Chapter 9 - The Crown of Flowers
We swayed to the music as the strings rose and fell. Doris moved with a light, graceful rhythm that surprised me.
"Your grandfather used to dance with me like this," she murmured into my ear, her silver hair brushing my chin. "Every Saturday night at the fire hall. We didn't have a nickel to our names back then either, Cole. But when the music was playing, we felt like the richest people in the world."
"You *are* the richest person in the world, Grandma," I whispered back. "And they finally know it."
As the song neared its end, the applause didn't die down. In fact, a commotion was happening near the front stage.
Principal Vance was standing by the podium, looking completely defeated. Beside him stood the senior class president, Maya Lin. Maya was holding the velvet-lined mahogany box containing the tiaras and sashes for Prom King and Queen.
Maya stepped up to the microphone, bypassing Vance entirely.
"Hey, everyone," Maya's voice resonated through the room, clear and unwavering. "A few days ago, the senior class submitted their ballots for Prom Queen. The official results were supposed to be announced right now."
She looked down at the velvet box in her hands. Inside lay a sparkling, silver rhinestone tiara that had cost the student council two hundred dollars.
"According to the official tally," Maya said, her eyes shifting coldly toward Julian and the corner where Chloe was standing, "the title was supposed to go to someone else. But student council bylaws state that the senior class president has the authority to award an honorary title for service and character."
Maya lifted the sparkling tiara from the velvet cushion.
She walked down the steps of the stage, holding the crown high. The crowd watched in breathless silence as Maya walked across the gymnasium floor, stopped directly in front of my grandmother, and curtsied.
"Mrs. Doris Miller," Maya said, her voice carrying through the quiet gym without the need for a microphone. "For twenty-two years of cleaning our school, keeping our secrets, and teaching us what real dignity looks like... by the authority of the Crestview High Senior Class, you are our Prom Queen."
Doris gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Oh, no... no, sweetheart, I can't... I’m too old..."
"Bend down a little, Mrs. Doris," Maya smiled, tears running down her cheeks.
Doris slowly bowed her silver head. Maya placed the glittering rhinestone crown gently into her curled hair, adjusting the combs so it sat perfectly atop her head.
The gymnasium went wild.
The cheers were louder than any touchdown Julian Montgomery had ever scored. Foot-stomping on the wooden bleachers sounded like rolling thunder. Kids were whistling, screaming her name: "DORIS! DORIS! DORIS!"
I looked over at Julian.
May you like
He was standing alone by the emergency exit. His tuxedo looked disheveled. His eyes were wide with a mix of fury, terror, and total humiliation. No one was looking at him. No one was cheering for him. He pushed open the emergency door, the alarm letting out a brief, shrill beep before falling silent, and slipped out into the darkness of the parking lot, completely forgotten.
***
