Take the Fall(85)

We pose again and Tyrone holds the door for us as we leave.

“Have a good time, but be careful,” my mom says, trailing us onto the sidewalk. “Roger said there’s no reason to worry. Text me if you go to the after-party, and Sonia—” She stops, turning to Tyrone and Aisha. “They might’ve exempted prom from curfew, but I want her home by one.”

“We’ll get her back safely, Ms. Feldman,” Aisha says.

My mom gives her a grateful smile before Dina drags her back inside the diner.

Aisha and Derek climb in the back of Mr. Wallace’s huge SUV with Yuji and Haley. I get in the front seat beside Tyrone.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize my mom’s insanity level went up exponentially with prom,” I say.

“Aww, your whole family got into it,” Haley says. “My mom lost interest after my sisters’ proms. She was just glad I got a free dress.”

Aisha laughs. “We all need to let loose and actually have fun tonight.”

“I do charge by the hour . . .” Tyrone says.

She smirks. “Minimum wage is steep.”

There isn’t a hotel or event center in Hidden Falls, so our prom is put on the old-fashioned way, in the crepe paper–bedecked gymnasium. The school parking lot is already filling up when we get there, music pulsing out across the pavement like a pregraduation siren song. Principal Bova greets us at the doors in a sparkling gold skirt and matching mask, alongside Shelly Robson in her deputy sheriff uniform. They pass out purple ribbons to each of us in memory of Gretchen, then make a fuss over our masks and dresses until the next group comes in behind us. We get shuffled through the lines for raffles, prom court ballots, and the requisite photos. I watch Haley and Aisha cozy up with their boyfriends, each looking beautiful and happy. Then they drag me in front of the camera and we strike a hundred different ridiculous poses while I simultaneously laugh and try not to cry thinking what it might’ve been like with Gretchen here, shining in the center spotlight. Something cool and velvety brushes my skin and I jerk my head up, half expecting to see her beautiful ghost grinning down at me. I imagine her showing up later in the pictures and have to rub my arms to make the goose bumps disappear.

There are tables set up along the walls with purple, black, and yellow souvenir masks much like my own, stamped with our graduation year. Haley’s current favorite song comes on and she drags Yuji onto the already busy dance floor. Aisha looks at me like she’s asking for permission and I shoo her and Derek after them. I have zero desire to dance even if I had someone to do it with, so like any person alone at prom, I head for the food and drinks. They’re set up by the doors, near the photos and ballot box. I grab a bottle of water, but the assemble-your-own sandwiches and chocolate fountain seem like more trouble than they’re worth, and the guy lurking by the refreshment table in a Friday the 13th hockey mask does nothing for my appetite. I’m about to work my way around the room to find a table when a commotion at the gym doors catches my attention.

“Stunning,” I hear Principal Bova say. “So glad—”

She moves to one side, allowing a late-arriving couple to make their entrance, and my hand flies to my throat.

Gretchen glides in wearing her purple prom gown and feathered mask, dazzling the room with one of her signature smiles. She moves along, casting ballots and posing for photographs, and it takes me a full minute before I’m brave enough to blink. Once I do, the scene shifts. Her piled-up hair changes from red to blond, and I realize she doesn’t quite have the proportions to fill out the dress. But the way she carries herself—if you weren’t 100 percent certain this had to be Kirsten and not Gretchen, you might think you were seeing some sort of bleach-blond specter. She glides through the crowd holding Kip Peterson’s arm. He’s wearing a tuxedo and a Phantom of the Opera mask, and he looks for the most part like he won the prom date lottery.

But why would she be here with him and not Marcus?

They see me right away, probably because I can’t seem to move from the spot where I’m standing.

“Sonia, I’m so glad you came,” Kirsten says as they approach. “I was going to text you, but I lost my phone.”

I swallow hard.

Kip is trying not to look at me, no doubt convinced that this moment is only awkward because of him.

“I’m glad you were able to find a date, Kip,” I manage to say.

He grins under the edge of his mask. “No, it’s all good, it worked out.” His breath smells like alcohol.

“It did.” Kirsten wraps her arms around him and plasters on a smile. “I couldn’t imagine missing the prom held in my sister’s honor.”

I can’t stop staring at her. If she’s wearing a purple ribbon, it’s lost in the feathers.

“You remind me so much of her dressed up like that,” I say.

She doesn’t even blink. “Thanks. Hey, would you come outside with me for a sec?”

I step back. “I’d rather stay here. If you want to talk—”

“It won’t take long, Sonia.”

The hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I have no idea why she’s really here—if she’s simply basking in borrowed limelight, or actually trying to scare me—but I’m not going anywhere alone with her. “Actually, there’s someone I need to find.”