The Prom Queen's Sidekick

Chapter Eleven: A Surprise

"What do you mean you couldn't come?" I demanded, gripping my phone tightly. I stood up from my bed and went over to the window. Kendra was sitting on her armchair in her room, reading another book. She grinned when she saw me, but then it slowly faded when she saw the expression on my face. She approached her own window and raised her eyebrows. I waved my hand at her, as if telling her to wait.

"I have a meeting that night," James said, obviously exhausted. "I'm really sorry, Dee. I know this is a very important night for you."

"It is!"

"I'll make it up to you, I promise," he said, half-heartedly. "If I could just ditch this meeting and go to that party, I would. But I couldn't. I don't want to let my father down. I'm so sorry, Dee."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "It's fine. I understand. I just thought it's going to be the first party I could show you off to others. And it's a dance party."

"Well, I couldn't dance anyway."

"Still, it would be nice to dance with you."

"Why don't we have dinner together Friday night, hmm? I'm free that night," he suggested then hurriedly added, "hopefully."

"Sure," I said, still upset. "I'll call you later or something."

"Okay. I'm so sorry, Dee," James apologized again.

"Its fine," I also said once again. I hung up and forced up a smile to Kendra. I sat down on the window pane and rested my feet on the side of my roof. Kendra did the same. We used to do this a lot when we were kids. We used to shout to each other, then, and it drove our parents crazy. Today, however, we could talk normally without raising our voices.

She returned my smile with her own sympathetic one. "Trouble at paradise?" she asked and I nodded. "Is there anything I could do to help?"

"Go to James's meeting this Wednesday night so he could accompany me to the Vang's party," I said, shaking my head. "I really thought he could make it."

"Well, in his defense, he did tell you he might not make it," Kendra replied. "And today's just Tuesday. You have, like, at least thirty hours to find a date. I'm pretty sure my brother is free that night."

"But he has a girlfriend!" I pointed out.

My best friend raised an eyebrow. "So? It's not like you're going to an actual date. He's just going to be your escort in that party. Besides, you have to have a dance partner."

"Why don't I just go to the party? I don't know anyone there, anyway."

"It's your decision," Kendra said, shrugging. "But if I were you, I'd take Topher. Didn't your mom tell you that this party is going to be in the papers? I'm pretty sure that's going to be a big party. It's going to be a waste if you won't go."

I sighed once again and massaged my temples. "I'll ask Topher, then. I just hope Sarah wouldn't interfere or something."

"Do you want me to get rid of her?" Kendra asked, grinning wickedly.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing serious," she chuckled. "But I could go over to Marie's and tell them I'll take a leave Wednesday night. Then they would be forced to have Sarah over that night, even though it's not her shift."

"She works at Marie's as well?"

"Yep. Part-time, like I am. Maybe she's saving money or something. Anyway, do you want me to do that for you?"