I’d been played.

“Let’s get you ready.” Mom pushed into the room with her full makeup box.

Without much notice, there wasn’t much that could be done, but we made it work. Using her costume jewelry hair combs she did a half-up, half-down style and put on only a minimal amount of mascara and lipstick. I’d probably rub most of it off by the time we got to the country club where the prom was taking place.

“Perfect.” She stepped back and brushed at the side of her eye. “You look gorgeous sweetheart.” A quick hug was all we could muster or I had no doubt we’d both be in puddles.

A pair of borrowed heels completed the look.

“I’ll be waiting at the bottom of the stairs with my camera ready.”

I turned and looked at myself. The pale green dress had a V-neckline with flowers sprinkled down one of the flowing sleeves that ended at my elbows. The chiffon made me look a little like a fairy who had sprung from a forest meadow awaiting a prince. Only mine was downstairs.

The dress brushed against the floor as I made my way downstairs, careful not to trip.

Dare paced in front of the living room and my mom stood at the bottom of the stairs with her phone at the ready.

He stopped when I got to the second step from the top. He looked like he was seeing a whole new version of me. I was too—the one reflected in his eyes.

At the bottom of the steps, in the heels, I was almost eye-to-eye with him.

The plastic clamshell with the corsage popped open. He took it out and slid it onto my wrist.

My mom spent the next ten minutes capturing us from every angle like she was going to have to turn these photos over for a police investigation.

“I love you. Be safe.” She turned and wagged her finger at Dare. “And have her back by midnight.”

“Of course, Molly. She’ll be safe with me.”

My stomach flipped like it was diving off a ten-meter platform.

He closed the passenger side door and walked around the front of the car.

I waved to my mom out the window as she disappeared in the distance.

We drove out of our neighborhood toward the country club, but Dare took a turn, heading in the opposite direction.

I looked behind us. “Where are we going?”

He took his eyes off the road and grinned at me. “You’ll see.”

“So we’re not going to the prom?”

“We are.”

“You disappear for a week and then you show up and stage a mild kidnapping. What’s going on?” My heart raced, fluttery feelings made me feel seconds from taking flight.

“There are these things called surprises. Sit back and enjoy the ride.”

The car revved up a steep incline. The headlights washed over a dirt road with a rocky wall on my side keeping me from seeing anything. He flipped off the headlights and pulled the car forward.