Jaya watched dully as Elliot waited at the bottom, looking up at Isha with what could only be described as naked adoration. All she could see was the back of Isha’s head, of course, but the way her little sister held her body, shoulders back, head high, Jaya could tell she was just as smitten. What was the point? What was the point of any of it? Isha and Elliot would never work, just as she and… No. She didn’t want to finish that thought.

Daph went next. Rahul waited for her at the bottom, completely unsmiling. But when she got to the bottom, he took her hand and placed it securely in the crook of his arm.

Caterina went after her. She swept down the stairs, beautiful and dangerous in her dark green Valentino, the one she’d modeled for all her friends and Jaya at the start of the school year so long ago. Jaya watched as Caterina’s date, the senior boy with blond hair and an alarmingly square jaw, met her at the bottom and planted a deep kiss on her mouth. Caterina leaned in at first, but then muscled him away after a few seconds to see if Alaric had been watching. When she saw him deep in conversation with Portia, a senior girl, her face iced over, all emotion leaching from it at once, and she led her date off to the side.

Jaya felt her heart twinge with pain for Caterina. It wasn’t her fault how things had all played out. She may be an ice queen, but underneath, she was just as soft, just as hurt, just as vulnerable as anyone else. But Jaya couldn’t dwell on it, because then it was time for her own partner-less descent. Let’s get it over with.

She put one foot on the first marble step, her eyes sweeping the hall below, which had been decorated as if for a celebrity wedding. Waterford crystal vases filled with silver branches and pale blue orchids the exact color of the silk ribbons on the stairs covered every available surface, from the credenza by the window to the small table by the door. The crystal chandelier overhead had been draped with more silk ribbons and clusters of large silk flowers.

When Jaya’s gaze dropped from the chandelier, she saw him for the first time.

Grey stood in the center of a group of people, all of whom were chattering excitedly to each other, giddy with expectation and the smell of perfume. But Grey—Grey only watched her. His face was serious, but his blue eyes shone. If Elliot had had naked adoration on his face, Grey’s was full of pride and respect and heartache and maybe even the beginnings of love.