Free Prom Date by Diane Hoh Page A

that Stephanie was a sure thing. Who else is there?''
    "Beth hasn't been queen yet," Jeannine said. "And I like her the best of the Pops."
    "Never mind the queen," Lacey said irritably. "It's the kings we should be interested in. I personally think that Michael Danz is much cuter than Lucas Nelson. Besides, Michael is available now and Lucas isn't. He's Beth's date." She grinned. "Michael smiled at me at the picnic, during the softball game. When Stephanie wasn't around, of course," she added hastily.
    Margaret had been stricken speechless by Lacey's callousness. Now, she found her voice. It slid from her mouth quietly, but it was laced with pure acid. "Lacey, has Michael Danz ever once in his life said hello to you? Has he ever given a single sign that he is even aware of your existence on this planet?" She knew it was cruel. But Margaret felt no remorse. How could Lacey be so clueless? How insensitive did you have to be to drool over a boy whose girlfriend had been dead less than twenty-four hours?
    Insensitive enough, apparently, not to be wounded by Margaret's unkind questions. Lacey didn't even redden. "Just that smile yesterday. And that could have been because I caught a pop fly that helped out our team. But there's always hope. And Fm not the only one who's thinking this way, Margaret. No one at this table has a date for her own senior prom. We all know that the pretty, popular girls already have dates, so Michael isn't going to have a lot to choose from. And if there is anyone at this table not hoping he'll choose her, speak now or forever hold your peace."
    "I'm not," Margaret said, keeping her eyes on her sandwich. This didn't seem like the best moment in the world to tell them she was going, but she didn't want them finding out from someone else. "Mitch McGill asked me last night."
    All three faces went blank. Caroline stared at Margaret. "Asked you what?"
    "Asked me to the prom." Margaret was grateful that people around them had begun talking. The buzz of conversation, though it was quieter than usual, might keep everyone in the room from overhearing her friends' reaction to what she had just told them.
    ''The Mitch McGill?" Lacey repeated. "Asked you to go to the prom with him?"
    Annoyed, Margaret said with some heat, "Stranger things have happened, Lacey. Don't make it sound like this news ranks right up
    there with someone giving birth to an alien's baby."
    Jeannine shook a headful of frizzy red curls and breathed a "Wow!" that spoke volumes. "I thought he was taking Liza. Everyone thought so." She shifted her thin frame on the metal folding chair. "Well, no wonder you're not interested in who Michael might invite
    now."
    Caroline said nothing, but her eyes suddenly looked suspiciously bright.
    Margaret knew how Caroline must be feeling. They had spent every prom night throughout high school together, having what they called a "non-prom party." Freshman year, they hadn't expected to be invited. In their sophomore year, they'd held only a slight hope that some cute junior or senior might notice they were alive. It hadn't happened. Junior year, they'd been much more optimistic, since by that time they actually knew more guys. But those guys had asked other girls, not them.
    Sometimes their non-prom party had been held at Caroline's house, sometimes at Margaret's. They'd held it on the Point once. That had been fun, but only Margaret was willing to climb up to the top of the lighthouse. So she'd had to go up alone in the dark. That had
    been a little creepy. Still, they'd always had fun, and they had already planned a get-together at Caroline's house this year. Margaret's announcement meant that things would be different. There would be only Caroline, Jeannine, and Lacey at their non-prom festivities. Margaret knew that had to hurt Caroline.
    "Your mother must be jumping for joy," Caroline said then, toying with one of the bobby pins in her hair. "Did she already sell the blue dress?"
    "No. She was saving it for