Prom Queen, The (Life at Kingston High Book #3) (18 page)

T
he next day, Belinda attempted to be helpful in locating the perfect prom dress. She even made Megan try on all the old dresses, thinking there might be a way to save some money by transforming one of them into something worthwhile. No chance.

“Well, at least you might be able to use a pair of my shoes,” Belinda said as she opened her bedroom closet for Megan to peruse that afternoon. “After all, our feet are the same size.” She pulled a black pair of high-heeled sandals out. Strappy with glittering rhinestones on the buckle, they were actually quite pretty. “These go with just about anything that’s not pastel.”

Megan thanked her. “I’ll keep them in mind after I figure out my dress.”

“You’re sure you don’t want to go dress shopping again tonight?”

Megan reminded her she had youth group.

“But this is important,” Belinda insisted.

“Youth group’s important too,” Megan told her.

“But I have to go back to school in the morning. It’s my last chance to help you before prom.”

“I promised to give a friend a ride tonight.” Megan almost pointed out the futility of Belinda returning to college if she was really dropping out. But she knew it wasn’t her business.

To Megan’s relief, no one at youth group—well, except for Janelle, and that was just Janelle—mentioned her recent absence. They welcomed Zoë just as casually as if she were a regular too. Megan could tell Zoë appreciated it.

When it was time for prayer and share, Megan knew she had to speak out. It would be one more form of humiliation, but she felt it was something she needed to do. So she raised her hand. Then, feeling Zoë’s curious eyes on her, she stood and cleared her throat. “I have an embarrassing confession to make to everyone,” she began slowly. “Some of you might remember how I made this spiritual-sounding announcement several weeks ago . . . about believing God told me to run for prom queen.” She waited, watching as many of them nodded.

“Anyway . . . I have to admit that I was all wet about that. God wasn’t the one who told me to run for prom queen. It was my own silly pride. As it turned out, I made a real mess of it. And I wasn’t a very good friend.” She explained about how Chelsea, Lishia, and Janelle had handled the fundraiser, giving her the credit, as well as a number of other things. Then she told them about her aha moment with God and how she’d recommitted everything to him. “I hoped that meant I could quit the campaign for prom queen,” she said sadly. “But my friends aren’t letting me off that easily.” Now she actually
laughed. “Although I’m sure I’ll look totally ridiculous next week. Not only do I still not have a dress—I don’t have a date either. So if you guys want a good laugh, I encourage you to come. Tickets are still on sale.” Fortunately, this made them laugh now. She held up her hands in a hopeless gesture, then sat down.

“That took guts,” Zoë whispered to her.

Megan just shrugged.

But as she drove Zoë home, she realized that Zoë was opening up to her more than ever. Not only had Zoë listened to the message tonight, but she seemed to be actually thinking about it. When Megan offered her a ride again next week, Zoë seemed glad to accept it.

“By the way,” Zoë said as she was getting out of the car. “I’m still voting for you for prom queen, and I know a lot of others who are doing the same. You probably should try to find a dress.” She grinned.

“Thanks.” Megan frowned. “I think.”

Megan couldn’t believe how much more fun it was being in her skin on Monday. Even if she was the school joke—since thanks to some mouths from youth group, everyone knew that she was both dateless and dressless—she realized she didn’t care. “God will take care of it,” she assured her friends at lunch.

“God might expect you to help a little,” Janelle pointed out.

“I’ll do what I can.” Megan shrugged. “I’ve actually been toying with the idea of asking Howard to be my escort.”

Lishia groaned. “Okay, it’s possible you’re taking this humility thing a little too far.”

“What does it matter? It’s just a one-night deal. People make way too much of it.” Megan considered telling them about Belinda’s confession.

“That’s true,” Janelle agreed. “But since we’re all trying to look nice, you could at least attempt to find a decent dress.”

“And a date,” Lishia added. “If that’s not too much trouble.”

“We were hoping to all go together,” Chelsea reminded her. “The guys are arranging for a limo.”

“I have an idea,” Megan said suddenly. “Instead of going out to eat, what if I host a dinner at my house? I remember Belinda did that one year, and it seemed like they had a good time.”

“It would save money,” Chelsea said eagerly. “Nicholas was kind of complaining about how expensive everything was getting. I mean, in a nice way.”

“It is expensive,” Janelle agreed. “I like the idea of doing a dinner.”

“We can all help,” Lishia suggested.

“That’s okay,” Megan told them. “I’d actually like to take care of it myself.” She smiled at them. “Kind of as a thank-you for you guys and the fundraiser. I still feel like I need to make that up to you.”

Janelle nodded. “Hey, I’m good with that.”

They all agreed.

“But that still doesn’t provide you with a date,” Lishia reminded her.

“Or a dress,” Janelle pointed out.

“Well . . .” Megan thought hard. “I’ll be working on it.”

“Why don’t we go shopping today?” Chelsea suggested. “Kate told me that some new gowns shipped this weekend. They should have them out on the rack tonight.”

“A Best 4 Less dress?” Janelle looked skeptical.

“Hey, they have some great designer stuff sometimes,” Chelsea said defensively.

