Nana is, to put it mildly, not pleased with this turn of events.
“You said you were going to watch a movie,” she says from the other side of my closed bedroom door as I yank a dress over my head. It’s black and sleeveless, with a flared A-line skirt that ends just above my knees. The material is casual jersey, but I put on a few long, glittering necklaces to dress it up. With my one and only pair of heels, it can pass for semiformal.
“We changed our minds,” I say, reaching for a bottle of curl enhancer and squeezing a small amount into my palm. I already spent more time than I’d like to admit on my hair before leaving for Malcolm’s, but the battle against frizz never ends.
“I don’t like the idea of you going to this dance, Ellery. Not after everything that’s happened over the past few weeks.”
“You let Ezra go,” I point out, slipping into my shoes.
“Ezra wasn’t targeted like you were. One of the girls who was on the homecoming court with you is missing, for God’s sake. It could be dangerous.”
“But, Nana, there’s not even a court anymore. Now the whole thing is more of a fund-raiser. There’ll be kids and teachers everywhere. Brooke didn’t disappear when she was in the middle of a crowd like that. She was at home with her parents.” I run my hands through my hair, brush mascara across my lashes, and coat my lips with sheer red gloss. Done.
Nana doesn’t have a good response for that. When I open my door, she’s standing there with her arms folded, and she frowns as she looks me up and down. “Since when do you wear makeup?” she asks.
“It’s a dance.” I wait for her to move, but she doesn’t.
“Is this a date?”
I get full-body butterflies as I think about kissing Malcolm on his couch, but blink at Nana like it’s the first time I’d ever considered her question. “What? No! We’re going as friends, like Mia and Ezra. We got bored and decided to meet up with them. That’s all.”
I can feel my cheeks flame. I do not, as Sadie would put it, have the appropriate emotional connection to this scene. Nana looks entirely unconvinced. We regard one another in silence for a few seconds until she sags against the doorway. “I could forbid you, I suppose, though that never worked with your mother. She’d just go behind my back. But I want you to call when you get there, and I want you to come straight home after. With your brother. Daisy Kwon is a chaperone. She brought him and Mia, and she can take you home, too.”
“Okay, Nana.” I try to sound grateful, because I know this isn’t easy for her. Plus if I’m going to be annoyed with anyone it should be me, for somehow managing to turn my first kiss with Malcolm into a stakeout. Maybe I need to work out a system with Ezra, so he can text Nobody wants to hear your murder theories the next time I get the urge to ruin my own night.
I follow her downstairs, where my seriously cute not-date is waiting. The side benefit to me forcing us off the couch is getting to see Malcolm in a suit again. “Hi, Mrs. Corcoran,” he says, and then his eyes go satisfyingly wide when he catches sight of me. “Wow. You look great.”
“Thanks. So do you,” I say, even though I already told him that at his house. We smile at one another in a way that’s not helping the we’re just friends argument.
“Ellery needs to be back by ten-thirty,” Nana interjects, throwing out an arbitrary time that we did not agree to upstairs. “She’ll be coming home with Ezra.”
“No problem, Mrs. Corcoran,” Malcolm says before I can reply. “Thanks for letting her come with me.”
I’m not positive, but I think Nana’s expression might soften a little as she opens the door for us. “Have a good time. And a safe time.”
We cross the lawn to the Volvo, and Malcolm opens the passenger door for me. I tip my head back to look up at him. I’m about to make a joke—something to ease the tension caused by my grandmother’s obvious nerves—but my eyes wander to his lips and the slope of his neck where it meets his crisp white shirt collar, and I forget what I was about to say.
His knuckles brush against my arm, raising goose bumps. “Do you want to get a coat? It’s cold out.”
“No, that’s okay.” I tear my eyes away from his weirdly enticing collar and fold myself into the seat. We veer away from the heavy topics of the night while we drive, talking about a comic-book series we both like and a spin-off movie that neither of us has seen.
The school parking lot is packed, and Malcolm grabs the last spot at the far end. I immediately regret my decision not to bring a coat, but when I start shivering Malcolm pulls his suit jacket off and settles it over my shoulders. It smells like him, a clean mix of shampoo and laundry detergent. I try not to inhale too obviously while we walk.
“Here goes nothing,” he says, opening the front doors.
I pull out my phone and call Nana to let her know we’ve arrived safely, then disconnect as we turn the corner that leads to the auditorium. The first thing we see is a purple-draped table, staffed by a blond woman in a flowered dress. Her bangs are teased higher than average for the decade we’re in. “Oh no,” Malcolm mutters, halting his steps.
“What?” I ask, putting my phone into the pocket of my dress. I slip Malcolm’s jacket off my shoulders and hand it back to him.
Malcolm takes his time putting it back on before he starts moving again. “That’s Liz McNulty. Kyle’s sister. She hates me. Looks like she’s a chaperone.”
“That woman?” I peer at her. “The one Declan broke up with for Lacey?” Malcolm nods. “I thought she was your brother’s age.”
“She is.”
“She looks forty!”
I’m whispering, but he still shushes me as we approach the table. “Hi, Liz,” Malcolm says in a resigned tone.
The woman glances up from her phone, and her expression immediately settles into a look of deep dislike. “Tickets,” she growls without returning the greeting.
“We don’t have them yet,” Malcolm says. “Can I get two, please?”
Liz looks positively triumphant when she tells him, “We’re not selling them at the door.”
Malcolm pauses in the act of reaching for his wallet. “That’s kind of a flawed system.”
“You’re supposed to buy them ahead of time,” Liz sniffs.
“Hey, guys,” a melodic voice calls behind us. I turn to see Daisy coming out of the gym, looking pretty in a formfitting blue dress and high heels.
“Hi,” I say, relieved to see a friendly face. “You look nice.”
“Gotta dress up for chaperone duty, right, Liz?” Daisy says. Liz smooths the front of her frumpy dress, and I feel a pang of sympathy for her. Daisy flicks her eyes between Malcolm and me. “I’m surprised to see you two here. Mia said you weren’t coming.”