit. He wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Other students raced by her, loping down the hallways with a clickety-clack of high heels, bumping into one another, gropin
g in the darkness. Havoc. Total havoc. Lucy shook.
In a daze, she allowed Ravi to lead her toward the parking lot.
“Claudia. I need to find her.” It was Lucy’s first coherent thought.
“You can call her later. We should get you home.”
“Before I can cause any more destruction?”
“To make sure you’re okay.” Ravi shot her an authoritative look. Lucy would be annoyed except she knew he was only worried. Possibly scared. With good reason. He’d never seen Lucy in action before.
His brow crinkled, reaching toward Lucy’s nose. “You’re bleeding.”
Frak. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.”
“Just let me see that Claudia’s okay and we can go.” Lucy hadn’t been able to spot her on the dance floor when the lights shattered. She would never forgive herself if Claudia had been injured. She wiped away the rest of the blood.
Ravi nodded, realizing she wouldn’t back down.
High beams momentarily blinded her. Lucy squinted, rushing toward where they’d parked the Mystery Minivan. The lot became checkered in red and white as students dove for their cars. At least it was a prom no one would ever forget.
Claudia’s space was empty.
No way would she ditch Lucy. Her stomach rolled over.
Amidst the gunning engines and squealing tires, Lucy detected her “Imperial March” ringtone. Wait. She didn’t have her phone. Huh?
With precision, Ravi withdrew Lucy’s small, beaded evening bag from the inner pocket of his tailcoat.
“Full-service date,” she said. “Not a date, I mean—”
He cut her off. “I should have stepped in with that wanker sooner.”
There was no need to explain any further. Ravi had been watching over her, taking precautions in case she blew her fuse. Ha. Tonight she was indebted to his vigilance.
“Thanks,” she said, and opened the purse. Lucy had been the one who failed him, failed to remember her training, to keep her emotions reined in.