Prom Diaries: Beauty and Beast meets Groundhog Day Read online

  “Why couldn’t you just go with Marc?” she demanded.

  “I like Drake, that’s why!”

  A deep chug laugh sounded behind us.

  We both looked up into the nose-ringed, Goth face. He shook his head and taunted Shay. “I told you to have your boy act faster.”

  She was on her feet, the apple dropping from her hand to the floor. “You think I didn’t try? You think I could have pushed him any harder? You’re the one that couldn’t keep that little…that…” she broke off and sucked in a breath. “One, single day? That’s all I asked. You couldn’t give me that.”

  I had never seen Shay and Henry talk, much less get into World War III. I stood, too. “What is going on?”

  Both of them flung back to me, their lips pinched, anger swirling in their eyes. Shay coughed. “It’s fine, Lacy. It’s…nothing.”

  I shook my head and tried to remember something, anything in my conversations with Shay in our whole lives that would have brought us to this point in time, where Shay and Henry were fighting about Drake asking me to prom. I huffed and looked between them. “I don’t know what is going on, but you guys need to stop.”

  They gave each other guilty looks and then Shay turned back to the table. “It’s fine, Lacy, really.” She sat down and let out a long breath. “Don’t worry about this.”

  I stared at Henry, he held my gaze and then he lifted his brows and scoffed. “It’s not fine.”

  Shay whirled back. “It’s fine,” she snarled through gritted teeth.

  Henry stared down at her, emotions I couldn’t read passed between them. Finally, Henry plunked himself next to Shay, releasing a breath. “Then you’ll have to go with me.”

  I sat down, trying to decipher what was happening. Was Henry asking her to prom?

  Shay had found the apple and was now shining it with the side of her shirt. “What? No.”

  Henry nodded. “Then make her take a bite of the apple.”

  “What?” I asked, confused.

  They both ignored me.

  Shay frowned at Henry, then nodded. “Do you think?”

  Henry cocked his head to the side. “This is our last shot and you know it.”

  Shay didn’t answer him, but very slowly took a bite of the apple.

  I felt like I was a ghost, watching them, hearing them, and knowing I’d missed a large part of this conversation somewhere along the way. “What is going on?”

  Shay ignored my question again.

  Henry bumped her shoulder, a tortured look on his face. “You know this is the only way to keep tabs on them.”

  Shay looked back at him. “Fine.”

  “Fine, what?” I demanded. It wasn’t like Shay didn’t already have a couple of dates on the line. She’d told me that Stan Tanner, captain of the basketball team had asked. Not to mention, Rudy Hens, senior class president, with whom she’d kind of had a flirting thing all year had asked. She hadn’t decided if she even wanted a date, but I knew this was part of her game, keeping the boys waiting on her.

  Henry stood, all angst from moments earlier gone. He winked at me and then cleared his throat. “Well, there you have it, it’s a date.

  I watched him walk away, reeling from whatever crazy, ludicrous, highly erratic thing that had just happened. “You are going to the dance with Henry?”

  Shay chomped another bite of her apple, but didn’t meet my eyes. “You heard the conversation.”

  I didn’t want to yell at her and be all hysterical. I didn’t want to tell her that if she thought I was withholding information from her that this…this…episode had proved that I didn’t know my best friend at all. “Are you going to explain to me what just happened or not?”

  She continued eating, taking small bites and fluttering her eyes in thought, then she turned to me. “Do you know why Eve had to bite the apple?”

  Okay, this line of questioning was not what I was expecting. “You’re not making any sense.”

  She took another bite then relaxed next to me, focusing on the piece of fruit. “I think Henry is right.”

  “About what?”

  She took another chomp. “I was blind before, but now I see what we must do.”

  “Seriously, Shay, you are talking in riddles.”

  She snapped her head back to me, our eyes meeting. “Maybe this time, you need to bite the apple.” She quickly grabbed her backpack and stood. “Prom decorating tonight at seven.” She threw me a look. “Be there.”

  Chapter 12

  Dear Prom Diary,

  He asked me!

  I still have little butterflies that skirmish and fly around when I think of the fact that I’m going to prom with Drake Davis. Wow!

  But, it’s kind of all turned sideways on me. Shay is now going with Henry, who is Drake’s best friend, but completely not her type.

  Completely not. And, when Henry asked her, it was like he only did it to prevent ‘world destruction’ or something and then…when I demanded answers, she gave me some crap about eating an apple and how my eyes needed to be open.

  Seriously, people might think I need a psychologist because of my mother, but I think Shay is having a break down. A split from reality.

  I’m worried.

  My phone buzzed and I looked at it, noticing the time.

  Five-thirty.

  Then I noticed the text was from Marc. So that’s how it is?

  Guilt tugged inside me. I’d avoided him like the plague the rest of the day, and tried to think of ways I could explain it to him. But, every time I tried to think of something good to say, it always ended poorly in my mind. ‘I never liked you like that.’ ‘It’s not you, it’s me.’

  ‘I didn’t mean to lead you on.’

  Not all great things to say. Even though they were all true. So I opted to say the truest thing. I’m sorry.

