Any girl in this school would feel honored, giddy to receive such a text from Roland. For me? Nothing.
I ain’t buying what you’re selling, Roland.
Ikr. Just putting my bid in for prom. As a group. Hunter should come with us. It’s gonna be lit. No pressure.
“Prom.” I say out loud.
“Prom?” Coach Ford repeats. “Who. Who is it? Fucking Roland?”
“None of your business.”
“You’re not going with Roland.”
I can’t believe we’re even discussing this in the guidance office, of all places.
“If you don’t want me, then I’m going to go with my friends. A bunch of the swimmers are going as a group. Surely you can’t object to that.”
He shakes his head and I think I hear his knuckles crack. “Someone needs to keep an eye on that kid.”
“You lost your chance when you rejected me,” I remind him.
When Ms. Frazier returns, Coach Ford makes a hasty exit, and that’s the last thing he says to me for the rest of the school year.
Until prom night.
28
Weston
To: The Office of the Headmistress
Subject: Prom
From: [email protected]
Message:
Ms. Moody,
I volunteer as prom chaperone, no extra activity pay necessary.
29
Our senior prom is at the opulent Ridley Hotel downtown.
Yeah, Mr. Rushmore named his
flagship boutique hotel in his hometown after his semi-insufferable, spoiled rotten daughter.
But I gotta admit, even Ridley is being pleasant tonight, enjoying all the attention and real-time social media comments on her phone such as, “That place is almost as beautiful as you are!”
It’s oddly freeing, spending prom night with my best friend. It’s fun being dressed up, my hair, nails and makeup done, dancing, laughing.
Roland is here somewhere. He bought me a corsage that doesn’t exactly match my dress or my personal style, but then again, he’s left me alone to sneak off to the men’s room with his bros to do god-knows what.
The Ridley Hotel is a massive, castle-like structure that looks old world on the outside but ultra-modern and chic on the inside, with outdoor Grecian-style gardens, pools, gazebos, a labyrinth, a koi pond, fountains, grape arbors, and many nooks and crannies for semi-private conversation.
It is all breathtaking, and I would expect nothing less with the name Rushmore attached to it.