orion - Prom Night

All the hype around prom is unnecessary if you ask me. Tonight was supposed to be the best night of my life, I never thought it’d be the last.

Gina, this really sweet girl in my chemistry class, was supposed to be my date. A few weeks ago she showed me this necklace she’d thrifted for the big night. It was supposed to match my dress, this deep, dark, green gem. Maybe it was some kind of emerald? Y’know, I’d never say this to her face, but it was almost more enchanting to look at than her. She dyed her hair too. Gina’s got natural dark brown hair like me, but she had it fade into blonde. Don’t get me wrong, it looked amazing on her. It was just a really startling change. When I asked her why she decided to bleach it out of nowhere all she said was, “Fake it ‘til you make it, right?”. We laughed about it at the time, all the beauty and perfection stuff.

But of course, she told me a week before that she couldn’t come because she had a “family emergency.” (For the record, I did check with one of her teammates on the volleyball team to see if she was okay and there was no family emergency, she just didn’t want to go with another girl after she’d been nominated for prom queen.) Honestly, I wasn’t all that upset about it. Nominations are a big deal here for some reason, so it made sense that she’d want to go with someone nominated from prom king. Obviously, this meant she was going with Oscar Kingston. He wasn’t a bad guy per se. Nevermind, yeah he just sucked. King (he started telling everyone to call him King instead of Oscar back in sophomore year) tried his very hardest to make everyone know that’s exactly what he wanted to be.

On the night of prom, cars lined the streets with a few limos here and there. All the rich kids get limos. Driving wasn’t really my thing. Between school, work and soccer, I never had time to actually get my license. There I was, biking to prom, dress and all. My mom even put balloons and sparkly streamers on it, “If your bike’s going to prom then it’s gonna dress up too.” There was an upside to biking though, I didn’t have to wait in the enormous line.

Every sense in my body was completely overwhelmed the moment I stepped into the gym. Girls were already crying in the corners, halls and bathrooms, dumped by dates, stood up, or just crying for the hell of it. I spotted Ellie, one of the girls on the JV soccer team. No clue what happened but most of her teammates were around her. Very, very bright lights blinded me as I finally pushed my way in. Sparkling confetti flew around, kicked up by all the movement and dancing. Everyone (well, except the crying girls and their posses) was smiling so bright it almost rivaled the lights. Though, a few of those groups had already come back to the gym, as if nothing had ever been wrong in their lives. Some pop song I didn’t know was blasting all around me.

I spotted a junior, I think his name was Jackson? He was talking to somebody, I couldn’t see who. I turned to look for Gina, hoping she might at least talk to me. Then somebody collided with me. It was the same junior. He looked rushed, maybe scared? He was dialing on his phone, but I couldn’t see the number. He shuffled out of the gym. A moment later he walked back in, smiling and calling out to some other kids I didn’t know. It was weird, but I didn’t think too much of it. Shoes clicked and thudded: heels, guys’ dress shoes, converse on a few girls trying to be quirky and different. Everyone was packed into this gym, people I knew, didn’t know and didn’t care to know.

The music came and went, it was time to crown our new social monarchs. A spark shot through my stomach. Our classmates, kids we’d known for forever, made their slow ascent to the stage. And there she was, in the most beautiful dress and she looked like a goddess in it. Her makeup was perfect, she was perfect. I was so in awe that I couldn’t even process what happened next.

The principal didn’t even finish his speech. Gross, black sludge started pouring out of his mouth and eyes. King tried to scream, but it poured out of him too. Then the entire prom court.

All of the kids in the gym were screaming, yelling or just staring. Obviously, we ran for the doors. There was no way anyone was going to stick around for whatever prank they were playing, except they were locked. Only a few kids were in the halls before all this, but now they were gone. That’s when I looked back and saw her.

Standing center-stage with black stains soiling her lavender dress, Gina. All the horror movies I’ve seen couldn’t prepare me for what I saw on her face. This look of horrible insanity mixed with power-mad but still downright beautiful. I spotted the necklace too. She still wore it. If everything was different, maybe it would’ve been a nice sentiment. It started to glow. Maybe it was a trick of the light, maybe something else, but people started turning away from the doors, smiling. It wasn’t each of their smiles. The smile on everyone’s faces matched Gina’s, but their eyes were glazed over and blank. They all returned to the dance floor, forming an even and orderly crowd.

The rest of the prom court was either only half conscious or fully gone. Marissa, captain of the cheer squad, was face down on the stage. Her arm hung over the side, limp. Choking and on his knees, hands clawing at his throat, King looked up at Gina. Observing his suffering, she leaned down and put her hand on his cheek. Her necklace dangled in the air above him. All of a sudden, he stopped coughing and crying. I watched him stand up with a smug smile, wrapping a hand around Gina’s waist. It finally hit me. All of this, each terrifying image on that stage as the rest of the court died in front of our eyes, was created and controlled. Everything was hers.

Her eyes snapped to me when she noticed I wasn’t moving with everybody else. All I could think was “shit shit shit shit”. I turned back to the door and slammed my body against it, I was not going to die here. The music kicked back up behind me, the kids all started dancing. Everyone was always on beat, everyone did the same moves at the same time. It was almost perfect. The crowd parted when she came off the stage. I spotted the necklace she showed me, and the look on her face. She got to me at the doors and looked me dead in the eye.

“This is my perfect night. I’m not going to let you be a spoil-sport.” She pointed to the crowd, furrowing her brow in anger. “Fake it ‘til you make it, right?” I’d never seen her like this. Sure, Gina was a bit of a perfectionist normally. But this? No. No, this couldn’t have been her.

Without warning, the door finally gave way. I bolted from the gym, kicking off my shoes and tearing down the hall. I slipped a little, but it wasn’t the tile floors that I slipped on. It was Jackson’s phone from earlier. As it slid across the floor I spotted the number he’d dialled for the first time. 911. There wasn’t going to be any time, I felt her on my heels. Then I started hearing more footsteps, and more. King and everyone else followed her out. Where the hell were all the chaperones and teachers? When I hit the corner for the next hall, my legs almost went out from under me. I landed on my palms and scrambled up like my life depended on it. It did. I saw Gina out of the corner of my eye, the sludge extending from her to me.

“Shit, shit, no no no no.” I pulled myself back up and launched forward down the hall. Before they were all able to turn the corner, I spotted an open classroom. I ducked in, pulling the door shut behind me. I barricaded the door with the nearest chair. I pressed myself against the wall under the window leading to the hall. I gagged on air, struggling to catch my breath. But at least now I was safe for the next five seconds.

Or not. All the footsteps stopped at once, and I knew I was done for.

“You really thought you could hide? From me? Please. This night is going to be perfect, especially without you.”

The sludge poured in from under the door like ocean waves. It kept rising, I couldn’t get out. I stood to face her as it flooded the room. Her makeup wasn’t even smudged. She wasn’t even sweating from the chase. The necklace she’d gotten almost seemed to stare into my soul. She smiled at me and waved, like some sick goodbye. I held my breath as long as I could, but my lungs filled with black. Then my vision.