Abercrombie & Bitch

Saturday, May 3, 5:44pm – Donelle’s Foyer

“Remind me again,” I growled as I tripped on my heels for the third time. “How exactly did I get roped into this?”

            Prom. I think I mentioned before. I don’t do dances. Mainly because of the fact that I can’t dance. Well, I mean, I can dance if I want to, but not when I’m surrounded on all sides and therefore squished into the middle. Even with the heels, short people and big crowds don’t mix.

            Riley rolled her eyes. “You were nominated for Prom Queen, Mandy,” she reminded me, fixing her sky blue dress. Seriously, I’ve never seen Riley wear a dress before in my life. But, no worries, she’s still totally Riley – Elle couldn’t get her to wear the heels instead of her knee-high Converse. “It’s mandatory that you show up.”

            “You think I don’t know that?” I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed.

            Donelle glanced away from her mirror, where she was touching up her mascara. “I still don’t know who was stupid enough to nominate you from it, anyway. No offense.”

            “Some taken,” I muttered. “Who’s in charge of that, anyway?”

            Riley turned to Donelle’s iPod and started looking through it, presumably looking for something to listen to until the guys got here. ‘For a Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic’ by Paramore began to play as she sat back and put her hands behind her head. “That would be Ashley Hotch-bitch.  She’s leader of the Prom Committee.”

My jaw dropped. “Ashley nominated me? She hates me!”

            Donelle didn’t even bother looking at me this time. “Ashley doesn’t submit the nominations, but she does have to approve them,” she clarified, applying her umpteenth layer of lip gloss. I’m starting to think that this is a nervous habit of hers. “Either someone really likes you, or really hates you, Miri. I’m going to assume it’s the second one – anyone who knows you well enough would know that you’ll kill them for doing that.”
        
    “That’s comforting, Elle, thanks.” Sarcasm. Gotta love it.

“I'm just saying.”

Riley closed her eyes and threw her arm over them dramatically. “Great. Now we have another scandal to deal with. And on prom night!” She narrowed her eyes at Donelle from under her forearm. “I hope you know that I blame you, Elle.”

“Why is everyone blaming me all of the sudden?”

I chuckled. We'd been bickering about things like that all afternoon; none of them were really that important, but then again I don't think any of us were up for discussing deep subjects. Riley was anxious about tonight for understandable reasons – Mika was in the picture, and... well, what is prom night famous for? Not that Riley was a virgin, but... Never mind. Donelle was nervous because someone had actually asked her; he was a kinda shy guy from her photography class. I'd only met him once or twice, but apparently he was a pretty good guy.

And, of course, I had to deal with the whole “Prom Queen” thing. Not to mention a certain – it almost feels weird to think it – boyfriend of mine. He knew very well that I was nominated. He didn't seem very happy about it, either, but when I asked him about it the only response I got was “I don't want those other guys to stare at you all night”. I felt like I should think that he was being paranoid, but all I could think was “awwww.”

It's official. I'm turning into a Barbie.

“So, Miranda,” Donelle started, staking a seat next to Riley on the couch, “How's the, uh, relationship going?”

I felt my face heat up. I hadn't exactly told them that Zach and I were really dating. I don't think I even comprehended it myself yet. I mean, I knew that I had feelings for him – I'd had them since eighth grade – but... I didn't know for sure that I was in love with him. I think I could be, someday, but for now... I think we were in a good place.

“It's not fake anymore, if that's what you're asking.” I hid my face behind my hair.

Riley's eyes widened. “No effing way!” she shouted, sitting up attentively. “You're dating Sinclair?”

Donelle smiled. “Finally!” I gave her a confused look. “What? You mean you never realized that he liked you? He always asked Riley and me about you when you weren't around. Things like 'is she happy?' or 'how long do you think she'll stay with him?'” She shook her head. “It was borderline pathetic, actually.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “He liked me? He's been a jerk to me since freshman year.”

“You should know by now. That's just how some guys flirt. Besides, he never really did anything that bad, did he?” Riley asked.

I opened my mouth to say something. Neither or them were there on that one day during freshman year, but there were plenty of witnesses. I'd told them what happened over and over again. So why did they never believe me?

Well, like I said, I almost said something. But as soon as I opened my mouth, the doorbell rang. It was the guys.