  There was no response for a second. Then my phone vibrated, again.

  Something weird is going on with Shay.

  My heart picked up speed. Had he felt it, too? I know.

  He texted back fast. Did Shay tell you she’s going with Henry?

  I texted back. They got in this big fight and then she agreed.

  Weird.

  I texted. Weird.

  We’ll talk tonight at prom committee set up.

  My heart lightened with relief. Maybe we still could be friends. Okay. I texted back.

  I got off my mom’s bed, staring at her picture for another few seconds, relieved that I might actually still be able to still be friends with Marc.

  When I turned to leave, my father was standing at the door. The look of sadness in his eyes almost undid me. I knew he was missing my mother. I went to his side and took his hand. “Hey?”

  He blinked and took my hand. “How was school?”

  I sucked in a breath. “I have a date for prom.” My voice was quiet.

  My father squeezed my hand. “Well, who is it?”

  Nervous flutters went through me. “Drake Davis.”

  My father pulled back and stared at my face for a second, then he smiled.

  “What?”

  He shook his head. “Poor Marc.”

  Of course my father would be perceptive about that. Marc had been around a lot the past year, but it made me feel guilty. Even guiltier than I already felt. “Dad.” I tugged my hand away and moved for my bedroom.

  He chuckled softly. “You’re just like your mother.”

  “What?” I turned back.

  He pulled off his glasses and still had a grin on his face. Even though I wasn’t glad he thought this was funny, I was glad he was smiling. “What about mom?”

  He leaned back against the side of the door. “When your mother and I met, it happened fast.”

  I grinned. “She told me it was love at first sight.”

  He sighed and gently touched the back of his hand against my cheek. “It was wonderful and magical, but there’re always casualties when that sort of thing happens.”

  I frowned. “
Like Marc?”

  He nodded and put his glasses back on. “Like anyone who stands in the way.”

  My phone buzzed. A text from Drake. I’ll be there tonight. Can’t wait to see you.

  My father laughed, a deep rich laugh. “Oh, dear.”

  I stared up at him. “What’s so funny?”

  He shook his head, his smile fading. “I remember the first time I saw that same look on your mother’s face.” He reached for my hand, again. “She was looking at me.”

  Chapter 13

  The prom committee set up wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Mostly because Shay had already given people their assignments and we were able to get right to work. I began organizing the gym stage. The theme was movie star couples throughout history. My favorite theme. The one I had suggested. Which, did make me a little happy. “Why did you decide on the movie star thing?”

  She looked around. “I don’t know, you liked it.”

  All the breath left me. That was a huge sacrifice for her. She’d been planning on having ‘Under the Sea’ since forever. I held up my hand. “Did you tell Drake about the theme?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Why?”

  Something didn’t feel right. “When he asked me to prom, he told me we would work on the movie star cutouts together tonight. I just…I didn’t think he even knew about all this.”

  Shay glued cardboard to a full size print out of a movie couple. She grinned at me. “I might have mentioned something.”

  I had rubber cement going crazy all over my hands. “When?”

  She flashed a wicked smile. The kind of wicked I’d only seen a handful of times in our entire lives, usually reserved for toilet papering houses or ding dong ditching houses, or other assorted crimes we’d committed in our wild lives. “When I talked to him, earlier.”

  That did not make sense. “When did you talk to him?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I care about your life, okay? Why would I waste my time going with the Goth weirdo if you weren’t my best friend and I didn’t want to be with you?” Her eyes widened. “So I’ve just accepted you want to hang out with Drake Davis.” She paused and grinned. “Prom forever.” She put her fist out. “Prom forever.” She insisted.

  I didn’t move. Something felt very wrong.

  She kept her fist out and loudly cleared her throat. “Prom forever,” she insisted.

  I couldn’t stop myself from grinning and fist bumping her back. “Prom forever.”

  She laughed.

  “You don’t even like Henry,” I objected.

  She shrugged and kept gluing. “You said yourself that I should chill. Maybe things are going a different way and that’s good.”

  The fact that Shay was going to a school dance with Henry, the Goth King, meant she really was having a break. “I can’t believe you’re going to the dance with Henry. You said it yourself, he’s a freak.”

  At that moment, the rubber cement flew from my hands and went all over the ground.

  Shay frowned. “Stop it.”

  I glared at her. “It’s not like I meant to do that.” I bent and grabbed a scrap piece of paper and tried to clean it up.

  Shay fell beside me. “I’m going to prom with Henry because my Grams used to say that sometimes you have to sacrifice for true love.”

  Had she lost her brain? “What are you talking about? Why are you bringing up your witchy grandma again?”

  My phone vibrated in my pocket. I dug it out.

  “Who is it?” Shay accused.

  It was Marc, but I didn’t want to get into it with her.

  I pushed away and went toward the front of the gym. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

  Chapter 14

  Marc stood outside of the gym, a worried look on his face. “Have you seen Drake and Henry yet?”

  I shook my head, feeling awkward that he would even bring them up. “No.”

  He glanced behind me. “Where’s Shay?”

