“I was curious about this one,” he said.
I couldn’t muster curious if I tried. The place was nice enough, I guess. A small house, but with lots of windows, some questionable choices in wallpaper, a pretty stained-glass window above the front door. And thankfully, it was empty. No trash, no furniture, and thank God, no pictures left behind. I hated the ones where people left their pictures.
I sniffed the air. “Smells like cigarettes.”
Levi sniffed too and then pulled his sweatshirt up over his nose. “I didn’t know she smoked.”
“Who?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Guess.”
“Just tell me.”
“Principal Bundy.”
I straight-up gasped. “No way.” I took a few steps in, searched the place with new eyes. Saw the divots in her living room carpet where her furniture must have been. Smelled a hint of cat food in the air. And then I spun around. “Wait, how can she be gone? This is our last week of school!”
Levi shrugged. “I guess the adjusters made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.”
I thought back. Usually I’d see Bundy strolling the halls at some point during the day. But I hadn’t today. “So she bailed without telling anyone? Without saying good-bye to her students?” I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I’m not sure why. I hated Bundy. And it was totally validating to see that she was full of shit, her pretending to care about our school and about us.
But she was gone.
I’d probably never see her again.
I walked around her house like it was a crime scene, observing but not disturbing. I went upstairs into her bathroom, pulled opened the medicine cabinet with the tip of my finger. Empty, but for a few bobby pins. There was no shower curtain, but she’d left a little pink plastic razor on the side of the tub. I don’t know why, but it was weird to think of her shaving her legs.
Levi came in to test the water. It was still on. “Annoying,” he said. The bathroom was really small, so I had to squeeze by him to walk out.
I couldn’t tell for sure which room was Bundy’s bedroom, but the biggest one had mirrored closet doors and a large built-in bookshelf. The wallpaper was lighter from where a dresser had likely been. And there was a wall mount for a flat-screen TV bolted to the wall.
I thought about texting Morgan, but I hadn’t heard from her after our exchange about Elise leaving. I’m not sure why I let that stop me, but it did.
I texted Jesse instead.
Guess where I am?
???
Bundy’s house. Like . . . her actual house.
No way! Why?
She’s gone. Left town.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What a bitch!
I grinned.
“Hey, I’m going down to the basement to flip the breakers,” Levi said, ducking his head in. “Let me know if the lights pop on.”
I quickly hid my phone. “Yup. Sure thing.”
What’s the address? Jesse texted.
I froze. I didn’t want him to come. Not when I was with Levi, working.
Don’t worry. I won’t show up and get you fired. But I’ve got a killer idea. You’re gonna love it.
I couldn’t resist. I texted him the address.
Levi stomped up out of the basement. “She left all her utilities on. I kind of can’t believe it.”
“I can. She clearly doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Actually, that is a blanket statement I’m going to throw on everyone who leaves Aberdeen. They are selfish jerks.”
“You don’t know why she had to leave, Keeley.”
“She’s our principal. Don’t you think she should be here until the last day of school? She couldn’t wait another few days? Come on.”
Levi shrugged. “I’m just saying—”
“I can’t believe you’re defending her. You were all pissed off at me the other day because we lost Mock Congress. I didn’t quit, remember? She kicked me off. She wasn’t thinking about what was best for our team. And it all happened because you freaking tattled on me like a baby.”
Levi’s cheeks got red. “Yes, I did tell on you. We needed to practice, and you were making it into, like, a variety show. I was trying to get everyone back on track.”
“By getting me thrown off the team.”
“Look, I didn’t know she was going to come in and do that. I felt really, really bad about it, okay? In fact, I was so upset, I basically couldn’t get my head right before the competition. Instead of concentrating on what was going on, I was thinking about you on the bus by yourself, probably crying your eyes out. And I actually planned to apologize to you, too, but when I got back on the bus, it was like you couldn’t have cared less.”
“What are you talking about? Of course I was upset! I’d spent the whole year working toward that competition!”
