Chapter 4 - The Grand Entrance
The Grand Regent Hotel ballroom was packed with over three hundred students, parents, and faculty members when we arrived at seven PM.
I stood near the balcony railing overlooking the main floor, wearing my suit, watching from a distance alongside other parents who had been invited to observe the grand arrivals and the crowning of the court.
Near the center stage, my sister Tessa, her husband, and my mother, Elaine, were standing together in their finest evening clothes. They were holding a bouquet of red roses, smiling proudly as Maya stood among the prom court nominees in a heavy, overly ruffled pink dress.
Maya was beaming, tossing her hair, looking around the room as if the crown were already resting on her head.
"I hear Maya's father paid for the entire decoration committee," a parent standing beside me whispered to her friend. "They're practically treating her like royalty."
"Where is Nora Holloway?" another parent asked, looking at her program. "I thought she was on the court, too."
Tessa overheard the whisper and turned, a small, victorious smirk touching her lips. She leaned over to my mother and whispered something, and both of them let out a quiet, condescending chuckle. They believed they had won. They believed Nora was sitting at home in the dark, weeping over shredded satin.
Suddenly, the grand brass doors at the back of the ballroom swung open.
The master of ceremonies cleared his throat into the microphone. "Announcing our final prom court nominees: Mr. Lucas Vance and Miss Nora Holloway!"
The room fell silent as the crowd parted.
Nora stepped onto the polished hardwood floor, her hand resting gracefully on Lucas's arm.
Her midnight-navy and storm-blue gown caught the crystal chandeliers' light, flowing around her ankles like liquid silk with every step she took. Her dark wavy hair was styled in an elegant loose updo, silver earrings sparkling against her neck, her posture straight, her gray-blue eyes holding a calm, radiant light that commanded the entire room.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"Who is that?!" a junior girl gasped nearby. "Is that Nora?!"
"Look at that dress! Oh my god, it's incredible!"
"She looks like a movie star!"
I watched my mother and sister from across the balcony.
Elaine dropped her evening purse onto the floor. Tessa's face turned from smug satisfaction to a mask of absolute, horrified shock. Maya stood on the stage, her mouth agape, her eyes bulging as she stared at the cousin she had tried to destroy—now shining brighter than anyone else in the room.
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Nora didn't look at Maya. She didn't look at Tessa. She walked down the center aisle with absolute grace, nodding politely to her orchestra classmates who were cheering loudly from the front tables.
She walked straight past her family, taking her place on the nominee stage, standing tall, proud, and completely untouchable.
