by Taylor Hart
I nodded, even more confused. “Right, we dabbled with those fake spells after you got that spell book when she died.”
The side of her lips went up. “Guess what? They were real spells.”
I frowned and looked at Henry and Drake, who weren’t laughing. “But you told me you stopped messing with them because weird things were happening.”
She shrugged. “Your mom was dying. You were busy. I…never stopped, you just didn’t know.”
My heart raced. “What has this got to do with my mom?”
She looked at Drake and then Henry and then back to me. “You were just so sad and then you got obsessed with Drake.”
I frowned and felt my cheeks get hot. “You mean, I have been maybe a little obsessed with him.”
“No, you were obsessed with him. The first time, he didn’t ask you to prom.”
Drake put a finger into the air and scowled at Shay. “Not because I didn’t want to.”
Shay cocked her head to the side, conceding his point and nodded. “Right, that first time I had threatened you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, then flicked them back open. “What are you guys talking about?”
Henry moved between Shay and Drake, pushing them out of the way and he gave me a murderous look. “They make it so difficult. Look, we are stuck in a loop. A prom loop. A prom loop that we’ve been living over again and again because Shay put a spell on all of us.”
Shay stuck her finger at Henry, a venomous look on her face. “I put a spell on you and Drake cause you wrecked prom.” She turned to me, indignantly. “They went in before and messed up all the decorations, they sabotaged the power, then they started a fake fire so the sprinklers in the ceiling would go off. It was awful.”
Henry laughed. “Man, it was totally sick.” He put his hand up for a fist bump toward Drake.
Drake let out a sigh and shook his head, looking reluctant to fist bump Henry back. “Dude, stop.”
“What are you guys talking about?” I stared at all of them, like I’d just entered the Twilight Zone.
Drake frowned. “We are stuck in a loop in time. Four days to be exact. We re-live the same four days over and over again because Queenie felt bad that she threatened Drake to not to take you to the prom, then we ruined prom because Drake was jealous you went with your little friend Marc.”
Drake sucked in a breath. “Stop, Henry.”
Henry gave him an irritated look. “It’s true. Since we’re telling her, we have to tell her the truth.”
I shook my head. “I don’t get it.”
Henry let out a cry. “It’s not that hard. Listen, you wanted to go to prom with Drake. But Shay stuck her nose into it all and Marc asked you first—as what would have happened yesterday—if Drake wouldn’t have fallen on you.”
“That was you,” I stared at Drake.
He nodded.
Henry clapped his hands together. “Okay, so we got it.” He pointed to Drake. “He messed up prom.” He pointed to himself. “With my generous help.” He pointed to Shay. “She did her little witchy magic and cursed us for ruining your prom.” He did a fake smile and turned to Shay. “Really she cursed herself too because she’s had to plan prom exactly one hundred times, because she put us all in a loop. A four day prom loop.” He had a disgusted look on his face. “That keeps repeating until we get it right. Until you,” he pointed at me, “find true love.”
I sucked in a breath. “What?”
Drake cleared his throat. “The spell can’t be broken until you kiss your true love at prom.”
I leaned back even more against the gym door, trying to figure this out, feeling like I really was in one of my looping dreams. “Wait. I’ve been having dreams about prom…”
Shay took me by the shoulders, tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I just…I was just so angry at them for ruining prom. For making this one night, the night we’d looked forward to our whole lives—into a big, fat joke for you and Marc.”
I was trying to absorb it all. “So we’ve lived this day one hundred times?”
She shook her head. “No, we’ve lived this prom loop one hundred times. So it’s been four hundred days tomorrow.” She looked at Henry and Drake nervously. “And the spell I cast, well, if true love isn’t found during the first hundred times of prom, the spell goes on…permanent repeat.”
Her lip twitched, again, and more tears plowed down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”
I looked at Drake. He looked at me. His ocean blue eyes, drowned in hopelessness. “It’s true.”
I turned to Henry.
He wore a bored expression now, looking at Shay and shaking his head. “Queenie took the whole King’s court for a ride into never, never land.”
“So, you’re waiting for me to fall in love?”
Henry swore. “No, brainiac, we’re waiting for true love’s kiss. The exact moment that you fall in love.” He raked his hand across his face. “I can’t believe I’m explaining this. It’s like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty or any of those bla, bla, bla…what did they all have in common? What cured them?”
I thought for a moment. “True Love’s Kiss.”
Drake nodded. “Yep.”
They all stared at me, like I should get this. “You need me to kiss my true love at prom?”
Shay sighed. “If it were only so easy.”
Henry laughed, leaning back and howling. “It’s rich, isn’t it?” He slammed a fist into Drake’s shoulder. “Your girl is soo smart—wow.”
“Shut up, Henry.” Drake tensed.
Henry put his hand out. “No, honey, the thing is—we all know you two love each other.” He sighed.
Love each other. Love each other? I searched Drake’s face, did he love me? I blinked. Did I love him?
