Chapter 35
Here is my public service announcement: Prom isn’t all that romantic.
Like some twisted joke, the theme for this year’s Saint Agnes prom is “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.” I really pray that heaven in real life goes beyond the Saint Agnes gym.
No matter how much effort the prom committee poured into decorating the place, this is still the same ground where I skinned my knee during our third-grade kickball game.
The stage lit by the paper lanterns and flameless candles is still the stage where Kayla tripped and flashed her panties in our grade school graduation.
All these girls who look stunning in their gowns and makeup are the same ones who wear their Saint Agnes uniforms every day and yell out at seven in the morning asking if someone has an extra sanitary napkin.
Yet, even the most cynical part of my soul finds it hard to persist alongside Kayla’s excitement.
“Nika, Nika.” Kayla shakes me. “Don’t those lights remind you of the Twilight prom scene when Edward danced with Bella?
“Oh my god. Look, they made the middle of the gym a dance floor! Are they going to play High School Musical songs?”
Kayla discovered a new talent tonight: She has a movie reference for every single detail at prom.
“The stage is just how it looked like in Carrie too!”
Seph hesitates. “Isn’t that the one where a girl gets drenched in pig’s blood?”
“Yes!” Kayla agrees, even more excited. “Then she proceeds to murder everyone!”
He darts me a concerned look, but I shrug it off. These are the moments I find my best friend more endearing than frightening.
We follow the long carpet that directs us to the pathway while Achi keeps gaping at the stage centerpiece that looks like an actual waterfall. “The admin can’t get our budget approved for more volleyball nets, but they can fund this?”
It really looks like an enchanted forest threw up all over our school gym.
There are pastel-colored lights lining a tunnel to the gym entrance that shimmer when anyone passes through.
There are more strings of lights that twist and turn through the ceiling like the gym has its own vines and branches.
Ma rode with Auntie Baby since they had to get here earlier for “chaperone” duties—which works out for us since I get more room to discuss the game plan with Pa. But he’s been acting strange ever since he noticed the butterfly necklace.
“Is that from your mom?” he asked when we stepped outside the condo.
I expected him to share more about their prom night, some backstory about how he got the necklace, or crack some corny joke, but he left it at that.
His mind seems like it’s far away this whole evening.
He still has a glazed look in his eyes while the rest of us are trying to take in everything the prom committee did to the school gym. “Everything okay?” I ask.
“Hmm?” Pa says, and it’s like he snaps out of a trance. “Of course, Superstar. It’s your prom night!”
Pa points to the event’s centerpiece. “Did they promote that there’d be a waterfall here?” he asks. “That would’ve been falls advertising!”
He goes on to hum the melody to “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” while we make our way through the decorations provided by the questionable budget. I try not to read too much into it—that Pa isn’t acting strange at all. This is Pa admiring the decor, not him freaking out that we’re running out of time.
Seeing Dani in angel wings is almost a welcome distraction.
In front of the stage, Dani is busy ushering everyone to their seats.
As prom committee head and student council president (let’s not forget!), Dani apologized to Kayla that she had an early-morning call time and couldn’t get out of it to pick her up.
Judging by how Kayla’s mouth drops open while staring at Dani, I don’t think she minds.
Dani is dressed like a literal angel in a strapless tube dress, complete with actual wings on her back. Of course, Auntie Baby is by her side, ushering guests while wearing matching angel wings too.
“Nice outfit,” I tell Dani when she greets us. “Surprised there are no rules against wings in the handbook.”
The wings even perk up when Dani stands straighter. “The handbook is against cleavage, not against style, Nika.” Her eyes turn soft when they land on Kayla. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Kayla says back.
After Auntie Baby takes note of our attendance, she asks, “Did you bring a date, Kayla?”
I’m prepared to explain that we came in a group when Dani declares, “She did.”
Dani’s wings stand taller when she moves to stand right next to Kayla. “I’m Kayla’s date.”
Kayla’s mouth falls open, but she takes Dani’s hand when she offers it.
“Oh!” Auntie Baby’s eyes flicker between the two. “Kayla’s the date you were waiting for?”
My mind is already prepared to stick up for Kayla and dispute any possible Saint Agnes regulation, but Dani speaks up first. “We’re fighting the patriarchy.”
