If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?

sidelong glances, as if she wasn't comfortable staring directly at me.

"Come on!" her sister repeated impatiently, and she bolted for the stairs.

I rolled over, picked up the phone, and dialed Co

my voice. "I guess I got a little drunk last night."

"Just a little," I said.

Music pulsed in the background, and Co

gotta make it up to you, Red. How can I make it up to you?"

Come over to my house and drive a stake through my stepmother's heart. "I don't know," I said.

"I bet it's go

"I bet it is," I said. Did Co

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He lowered his voice. "Can I ask you something, or are you too mad?" I shivered. It felt like he was whispering in my ear.

"I don't know," I said, whispering, too. "That depends on what it is."

"Well, try this one on for size." He paused. "Think you might be willing to come to the prom with me?"

Aaaaahhhhh!

He'd asked me. He'd actually asked me. I shot up, miraculously managing to swallow a scream.

Then I made myself sit down on the edge of the bed, cross my legs at the ankles, and speak

calmly into the phone. "I think I might consider it," I said. But it was impossible to stay seated, and I jumped to my feet, hopping from one to the other.

"You kill me, Red," he said. "There's no one cooler than you are."

It was a good thing Co

around in an oversized T-shirt and a pair of thick orange socks with holes in the heels, my hand

pressed to my lips so no screams would escape.

I heard the click of someone picking up another extension. "Hello?" It was Mara.

Oh my god, now she was listening in on my calls to my father and my boyfriend.

"Yeah, hi, Mara. I'm on the phone."

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"Lucy, you're awake. Why don't you come upstairs and say hello?"

"Now," she said, and she hung up.

"I gotta go, Co

"Call me later," he said. "Prom date."

I hung up the regular phone and grabbed my cell before Mara came down to confiscate it. Jessica

picked up on the first ring. She didn't even say hello.

"Did Co

"Just now."

"Oh my god!" she screamed. "Dave asked me, like, five minutes ago, and Madison's on the

phone with Matt right now."

"We're going to the prom!" I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but I kept my voice down. The last thing I needed was for my stepmother to know there was something in my life I was actually

looking forward to. It would just make her that much more eager to take it away from me.

There was a knock on my door. "Lucy, Mom says you have to come upstairs now."

I lowered my voice to a whisper. "I gotta go."

"We're going to the prom," Jessica whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" I asked, starting to giggle.

"Why are you whispering?" she asked, giggling, too. "I don't know," I said.

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"Me either," she said. Then she started laughing for real, and so did I. "I'll call you later," she said.

I was laughing too hard to say anything else, so I just hung up the phone.

The dining room table was elaborately set for twelve, and soft classical music played in the

living room, where Mara, my dad, and a woman I didn't recognize were sitting having drinks.

"Hey, honey," said my dad, spotting me. "Sure you got enough sleep?" I knew he was making a joke, and I forced myself to smile.

"I think so," I said. Then I walked over to the unknown woman and extended my hand. "I'm

Lucy," I said.

"I'm Gail," she said. Except for her dyed blond hair, she could have been Mara's clone. They

were both in dark silk skirts and pale fuzzy sweaters, and each held a glass of white wine in her

hand.

I wondered if Gail knew she was going to be sleeping in my room, but it seemed impolite to ask.

With Co

dad to think I was being rude to Mara's friend. Sorry, Co