A few seconds later, Donelle's butler – yeah, they even had a butler – came into the room, followed by Mika, Zach, and another guy our age, who was Donelle's date. He had reddish brown hair and green eyes, and – even though I had Zach – I had to admit that he was pretty cute. In a nerdy, guy-next-door kind of way. I'd seen him around before. His name was Carter or Cody or –

“Guys, this is K.C.,” Elle said, gesturing to the guy. “K.C., this is Miranda and Riley, and you already know the guys.” She was grinning so wide that I knew her cheeks were going to hurt tomorrow. She deserved it, though. A night of being happy, and not caring what other people thought.

We all did. Unfortunately, we got something else entirely.

-[-]-

Saturday, May 3, 8:25pm – gymnasium

Let me just say that our school isn't big, by any means. So the fact that prom was being held in the gym didn't bother us; we weren't expecting any five-star hotels, anyway. The closest ones were a few hours away, and none of us wanted to bother with the drive.

I just hadn't realized that the prom committee had gone all-out. Seriously, it looked like a piñata blew up in there. There were streamers and confetti and whatnot everywhere, and all of it was purple and gold. I know some people are spirited and all, but come on. School spirit has to end somewhere.

“Having fun?” Riley asked in a sing-song voice, wrapping an arm around Mika's torso.

I scowled. “Loud music, crowd of people, prom queen nominee. One of these things is not like the others.”

“Relax, okay?” Zach said, putting his arm around my shoulders and squeezing them lightly. “It's not that big of a deal. No one really cares about those stupid elections anyway.”

Unfortunately, he was just trying to make me feel better. And it was working, a tiny bit, but not nearly enough. It wasn't the fact that I might actually be Prom Queen, because I'm pretty sure hell would have to freeze over before that happened. It was what Donelle had said earlier that had set me on edge.

Who would hate me enough to nominate me?

“Okay, everyone, settle down!” the emcee, Mr. Arneson, announced into the microphone on stage. The voices in the cramped room quieted; everyone was focused on the stage. “Oh. Uh, thanks. Anyway, here's what you've all been waiting for!” A chorus of whoops came from a few feet away. “That's right. Prom King and Queen!”

A few people applauded, but I just leaned closer to Zach. It felt like there was a knot in my stomach, and every time someone mentioned king and queen, it pulled tighter. You know that feeling you get just before something really, really bad happens?

Yeah. That would be the one.

“And here to announce our winners is student body president, K.C.!”

Oh. That's where I knew him from. K.C. walked up onstage and shook hands with Mr. Arneson before taking the mic. “Hey, everyone. Having fun?” he asked. His voice was really deep, especially talking into a microphone. A few people cheered. “Ha. Good. Well, let's get this show on the road.”

Damn it.

“Alright, your Prom King for the class of 2009 is...” K.C. took the envelope form some girl who handed it to him, and slowly opened it. “Mika Goldman!”

Were you expecting that? Good. Neither was I.

Mika stood up shyly and kissed Riley on the lips, letting everyone who didn't already know that they were together. He was never really that outgoing, for a popular guy; he's one of the nicest guys I know, but he just doesn't do much besides sports and hanging out with Riley. I mean, he's obviously well-liked. Just look at this.

K.C. gave him that weird little hug-slash-pat-on-the-back thing guys always do. Mika grinned and clasped his hands behind his back as the girl put a big crown on his head. People cheered and clapped and wolf-whistled as K.C. came back up to the mic. Riley was grinning ear-to-ear. Even though she wasn't nominated, she knew it was all in good fun for Mika.

“Congrats, Mika. But I bet you're wondering who your queen is, right?” Uh-oh. The knot in my stomach tightened. People cheered. Put a sock in it, already! “How about that envelope?”

The girl nodded and handed the small piece of cardstock to him. I don't know why people make such a big deal out of this. I mean, it's not like this is the Oscars, or something.

“And the Prom Queen of the Redford High School class of 2009 is...”

Please be Jenna. Please be Jenna. Please be Jenna.

“Miranda Gregory!”

Crap.

My eyes widened to the size of softballs. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion; people started to cheer. Zach's smile widened. Riley and Donelle yanked me out of my seat. Riley threatened to kill me if I tried anything on Mika – no worries, she was kidding. More people I didn't recognize pushed me toward the stage good-naturedly. I wasn't thinking anything remotely important. It felt like I was on autopilot.