Wow. I’ve never seen Kayla swoon this much over a nonfictional character before.
“How is this related to the patriarchy?” Seph asks, and I shush him. At this point, Dani can spin words to mean whatever she wants them to mean.
As Dani directs us to our table, she hands each of us a ballot for prom nominations. I can’t help but laugh when I spot the footnote at the bottom: Remember your vote matters, a reminder from your class president, Dani Bautista.
Then Dani asks out of nowhere, “How did you pull off your campaign strategy?”
I stare at Dani’s face, trying to decipher what in the world she’s talking about. Damn. And I thought I was getting better at speaking her language.
“What do you—”
I don’t get to finish my question. My brain’s too overwhelmed from the horror of reading the list for prom king and queen candidates.
Moseph King and Annika Ilagan
Who the hell put our names there?!
Moments from earlier in the night start to make sense.
A few girls from my class said “good luck” to me earlier, but I thought they were being nice and wishing me luck so that my feet would survive wearing heels.
There were some guys who were shouting out “King” at Seph when we entered, but I thought they were just calling him by his surname.
I’m about to ask Dani if she can use her student council powers to investigate who turned my name in when I notice Auntie Baby in her angel outfit shoot me a thumbs-up.
She huddles between Seph and me and lowers her voice.
“My sources say that you two are ahead of Sean and Julia in the polls,” she whispers as if we’re discussing the forecast of a national election.
“Be ready for the dance when they announce the winners.”
I gape at Auntie Baby. “Did you … nominate us?”
It sounds even more ridiculous when I say it out loud!
Auntie Baby raises her shoulders, but I see her throw in a not-so-subtle wink. “Tell your mother that there are lots of perks from being active in the alumni association.”
The blood in my body goes cold and my throat feels like it’s closing in on itself.
Oh god. Am I going to pass out? This definitely is what people feel like when they run out of oxygen.
Everyone’s going to remember prom night as that time Nika Ilagan fell to the floor in front of her auntie in an angel costume.
Seph taps my arm when I feel like I’ve gone catatonic. “Ilagan?”
This memory was supposed to be the easiest to re-create.
I’m not as clueless as when we were at the soiree and I don’t have to perform in front of a whole audience like at Battle of the Bands.
Our strategy here was simple. Once they declare prom king and queen, Achi and I would make sure that our parents are both on the dance floor to witness it.
I even swallowed my pride and asked Mercury Retrograde to play the song my parents danced to back at their prom.
There was never any mention of Seph and me dancing. I know my strengths as a performer, and dancing is not one of them!
What if Ma watches me bomb the dance, then she gets too distracted from being embarrassed for her daughter that she forgets to remember Pa? This is the event that’s supposed to mark his fortieth day! What if Pa coming back hinges on this one dance?
“I’m good!” I hear my voice go up another octave. “Prom king and queen. Woot woot.”
Oh god. Stress has made me utter the words woot woot.
I’m still massaging my throat and regaining the feeling in my legs when we position ourselves around the table.
We all take our seats and I pull a chair for Pa, making an excuse to others that it’s for my bag.
The program soon kicks off, and my mind starts thinking about everything that could go wrong again.
The buffet runs out of rice, Sister Marissa keeps interrupting the prom host to remind us to make room for the Holy Spirit, and the Swifties Who Crochet club does a surprise a cappella performance. It’s like a hurricane of things happening all around me.
In the midst of it all, I keep an eye on Pa. Every other second, my head swings in his direction, checking to make sure he’s still there.
My hand instinctively goes to my wrist, then I remember that I left my hair tie at home since it didn’t match my dress. While I’m mentally cursing myself for prioritizing fashion over my sanity, I hear Seph ask, “Sure ka okay ka lang?”
I nod and smile through my anxiety.
I’m convinced he buys it when we both focus back on whatever’s happening onstage. But then he stands up from the table. “Hey, wanna go outside for a minute?”
A minute? Does he not realize how many things can go wrong in a minute?!
“It’ll be quick,” he adds while my insides are still swirling with nerves. “Just wanted to show you something.”
My gaze drifts to Pa again. His eyes smile at me when he insists that he’ll be fine. “You’ve been staring at me the whole night, Superstar,” he teases. “Go have some fun with your date.”