  I didn’t know why he was being so secretive, but I couldn’t be rude after I’d already been rude enough today. “She’s on the stage—why?”

  He moved in closer to me, his voice low. “There’s something weird going on.”

  “Tell me about it.” I agreed. “Shay is really on one.”

  He crossed his arms and kept flicking his eyes from side to side. “Look, before you came tonight, I was assigned lights and so I got here early. And I saw Shay on stage, talking to Drake and Henry and…” He moved even closer. “And they were talking about prom and how they were so tired of it.”

  “Shay was saying she was tired of prom?”

  He cocked his head to the side. “She said she wished you could get it right.”

  I wasn’t expecting this. “Get what right?”

  He leaned closer. “Shay told Drake he better not screw this up, cause she wanted out. Then Henry got all ticked off and told her she was the one responsible for the whole thing anyway.” He swept the room with his eyes, again. “It was…weird.”

  None of that made sense. At all.

  “Marc?”

  I looked over and saw Claire Winters coming down the hall.

  Marc turned back. “Yeah.”

  She started telling him something, but I didn’t pay attention, thinking of Henry and Shay getting into it the other day at lunch. Something didn’t feel right. “Where did Henry and Drake go?”

  Marc turned back to me, rolling his eyes. “Look, I’m worried about Shay, but don’t ask me to keep track of your new boyfriend.”

  I could feel my face getting red. “Are you implying you were my boyfriend before?” I didn’t want to get mad at him, but he was acting like I’d cheated on him or something.

  Without warning, the nails he was holding dumped out and splattered all over the ground. A chill went through the air.

  Both of us stared at each other and then down to the nails.

  My heart picked up speed. “What was that?”

  Marc shook his head. “I have no idea.”

  Then I smelled that smell.

  The same Irish Spring smell I’d smelled yesterday while lying on the hall floor.

  Chapter 15

  “Lacy, come with me.”

  We both jerked back and saw Shay standing behind us. Her arms crossed, a pensive look on her face.

  Marc and I exchanged worried looks.

  He bent to pick up nails. “You better go with her.”

  I turned back to her and she was waving me out a side door to the parking lot.

  “Where are we going?”

  Her face looked pale. “I guess this is the path we’re taking.”

  She let go of the gym door, but it didn’t clink into place behind her.

  I stared at the door while it stayed open for a few seconds before falling into place.

  I stared at the door. “What is happening?”

  “The gigs up, Queenie.”

  I jolted and turned at the sound of Henry’s voice.

  The way Shay’s face turned two shades brighter. “Don’t do that to her.”

  I twirled around, afraid I was delusional. “What is going on?”

  Shay took my hand. “I wanted to tell you so many times.”

  My mind whirled, what the crap was going on?

  Then, I felt his hand on mine. “It’s okay, Lacy, it’s okay.”

  “Drake?” I jumped away.

  Shay rushed forward and took my hands into hers. “No matter what, you have to remember that I did this because they deserved it. I did this for you.”

  “That’s bull.” Henry hissed from somewhere behind Shay. “It’s always been about you.”

  She turned, slamming a fist into something I couldn’t see.

  A loud puff of air came out.

  “That was uncalled for.” Drake’s voice sounded next to me.

  Then I heard commotion, the sound of a struggle.

  “If you had just stayed away from her.” Henry’s voice.

  Then the sound of a fist h
itting something.

  “You know I can’t.” Drake’s voice.

  I felt something rush past me.

  I jumped back. I was really having a break. I was. I thought it was Shay, but maybe it was both of us.

  Shay stuck her finger in the air, pointing at where Drake’s voice had come from. “Don’t pretend you’re not the whole reason this happened, if you would have just let her have fun at the dance with Marc…but you couldn’t do that.”

  I stumbled back, catching myself before I fell. “Ohmygosh!”

  Shay moved toward me, taking my hands again to steady me. “Stop it! Stop it you guys!”

  Then, without warning, both Drake and Henry were visible, standing next to us.

  Henry behind Shay, the side of his lip fat and swollen, a hand over his gut and a pissed off expression on his face. Drake was at my side, his hair messed, and a scrape on his face.

  Henry pointed at Shay. “If you wouldn’t have cast this stupid curse, then I would have been able to eventually fix everything and it wouldn’t have mattered. But you had to do your Voodoo stuff and now time is running out I can’t be stuck in here for another hundred proms.”

  I stumbled even further back, but Shay held to me.

  Shay looked remorseful, her lip twitched. She took a step closer to me. “I’m sorry, Lacy. I’m so sorry.”

  I stared at all of them, then focused on Shay. “Explain now!”

  Chapter 16

  Her lip quivered and tears spilled down her cheeks.

  Henry ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, brother, are you seriously doing this?” He tugged into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and held it out to her.

  She glared at him, but took the handkerchief.

  “Shay?” I probed.

  She blew her nose and then sniffed. “I guess you bit the apple.”

  “What?” I looked around at Henry and Drake, both of them stared at Shay.

  She sniffed again.

  “Shay?”

  She blinked. “Well, you know how I’ve told you that everyone thought my Grams was a witch.”