61. Chapter 61
Chapter 61
Sloane
W hen I get home from school, I'm still on cloud nine and feel like I've told my prom story a hundred times. I'm working on homework in my dad’s office when the phone rings. “Hi sweetie,” my mom says as she walks into the office.
"Hey," I say. "I didn't realize you were home."
"I just got in," my mom says, and she's smiling. "I can't wait to hear how it went at school, but the phone's for you. It's a man named James from Atlantic Records."
"Really?" I say as I sit up straight in my dad's office chair. "That's The Lemonheads' record label!"
"I figured," she winks. "Pick up, see what he wants."
My mom closes the door behind her as I pick up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey Sloane, this is James from Atlantic Records."
"Hi, how are you?"
"Great! I heard about your amazing prom date with Evan and just wanted to get the full story," James says through the phone.
I tell the story for the 101st time today, and of course, include that Evan was a gentleman, hoping everyone understands what I mean by that. It may sound silly, but that’s important to me.
"That's so cool," James says. "Evan's a good guy. Do you have any pictures you could send me?"
"Yeah, my mom took a few that we should get developed soon, and we took a professional prom picture which I should get in a week or so, I think." I have no idea how long those pictures take to come back since I've never been to a dance.
"That's great, I'll send you a FedEx envelope so you can send me what you've got."
"Okay, sounds good."
"The press might be interested in this. Is it okay if we give your number to people who want to do a story?"
"Of course," I reply. Gosh, this is all happening so fast. I wonder who might want to do a story on this?
"Great! I'll be in touch and look forward to getting those pictures."
"You bet, thanks," I say before hanging up the phone. My mind starts turning with all the possibilities of what may happen next, and then I think of Evan. I hope he will be okay with me talking to press and sending our pictures to his record label. I have no way to get in touch with him to ask him, other than the address he sent me to a post office box. Since he’s on tour, there’s no telling when he’ll see a letter.
My mom knocks softly, then opens the door. "Hey! He sounded nice. What did he have to say?" The light glimmers in her excited blue eyes.
"Yeah, he was nice. He just wanted to hear the prom story and asked if I could send pictures to him. He's going to send a FedEx envelope. He also said that the press might be interested in the story, so we may get some calls."
"Wow!" My mom says, her eyes still sparkling, and I can tell she's holding something behind her back.
I lean to my right, trying to peek around her. "What do you have?"
My mom whips her hand out, and she's holding a black envelope with Wolf Camera written across the front. "You got the pictures developed?" I hop up, so excited to see them.
She hands me the envelope. "Don't tell your dad that I got these developed before we finished the roll." She winks at me. “And, I paid more for the next day prints because I couldn’t wait any longer.”
It’s cute to see how excited my mom is. I open the envelope and flip through the pictures and my heart speeds up. "Oh my gosh, these are so good!" There are two of me and Evan that look really good, two of me and Evan with Miranda and Tameka, and a couple of candid shots when we were helping Evan get Dave's tux jacket and everything on. I look at my mom as excitement courses through my veins. I give her a bear hug. "Thank you! These are great! I'm so glad you came down there and brought a camera."
"See, I'm pretty smart, huh?"
"You're the best!" I tell her and mean it. I think she's relieved to see me so happy after I was so sad that Ky backed out right before prom, and she knows that high school hasn't been easy for me.
"Don't stare at those too long," my mom says as she heads toward the door. "You've got to get that homework done."
"I won't," I say as I feel my cheeks burn.
"Oh," my mom turns back. "How could I forget? The newspaper called today for a quote." She points to the answering machine. "They left a message and said they would call back. They didn't leave a number."
"Oh, wow, okay," I say, and I can't believe so many people are interested in this story. "Thanks, mom."
My mom turns back to the door, and as I hear the soft click of the door close behind her, I sit back in the chair and look through the pictures. I know the grin on my face must be goofy, but I don't care. Evan and I look good together, and I still can't believe I took him to my prom!
I'm finishing up my homework for the evening and look at the clock. It's six o'clock, and as if my stomach knows, it growls. As I'm stuffing my books into my backpack, the phone rings, and I pick it up. "Hello?"
"Hi, can I speak with Sloane?" A woman's voice says through the phone.
"This is she."
"Hey, Sloane, this is Alex from Sassy Magazine. I heard about your prom story from James over at Atlantic and wanted to see if you had a few moments to chat."
Oh my gosh, Sassy Magazine! Sassy is the cool girl's magazine which eschews all the fluff and vanity, talks about real issues, and, of course, covers cool music. It's well-known that they are fans of Evan Dando. "Hi, uh, yeah I have time to chat." I hope dinner isn't quite ready.
"Great! So, you must tell me, how in the world did you get Evan Dando to go to your prom?"
For the 102nd time today, I tell the story. I'd gotten it down to an abbreviated version even though there are so many details.
"Wow, that's so cool!" Alex gushes. "You are so bold. I love it! Our readers are going to swoon over this story. You know they love Evan as much as we do."
I smile. "Yeah, he's pretty great, and he was a complete gentleman. I couldn't have asked for a better prom date."
"I love hearing that. Well, I'll let you get going. We'll probably run this in the September issue as we work a few months ahead. I'll let you know when it's scheduled to run."
"That's awesome, thanks so much!"
Alex and I say goodbye, and I steal one more glance at the pictures my mom took. How did a dreamy rock star agree to go to prom with me? I feel like I'm the main character in a John Hughes movie.