"Miss Crane stole the prom money."
"She stole it? How much?" "They're not sure yet. A lot."
It took a minute to sink in--our math teacher stole the prom money. Wow. How low could you get?
"Hang on," I said. "So you have to cancel the prom?" Junie wailed and buried her head in her arms. "Way to go, Hannigan," Lauren said. "I'm sorry," I said. "Really, I mean it."
I had been saying prom was stupid for years, and it still was, but it was different for them. They had been waiting forever for this. Dichelle, she lived with a foster family who had nothing, but everybody had pitched in to buy her a dress. Junie had been dating the same stand-up man, Charles, since freshman year, and he was going into the army right after graduation, and we were all sure he was going to ask her to marry him at prom. Monica, her mom died of cancer last year--if anyone deserved a dance, it was that girl. Prom was stupid for me, but not for them, and I wasn't such a butthead that I couldn't see the difference. But I didn't know what to say or do. "Anybody want a Tastykake?" I asked.