“Well, you were acting all chummy chummy with the bus driver, laughing like you didn’t care.”
“For your information, I did cry, okay? I basically sobbed on that bus for two whole hours. But I wasn’t going to show Bundy that.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know? You were a bitch to me. And then you kept joking and laughing and so . . .” He shrugged. “I was like, Forget this girl. She doesn’t care, so why should I?”
“But I did care. I did.” I realized how clenched up I was. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. “Oh, whatever. None of it matters anyway. Look, can we please call it a day? I could really use a nap.”
I opened my eyes and Levi was still looking at me, worried and concerned. He said, “Fine. Let me go get my work gloves.”
I didn’t know what Jesse had planned, and I felt kind of bad about doing it behind Levi’s back. And maybe, if I hadn’t already texted Jesse the address, I wouldn’t have. But since I had, I unlocked a back window, one that was accessible from the concrete back steps, because what was done was done.
• • •
I decided to go straight to Morgan’s house after work to make sure she and I were okay.
When I walked in, Mrs. Dorsey had her salon chair turned completely over. She was trying to remove the base, but she was having trouble getting some of the screws out. She was actually so focused, she didn’t hear me come in. I worried that she might be disassembling the chair to pack it. I tried to sneak past her, but she said, “Damn!” and threw the screwdriver across the floor. Then she spotted me. “Jesus, Keeley!”
“Sorry. Do you need help?”
To my great relief, she said, “No. This chair’s been bugging me forever. The lift always sticks and I figured since I only had one appointment today, I’d try to fix it myself.” She wiped her forehead with her arm. “As you can see, I’m incredibly handy.”
Morgan was upstairs on her bed watching her ceiling fan spin.
“Hey,” I said. “Your mom looks like she’s about to murder someone down there.”
“Yeah. She’s been in a crap mood all day. You know, she’s barely had any clients since the flood. She’s kind of freaking out about it.”
Her room looked a lot neater. Elise’s stuff was gone, and the old clothes and other things Morgan had out, spring cleaning or whatever she’d called it, were put away. It occurred to me that maybe she’d done that whole charade to make Elise feel better.
I climbed on her bed, into my spot, and looked at the rainbow sticker on the underside of her lampshade. It might take us a little while for things to feel normal again, now that Elise was gone. But I had faith that they would, eventually.
She sighed and smoothed out her comforter with her hand. “I hope this doesn’t make me sound like a terrible person, but in a way, I’m kind of relieved. I feel like I’ve been saying good-bye to Elise for days now. It’s been exhausting.” She rolled on her side to face me. “But that’s part of being a friend, isn’t it? To be there for them when they need you, even if it’s hard.”
My phone buzzed.
Where’ve you been? Why haven’t you liked my latest post? Hurry! I’m neeeeeeedy!
/>
I pushed up onto my knees from my belly. “Oh, no.”
“What? You’re scaring me.”
“Good. I’m scared too.” But I was also excited. I loaded Jesse’s new video. The cover frame was of Jesse dressed in a tuxedo. I held up my phone so Morgan could see it and pressed Play.
“Dear remaining students of Aberdeen High. I have something to ask of you.” Out from behind his back came a rose. “Will you go to prom with me?” Jesse quickly put his fingers to his lips. “But shhhh. It’s a Secret Prom . . . at Principal Bundy’s house.”
“Oh my God,” I said.
“Oh my God,” Morgan echoed. She squeezed my arm.
Jesse went on. “So, this might still be news to all of you, but . . . Principal Bundy has bailed on us. That’s right, she’s left Aberdeen for good. Kind of a bitch move, don’t you think? I sure did, until she called me up and personally insisted that we use her old house to throw Aberdeen High one last party. Now, at first I thought about only inviting the remaining seniors, but now is not the time to be exclusive. Secret Prom is open to everyone still here. One last big blowout, on Saturday, the night after graduation.” Then he gave out Principal Bundy’s home address, told people to park on different streets, and that formal wear was mandatory. The last thing he said was “Spread the word. This message will self-destruct in twenty-four hours.”
