Chapter 10
Ten years earlier
He’s not coming.
The words formed in Jenna’s mind even as her heart shriveled in her chest. The text from her best friend, Sofia, blurred as
Jenna’s eyes filled with tears. I just heard from Taylor. She said Evan is coming with Amanda Doherty! I’m so sorry!
Jenna sank onto the edge of her bed, the tight dress squeezing her hips. Amanda Doherty? She was petite, outgoing, and well
liked—definitely a couple rungs above Evan Sanders on the social ladder. And though Evan was fairly attractive, his placement
on the chess team and in the debate club hadn’t exactly rendered him Mr. Popularity. As far as Jenna was concerned, that had
been part of his appeal.
The tears pressed against her eyes, threatening to ruin the makeup she’d spent so much time applying. A phone call vibrated
her phone. It was Sofia. But Evan’s rejection had hit her hard, and Jenna couldn’t bear to talk about it just yet. Swallowing
against the lump in her throat, she denied the call and texted instead. It’s okay! I’m fine. Have a good time with Jack! Call me tomorrow. I want all the details. [smiling emoji]
At least Jenna’s mom was downstairs and unable to witness her heartbreak. A month ago when Evan had asked her to prom, Jenna
jumped at the chance. She wanted to go and though she wasn’t unpopular herself, as a girl athlete, she was mostly viewed by
her male peers as one of the guys. Boys didn’t date girls who’d beaten them at arm wrestling or humiliated them on the basketball
court.
At seventeen she’d been on a total of two dates and had yet to even experience her first kiss. She’d hoped tonight might be
the night it actually happened. Not that Evan had been especially attentive since he’d invited her. Well, that wasn’t true.
He was attentive for a few weeks. But over the past few days he’d distanced himself. He hadn’t called. She’d hardly seen him
at school. She’d written it off as busy work and school schedules.
But she now saw it was something much more. He’d changed his mind about her, decided he didn’t like her after all. Or maybe
Amanda had asked him to prom and he couldn’t refuse.
He could’ve at least had the decency to tell Jenna. All her friends knew she was going with Evan, and now they’d see him there
with Amanda instead. On Monday morning, if not before then, she’d have to face all the questions. The thought of the coming
humiliation bottomed out her stomach.
Just as quickly a wave of anger swelled inside. Evan was the one who’d wronged her. She hadn’t done anything to deserve this
treatment. She should go to prom by herself, show him he hadn’t gotten the best of her. She didn’t need him to attend her
own prom or have a good time!
The thought lifted the cloud of humiliation for a few minutes. But soon reality sank in. Who was she kidding? Going to prom alone? She’d have a miserable time, and she didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to fake it all night long.
She glanced in the mirror where only moments ago she’d been admiring the way her brown hair fell in waves past her bare shoulders.
For once in her life she felt like she looked feminine and pretty. And since Evan was a very lanky six feet, she’d splurged
on new four-inch heels that made her legs look longer than ever.
Her gaze slipped down to the satiny red dress, modest but for the slit at the thigh. She never wore dresses, much less bold
red ones. But when she’d tried it on a few weeks ago, her mother’s eyes had misted. “Oh, honey. You look so grown up. So beautiful.” She’d insisted the dress was made for Jenna, despite the exorbitant price tag.
Jenna wiped the tears from her face and glanced at the closed door. Not only had Mom wasted a lot of money on this dress,
but she’d taken the night off work to take pictures and see Jenna and Evan off. Now Jenna would have to go downstairs and
tell her Evan wasn’t coming at all.
Somehow, facing Mom’s sympathy seemed even worse than Evan’s rejection. Jenna had been mourning that her dad was missing yet
another milestone, but now she was glad he wouldn’t have to witness her humiliation.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting there wallowing in misery when Mom called from downstairs. “Jenna, wasn’t he supposed
to come at six?”
With a weary sigh Jenna stood, smoothing the pretty satin material. She was opening her mouth to call, “Be right down!” when
the doorbell rang.
Grateful for a minute’s reprieve, Jenna leaned into the mirror and dabbed her face with a tissue, fixing the visible evidence of her distress.
She would play it off as a last-minute change.
No big deal. She hadn’t really cared about going anyway.
Now Jenna could stay home with Mom and . . . have a movie night.
“Jenna . . . your date’s here?” Mom called.
Jenna frowned. My date? What was going on? Had Sofia somehow gotten faulty information? She must’ve. And now Jenna had just spent all this time crying
over nothing. She was going to kill her best friend!
