A Tale of Two Proms (Bard Academy) by Cara Lockwood Page B

could tell she’d been repeating herself. “I was distracted.”
    “Yeah, I can see that.” Hana sent me a worried look. “Heathcliff?”
    I nodded.
    “Don’t worry. Heathcliff will be back.” Hana sounded confident. “I’ve seen him when he’s with you, and, Miranda, I think he really does love you. That kind of feeling doesn’t disappear overnight.” This was big coming from Hana. She’d always doubted Heathcliff’s true intentions. She’d never quite approved of him. Hana believed—like the faculty did—that Heathcliff was potentially a very bad person. He hadn’t done any bad things yet, but he was capable of them and that made her wary of him.
    “Thanks, Hana,” I said.
    “Don’t thank me. I didn’t say it was a good thing that he loves you.”
    “Ha.” I laughed a little and the tension was broken. Hana had made me feel better. “You think he really wants to….” I caught myself just in time. I was about to tell Hana that Heathcliff asked me to marry him but I stopped myself at the last minute. I was glad I did. Telling Hana would be a disaster. 
    “Really wants to what?” Hana prompted. She was waiting for the big reveal, but it wasn’t going to happen. I’d come to my senses first. I knew what she’d say and I really didn’t want to hear more hate-on Heathcliff at the moment.
    I quickly thought of something else to say. “Uh… ask me to prom?”
    “Definitely,” Hana said. “I think he won’t sing as badly as Samir, but I think he’ll ask you.”
    “But what about…” I could hardly even same her name. I swallowed. “Catherine?”
    “You’ve got the advantage because I bet she has no idea what a prom even is.”
    I had to smile. “So…” I felt like we’d talked about Heathcliff enough, so I threw Hana a bone. “Are you really okay with Samir and Blade? Going to prom, I mean.”
    Hana shrugged. “I think so. I just don’t want him to get hurt.”
    “And you think Blade will hurt him?”
    “It’s entirely likely. I don’t think she’s that serious – about anything,” Hana added. “Samir is very trusting you know.” Her face grew serious. I think this was a real worry of hers. Maybe I’d been wrong about her feelings for Samir.  
    “Okay then, if you don’t like Samir, what about Ryan?”
    “Ryan Kent ?” Hana acted shocked. “Why do you ask about him?” It might have been my imagination, but I thought Hana might’ve blushed a little.
    “Well, for one thing you know he’s into you, right?”  
    She snorted, like I was making a joke. “Ha, very funny.”
    “No, seriously. I think he’s into you. He asked you on a date.” A long piece of hair fell forward in my face and I pushed it back.
    “He asked for tutoring,” Hana corrected.
    “Trust me, it was a date.” I gathered my long, brown hair and whipped it up into a twist on my head and then stuck a pencil through it. “Since when does Ryan Kent need help writing any papers? It was obvious it was a ploy to get some alone time with you.”
    Hana thought about this. “Well, A Tale of Two Cities is not the easiest read. But…” Hana knew as well as I did that Ryan was smart enough to handle himself in English Lit. “No, that’s crazy. Ryan Kent couldn’t like me.” 
    “Don’t be so sure,” I said, as Ryan came into the library, right on time. His eyes fell on Hana and his whole face lit up. He didn’t even glance in my direction. Only Hana would miss signs like those.
    “Hey, Hana!” Ryan said, sounding excited and a little out of breath as he stopped in front of our table. Then he saw me, and a flicker of disappointment passed across his face. I tried not to take it personally. I’m sure he was worried about me being the third wheel on his date. There was a time when Ryan looked at me like he’s gazing at Hana right at this moment, his eyes bright with anticipation. But, that was a long time ago—years, even. I’d had my chance with Ryan, and while he was gorgeous and