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ghost passed through Kristen without disturbing so much as a single strand.
    Kristen followed Jerusa’s eyes to the empty space next to her. “What are you looking at, you nut-job? Did you even hear a word I said?”
    Jerusa had wanted to apologize, to fall down before the blonde goddess and beg for forgiveness. She hated confrontation, hated being in the spotlight. She could feel the eyes of the entire room upon her.
    One of the cafeteria monitors, a large woman that looked as if she’d been carved from an oak tree, stepped up behind Kristen.
    “Is there a problem?” she asked in a voice surprisingly genteel for her size.
    “No problem,” Kristen said, keeping her eyes tethered to Jerusa’s. “Just talking.”
    The monitor looked to Jerusa for confirmation. Jerusa gave a quick nod. Anything to make this moment pass.
    “Okay, then,” the monitor said, as if this ended the matter.
    “Just stay away from Thad or I’ll add some more scars to your collection,” Kristen turned and walked away before Jerusa could respond.
    Jerusa’s cheeks burned hot, her pulse throbbed in her ears. The world seemed to be off-kilter, surreal and unstable. The gossiping crowd in the cafeteria sounded like a swarm of buzzing locusts. Her own group of friends sat silent.
    Jerusa stood up, though her knees felt like they were made of soft rubber, and left the cafeteria without a word. The girls she called friends — but were really no more than acquaintances — would be angry with her for not disclosing what had happened with Thad. Jerusa didn’t care. She was a girl full of secrets.
    At the end of the day, when the bell rang, Jerusa pressed through the torrent of students rushing to their lockers, swimming against the current until she spilled through the front doors. Before she even made it to the bottom of the steps, she heard her name drift over the murmur of the crowd. There was no need to turn and look. She could recognize Thad’s voice anywhere.
    After the horrible things her mother had said to him, and considering Kristen’s warning, Jerusa thought about making a break for the Tardy Lot and the path through the woods. Instead, she turned to face him, and his smile made her knees want to knock together.
    “Hey, I’m sorry about Kristen getting in your face. I told her never to do that again.”
    “You did?”
    “Yeah,” he said. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
    “Thanks. I appreciate that.” Jerusa felt a stupid grin spreading across her face and choked it back. “And I’m sorry about yesterday, y’know, with my mom.”
    Thad’s eyes widened as the memory washed through his mind. “I’m not going to lie, that was intense. I thought she was gonna rip my face off. Is she always like that?”
    Jerusa shook her head. “No, not very often.” No, her mother had many levels of dysfunction. More than enough to spread around.
    “I know she’s your mom and you love her and stuff, but I suggest you find your own place as soon as possible.”
    Though he meant it as a joke, the thought of living on her own, out from under her mother’s thumb, was an intoxicating idea, but one that brought on a hangover of guilt.
    “Anyways, I wanted to ask you a question. It’s going to seem a little crazy, but I think it would be a lot of fun.”
    Jerusa’s mind raced over several scenarios from mischievous to downright criminal. “Okay, go ahead and ask.”
    “Will you go to the prom with me?”
    Jerusa was struck dumb with shock, but managed to choke out, “Prom?” She stood with her mouth open, her eyes wide and bulging. Her mind begged her body to do something. Speak, cough, blink, laugh, cry, run, dance, anything except standing here like the most awkward statue ever.
    “Prom,” Thad said, clearly pleased at the response he had elicited. “You know, that big dance high school kids go to at the end of the school year.”
    “I know what prom is,” she said, finding that Thad’s sarcasm and lighthearted personality