“She’s trying to ruin my life.”
Hayden ripped out a chair and fell into its seat. The surface was more solid than she realized, but she dispelled the frustration with a more positive thought, not on my perfectly tanned a**.

Shifting in her sleeveless gown, the material between Hayden and the cheap piece of furniture had creased. Its tangerine color was now the dress’s only merit, since it drew attention away from the citrus-fruit color of her skin.

A girl pulled a chair close to Hayden and sat. She reasoned, “I don’t doubt that, I mean, aren’t parents supposed to massacre a girl’s social life?”

“This is the biggest event of my life, at least until my wedding,” Hayden squawked, “and it’s not because I couldn’t go with a date, either.”

Jessica eyed her date, and the guy next to him. “There are plenty of possibilities here.” The two boys caught her glance, and started in her direction. “But you’re talking about the minivan, right?”

“Don’t call it that, it’s a humpback whale.” Hayden stopped speaking when the guys were close enough. She was asked to dance, but could only think of the wrinkles of her dress she was sitting on, and dismissed him by establishing, “Can’t, my a** is hurting.”

She didn’t care to watch their reactions as they left without a word. Instead, she gave her attention to her gown and fixed her posture, before asking to be spared from leaving her senior prom in an aquatic mammal.