Taking a Shot (9 page)

She’d laid herself bare in front of all of us, and the photographer had captured the moment. Katie had been crying a lot lately, but these were a different kind of tears. It wasn’t just her fears and sadness keeping her locked up tight; it was so much more. Like everything under the moon that a person could feel had all crashed into her at once and it was too much for her to keep inside any longer. I’d never witnessed anything more beautiful, so I could only imagine what the images would look like.

The thought had never crossed my mind that I might start to fall in love with her when I’d asked her to go to her prom with me. I had just wanted to see her come back to life. Well, she had, and now I was pretty much royally fucked. Getting Webs to let me take her to prom was one thing; getting him to let me really go out with her was something else entirely.

I was setting myself up for a huge heartbreak. I knew it. There just didn’t seem to be any way to stop it from happening now. Maybe it was better not to try. Maybe I needed to feel that heartbreak so I could appreciate these moments—seeing her laughing and living—all the more.

The band finished their song, and the guy who’d most recently asked Katie to dance brought her over to me. Her smile was as bright as the twinkling lights overhead, but her cheeks were too flushed and her eyes were more sunken in than they had been only a short while ago. She was wearing out fast.

“Thanks, Shawn,” she said, her voice winded, as she sat in the empty chair beside me.

He winked at her and nodded at me. “Any time, Katie.” He gave an awkward wave and turned around, disappearing into the crowd.

I took her hand in mine. “Why don’t we sit this one out?” I didn’t want her to get so tired that she couldn’t enjoy everything she wanted to experience tonight. She needed to pace herself.

She nodded. “That’s probably best. I think they’re about to announce the king and queen, anyway. Then they’ll have their coronation dance. We should have a little while to get some rest in.” Her eyes moved to the stage where a few of the teachers were gathering and taking over the use of the microphone from the band.

At least she wasn’t going to try to convince me she wasn’t tired.

I pushed a plate of fresh fruit in front of her and followed it with a glass of water. She dug in with no further prodding.

After a few bites, she said, “You should have some, too.”

I shook my head. “I’ve already had plenty. I’m fine.” Besides, as long as she was okay, I was okay.

A woman called for everyone’s attention in the microphone. Once it got quiet, she turned it over to the senior-class president, a girl in a hot pink dress who I recognized as one of the first to talk to Katie tonight.

“As pretty much everyone should know, we had a last-minute revote on the prom king and queen.” She took out an envelope and slid her finger under the flap, then pulled out a single card. “The results for both king and queen are unanimous on this revote. For the first time ever, we have no prom king.”

A half-eaten strawberry fell from Katie’s hand and back to the plate. She shook her head. “I don’t understand,” she said only loud enough for me to hear.

I thought I might understand, though, and if I was right it made me gladder than ever that I’d worked up the guts to ask her to come with me. But I just shrugged and shook my head, and I kept my attention focused on the stage.

“Now, as to the prom queen…”

The class president gave the band a nod, and they started playing again—the familiar strains of Bruno Mars’s “Just the Way You Are.” A few other students jumped up on the stage, and they all started dancing. I recognized a couple of them as members of Katie’s Glee Club, and that was when I knew I was right.

Katie laughed, her eyes lighting up.

By the time the lead singer started singing, the crowd had parted and joined in the dancing, too.

“A flash mob?” Katie shouted at me in disbelief, her voice barely audible over the music. “Who are they mobbing? God, I would have loved to be part of this.”

But she was about to be. She just hadn’t accepted that someone could have done something like that for her…yet.

Sure enough, the lead dancers who’d joined the class president on stage jumped down to the dance floor as part of the routine, and the five of them danced their way through the path that had opened up in the crowd.

When the chorus kicked in, every single person in the gym—students and teachers alike—was singing along and pointing right at Katie. Her jaw dropped when she realized what they were doing. Fresh tears filled her eyes.

I put my hand on her back and leaned close. “Take it all in. Every moment of this.”

After the second verse and chorus, the lead singer had joined everyone else on the dance floor. He took the microphone to the class president, and the band dropped their volume down and went into a holding pattern of sorts.

“We love you, Katie,” the class president said over the music. “We all miss you, and we want you to know that we’re all behind you—every single person here, students and teachers alike. You’re not in this battle alone, and when you don’t have the strength left, we’re going to fight even harder. The Glee Club put this together for you with Mr. Jenkins’s help, and we unanimously voted for you to be our prom queen.” Then she handed the mic back to the singer.

Two of the dancers came over to collect Katie, but she was shaking so hard when she got to her feet that I worried she would fall. I got up with them, supporting her with an arm around her back. They led us out to the middle of the dance floor, and the crowd of dancers converged around us. Someone came forward with a wreath of flowers and put it on Katie’s head right as the band kicked it into gear again.

Katie wobbled slightly, and I pulled her closer to my side, urging her to lean into me. She let most of her weight fall back, putting her hand over mine where I held her waist while they finished out the flash mob. As the strains of the music faded, everyone backed away until Katie and I were alone in the center of the gym. The lights dimmed except for a spotlight hitting the rotating disco ball above us and the Christmas lights draped everywhere. The band started into another song, a slower one this time.

“Can I have this dance?” I asked.

Swallowing hard, she nodded and sniffled, then turned to let me pull her close. “Did you know they were doing this?”