Morgan said, “If Levi sees it, he’ll definitely tell his father. Don’t you think?”
I put my hands over my mouth. “If Levi sees it, I’m getting fired.” I let my hands down and then brought them back up again. “Oh God. You know what? He might be fired!”
My eyes traveled to the lower right corner of the screen. In under an hour, Jesse already had more than a hundred likes. He didn’t even need twenty-four hours. By morning, everyone would have seen it.
“Keeley! You should call him and yell at him!”
“I guess . . . ,” I said tentatively. “I’ve never called Jesse before. We only text.” I hated how weird that sounded.
“Well, now’s the perfect time,” said Morgan. “He’ll know you’re serious.”
It’s one thing to build up the confidence to call a boy on the phone. It’s another thing to do it with someone listening in. I felt, in that moment, what I imagined Morgan had felt with Wes, the time I was listening in when they broke up. But the difference there was that Jesse would never say something mean about Morgan. So I wasn’t so much worried about that as I was that our relationship was somehow not what I thought it was. Because why was I learning about this prom the same way as everyone else, especially since I was the one who’d given him Bundy’s address in the first place? I thought we were supposed to be partners in this. Cruise directors on this sinking ship.
I wondered if Jesse would even answer, or if he’d ignore the call, knowing I might be mad.
He picked up before the second ring.
Morgan pressed her head close to mine so she could hear.
“ ’Sup, Kee. What did you think?”
“Dude! You’re going to get me in so much trouble!”
“What?” He sounded genuinely surprised. “With who? Hamrick?”
“Yes! I’m totally going to get fired because of you.”
“He won’t know you gave me the address.”
Even though I didn’t care that much, it was annoying that Jesse didn’t think this was a bigger deal. “He’s not stupid, Jesse. The timing is a little suspicious, don’t you think? I mean, I’m in that house with him and then a couple of hours later, you announce Secret Prom at the same address.”
Morgan gave me a thumbs-up.
Jesse took a deep breath. In that pause, I worried that maybe I was taking things too far. I didn’t actually want to fight with Jesse. Especially not when our entire relationship was built upon the fact that we both wanted to have a good time. Did getting mad at him, especially over something as dumb as Levi Hamrick, jeopardize that?
“Your mad voice is very cute,” he said, his own low and quiet and growly. I felt my heartbeat quicken. Morgan suffocated her squeal with her pillow. “Do you want me to cancel it?”
I thight about it for a millisecond. I didn’t. Ever since the flood, Jesse had worked hard to make things fun, to keep people having fun. The times I spent with him were the only bright spots. They were the fuel to keep going, to have hope.
I didn’t want to get Levi in trouble.
But I was touched Jesse would offer. I felt like it proved something about us that he’d do that for me.
“No, you don’t have to do that. Just don’t tell anyone I’m the one who gave you the address, okay? Not even Zito. And if Levi asks you himself, you can’t throw me under the bus.”
“That’s fair. But before I agree to these terms, I need something from you.”
My eyes got wide, and Morgan cuddled against me again. “What?”
“Will you go to prom with me? The last-ever prom in Aberdeen?”
I didn’t want to correct him. Not because I wasn’t still hopeful that my dad could stop this. But because if it was Aberdeen’s last prom, that made it even more romantic.
I jumped around the room like it was one big trampoline.
“You still there, Keeley?”
Every cell in my body screamed YES YES OH HELL YES. But Morgan shook her head. She crawled away from me and grabbed a Sharpie marker and wrote on my palm, TOO EASY!!!!!
“Hello?”
“I, uh. I mean, is that it? That’s your ask?” I laughed dismissively, all air through my nose. “Sorry. I would have expected something a bit more creative.”
I waited for him to defend himself, but there was something suddenly funny-sounding about the air on the line. Quiet.
“Shit! He hung up on me!” I cried.
“Maybe he didn’t hang up on purpose?”
