Prom Queen of Disaster (2 page)

“Oh,” the heat in the room tickled up the back of my neck. “You asked—I mean.”

He held his hands up, wiping them with the cloth over his shoulder. “Innocent question, nothing more,” he said with a wide-toothed smile before leaving with my glass.

Before I could ask for his name, he was out of sight. Any name would’ve done, although his familiar face faded the closer he came, I wanted to know if we had any mutual friends. That was the first night I saw him.

The knock on the window came again, followed by a voice. “What are you still doing here?” Kaleb, the guy from the bar. The only teenager without any social media, but he had a name, and the more I visited the bar, the more familiar his face became.

“Bar guy?” Char asked, removing her hands from the dashboard. “What’s he doing?”

I unlocked the door and pushed it open. Kaleb stood with his bike helmet under his arm. “I said, what are still doing here?” He craned his head to see the girls in the back. “
Yeah
, my brothers aren’t happy.”

“And?” Char said. “We paid a
little
attention to them, so they owed us.”

“You know that’s not what it was,” Kaleb said. “If only that’s what it was.”

“He means because we’re underage,” Libby said.

“And slept with them,” Ava said.

Char rose her hand slightly. “I’m 18 now; I’m not a minor.”

“You still can’t drink,” Kaleb said. “

“I guess, telling them we were seniors wasn’t technically a lie,” Ava said. “We are, just
not
college seniors.”

“I don’t care,” he said. “These men don’t take lightly to threats.” He hung the helmet on the handle of his motorbike. “I’ll push the front, just put it in reverse.”

He was deceptively strong, pushing the car. “Now!” he shouted. I pressed my foot on the pedal, backing out of the pothole entirely.

“There,” he said. “Now leave.”

We had thanked him before I stepped on the gas.

I hadn’t meant for it to slip. I thought they knew we were seniors in high school, not college and it turned out they were pissed. It was my fault,
obviously
, but they didn’t know.

“Someone’s license would’ve slipped out sooner or later,” Libby said. “I know I spilled my bag on the table looking for coins, they might’ve seen.”

Char waved a hand. “It’s happened,” she said. “We tried to get
something
out of it, we failed, I guess.” She chuckled to herself. “Now put your foot down.” She tapped my arm with the back of her hand.

I didn’t make the same mistake twice.

“Monday morning, back to practice and my campaign for prom queen begins,” Char said. “You know what that means?”

“Operation boyfriend?” Ava asked.

“Dylan and I will give you a run for your money,” I said. In the corner of my eye, I could see her scowl.

“Obviously, you know this is what I’ve always wanted, Zo,” she said. “So, respectfully, I hope you know I’ll do anything to win.”

I nodded. “I was kidding.”

There was an audible sigh of relief, or exhaustion,
both
?

The drive on the main road was smooth at last. We remained quiet, after an eventful couple of hours, we needed all the time we could to soak it in. They’d all fallen asleep by the time I pulled into Char’s driveway. She lived in a huge two-story white-paneled house in a nice suburban area 30 minutes from where I lived.

It hit 1 AM. I beeped the horn to wake them.

Cushions, pillows, and comforters made the bed for five on Char’s bedroom floor. We had the master bedroom, we always did, although each room was huge. It was only Char and her mom who lived here, and the living museum to their TODDLERS & TIARAS days.

I stumbled and stubbed my toe on the
Little Miss
trophy cabinet outside the bathroom. “Fuck!” I hopped around, holding my foot. Char didn’t make a secret of being a child of the pageant circle, but you
knew
without her saying so.

My reflection in the glass revealed the crop top and
short
shorts. The midriff of my stomach hadn’t tanned, and there was a clear fading into the milky white of my skin down my legs. The thought of cheer practice and homecoming was enough to prioritize a visit to the tanning salon.

“Girls,” I said, wandering back into the bedroom. We binged on PRISON BREAK with ice cream and some cooking wine we’d found in the kitchen. I flicked on the bedroom light as they paused the TV to look at me. I tugged at my clothes. “I’m turning pale.”

“God, Zo,” Libby said.

“Think we
all
need it,” Char said. “My mom has self-tanner.” Ava and Hannah sniggered. “Or the salon.”

“We’re not 14,” I said. “That stuff doesn’t come off; my mom bathed me in vinegar.
Never
again.” I could see their agreement in nods. We all suffered that day.

“So?” Char spooned another mouthful of cookie dough ice cream. “I’ll schedule us in with Amy.”

Amy was an ex-cheerleader, she graduated, but now she was our cheerleading god-mother, working at a tanning salon to give us free access and all-around even tan.

I shut the light off before taking my spot between Char and Ava. There was a cold spot from where my ice cream had been. It was mostly froyo with frozen strawberries. “What’s happened?”

Hannah waved her spoon around. “That creeper was getting all up in her business, so she was
no, I’m not down for this
, then the cops came.”