Thank God, I didn't actually have to make a speech. The girl – who I now noticed was Beth White – reluctantly placed the tiara on my head as I stood next to Mika. People were still cheering. I couldn't focus; I was only hearing bits and pieces of what was going on.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your Royals Royalty!” K.C. announced, followed by another round of applause. Mika took my hand and raised it above our heads.

Have I mentioned that I get stage fright?

I didn't hear anything else. It all kind of blurred together. Mika took my hand and led me to the center of the dance floor, where we were supposed to dance to a song. He shot me a reassuring smile before putting his hands around my waist – loosely, so as not to anger Zach or worse, Riley –and wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Relax, Miri, you're okay.” He said reassuringly. At the moment, I sorta believed him.

But then I looked over his shoulder. Up there, on the stage, was this gigantic projector screen. I knew it was there for the video tribute to the senior class. It hadn't caught my attention until now.

Now, it was displaying a five-foot-by seven-foot picture. Of me.

In my underwear.

It sounds hysterical. I know. When I said that Bryce and I had gotten close to... you know... well, we'd gotten really close. Bryce had taken that picture of me months ago. I had completely forgotten about it; hell, I'd assumed he deleted it once we'd broken up. Apparently not.

I was wearing nothing but a lacy bra, matching panties, and a wife beater of Bryce's that I'd stolen from him. It didn't help, because the underwear was red and the shirt was white, so you could clearly see everything anyway. In the picture, I was goofing around – I was biting the hem of the shirt between my teeth, exposing my stomach, and crossing my arms over my head. I was trying to be funny. And... look where it got me.

The entire gym seemed quieted as more and more people noticed the screen. I was frozen solid – like a deer in the headlights. I heard Mika calling my name, distantly, but I couldn't respond. Before, it felt like time had slowed down.

Now, it's stopped.

Ashley Hotchkiss stood at the mic, after shoving K.C. out of the way. “Is this what you want for a Prom Queen?” she sneered, gesturing to the screen behind her. “Some slutty bitch?”

The picture changed. This time, it was the previous image, alongside one of me knocking Bryce's books out of his hands. Again, I'd been joking. But from the point of view of whomever took it – I guessed it was Mika or Zach – it looked like I was genuinely trying to hurt him.

And then another picture appeared alongside the other two. It was of that day in the cafeteria, when Bryce was in nothing but a towel. Which, of course, I'd set up. Everyone knew it.

People started to boo. Loudly. The noise kept growing by the second, until it was an almost deafening roar that echoed throughout the large room. Like some angry, caged animal that hadn't been fed in days.

“Isn't this awesome, Miranda?” Ashley mocked, though I could barely hear her. “You've finally gotten what you deserve. Bitch.”

I don't know what happened after that. Maybe it was a reflex – after all, I know what the fight-or-flight response is. Or maybe I just couldn't take it anymore. I didn't even look back as I bolted from the gym, tripping over my heels and pushing past anyone who tried to get in my way. I vaguely heard people call my name: Zach, Riley, Mika, Donelle... Even Bryce.

But I didn't care.

I don't know how fast I ran, or even for how long. It was pouring rain – how appropriate. My entire body was drenched in a matter of seconds. I didn't even notice. I didn't know where I was running or even why I was going there. I only knew that I had to get as far as humanly possible from that place.

Somehow, I ended up at the park.

As I approached the fountain, I slowed to somewhat of a walk. I shakily took a seat on the ledge, wrapping my arms around myself. It was the only way I could think of to keep myself warm. Not that could really feel anything. It was an unconscious action.

I heard footsteps, and someone calling my name.

Three guesses who.

“Miri,” Zach panted, jogging up next to me.

I stared blankly straight ahead, not even acknowledging him.

“Miranda, it's okay,” he tried to soothe, sitting down next to me. “Look, that was completely messed up of Ashley to do-”

I shook my head, numbly. “N-no, it wasn't,” I choked out, finally letting the hot tears flow from my eyes. “I-I deserved it, okay, Zach?”

“No one deserves that.” His tone was angry. “Especially not you.”

I bit my lip, but I didn't respond. Without a word, I buried my face in Zach's chest and cried, for the first time in a long, long time.

The rain came down in icy sheets around us. I felt it on my skin and through my clothes, like needles puncturing my bare arms. Thunder roared like cannon fire, and lightning struck without warning. In a normal setting, this would have bothered me. But, at that moment, I was alone. With Zach.

In my own corner of the universe.