The Anti-Prom - By Abby McDonald Page 0,11

part of the social scene, at least, so maybe this won’t get out. . . .

“Fine,” I agree, turning to Meg. “You’re in.”

“But in on what?” She looks nervous. “Sorry, it’s just you didn’t even say what this is about.”

“Payback,” Jolene explains, taking a slurp of my drink. “But revenge isn’t a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. This Cameron guy, how long have you been dating him?”

“A couple of months,” I reply, casual, like I don’t even know to the day. “We got together at Nico’s birthday thing.”

I couldn’t sleep that night after he kissed me. I stayed up, talking until dawn about how cute he was, and how long it would take for him to call. Talking with Kaitlin. I scowl. “And I’ve been best friends with Kaitlin since the start of sophomore year.”

“Ouch.” Jolene smirks. “Bet you didn’t see that one coming.”

“No,” I say quietly. “I didn’t.”

“OK. So, you don’t want violence, and I doubt you’ll work up the nerve to destroy any of their stuff. . . .” Jolene muses, like that’s a bad thing. “Then I guess your best bet is public humiliation, and —” She stops suddenly. Denise is approaching, clearing wrappers and debris from the tables nearby.

“Can I get you girls anything?” she asks, beaming at us.

“No, thanks, Dee.” Jolene smiles and waits until she’s gone before continuing. “You know, this would be so much easier if you’d taken photos. Or video. Any kind of proof they’ve been cheating.”

“Sorry, I was too busy having my heart ripped into tiny pieces.” My voice comes out bitter, so I cover with a careless smile. “Not exactly a Kodak moment.”

There’s a pause. I can tell they’re both thinking what an idiot I am; even Meg is looking at me like I should have seen this coming. But this is why I didn’t tell anyone, back at prom. They would have all swooped in with their fake sympathy — and then bitched behind my back about how I must have done something wrong, how Kaitlin must be better than me. No, keeping quiet was the right thing to do. I just need to act like I’m not hurting and make sure that when news gets out, Kaitlin and Cam are so humiliated, nobody thinks to gossip about me, too.

“You know, I bet we could get something from her room,” I suggest, thinking hard. “Kaitlin texts like, twenty-four seven. And with e-mail, video chat, it would be easy to send around.” I brighten. “Like what happened to that freak Eli, you know, with that whole Gaga clip.”

“I saw that.” Meg finally speaks.

“Everyone saw it.” I giggle. “We copied the entire school. I think it even made Perez Hilton.”

Jolene raises an eyebrow. “That was your clique? Gee, how nice.”

“Whatever.” I roll my eyes. “Seriously — if you’re going to goth up and do some crazy death-metal dance routine, maybe you don’t want to film the whole thing. Anyway, if we can break into Kaitlin’s computer, there’s bound to be something scandalous to spread around.”

“Break in?” Meg stops. Her brown eyes get wider, like she’s just realizing what we’re planning. “Nobody said we’d be doing anything illegal!”

“It’s hardly even against the law,” I reassure her, impatient. “I know the security for the alarm and everything.”

Still, she shakes her head. “No, I can’t.” Reaching for her tiny beaded purse, she picks up her skirts and tries to leave, but Jolene slides around so we’re sitting on either side of her in the booth. We don’t move.

“You won’t have to get out of the car.” Jolene sighs. “Just wait for us down the block.”

“Nobody would ever know you were involved. Promise.” I add a beam of encouragement.

But Meg shakes her head again, determined. “Can you please move?”

Jolene slips out to let her past, and I shoot her an annoyed look.

“Relax,” she mouths back, following Meg toward the exit. I gulp a final mouthful of soda and start to bolt after them. Then I remember Denise, and how tired she looked, stuck working the late shift on a Friday night. I pause to quickly clear our trash away.

When I get outside, they’re standing next to Meg’s car in the middle of the empty parking lot, the neon glow from the fast-food signs shining against the pale sky.

“Do you really want to say no to me?” Jolene is saying, arms folded. “I mean, I’m not asking much, but if you can’t even help me out with this . . .” She trails off, badass once more.