Prom Queen ｡ Michael Langdon

15 - PROM SEASON

     The doom and gloom from Winn Nelson's death had started to fade as prom season fell upon Westfield High. It wasn't as though the students were forgetting about the tragic death, it was just that time was moving on and excitement and anticipation had started to overshadow the sadness. The once-heart-felt shrine at the boy's locker had practically vanished, the mourning ebbing away as life continued to journey on at a steady and sure pace—time stopped for no man and no woman. Deliah Snell and Christabelle Slater had self-declared that the prom would go on, bigger and better, and all in Winn Nelson's honour because that's what he would have wanted, a spectacle like no other. And the cruel teenage girls with icy hearts and sharpened grins were right, the prom would be a spectacle, the prom of the century. 

     Carrie and Ava were sitting cross-legged in one of the library aisles during lunch. Cool air from the air conditioner gathered around them and Carrie was glad for the long sleeves of her black blouse with the high and stiff collar. Actually, Carrie had always liked high necklines and collars and whenever she wandered through the thrift shop at the strip mall her mother worked at, she'd search for embroidered collars. She flipped over to the next page of a textbook she'd found on psychokinesis and telekinesis. The book was old and the pages were worn thin and the ink was faded, but Carrie was finding the reading enlightening. Finally, her research into her power had come to some sort of fruition. She made a mental note to show Michael the book. 

     "I know you don't hear much gossip," Ava Gold began, her eyes removing from her own textbook about a pirate called Charles Vane to the blonde sitting next to her. "But this piece of gossip is pretty tasty."

     "Oh, yeah?" Carrie's eyebrows arched up with the question, a tiny smile pinching her cheeks higher. Gossip didn't really appeal to Carrie and she had no use for it either, but the tone of Ava's voice suggested that this slice of tasty and tangy gossip would be a pleaser. 

     "Tommy Ross broke up with Deliah Snell," Ava announced in a low voice, "and it was over you." 

     Carrie's eyes bugged, her mouth agape. "What? Over me?" she repeated, thinking she must have misheard her only friend at Westfield High. 

     Ava nodded, trying to control her smile shaped like a sickle. "He heard about the... locker incident and I guess he didn't want to date someone that could do something like that." Ava remembered all that blood with a shiver—the blood that had been smeared across Carrie's locker door and the hanging tampon that had dripped and dripped. It was disgusting and Ava's stomach had turned the entire time it took to clear away the blood. She'd skipped her last class that day to clean her friend's locker, believing Carrie shouldn't be the one to face the bloody mess again. And she would do it again for Carrie, even if it meant getting more bruises on her knees or sore arms from all the scrubbing and the scent of tainted blood that had gotten stuck at the back of her throat. 

     Carrie was stunned and didn't know what to say. Tommy had broken up with Deliah because of her cruelty and malice and her bullying. Carrie didn't know why her heart was melting suddenly or why her cheeks were warming with a blush that crept over her neck and along her collarbones with slender, rosy fingers. "That's—"

     "—Awfully human and decent of him. I actually admire him for it," Ava said, speaking the words that failed Carrie. "That Deliah is a snake!" That was another thing that Carrie couldn't express but Ava Gold had no problem with it. Regardless, the break up of the star football player and the most popular girl in school felt strange in Carrie's heart; it tingled oh-so-sweetly. 

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