“So, not much,” I said with a chuckle. “When’s Wentworth getting his screen time?”

“It’s all about the brother, the
real
bad boy,” Char said. “He was in prison first.” She shoveled ice cream in her mouth.

We stared at the large screen mesmerized by the men. Everything was better in HD.

I slept through my morning alarm, waking to Char’s wriggling legs. Then an “
ow
” from Libby, followed by “
don’t be a pig
.” I didn’t want to open my eyes, but I did.

“
Moooove
.” I pushed Char’s leg.

My phone clutched to my chest, buzzing in my hand. I glanced to see Dylan on the lock screen. His daily ‘
good morning’
and a selfie in his basketball jersey, captioned with ‘
Saturday training, being whipped into shape for homecoming’
. I unlocked my phone to double check the selfie, his perfectly quaffed blond hair, and his huge smile warmed me.

I sent him a quick text back. ‘
Morning babe, just woke up! Hope you’re having fun
’ full of X's and O's. He was my
lucky
thirteen, and now captain of the basketball team. Naturally, he was dating
me
, the cheerleader. We already had a shoe in for prom royalty, although Char wouldn’t let that happen.

“What time is it?” Hannah asked in a drawn-out yawn. “Can I get more sleep in?”

I lifted my head to see Char in a star formation, legs and arms out. She was solid in position, even after pushing her. I pulled on the blanket and Ava curled up to my other side.

“Wake up, it’s half one,” I said.

“Noooooo,” Libby groaned.

“More sleep?” Hannah asked.

I pulled the blanket again from around the girls. It wasn’t particularly cold, but there was a draft from the air conditioning, programmed to buzz when it was on. “I need to tan,” I said.

“We all need to,” Char let out with a stretching yawn. “We
all
need to.”

“What about the rest of the girls?” I asked, referring to the cheer squad. We were all friends, but
us
five were the best of friends, and we had been since freshmen year.

“Yeah, group text,” Char said, reaching out for a phone. “Appointment is at three.”

Stomach rumblings bubbled in my belly. “And food!”

“My mom’s doing a vegetable cleans
e
,
”
Ava said. “So can we go to a veggie bar?”

“A veggie bar?” Char laughed.

“Yeah.”

“No, Ava. I’m not eating any more nuts because your mom’s decided she’s on a cleanse.”

Ava grabbed a cushion and whacked Char. Her phone fell, hitting her in the face. “I’m sorry.
Yeah
, not really,” she laughed.

Libby and Hannah had already crawled out and sat at the end of Char’s actual bed. Libby had drawn her mousey brown hair into pigtails, and Hannah’s hair had been pulled back into a messy slept-in bun.

I threw the blanket back over Ava and Char. “I’m getting a shower.” I didn’t have many clothes at Char’s house, but I had a pair of pink shorts and a short-sleeved top, mainly all I needed with my sneakers.

Char’s bathroom was a large white-tiled room from ceiling to floor. One wall covered in a glass pane, and inside there were holes for water to shoot out. Absolute bliss! I tried not to wet my hair; it was
too much
to wash and blow dry.

The girls were waiting for the shower, already wrapped in towels. “Was I long?” I asked.

“Yea, forever,” Char said.

“Had to get my skin prepared,” I said, combing my hands through my hair.

“All the girls are coming, except Monique and Damaris, they thought I was being
funny
, asking them to tan. All girls can do with a tan, white, Hispanic, black, Asian; it’s all bonding.”

Monique was one of few African-American girls at Marin County, a junior. Damaris was Latin-American, natural golden skin and eighty pounds soaking wet, usually top of the pyramid and the highest flyer.

“Are you getting a spray tan or using a tanning bed?” Libby asked, bouncing on beside me on the bed.

“The bed,” I said. “Least that way it won’t
melt
on my skin or come off in the shower.”

“God no, just use cocoa butter,” she said. “I smell like a cupcake.” She pushed her hand under my nose. It wasn’t
that—
more antibacterial. The look on my face must have given my thoughts away; she pulled it back. “Just used a make-up wipe, so yeah, probably not cupcake right now.”

“Yeah,
not
cupcake.” Of course, I knew what cocoa butter was, my mom would always tell us how she never had any stretch marks with me or my sister, Maddie because of it.

San Rafael Mall was a large three-story building before a large parking complex. First order of business was the food court, and from the number of rumbling stomachs I could hear while we drove, the veggie bar was off the list.

“I want wings, buffalo wings,” Char announced as we walked into the mall through the automatic doors. “Maybe fries, I’m feeling carbs.”

“Fried chicken,” Hannah said.

“Chicken Shack?” Libby asked.

“Wait. Didn’t someone find a hair?” I added. “Maybe Big Fry?”

