The Prom Queen by R.L. Stine Page B

teacher,” he confided in me.
    I sighed. Even the freshmen were killers.
    â€œThanks for avoiding us,” a voice said as I was finishing the last of my yogurt. I looked up. It was Elana, her face drawn, tight, and tense. I guess she was feeling the same pressure I was.
    I stood up and said goodbye to the kid across from me.
    â€œYeah, see ya tomorrow,” he said. I had made a friend for life.
    Elana wasn’t smiling. “Can we talk?” was all she said.
    We had about twenty minutes left in lunch period. We decided to take a walk.
    Outside, it was a pretty spring day. Thanks to all the rain, everything was lush and green. There were birds chirping, insects buzzing. You could feel everything beginning to come to life.
    We headed for Shadyside Park, behind the school. Neither of us said much of anything.
    We sat on a recently painted park bench.
    â€œYou ready for the assembly today?” I asked, trying to get things rolling.
    â€œTo tell you the truth,” Elana said, “I’ve had so much on my mind, I haven’t really thought about it. It’s like I don’t even care about it anymore.”
    I nodded and waited for her to go on.
    Finally Elana said, “I just feel so terrible,” and then she fell silent again.
    I looked at Elana. She was wearing a long blue-and-white sweater over blue leggings and a gold band necklace that I was sure was real. She had her hair tied in a cute little ponytail with a whitescrungie. On her cheeks I could detect just a trace of apricot blush.
    She may have been feeling terrible, but she wasn’t feeling so bad that she had stopped paying attention to how she looked.
    Such cruel thoughts.
    I scolded myself for being so harsh. Elana did look glum. “I just feel so guilty,” she said, sighing.
    â€œWhy?”
    Elana stared at me as if she didn’t believe that I didn’t know. “For going out with Gideon,” she said. “For breaking him and Rachel up.”
    I avoided her eyes. I happened to think that it was really awful of her, but I didn’t want to say so now.
    â€œIt wasn’t my idea, you know?” she told me. “Gideon kept after me and after me. Said he really liked me and that he and Rachel were just meant to be friends. . . .”
    She stared at me again. Obviously she wanted me to say it was all right. I tried but I couldn’t force the words out.
    â€œI never got to apologize to her before she died,” she continued. “I—I just feel so bad about it. I think about it all the time.”
    Her eyes were getting moist. I had never seen Elana cry before. I suddenly felt sorry for her. I put my arm around her shoulder. “Hey,” I said, “what happened to Rachel was not your fault. Stop thinking that way, Elana. We’ve got enough to feel bad about without blaming ourselves.”
    Elana gave me a grateful smile and swiped at her nose with the back of her hand. “Thanks,” she whispered.
    â€œBy the way . . . has Gideon ever said anything to you about the prom queen contest?” I asked her.
    She looked surprised. “No. Maybe. Why?”
    â€œI was just curious. His family is about as poor as Rachel’s, you know.”
    â€œSo?”
    I was trying to decide whether it was worth scaring her with my crazy suspicions.
    â€œI’m glad we decided to go ahead with it,” Elana said.
    Mr. Sewall had called us in that morning—me, Elana, and Dawn—to see if we felt up to continuing the contest. Dawn had said that Simone and Rachel wouldn’t have wanted us to quit, and Elana and I had both agreed.
    â€œYou have a dress yet?” Elana asked me, her eyes on a large robin, pulling a worm from the ground.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œLast night my parents told me I have to be home by eleven after the prom.”
    â€œEleven?”
    â€œI know.” She shook her head. “Some prom.”
    â€œIt’s not