“No.”

She rested her head on my shoulder. I rocked from side to side more than anything. I’d never been much of a dancer, and I didn’t want to do anything to wear her out any more than she already was. She didn’t seem to mind, though. She just held on to me.

I made note of every detail of this moment—the way the lights danced over her and illuminated her flowers and dress, the feel of her body pressed against mine, the soft flutters of her breath on my neck. It was all perfect.

At least for this one moment in time, she was my princess. No matter what happened, I would have this to hold on to.

JAMIE HADN’T MINDED
staying until the very last moment of prom, even though I was too tired to keep dancing. After our dance, when they’d named me prom queen, he’d sat with me at a table and let me enjoy everything the night had to offer.

But now everyone was leaving. Most people were going on to after-parties, but I definitely wasn’t up for that. Plus, Dad wouldn’t be happy if we stayed out too late. It was already eleven, so there wasn’t a whole lot of time left before he’d be calling in a search party and hunting Jamie down. I didn’t want anything like that to happen.

I was leaning on him a lot more than I ought to be as he guided me back out to his car. I couldn’t seem to help myself. He kept drawing me closer anyway, so I knew he wasn’t upset by it, and it felt really nice to have his arms around me.

We got to his car, and he opened the door for me. “Do you want to do anything else before I take you home?” He drove a flashy, black sports car. As far as I could tell, it was the one splurge he’d allowed himself after signing his first pro contract. Otherwise, he was still just a regular guy from Ontario, as completely ordinary and down-to-earth as anyone else you might meet.

But he wasn’t ordinary. Ordinary guys wouldn’t do all the things he’d done for me tonight. But then again, ordinary high school students wouldn’t do the kinds of things my classmates had done for me tonight, either.

Maybe I needed to adjust my expectations a little.

I stifled a yawn while I tugged the skirt of my gown so it wouldn’t get trapped in the car door. I didn’t really want to go home yet, but I wasn’t up to a whole lot right now—definitely nothing I could think of. “I don’t know what else we can do at this time of night.”

Jamie grinned, and both his dimples popped into place, making my heart pitter-patter. “We could go to Voodoo Doughnuts.”

“Yeah?” I laughed and gave him and his tux a once over, then looked down at my gown. “Aren’t we a little overdressed?”

Voodoo Doughnuts was one of the most iconic places in the city—a twenty-four hour doughnut shop that made the craziest doughnuts you could imagine and had a wedding chapel in their lobby.

“Does it really matter?” Jamie said. “We’re in Portland.”

He had a point. Years ago, the city, or at least the residents, had adopted the slogan of “Keep Portland Weird.” They’d really taken it to heart in every way. “No, it doesn’t matter,” I said. “Let’s go.”

He closed my door and went around to the driver’s side. I shivered when he opened his door and got in.

“You’re cold? Here.” He passed over my scarf and sweater. I still didn’t really want to wear them, though; they would ruin the look of my gown. “Please?” he added when I hesitated.

I gave in without a fight, but mainly because I really
was
cold and it was almost impossible to warm up again if I let myself get too cold.

There was a wedding taking place in the chapel when we got there, so we actually looked like we belonged. Jamie led me to a small table by the window and helped me sit. “What’s your pleasure?”

“The maple bacon bar,” I said without hesitation. I had one years ago, and it was divine—an oblong, hole-less doughnut with a maple glaze and a strip of bacon on top—but I usually avoided them because of all the fat and sugar. But if now wasn’t a time to indulge, when was?

He winked and headed for the counter.

I got so caught up in watching the wedding taking place that his return startled me. He’d bought a whole box of doughnuts, not just one or two for each of us. The box was full, and each doughnut was a different kind.

“Is your blood sugar low or something?” I joked.

“Nah. I thought we could take some to your family, too.”

Yeah, Jamie Babcock was getting to be more and more perfect by the moment. I melted a little bit at his thoughtfulness, particularly since I had a feeling Dad had been treating him miserably ever since the night he asked if he could bring me to prom.

Once I’d finished eating mine and the wedding ended, I really couldn’t stop myself from yawning.

“All right, Cinderella,” Jamie said. He stood up and collected the box, holding out his other hand for me. “Time to get you home.”

I didn’t want the night to end, but there was no chance I could come up with the energy to fight it. We headed out to his car and got in. He started the engine, but he didn’t back out of his spot right away.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

Jamie shook his head, but he was blushing. God, I loved how he blushed and got embarrassed about things. It helped me to remember that he wasn’t that much older than me—not too far out of my reach. He took my hand. “I just— I really want to kiss you again, without everyone watching and before I get you home. I don’t think your dad will like it too much, and—”

“Jamie?” I had to cut him off because my heart felt like it would explode if he kept talking about kissing me instead of actually kissing me.

His eyes were so dark I couldn’t tell the blue from the black when he faced me. “Yeah?”

I leaned toward him and tilted my head up. He angled his head at the same time, and we bumped noses.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Knock it off and kiss me.” I was laughing when our lips finally met, which was a thousand times better than crying.

He pulled away far too soon. Even though it had been just a sweet kiss, my pulse was galloping through my veins. He put the car into gear and backed out of his parking spot. “It’s almost midnight,” he explained.