Ava held out her hand and pulled us all to a stop. “Whoa! No, they fired me after a week. We’re never going back there.”

“You gave us free soda from the machine
that
week, it was amazing,” Char said. “Like you even needed a job.”

The decision was down to Char; she didn’t say a word. We walked by all the kiosks and women offering samples of new perfumes. Libby was caught off-guard by a woman spraying perfume in her face. I turned to see the woman shoving the perfume bottle in her face. “Buy this, buy this.” I rushed back to grab Libby’s arm.

“Libby,” I said, snapping a finger in front of her eyes.

“Uh?”

“C’mon.” I pulled her along. “It’s like they want you to smell like some baby hooker.”

“Where’d you go?” Hannah asked, as the girls ahead stopped to wait.

Libby grabbed her t-shirt to smell it. “Some amateur saleswoman, looking like a realtor with her blue blazer,” she said, snapping out of the daze. “God, Zo. Baby hooker!”

“Zoey,” Char said in a loud laugh. “Did you say that?”

There was a preconception I was quiet. The daughter of conservative parents, do-gooders in the neighborhood, always part of the welcome wagon the day you move. “Well, where’s the lie?”

Char chose the Chicken Shack, joking we had to keep our portions under 500 calories. I
knew
she was joking, or at least hoped so as I glanced at their menus on the illuminated boards. There was nothing under 500 calories unless it was two mouthfuls of a supreme meal deal.

Finally made the decision of a chicken salad wrap and an XL soda, it was enough to keep me hydrated and burping for the rest of the day. We were sat outside on one of the tables, trying not to scoff down the food. We knew better than to get indigestion; nothing was worse than eating before having to lay still for 8 minutes on the tanning bed.

We sat around waiting for the other girls. If we were under 18, we needed to get Char’s friend to approve us, which meant most of us needed to be approved. Char and Bex were the only 18-year-olds on the squad. Bex didn’t want anything to do with it, but she was getting a full gymnastics scholarship—
a full ride
to one of the large state schools, so she was staying.

“Oh my gosh, I stood outside the salon for
5
minutes, then I got the texts.” Brianna walked through to our table. “I feel so stupid.” One of the newer girls to the squad, Brianna, a junior, she’d tried out in freshman year and again at the end of sophomore year.

“Grab a chair; we’re still waiting,” Char said.

“So what were you doing last night?” she asked. “I saw your Snapchat.”

"There was a shared side-eyed glance. “It was interesting,” I said. “We ate ice cream and watched PRISON BREAK.”

“I
love
Wentworth Miller!” she cried out, sitting down at the table. “Isn’t it a shame that he’s gay?”

“To you?” Hannah asked. “He’s pretty old, and
no
, it’s not a shame.”

She shrugged. “Yeah,
yeah
.”

“Oh, Zo!” Ava yelled. “I forgot to ask last night, but who’s that guy?” My face creased at her. I wasn’t a mind reader. She nodded at me as if I’d understood. “The one on the bike that works behind the bar.”

“What bar?” Brianna asked.

“Kaleb?”

Ava reached over to me, wide-bug-eyed. “Yes, him, he’s pretty cute, right?”

“Creepy,
borderline
creepy,” I said. “He followed us, then helped us, not to mention the
glaring
.”

“I think that’s hot.”

Of course, she did. “Go for it,” I said. “Maybe he’ll pick you up on his bike.”

“You think?”

“Yes, Ava,” Char said. “You’re both clearly
easy
and gagging.”

Mary-Beth, Sara, Jade, and Katrina, finally showed up. Minutes later, the basketball team showed up. I hadn’t noticed until Dylan came up from behind and wrapped his arms around my waist. He swung himself gently from side to side, slowly pulling me with him. I could feel the burning smile on my face; I knew it was him from the way his skin felt on mine.

“Hey,” I said. He kissed me on the neck. Heat blushed in my cheeks. The girls watched, most with awe-filled faces, others with the look of
get-a-room
, but it didn’t matter, I felt we were alone, just like every moment did when his hands were on me.

“Have you been to get tanned up yet?” he asked, pulling away as I turned around into his body.

“No, can you not tell,” I said, grinning. I wanted to pull my shorts to show him the white marks, but I remembered we were in public. “I guess that’s what happens when it’s fall.”

“I think you’re perfect,” he said. “In every way.”

“Guys and girls,” Char said, standing. “Let’s leave now before they get to first base in the food court.”

“Char!” I said, my face swelling in the heat. I turned to her. “Not funny.” The girls were already giggling, but I would never start making out in the mall, with all eyes on me,
no thank you
.

She threw her hand. “We’re jealous really,” she said.

Anyone else who didn’t turn up now would have to tan on their own. It was considered a bonding activity. I loved comparing tans; my skin would bronze so easy.

“I’m getting the spray tan,” Libby said. “I burnt like a bitch last time.”