“Coming!” Jenna quickly touched up her makeup and hoped the glassy sheen of her eyes looked less like the remnants of a crying
jag and more like prom-night excitement. She stuffed her feet into the red heels, fluffed her hair, and left the room. She
had to walk carefully down the stairs as she wasn’t used to wearing heels, much less the spiky things she’d bought.
She was barely cognizant of her efforts as the bottom edge of the foyer came into view. A pair of shiny black dress shoes
appeared, then black pants, a suit coat and crisp white shirt, and . . .
She blinked at the unexpected face. “Ty?”
His eyes flared at the sight of her and he beamed. “Wow, Jenna. You look amazing.”
Jenna glanced around and, not seeing her mother, lowered her voice. “What are you doing here?”
“Sofia called and told me what happened.” He shrugged adorably.
And he’d decided to step in last minute? Jenna’s heart squeezed tight at the generous gesture. “You don’t even want to go
to prom. You said it was a stupid tradition.”
“That was before I had such an awesome date. You’ll increase my street cred tenfold.”
She scrunched up her face in a mock scowl. “You don’t have to do this, Ty. My ego will survive the rejection.”
“I want to help.” He stood back and held out his arms in a “look at me” way. “Now are you going to tell me how handsome I look or what? It took me almost five whole minutes to get ready and you haven’t even complimented me.”
Something deep inside brightened at Ty’s kindness. A light that shone into some darkened corner of her heart. “Thank you,
Tyson. Really. And you do look very handsome.”
“Why thank you.” He lowered his voice. “I told your mom there was a last-minute change. She didn’t really question it.”
Jenna wasn’t surprised. Her mom had always thought she and Tyson should be together. An idea that had always made Jenna roll
her eyes.
Rushed footsteps sounded from the other room. “Wait, wait, wait.” Mom dashed into the foyer carrying a plastic boutonniere
box. Her face fell when she saw Jenna. “Oh, shoot! I wanted to get a video of you coming down the stairs.”
“Not a problem.” Ty grabbed Jenna by the shoulders and turned her around. “Get back up there, Greene. This calls for a do-over!”
“Fine.” Jenna sighed and began climbing the stairs, taking careful steps.
“Mama Dee, be sure and catch my expression as I set eyes on my gorgeous date for the first time.”
“Oh, don’t you worry. I won’t miss a thing.”
Jenna tossed Ty a mock scowl over her shoulder, even though his words warmed her through. She couldn’t believe he was doing
this. When she reached the top of the staircase, she pivoted. “Ready for me, Mom?”
“Just a second . . . Gotta turn on the camera. Go slow so I don’t miss anything. Okay, I’m ready.”
“Are you sure? I don’t know how many times I can make it down the steps in these heels. I was lucky I made it the first time.”
“I tried to warn you . . .”
“You’re not going to flake out on me, are you?” Tyson called. “I mean, my shoes aren’t exactly comfortable, but I have every intention of dancing the night away.”
“Are you coming?”
Jenna rolled her eyes though no one could see. “Yes, Mother.” Jenna grabbed the handrail and took the first step, feeling
suddenly lighter. The weight she’d felt only moments before seemed to have fallen right off—and just like that she was looking
forward to the evening ahead.
Four hours later Jenna couldn’t even believe she’d been sitting in her room crying over stupid Evan Sanders earlier. She was
having a blast! She’d forgotten what a great dancer Tyson was. She’d slipped off her shoes only a few songs into the night,
and they’d boogied the night away.
She was so busy being spun around the floor, she hardly even spared a glance at Evan and Amanda. Though Jenna had to admit
the girl was a knockout in her formfitting dress. She was petite and curvy in all the right places, the ice-pink gown setting
off her long blonde hair and sun-kissed skin.
But it was easy to forget the other couple since Tyson was the perfect date, fetching her drinks, making her laugh, and ensuring
she was having a good time.
They hung out mostly with Sofia and Jack, but Tyson’s friends also included them in their group.
Early in the night some of them had done a double take upon seeing Jenna.
It served as a much-needed ego bolster on a night when her self-esteem had taken a hard hit.
Maybe she shouldn’t be so reluctant to dress up and fix her hair now and then.
Just because she was athletic didn’t mean she was condemned to sweats and jeans for the rest of her life.
Late in the night they were taking a break by the drink station with Sofia and Jack when the band began the melodic strains
of a slow song. Sofia tugged a groaning Jack onto the dance floor. He lacked rhythm and refused to fast-dance, so he’d promised
Sofia he’d dance every slow song to make it up to her. Her friend looked gorgeous tonight, the gold gown making the most of