“No one’s going to eat those, Mom.”

Her mom looked down at the beautiful desserts with concern. “Why not?”

“They’re too pretty.”

“Just like you,” she said, leaning in to kiss Laurel’s forehead.

A knock sounded at the door and butterflies started up in Laurel’s stomach again. She was chagrined to realize it didn’t matter who was actually at the door. They all made her nervous.

She opened the door to find Tamani waiting on her porch. He was alone, wearing a black tux with full tails, a shimmering white vest and bow tie, and had topped it off with shiny black shoes and white dress gloves, as though headed to a white-tie affair. Despite being called a winter formal, Laurel knew that most of the guys in attendance would be, at most, wearing dress suits and ties. Tamani probably wouldn’t be the only one in a tux—David seemed to enjoy wearing them—but he would still be the most formally dressed person at the dance. In wondering whether he’d wear the wrong clothes, Laurel had not considered that he might dress too well.

While taking in his appearance, Laurel realized that he looked almost as nervous as she felt—more than a little unusual, for Tamani. “Are you okay?”

Tamani leaned close. “Is anyone else here yet?”

Laurel shook her head.

“Good.” Tamani ducked into the foyer and pushed the door shut. “Yuki asked me not to pick her up.”

“Like, she canceled?” Laurel asked, her stomach clenching. Had she found something out?

“No, she said she was running behind and would meet me at the dance. But something isn’t right.”

“She knows I planned dessert. Maybe she doesn’t want to draw attention to the way she eats. I mean, she has no idea we all know what she is. Well, except Ryan. Honestly, it sounds like something I would do,” she added in a quiet voice.

“Maybe. But she sounded . . . weird. On the phone.”

Laurel looked up as the doorbell rang. “You have sentries watching her house?”

Tamani nodded. “But her house is practically a fortress tonight—all curtains drawn, a sheet thrown over the front window. It just doesn’t sit right.”

“There’s not much we can do until we find her at the dance,” Laurel whispered. She paused, then added, in an even quieter whisper, “You look incredible.”

Tamani looked startled for a second, then he smiled. “Thanks. You look amazing too. Just like you do every day.”

The doorbell—practically next to her ear—startled her and Laurel shooed Tamani into the kitchen. Then she opened the door to David, Ryan, and Chelsea.

“Look at you!” Chelsea said, rushing forward to hug Laurel. She was wearing the red dress Laurel had recommended. It set off her complexion perfectly and brought out the gray in her eyes. “You look fabulous. Is this the . . . the dress you were telling me about?” she asked, her eyes flitting to Ryan for just an instant.

“Yeah,” Laurel said, spreading the skirt a little. “I was really happy to find it.” Find it. Ha! In Avalon you literally did just find clothes in the marketplace and then take them home.

“Well, the dance starts in, like, fifteen minutes and I was promised dessert,” Chelsea said, smiling playfully. “Ryan wouldn’t let me get dessert with my dinner, so there better be some here.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Ryan said, pushing her gently toward the kitchen. “I told her she could have two desserts—she just didn’t take me up on it.”

Chelsea grinned at him and they both headed toward the kitchen. Laurel looked wistfully after them. It had been hard even looking at Ryan since talking with Chelsea, knowing what was coming. He still seemed completely head over heels for her. A niggling voice in the back of her head reminded her that he had lied to Chelsea about college applications, but did he deserve being totally blindsided by a breakup because of that?

Laurel turned to David, who had just stepped into the foyer. He was wearing a neatly cut tuxedo jacket over a black, mandarin-collared silk shirt with a shiny black button at the throat instead of a bow tie. He was different from the boy she’d met two years ago. Tonight, elegant and handsome in all black, he looked like he could take on anything.

“Hi,” Laurel said, feeling strangely shy. He was looking at her dress and she could practically see him connecting the dots in his head. But when his eyes met hers, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“You look beautiful” was all he said.

Laurel was a nervous wreck as David pulled into the crowded high school parking lot. Despite her calm words to Tamani, it was weird for Yuki to be so late. Especially now that their only job was to keep her out of the way until they could figure out what to do about Klea. But there was nothing to do but take David’s arm and try to appear calm as he escorted her to the front door.

Tamani brushed past Laurel, closing the distance between himself and the gym doors in a few loping strides. Yuki was there, waiting, in a silvery formal that must have been custom made. The dress folded around her, resembling a traditional kimono, complete with a V-neck that Laurel found shockingly low-cut. But instead of heavy brocade, Yuki’s dress was a light satin with a chiffon overlay that blew around her ankles in the light evening breeze. Its top sat almost off her shoulders, with little cap sleeves that were lined with something sparkly, and a lace-covered obi wrapped around her waist and tied in an intricate knot that covered most of her back and came just high enough that her black hair, hanging in soft ringlets, brushed against it. Dramatic black lined her shining green eyes and her lips were painted a luscious red. She looked exquisite.