“I'm sure there are,” Aree responded with a smile, well aware that if she wanted to find someone else, she could do so fairly easily. There were some Meadowview boys who viewed bagging a Crystal girl as some sort of personal accomplishment, but Aree Cadence simply wasn't the type to settle for anything other than what she wanted.

And what she wanted at the moment was to go to prom with Jude Lawson.

“I suppose having you next to me will just make me look better then, hm?” She glanced over at him, stopping as they came upon the branched sidewalk that would take her up to Hillworth's locked – and easily broken into – doors. “You can pick me up at eight. My dress is purple, so the corsage should match. Goodnight, Jude.”

With that, she would leave him there on the sidewalk without so much as a momentary glance back.