21 Proms by David Levithan Page A

hinting? Is that hope you hear in his voice? “I was thinking that maybe it would be fun if wewenttogether, whatdoyouthink ?” Your words come out faster and higher than you expected, like the way your voice sounds on an answering machine.
    He stops chewing and cocks his head to the left. “You and me?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œOh.”
    â€œOh” is not the answer you wanted. You were angling for more of a “ That’s a great idea, Drew! Brilliant! What time should I pick you up ? ”
    â€œWouldn’t that be fun?” you squeak.
    â€œWell …”
    Pause. A pause so long you can feel your hair turning gray. “Well, what?”
    He shrugs. “I kind of want to go with someone I like.”
    You don’t know what to do with that statement. “Excuse me?”
    He laughs. “That didn’t come out right. But I was thinking of asking Becky Darien.”
    Becky Darien is known as Backseat Becky. A nickname she gave herself.
    â€œSleazeball,” you say. “You don’t like Backseat Becky.”
    He laughs again and slides off the desk. “I could.”
    You kick him in the ass. “You’re that desperate for action on prom night?”
    â€œWhy are you always kicking me?”
    â€œBecause you deserve to be kicked.”
    â€œIs it so wrong to want to Get Some on prom night?”
    â€œYes! It is!”
    â€œIs that any worse than just wanting a date on prom night? Why don’t you just go in the Winnebago? Look,” he continues, “maybe we can work something out. I want action and you want a date. If you’re willing —”
    You kick him again.
    Â 
    Prom is three weeks away. You, Jen, and Kyra are sitting on Kyra’s tiled kitchen floor, eating your usual: tortilla chips dipped in Kyra’s mom’s homemade pizza sauce. Truth be told, you’re more fake-eating than eating, since you want to lose five pounds before prom. If you lose five pounds, you know you will look your best. Your ultimate. (The pink dress, which you bought with a slimmer you in mind, is a smidgen too tight.) You want to look the way you looked when you and Shane first kissed back as freshmen. Five pounds less and tanned. Five pounds less, tanned, with whiter teeth. Yes, it is finally the time to try those Whitestrip thingies again. Only this time you’ll have to avoid swallowing them.
    â€œI just need to find another date,” you say as you fake-nibble on a tortilla.
    Kyra picks up a chunk of tomato with her chip. “I heard that Shane and Reese are going in Brent’s limo.”
    You freeze at the sound of his name. Shane’s name, that is, not Brent’s. You assumed he would be taking Reese to prom, but hearing it somehow makes it official, which makes you want to throw up. It’s not fair that your ex-boyfriend, the guy you were planning on going to prom with since you first started high school, is taking some random sophomore.
    Jen flicks Kyra in the knee. “Why would you even bring him up?”
    Jen and Kyra are the ones who had to deal with you every time you and Shane broke up. Who had to follow you to the bathroom when you started crying so hard in class that you couldn’t breathe. This last breakup was the hardest — on them as well as you. They convinced your parents to let them take turns sleeping over because you were too depressed to sleep. But they think you’re over it now, and you are … sort of. You’re over it because you know what it takes to get him back.
    Last spring, you and Shane decided (actually he decided; you merely nodded your head) to date other people, and he spent the summer dating a lifeguard named Meredith. You hoped all would fall back into place when school started, but on the first day of class you spotted him with a cheerleader named Cecelia, and your hopes deflated faster than a punctured water wing. You didn’t want to call him, but you caved.