Does that meanwe’reactually happening? Does he want to be together too?
The question is on the tip of my tongue, but then I think about ruining whatever’s happening right now. What’s so wrong about staying like this for a bit longer?
Seph asks if I’m all right and I answer him with another kiss.
Not to sound cocky,buthow many people can say they’re at the brink of beating death while also making out with a cute guy?
Maybe the universe is still capable of good things after all.
35
Here is my public service announcement: Prom isn’t all that romantic.
Like some twisted joke, the theme for this year’s Saint Agnes prom is “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.” I really pray that heaven in real life goes beyond the Saint Agnes gym. No matter how much effort the prom committee poured into decorating the place, this is still the same ground where I skinned my knee during our third-grade kickball game. The stage lit by the paper lanterns and flameless candles is still the stage where Kayla tripped and flashed her panties in our grade school graduation.
All these girls who look stunning in their gowns and makeup are the same ones who wear their Saint Agnes uniforms every day and yell out at seven in the morning asking if someone has an extra sanitary napkin.
Yet, even the most cynical part of my soul finds it hard to persist alongside Kayla’s excitement.
“Nika, Nika.” Kayla shakes me. “Don’t those lights remind you of theTwilightprom scene when Edward danced with Bella?
“Oh my god. Look, they made the middle of the gym a dance floor! Are they going to playHigh School Musicalsongs?”
Kayla discovered a new talent tonight: She has a movie reference for every single detail at prom.
“The stage is just how it looked like inCarrietoo!”
Seph hesitates. “Isn’t that the one where a girl gets drenched in pig’s blood?”
“Yes!” Kayla agrees, even more excited. “Then she proceeds to murder everyone!”
He darts me a concerned look, but I shrug it off. These are the moments I find my best friend more endearing than frightening.
We follow the long carpet that directs us to the pathway while Achi keeps gaping at the stage centerpiece that looks like an actual waterfall. “The admin can’t get our budget approved for more volleyball nets, but they can fundthis?”
It really looks like an enchanted forest threw up all over our school gym. There are pastel-colored lights lining a tunnel to the gym entrance that shimmer when anyone passes through. There are more strings of lights that twist and turn through the ceiling like the gym has its own vines and branches.
Ma rode with Auntie Baby since they had to get here earlier for “chaperone” duties—which works out for us since I get more room to discuss the game plan with Pa. But he’s been acting strange ever since he noticed the butterfly necklace.
“Is that from your mom?” he asked when we stepped outside the condo.
I expected him to share more about their prom night, some backstory about how he got the necklace, or crack some corny joke, but he left it at that.
His mind seems like it’s far away this whole evening.
He still has a glazed look in his eyes while the rest of us are trying to take in everything the prom committee did to the school gym. “Everything okay?” I ask.
“Hmm?” Pa says, and it’s like he snaps out of a trance. “Of course, Superstar. It’s your prom night!”
Pa points to the event’s centerpiece. “Did they promote that there’d be a waterfall here?” he asks. “That would’ve beenfallsadvertising!”
He goes on to hum the melody to “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” while we make our way through the decorations provided by the questionable budget. I try not to read too muchinto it—that Pa isn’t acting strange at all. This is Pa admiring the decor, not him freaking out that we’re running out of time.
Seeing Dani in angel wings is almost a welcome distraction. In front of the stage, Dani is busy ushering everyone to their seats. As prom committee head and student council president (let’s not forget!), Dani apologized to Kayla that she had an early-morning call time and couldn’t get out of it to pick her up.
Judging by how Kayla’s mouth drops open while staring at Dani, I don’t think she minds.
Dani is dressed like a literal angel in a strapless tube dress, complete with actual wings on her back. Of course, Auntie Baby is by her side, ushering guests while wearing matching angel wings too.