Two seconds later, I got a text from him.
So you want creative, huh? Why don’t you go look under your pillow?
My hands shaking, I turned my phone around to Morgan. I watched her lips move as she read, her eyes widening. We stared at each other for a second before Morgan dove across her bed and grabbed her keys from her nightstand. We slid our shoes half on our feet and flew out of the bedroom door, then hurled ourselves down the attic stairs.
Her mom was yelling, “Where are you two going?” but we didn’t answer. We were too busy laughing. Morgan’s mom had no idea what was going on, but she saw how joyous we were and joined in on the laughter too.
“I’m scared!” I screamed as Morgan peeled out of the driveway.
“Don’t be scared, you dummy! This is it! This is what you’ve been waiting for!”
We tore across town, sped through the one blinking red light. My house had never felt so far away.
About three blocks before the turn for Hewitt Road, we got stuck at an intersection, forced to watch a lumbering parade of bulldozers being driven into town by men who didn’t live here, who were in no hurry. We unrolled the windows and started screaming, “Move move move! ” And Morgan laid down on her horn. They thought we were flirting.
“Screw it,” Morgan said, and sped along the shoulder, a streak shooting past them.
We burst into my house, and Morgan followed me up the stairs. With every step, I added something to the mental list of embarrassing things Jesse could have seen in my room. Dirty underwear. A half-empty box of tampons. My teddy bear Rosebud, who since I’d found her in my attic had rejoined me in my bed.
We crashed into the room. Thankfully, it wasn’t that messy. And it didn’t look like he’d gone through my things.
I lifted the pillow off my bed.
He’d taken the art room supplies and made an old-school-looking valentine heart. It was all red glitter, on the heart and also on my bed. So much glitter that if it hadn’t been sparkling, it would have looked like a big bloodstain from a crime scene. White letters on the heart said WILL YOU GO TO PROM WITH ME?
And stabbed straight through the heart was on
e of the school clock’s golden hands. I recognized it right away.
Morgan’s phone rang. It was Elise. I saw her name when Morgan checked the screen. “I’ll call her back later,” Morgan said, sliding her phone into her back pocket. Which, if I hadn’t already been on top of the world, would definitely have tipped the scales.
26
* * *
Tuesday, May 24
Rain in the morning, heavy at times, 65°F
* * *
As of Monday, the cafeteria was permanently closed. A sign covered the window on the door saying that all students, even freshmen, would be allowed off-campus for lunch until the school closed down on Friday. That’s why it was weird when I heard laughter coming from inside it as I was on my way to the library.
I lifted up the sign and peered in. The cafeteria had been dismantled. Lunch tables folded down and pushed against the walls, chairs stacked in tall pillars, the cash register stations bare, the chip racks empty, the overhead fluorescent lights off.
Across the room and against the wall, one thing glowed like a night-light. The vending machine was still plugged in, a decent variety of snacks tucked in the metal coils. That’s where I saw Jesse and Zito and two other guys on the soccer team going nuts on it, trying to pry the glass door open. Actually, Jesse was the only one doing that. The rest were cheering him on, or handing him things to use as tools. Like Zito. He must have found the metal spoon in the kitchen. Jesse tried using it like a crowbar, but it immediately bent in half, so he flung it over his shoulder and it hit the floor with a clang. Another guy was holding up a phone to record the antics, of course.
“Dude, hold the camera steady,” Jesse said, cracking up as he took a few steps backward. Then he ran toward the vending machine and knocked into it with all his weight. The lights inside it flickered as it lifted onto two of its four legs. All the guys yelled, “Whoa!” and it probably would have fallen completely over if Zito hadn’t been poised on the other side to steady it.
“Hey, Keeley!”
I turned and saw Levi hustling toward me from the end of the hallway. He had on dark jeans, a black-and-white-check button-up, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his running sneakers. He was still carrying a hall pass even though no one checked them. “Do you not go to class anymore? I’ve been wandering around the school looking for you since the bell—”