Henry rubbed the top of his forehead. “Believe me, much like this time, I have spent the last four hundred days of my life trying to keep him away from you most of the time. But, alas, no. It’s not just about loving each other, it’s that moment, that moment that everything gels, that moment that you have magic. That moment that you have true love’s kiss. We need you NOT to love him until that moment, can you do that?”
They all stared at me, like I could really answer that question. I didn’t want to ask the obvious question, did he love me? So I cleared my throat and asked something else. “You said I went to prom with Marc the first time.”
“And the second time, eighth, twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, forty-fifth, forty-sixth…I think I took fifty-through seventy-five off.” He looked at Shay and Drake, who both stared at the ground. “But they could tell you how many times, with how many different guys you went to prom. Believe me, we let you go to prom with pretty much everyone, just to see who your true love was. You went with bucksnort here.” He pointed to Drake. “Countless times, but none of it worked. Then Marc, to see if it would work out if we didn’t ruin it.” He sighed. “But that was a no go and can I just say so painful to watch when he would slobber kiss you.”
“Shut up.” Drake glared at Henry.
Henry laughed. “Oh, sorry.”
“What?” My thoughts were spinning. All those dreams? “I’ve had so many dreams that felt so real? How can that be? How many people did I go to prom with?”
Drake didn’t look at me.
Henry coughed. “Well, since our resident witch here didn’t know how to cast the spell right, we really aren’t sure who your true love is.” He gestured to Drake, “We think it’s him, since you’re maniacally obsessed over him.” He grinned and I knew I blushed because Shay had told them about that.
Shay winced.
“Too bad Queenie didn’t say, specifically, who you would fall in love with, who you would have true love’s kiss with.” He grimaced. “You’ve gone to prom with every boy in the senior class, all thirty-five of us.” He shrugged. “Even me.” His eyes flashed wide. “And you’re not a bad kisser.”
Before I knew what was happening, Drake slammed his fist
into Henry’s cheek.
Henry fell back, cursed again, but still had that cocky look on his face. “What? Do you want me to say she sucked at it?”
My whole body began to shake. I was in shock. “So we’re stuck here?”
Shay wouldn’t look at me, the handkerchief scrunched in her hand. Her face hopeless. “I’m sorry. I’ve tried. I’ve tried ninety-nine proms to make it right.” She shrugged. “I only wanted to teach them a lesson.” She broke off crying.
Henry laughed and stuck his face into Shay’s. “But you didn’t realize that your little curse would curse you, too. And her.” He pointed at me. “That you two would be stuck with us!”
I couldn’t stop myself from consoling Shay, patting her shoulder. My mind reeled with information. “Why are you guys invisible sometimes?”
Shay sniffed and turned away.
Henry laughed. “Oh, right, we forgot the best part. You see, the longer this little thing goes on, the more Drake and I start to disappear more and more.”
“What?” I was confused.
He wasn’t looking at me.
Henry sneered at Shay. “Poof, we start to not exist, I don’t know if Shay wrote that in the curse or what?”
“I didn’t write that in the curse.” Shay’s voice was quiet.
Henry stopped smiling. “Whatever.”
She whirled on him. “I didn’t write that in the curse, I don’t know how come you guys go invisible for periods of time.”
Henry’s face crinkled up with disgust. “Remind me not to give you a recommendation for your next client!”
No one spoke.
Finally I asked. “So, this is the hundredth time I’ve lived through prom because of a curse.”
Henry nodded.
“And you and Drake are disappearing more and more each time there’s a loop.”
Henry finger gunned me. “Folks, we have ourselves a real winner, not only is she hot, she can put together a puzzle.” He shook his head. “Every time it seems we disappear for longer and longer periods of time during the day, never knowing when. It’s awesome. By the way, the girls’ locker room is nice.”
“Shut up!” Hissed Shay.
I swallowed, not knowing what to say.
Henry laughed. “We’re just lucky, we ticked off the wrong witch.”
I couldn’t get my mind wrapped around all of this. “But I always forget. You three always remember?”
Shay shrugged. “I know, it doesn’t make sense.”
“How many times have I known about it?”
Henry pinched his lips together. “About half, give or take. Believe me, the job of education usually falls to me because I’m…less invested in your happiness. So it’s easier for me to spit it out. Or, possibly more gratifying.” He sneered at Shay and she glared at him.
“I hate you,” she spat.
He laughed. “Trust me, you’re not the only one.”
I couldn’t believe this. Maybe this was my dream. Maybe this was real. All I knew is that I had to get out of here.
Chapter 17
I sat in my bed, staring at the clock, wondering how many other times I’d sat in this bed and stared at the clock, knowing it didn’t matter if I slept or not, it would all be over soon.
I picked up my prom diary and then put it back down. The whole thing made me feel…so pointless. Like life. Like death. Like my mother not being here.
There was a knock at the window and I almost jumped out of my bed. I stared into the glass.
Drake.
It felt weird, opening the window. It also felt…normal. How many times had I done this?
“Hey.” His head was to the side, his hair in his eyes. The smell of Irish Spring wafted in.
Nervous flutters lit up inside the bottom of my stomach. “Hey.” I couldn’t believe I’d actually kissed him…a lot. More times than I could remember. A nervous pang went right to my chest, but he remembered. I found myself breathless.