“I know.” Janelle nodded. “But don’t let Amanda and Hallie hear about this or Megan will be the brunt of more of their jokes.”

“I don’t care,” Megan assured her. “I’m already the brunt.” She turned to Chelsea. “Thanks. I’d love your help with the dress.” She looked at the others. “You guys want to come too?”

As it turned out, only she and Chelsea were free to go after school. “I have a pretty restricted budget,” Megan admitted as they were going into the store. She didn’t want to admit it was even more limited now that she’d offered to cater their meal for prom night. But really, she would rather put her money into a dinner for her friends than toward a formal gown she would only wear once and probably hate anyway.

After close to two hours of trying on what felt like every dress in the store, Chelsea proclaimed the strapless fuchsia satin number a winner.

“Really?” Megan frowned at her image in the three-way mirror. Maybe her eyes were getting blurry or she was just sick, sick, sick of dresses, but she wasn’t getting it. “This is the one?”

“Well, I’ll admit it’s a little big.” Chelsea grasped the back of the dress and pulled it tighter. “But I called Kate while you were putting it on again, and she assured me that can be easily fixed, and you can tighten this sash.”

Megan was about to protest. What if the seamstress took it in too much . . . or got it wrong . . . or didn’t finish it on time? But then Megan realized she didn’t really care. “Okay.” She nodded with a little hesitation. “I’m getting it.”

“Trust me, it’s going to look great.”

Megan smiled at her. “I do trust you.” Really, why shouldn’t she trust Chelsea? Not only did she have a good sense of style, but she’d been a rock through all of Megan’s flakiness.

As Megan drove Chelsea home, she described Belinda’s black strappy sandals. “Do you think those will work?”

“They sound perfect.”

Megan sighed. “Thanks to you and your dad’s store, I’m saving a bunch of money, Chelsea. Thanks.”

Chelsea grinned. “It’s not really my dad’s store. He just works for them.”

“Still, I appreciate it a lot.”

“It’s too bad Roxie had to see us shopping there tonight. She’ll probably tell her friends.”

“Probably.” Megan just shrugged. “No big deal.”

“You’re not worried that Amanda or Hallie will tease you?”

“Oh, I’m sure Hallie will torture me accordingly,” Megan admitted. “But, hey, I might just tell them. After all, they’ve both been asking me when and where I plan to get my dress. Why not just let the cat out of the bag myself?”

“Hallie does seem to have it in for you,” Chelsea said.
“I suspect she’s the one who started that rumor about how you’re taking a girl as your date to prom.”

“She turned a lot more vicious after Dayton forgave me. That really seemed to aggravate her.”

“Well, she should be thankful she’s still going to prom with him,” Chelsea reminded her. “I have a feeling he’d rather go with you.”

“Between you and me, he kinda hinted at that after he read my apology note. But I told him I’d rather just preserve our friendship.” Megan smiled. “He still needs my writing help, so he’s not pushing it.”

By Wednesday morning, Megan’s friends were getting seriously worried that she was going to be truly dateless for prom. “There’s still Howard,” she teased them as they helped her clear up the picked-over remnants of campaign goodies from her table. She was down to less than a dozen chocolate bars. Not that she cared. Mostly she’d be happy to see the last of them.

Janelle groaned. “That’s getting less and less funny, Megan.”

“I had a couple of suggestions,” Lishia told them. “But Megan told me no way.”

“Same here,” Chelsea admitted.

“I just hate the idea of one of you guys cornering a date for me.” Megan shrugged as she zipped her big pink bag. “I think I’d rather go alone.”

“But that’s so pathetic,” Janelle told her.

“I don’t know.” Megan held her head high. “Maybe I’ll send a message. That I am enough. I don’t have to have a guy on my arm.”

“But it’s a dance,” Lishia protested. “Who are you going to dance with if you don’t have a guy?”

Megan feigned disappointment. “You won’t share your dates?”

“Speaking of dates.” Lishia nudged Megan’s elbow. “There’s your ex-date coming your way.”

Megan looked up to see Jack approaching. His expression was hard to read, and so far, he hadn’t even acknowledged her apology note. Not that she’d expected anything. Although it was surprising that Dayton, who she’d never considered the most thoughtful fellow, had seemed happy to forgive and forget. Of course, there was the tutoring thing to consider.

“Hey, Jack.” She smiled as he stopped in front of her.

“Can we talk?” he asked quietly. “Privately?”

She nodded. “Sure.” She tossed her friends a surprised glance, then followed Jack out to the courtyard. “What’s up?” she asked as he paused by a column.

“Thanks for the note.”

“Oh.” She smiled. “No problem. I mean, you deserved more than just a letter, but at the time I didn’t think you’d listen to me.”

“You’re probably right.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Anyway, the musical is coming along pretty good.”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that.”

“Clarisa is doing a good job with Golde.”

Megan smiled. “I knew she would.”

“Not as good as you would’ve.”

She let out a sad sigh. “You know, Jack, I would’ve much rather continued with the musical than the prom campaign.”

“I know. You explained that in the letter.”

Now she didn’t know what to say.