Broken Glass, Broken Hearts part 58

Of course I would end up going to the dance. With Jane at home, the idea was invited with glee and happy, girlish squeals. Milly, too, turned on me and decided she wanted to go to the prom. She's not even a junior, but whatever. All visitors welcome. Sadie had also decided positively, not so much to my joy. I could see it now: me, walking up, seeing Angela, Angela turning, beauty striking me as much as always, and then Sadie skipping up and hooking onto my arm. Angela seeing her and turning away, walking away. I sighed now and leaned against the shoe display in the store my sisters had dragged me into. Milly stepped out of the dressing room in a long dark blue gown, silk, with a low cut. Jane clapped her hands in glee and stepped up to Milly, pulling her hair up on her head and trying out different hairstyles as they looked in the mirror. I was miserable, of course, about shopping, but I did enjoy seeing Milly so happy. She smiled radiantly as Jane breathed, "This is the one. You look gorgeous. Absolutely breathtaking." Milly blushed and turned to hug Jane. I rolled my eyes as they hopped about and then finally led me out of this store...and into a shoe store. I groaned and followed them in.

"So," Sean said as we sat in his front yard, in the back of his truck, letting the sprinklers spray us as they came around and we basked in the warm sun, "are you going to the junior prom?" I opened one eye to glance at him and nodded, "Yea. With my friend Sadie."

"Aw." Sean stuck an oreo in his mouth and I glanced at him again. "Why do you ask? You

going?" He looked over at me, squinting from the sun, and shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe."

"Well, why not?" I asked, readjusting my sunglasses as I reached into the pack of Oreos and pulled out two more. Sean sighed and looked down into the truck, away from the sun, "It's just...I was gonna take Dustin to junior prom." He ran a hand through his hair and I, too, looked down. "Even way back then she asked me if I was gonna take her to prom. I remember her exact words from that conversation-she asked me, "Are you gonna take me to prom?" I responded positively. She asked me, "Are you gonna take me to both proms?" I responded positively again. Then she asked, "Are you gonna take me dress shopping for both proms?" I responded negatively that time." I sniffed a laugh and looked up again, at him, as he continued, "She laughed. She always laughed, at everything. He glanced over at me, and then back up at the sky, "And then she kissed me." I looked down again, feeling like I was invading some sort of boundary by listening to this. Like this was something Dustin wouldn't have wanted for me to hear. But now, as I thought about it, I realized that Dustin really did want me to hear this, she was just afraid of what I would say. Tammy walked out of Sean's house now, carrying a tray of lemonades, and Sean took them from her with a grin as she jumped over the side of the truck to join us. I smiled at her and looked back up at the sky. I wondered if Dustin was watching us now, sitting together, the people she loved. The people she left behind.

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