He looked around. “Can I talk to you?” He did another inspection of my room.
I looked around. “S-sure. What are you looking for?”
“Oh.” He gingerly climbed through the window. “It’s not what, it’s who.”
Understanding washed over me. “Marc has been here sometimes?” My voice was soft.
He turned back and shut the window, then moved directly to the chair next to my bed. “Right. Sometimes Shay.” He shrugged. “Apparently she didn’t come over tonight to apologize.”
I tried not to think about how many times he’d not only kissed me, but how many times we’d talked, just like this. How much he probably knew about me. It made me nervous.
He grinned, his eyes sparkling in the moonlight. “I know, you’re nervous, you wonder what I know, you…well, you haven’t thought that yet.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t thought what, yet?”
He leaned back in the chair, looking like he’d sat there so many times. Obviously, he had. “Sit back down and snuggle in your blankets, you’re cold.”
My arms were wrapped around my long nightshirt. I shivered. I got into bed and stayed sitting up, pulling the blanket up to my chin.
He just looked at me.
I asked the thing I wanted to ask. “How many times did we kiss too soon and not make it to prom?”
At this question, he laughed. “Too many.”
I laughed and my stomach twisted with anxiety. “Really?”
He shrugged. “Henry usually has me under lock and key, but I’ve found ways to get away.”
“Like tonight?”
He shrugged, again. “Naw, Henry didn’t even try to stop me tonight. I think he’s given up.”
I frowned, the heaviness of the situation laying on me like two hundred pounds of bricks. “So, if we don’t get it right tomorrow—we’re here forever.”
His eyebrows pulled together. He sighed. “I guess.”
“You guess?”
“It’s not like any of this is an exact science.”
We both stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
The side of his lip quirked up, making his dimple appear. “Too much to tell.”
I tried to relax and quiet the little butterflies in my stomach. I tried to remember that I’d talked with him countless times. “So this explains the weird thing the other night?”
He paused for a beat. “Yep.”
I smiled and I knew I was blushing. “You wanted to kiss me?”
He shrugged. “Yep.”
“You want to kiss me now?”
He released a breath and closed his eyes, his head laying against the glass of the window. “I can say that I pretty much want to kiss you all the time. Thus, the reason Henry keeps me away from you.”
A rush of chills went through me. I frowned. “Did you do that?”
“What?”
“The chills?”
He laughed. “What are you talking about?”
Now I was embarrassed. “Nothing.”
“What?”
I felt stupid, but I figured it didn’t matter, he probably knew. “When you’re around or I see you, I get chills. It’s weird.”
“Really?” He looked amused.
I picked up one of the pillows and threw it at him.
He laughed and then covered his mouth.
I looked at my door. “Has my dad come in here before?”
He nodded. “Once when we were laughing too hard.”
My cheeks flamed. “That’s all we were doing…laughing?”
His face sobered. “That’s all.”
I nodded, less embarrassed. “Good.”
We both sat there, saying nothing, everything running through my mind.
“What do you know about me?”
He shrugged. “I’m not supposed to tell you, that makes you like me too much.”
I laughed. “What?”
“We’ve done this before, remember?”
&nb
sp; “Oh.” He was still trying to finish this. “That’s why you’re here?”
He let out a breath and stood, turning to face the window. “I always want to be here.” He looked back. “With you.” He shifted back to face the window. “But, yes, I’m here because tomorrow’s our last chance. And I want to break the curse, so I’m doing what I think will work.”
I stood, moving next to him. Not touching him, but staring out the window, too. “Do I love you?”
His eyes turned sad. “I can’t say yet.”
My pulse raced and all these crazy, jittery feelings washed through me. “Do you love me?”
The side of his lip turned up and his dimple showed. “Not yet, okay?”
I blinked and took in a slow breath, trying to focus. “Okay, so you’ve done this, what works?”
He slowly put his hand on my head, running it down my hair, letting out a soft hum. “I know about you. But you don’t know about me. You need to know more about me.”
The feel of his hand sent those same hot and cold chills burning through me. “I don’t?” I exhaled.
“You don’t. Maniacal stalking doesn’t count.”
I lifted a finger, closing my eyes, the burning sensation dulling to a wonderful, melodic happiness inside of me. It was too late to be embarrassed. “Tell me then.”
He stopped stroking my hair, moving back to the chair. “Please sit on the bed, it’s better when you’re not so close.”
To have him here. In my room. To know all this about the prom loop. Made me feel less like me. Made me not recognize who I was. Usually, I would obsess about him. Here he was…not telling me how much he’d obsessed about me. “O-kay.”
Once again, there was lots of staring and breathing. I felt like I would explode to have him near me. “How come it didn’t work before? Us? How come if we’ve done it before, it didn’t work?”
He hesitated. “If I only knew.”
I frowned. “Do you love me?”
He shook his head. “Please don’t ask that again.”
I relented. “Okay.”
Drake stood. He moved to the window.
“Wait, you can’t leave. Tell me what you know about me.”
He stopped, going back to the chair. “I know you have a diary on me.”