Red(23)

She opened her mouth to tell Haylie how beautiful she looked, but her friend cut her off before she could say a word. “You look better in it,” she announced. “It’s meant for someone taller. You win. It’s yours.” Though she was clearly disappointed, she sounded sincere.

A strange mixture of guilt and joy suffused Felicity, and she struggled to keep her voice even. “Are you sure? You look really great in it, too.”

“Not as good as you. It’s okay, Felicity. I want you to have it. It’s your perfect dress, not mine.”

If Haylie really wanted her to have it, maybe it was okay to accept it after all. Maybe the universe was trying to tell her something. She’d show everyone she deserved it. She would win that crown, earn that prize money, use it to move her family to a redder neighborhood, just like her mom wanted. She would do this dress justice.

Felicity swooped in and hugged Haylie, squeezing her so hard she squeaked like a rubber chew toy. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you,” she said. “We’re going to find your perfect dress, even if we have to drive all the way to Des Moines.”

After Haylie retreated to her fitting room, Felicity did a silent happy dance, jumping in circles and shaking her butt. The most beautiful dress in the world was hers. She could barely stand to take it off and change back into her jeans. From the fitting room, she texted Brent and her mom that she’d found the perfect pageant gown.

A minute later, she received responses from both of them:

BRENT: cool. bet you look hott.

MOM: BABY I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU CANT WAIT TO SEE IT LOVE MOM.

Haylie didn’t find anything suitable at the fifth boutique, but the sixth store had a promising selection. As Ivy napped on a bench outside the door, Felicity scurried back and forth between the racks and the fitting rooms, fetching Haylie new sizes and colors. At last they found a backless teal gown with just the right amount of sparkle and sophistication for Haylie. Felicity saw her friend’s eyes light up as she gazed at her own reflection, and she knew Haylie had finally found her perfect gown.

Speeding down the highway back to Scarletville with her two best friends and her new dress, Felicity was perfectly content. Her garment bag swayed gently on the hook in the backseat, and every time she glimpsed it in the rearview mirror, a little jolt of excitement coursed through her.

As they sped past the sign informing them that they were entering the Red Zone, Haylie asked, “Hey, when’s the prom court nomination assembly? It’s got to be really soon, right?”

Students at Scarletville High had been electing their prom royalty in the same ritualized way since the school was founded. All the juniors and seniors attended the assembly, where students stood up one by one and announced their nominations for king and queen. Each nomination had to be seconded, and each person was only allowed to nominate or second for one boy and one girl. Then the names of all the nominees went on a ballot, which everyone received during prom week. The top five winners comprised the prom court, and the king and queen were announced on prom night.

“The assembly’s on Friday,” Felicity said. “Madison’s going to talk about it during announcements on Monday.”

Haylie squealed and bounced in her seat. “Ooh, yay! I’ll nominate you if you nominate me, okay? And Brent can second for you, and Ivy can second for me. Is that all right, Ives? I assume you don’t want to be nominated.”

Ivy snorted. “No, that’s okay. I’m willing to make this enormous sacrifice for you.”

“Sounds great,” Felicity said. A senior almost always won for prom queen, but it was a status symbol even to be nominated. It would be a nice boost to her red cred.

They stopped at Hy-Vee for staples on the way home: Twizzlers, Sour Patch Kids, Doritos, microwave popcorn, and a tub of cookie dough ice cream. Finally, they arrived at Haylie’s house, where they changed into pajamas, sprawled on the squishy couches in the living room, and immersed themselves in sugar and mindless entertainment.

By the time they had demolished the junk food and watched three horrible B movies about oversized insects, it was nearly two in the morning. Felicity lay on the floor next to Haylie, her hair spread out on the carpet like seaweed and her feet propped on the couch next to Ivy’s head. A single lamp glowed softly in the corner of the dark peaceful room. Felicity was in a sugar-and-salt-induced daze that made her feel queasy, jittery, and exhausted in equal parts, but she was happy. She had almost forgotten what it was like to relax. This day with her friends had been so blissfully normal, and it felt like a gift, with her perfect dress shining on top like a giant bow.

Just as she was drifting toward sleep, she heard Haylie say, “Can I ask you something?”

“Me? Yeah, okay.”

“What’s been up with you lately? You’ve been acting so weird at school.”

Felicity’s brain registered that this was a dangerous question, but her body was too tired to react with much alarm. “What do you mean? Weird how?”

“Sort of twitchy and jumpy, like you think someone’s following you. And why are you suddenly talking to brunettes all the time? You’re going to start getting a reputation if you keep doing that.” Haylie nudged Ivy’s head with her toes. “Don’t you think, Ives?”

Ivy yawned. “Hmm? Oh, yeah. We’ve been kind of worried about you.”

“What is this, some kind of intervention?” Felicity tried to keep her tone light.