Before the Boys Say No Page 20

  “Everyone does whatever Lanie says to do. Most everyone thought it would be funny. But when I saw you and you look so pretty--I just wouldn’t want that to happen to me and ruin my prom,” she said quietly.

  “Thanks for telling me,” I said.

  “Don’t let anyone know I did,” she begged. “Lanie would never forgive me.”

  I assured her I wouldn’t tell anyone. But now I had a big dilemma. How was I going to get out of putting the crown on my head? The crown was a big deal for prom queen so I knew they wouldn’t allow me to break the tradition. I could convince Brody to leave early so I could avoid that ceremony, but I didn’t want Lanie to ruin my special night.

  I looked around to find Lanie. I hadn’t even thought about her the whole evening. She was wearing a white glittering gown and was laughing with two other girls. Of course, she looked beautiful as usual. Her date was one of the football players at school.

  I started feeling stressed out as the minutes ticked by. Brody sensed it and kept asking me what was wrong. I couldn’t tell him. I didn’t want to ruin his night, too. Then I had an idea. A really good idea that would turn the tables on Lanie.

  I walked up to the stage where the DJ was seated. I told him I needed to make an important announcement so he handed me the microphone. I took a deep breath and imagined that I was at a debate tournament so I would have the courage to talk in front of all the beautiful people.

  “Excuse me,” I said. A few people turned to me. “Excuse me,” I said louder. The DJ turned off the music so everyone would listen.

  “A little bird told me that I was going to win prom queen,” I said into the microphone. “The truth is, I don’t deserve that honor. There are girls that would represent the school as prom queen so much better than I would. As a matter of fact, the one truly deserving of the honor is none other than the head of the prom committee--Lanie.”

  Everyone started cheering and looking around for Lanie. She had a shocked look on her face and her eyes were darting around nervously, trying to smile.

  “I would like to take this opportunity to crown Lanie prom queen,” I said loudly, kind of to emphasize the importance of it. “Would you do us the honor of coming to receive your crown, Lanie?”

  She was protesting, but her date was grinning ear to ear. He was leading her to the stage as she tried to pull back. They made it to the stage, and if looks could kill--let’s just say she had become an unwilling participant in her own evil scheme.

  The prom queen crown materialized from somewhere. A girl placed it in my hands. The crown was always meticulously crafted by the prom committee. This one was ornate with rhinestones and jewels covering the entire outside. I glanced at the inside. Sure enough, there were little vials of dye glued to the combs. They had glued some of the vials in the front of the crown, as well.

  I took the crown and crossed to Lanie, smiling innocently. Lanie shook her head at me, looking at the crown nervously.

  “I don’t deserve to be prom queen,” she said to the crowd.

  I still held the microphone. Somehow, that seemed to give me power. “Of course you deserve it. Doesn’t she look beautiful?” I asked the crowd and applause broke out. “Announcing our new prom queen!”

  I handed the DJ the microphone and held the crown with both hands to cram onto her head. She backed away from me.

  “Stop!” she shouted. “Don’t you dare put that thing on my head.”

  The other kids were surprised at her reaction because they were unaware of the dye in the crown. I held the crown out away from me and let it drop to the floor. A big part of me relished the loud gasps from the kids as the crown seemed to fall to the floor in slow motion. When it made contact, red and purple dye flew out of the crow and splattered onto the floor and hitting the bottom of Lanie’s white dress. A few specks even landed on my shoes, but I didn’t care.

  There was utter silence as everyone looked at the dye. Whispers erupted in the room as everyone tried to figure out what was happening. Slowly, they got it. Accusing eyes looked at Lanie and someone started chanting “Boo!” It was Brody. Everyone else did the same. Horrified at being booed, Lanie rushed off the stage crying.

  The DJ quickly started some music as a distraction. Some of the teachers came onstage with paper towels to clean up the dye.

  “Are you all right, Beatrice?” It was Mrs. Tole from my detention class.

  “I’m great,” I said softly and left the stage to meet Brody.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, pulling me into a hug.

  “I didn’t want to ruin your evening. Besides, Lanie deserved to be exposed.”

  The incident was quickly forgotten as the kids resumed dancing. I danced and laughed the rest of the evening. I even shared a dance with Jared, who bobbled around me, bringing tears of laughter to my eyes. Shay’s parents had dutifully stayed by the food and drink table to give breathing room to Jared and his date.

  All in all, I would say it was a very successful date. I had memories to last me a lifetime. Of course, senior year continued as usual. The state debate tournament yielded a first place trophy to Jared and me. By then, it wasn’t as important as it had been at the beginning of the year. I had already turned my attention to college and what the future held for me.

  And Brody? Well, let’s just say my big fat mouth didn’t keep him away. He actually enjoyed it. Remember, he likes all thing Italian.

  THE END