Page 69 of One More Time

“Did you guys see Luke this morning?” Connie asked. “What in the world happened?”

“What do you mean?” Tommy asked. “I was sleeping off some alcohol this morning.”

“All I know is he boarded in handcuffs. Did he get into trouble or something?” Connie asked.

“That’s usually what’s happened if someone’s in handcuffs,” Ana said.

“The prevailing theory right now is that he stole something,” Connie said.

“He tried to,” Chanel said with a murmur.

“What was that?” Connie asked.

“I said it serves him right. What kind of millionaire steals stuff?” Chanel asked.

“What are these names for?” Ana asked.

“The nominations for prom king and queen, girl! Make sure you cast your vote. There’s a box with a slot in it over in the corner you can put your ballots in later,” Connie said.

“Can we write in names?” Chanel asked.

“Nope. We’re using the same names from prom when we graduated. Nothing spectacular. Just a fun little thing to reminisce,” Connie said. “Can’t wait to see who wins! We have a beautiful crown for the queen this time around.”

“Uh-huh. Well, thank you for bringing these around,” Chanel said.

There was something in her eyes I couldn’t identify, which was odd because I prided myself on being able to read Chanel well. Her demeanor had changed completely when Connie approached the table, and when she left, Chanel’s demeanor went right back to normal. She pulled away from me, her hand left my thigh, and she tossed the piece of voting paper onto the floor.

“You okay there?” Ana asked. “You look a little murder-y.”

“Not all of us enjoyed our prom,” Chanel said. “Why do we have to relive it?”

Tommy’s eyes whipped over to mine as my heart sank to my feet. I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to fix this. Chanel looked angry and defeated and tired. She had tortured herself this morning by watching Luke get on the ship by herself. She was standing on a limb that was shaking, refusing help from anyone who reached out to her.

I had no idea what had brought any of this on, but the only thing I could do was try to cheer her up.

“You guys want to go spend some time by the pool?” I asked.

“I’m always pool-ready,” Tommy said.

“Got my bikini on underneath my wrap,” Ana said.

Our eyes panned over to Chanel as she stared out the window near our table.

“Huh?” she asked.

“We’re all heading to the pool. You wanna come along? Some sun might do you some good,” Ana said.

“Oh. Oh yeah. Sure. Means I can get a drink,” Chanel said.

“That’s the spirit! We can go to this prom drunk, or we can drink and miss it altogether. Who the fuck cares about it anyway?” Ana asked.

“You know, I liked Winter Ball that year more than I did our prom,” Chanel said. “Do you remember that dance?”

“Like it was yesterday. You were in this beautiful royal blue and silver gown. Strapless. It poofed out everywhere,” I said.

“Then we went to Steak and Shake afterward for three fucking hours,” Ana said.

“Oh, shit. I remember that dance,” Tommy said. “The one where the ornament balls started falling from the ceiling and busting on the ground?”

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