Read The Real Prom Queens of Westfield High for Free Online

Swedish sofa getting assaulted by a full-color multimedia presentation right there in our living room.
    No way is Mom being swayed by this One! Million! Dollar! game-show pageantry complete with thumping dance music.
    She puts her hands over her ears, and Josie stands up to start working damage control. “Hey, Mickey,” Josie yells over the music. “This sounds like a fun show that will be really popular and all”—Mickey clicks off the music and Josie glances at Mom before going on—“but I think what we’re most concerned about here is Shannon.”
    â€œYes.” Mom sits up. “Teenagers tend to speak and act before thinking. In a situation like this, Shannon’s life could be ruined.”
    Mickey must be pretty slick, because she snaps her laptop shut right then and looks Mom square in the face. “Your concern is perfectly normal,” she says. “It’s important to us that you feel comfortable with this.”
    Josie and I trade a private smile as Victoria looks back and forth from us to the spot on the wall where the blazing video presentation has gone dark.
    Mickey softens her voice and goes on. “Raising two girls on your own must be very difficult, Ms. Depola. I must say, from what I can see, you’re doing a fabulous job.”
    Eep . Josie and I grimace. Condescending to our mother is not going to get Mickey anywhere except ejected from our house: projector, laptop, slick suit, and all.
    Victoria leans back. “Shannon graduates next year,” she says. “Do you think she’s maybe ready to start making some decisions on her own?”
    Mom frowns at this, and I see Mickey toss a warning look in Victoria’s direction. She seems able to read Mom, as if she’s playing a game of hot and cold, zoning in on the best way to manipulate her.
    â€œI’ve been producing reality shows for seven years now,” Mickey says briskly. “Did you ever see Spring Break Sweethearts ?” Thankfully, Mom has not, since she probably isn’t in a huge rush to sign me up as a wet T-shirt contestant.
    â€œBesides developing Sweethearts ,” Mickey goes on, “I’ve been in charge of casting over sixteen reality shows. Normally, when we cast these shows, we audition for particular types.”
    â€œThey look for over-the-top personalities,” Victoria says. “Kids that will clash with each other and create lots of drama.”
    â€œThose shows encourage the drama normally associated with reality television. But this show is different,” says Mickey. “The girls never asked to be on it. It’s the next wave of reality television. You don’t come to us; we come to you.”
    â€œThis isn’t just a makeover show,” Victoria says, licking her bright-red lips. “It’s a show about helping the girls discover who they really are.”
    Good , I think. Load of crap…but good .
    â€œPlus of course there is the One! Million! Dollars! to consider!” Victoria adds and I wince.
    Mickey intercepts Victoria’s fumble. “There will be a team of professionals, or Social Advisement Coaches as we call them, to help the girls make good decisions over the course of this year. Shannon will be challenged to consider her future.”
    â€œHave you been thinking about college, Shannon?” Victoria asks me pointedly.
    â€œUm.” I glance at Mom. “No?” And that’s how Victoria stumbled on the exact right thing to say to crack through that rock-hard single-mother exoskeleton. Mom wants me to go to college. And even though I could probably earn scholarships thanks to my grades, I’m pretty okay with taking a year off.
    Part of the problem is the fact that I’m best at math, but I don’t really see myself as a mathematics major. I mean, what does a mathematician even do all day? Sit in a room with a giant calculator and zero windows? No thank you.
    Mom asks me,