“Caro, Grayson swears Will knows what a corsage is. He asked him, like, five times and I told him to make sure it had some yellow in it to match your dress. Let’s see if he can follow directions,” Ada said. She leaned closer to the mirror with her mouth slightly open and put on her mascara. Caro was next to her, brushing powder across her face. The RACK mix CD they’d made together was on repeat in Ada’s boom box on the floor—Usher, Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw, Christina Aguilera, and and and.
The girls were in their robes. Kasey had just shown up with her dress in her hand, backpack slung over her shoulder. Her stepdad must have been going through one of his more chill phases, because she hadn’t been talking about him as much, and she’d been sleeping at home all week, not crashing with any of them. Never one for shyness, Kasey stripped completely naked, replacing her regular underwear with her special-for-prom matching underwear before putting on Ada’s other robe, since she’d forgotten her own.
“I think Leo saw him picking it up from the florist, but Leo’s such a hyper storyteller sometimes it’s hard to get information in any sort of linear order. I’m pretty sure he mentioned seeing Will inside or outside of the florist doing…something,” Rosemarie said. She was piling her hair on top of her head and then letting it fall, unable to commit.
“Half-up, half-down,” Kasey said to her. Ada met Rosemarie’s eyes in the mirror and nodded in agreement.
“I feel pathetic that you had to round up someone for me to go with. Why can’t I have a normal prom experience like the rest of y’all?” Caro asked, snapping her compact closed.
“They’re going with their boyfriends,” Rosemarie said with a bobby pin between her teeth. She tilted her head toward Ada and Kasey. “My whole situation is weird. But! We’re gonna have a good time anyway, damn it. You and I should’ve gone together, Caro. Screw it,” she concluded. She rattled around in the box on the counter for another bobby pin.
“Yeah, screw it. That’s totally what we should’ve done,” Caroline said, making her eyes big. One of them was mascaraed and lined; the other wasn’t.
“Ada, do my eyes,” Kasey said, holding up a tube of liquid eyeliner and handing it to her. “Look, y’all, this is our last big thing together before graduation and before Rosemarie and I leave Goldie, and it’s going to be awesome. Y’all look beautiful, and look at this.” Kasey went to the open window and pulled back the curtain. The spring wind was light and warm; the sun was hanging out over the hills. Some of the caterers were lighting the hurricane lamp candles; others smoothed out the white tablecloths. The air twinkled. “Best night, bitches. Period,” Kasey finished. Rosemarie and Caro said yes at the same time and jinx at the same time, which set them off laughing. Kasey moved to put her butt on the counter and Ada got in front of her.
“Close your eyes,” Ada said.
*
Ada’s mom had forgone the professional photographer after Ada assured her it wasn’t necessary, and now she was in the front yard behind the camera, snapping plenty of pictures of the girls and their dates. Ada, in cotton-candy pink. Kasey, wrapped in blue. Rosemarie dripped in purple next to Caroline’s canary yellow. Caroline’s wrist was encircled by the white-and-yellow roses that Will had shown up with, and the girls were happy and smiling, standing in front of their dates in traditional, cheesy prom poses, then some individual pictures and silly shots. Rosemarie’s and Kasey’s moms stopped by to take some pics of their own, and so did Grandma Mimi.
By the time they were finished, Ada was so hungry she could’ve chewed off Grayson’s gray-tuxedoed arm. He had it around her as they made their way to the backyard for dinner. Ada had invited six more friends and their dates so there’d be twenty people total.
“You are the prettiest little thing I ever did see,” Grayson said in her ear as he pulled the chair out for her and kissed the top of her head.
“That’s what I like to hear,” Ada said to him.
Dinner was fried chicken and steak. Fries and asparagus. Biscuits and rolls. There was a “bar” with fruity virgin drinks and sugar cookies with Class of ’04 looped on the thick frosting. Holly Plum was aglow with her full house and her cold glass of moscato. She chatted with the other moms, while Mr. Plum was content standing back with his beer and buddies—as he did on all social occasions—watching his wife and daughters flitter and shine.
Taylor was only in middle school, but Ada hadn’t wanted her to feel left out, so she said it’d be okay for her to dress up and invite some of her friends too. The little girls ate and giggled in their dresses at a smaller table next to the deck.
*
The prom theme was Cotton Candy Land, and Ada and her mom and the rest of the prom committee had spent weeks searching for the perfect pinks, lavenders, and blues for the decorations. Everyone who entered the Goldie Country Club had to walk through two huge arches wrapped in tulle to get to their table. Cellophane and twinkle lights were fashioned into fruity candy wrappers and strung on the walls. On the floor, big colored squares made everyone feel like pawns on a giant board game. Cardboard peppermints hung from the ceiling; oversized lollipops were propped around the room. By the time the girls got there, a long line was already snaking around the cotton candy machine. The fog box smoked between two stacks of fat, oversized, sugared gumdrops; the room flashed with disco-ball light.
“Will is truly brainless, y’all. Damn. Ain’t enough cute in the world to fix how dumb he is. Look at him,” Rosemarie said later, after about an hour of dancing. She tilted her head toward him and made a grouchy face to prove how completely done she was with Caro’s date. She mimed his erratic dance moves and said Caroline’s name exactly how Will said it—all slow, like if he said it too fast, he’d get it wrong. Ada covered her mouth for a second so she wouldn’t fall into a full open-mouth guffaw. Rosemarie laughed when she looked at her; they lost it together. They were by the punch bowl now, having decided to take a breather when the DJ put on back-to-back Justin Timberlake songs. Caroline and Kasey swished off to the bathroom, and their dates were scattered. Leo was talking to a friend of his from band class, and Silas and Grayson were out there on the dance floor, watching Will attempt to do the worm.
“He’s just so weird, but he’s nice! He’s not a jerk, right? He told Caroline her dress was cool and that her hair looked fancy. It’s really all we can ask for,” Ada said. Rosemarie was still cackling.
“No, he’s not a jerk, but bless his heart. That’s where we’ll leave it. Bless his heart,” Rosemarie said as they watched Will lift himself from the floor only to hop down again with his legs positioned in some sort of half split. The Castelow brothers were doubled over in laughter, and when Caro and Kasey returned, they asked the girls what was so funny.
“Your future ex-boyfriend,” Rosemarie said.
When Caro’s eyes found him, Will was busy doing some twirls.
“He’s said, like, eight words to me,” Caroline said.
“Thank God,” Kasey said. “You’re blessed, girl. Don’t jinx it!”