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Carrie was trying to have a good night. But she couldn’t shake the feeling she was out of place. That she didn’t belong. And she had the worst feeling that if she stayed much longer, things would get bad. She had never felt so nervous or sick to her stomach in her life, not even when the other girls terrorized her after gym just three weeks ago.
“Say, Carrie, how about we take a look at the ballot for Prom King and Queen?”
”Do we have to?” She replied.
“Carrie, are you doing okay?”
Carrie looked down and shook her head. “Tommy, I’m not feeling well. I want to go home.”
She already felt bad about making Tommy leave before midnight so she could get home to Momma on time. Now she felt worse about making him leave even earlier.
But to her surprise, he nodded and said, “That’s all right. If you don’t feel great, you should leave. Everyone has the right to that.”
So they left.
“Before I drop you off, I still owe you a hamburger.” Tommy said.
So they stopped by the Kelley Fruit and bought burgers. They cheered to each other and the end of senior year and a bright future. Then, by midnight, Carrie was home.
Momma had already went to bed. She gave up on waiting for Carrie.
Carrie found a knife on the kitchen counter, clearly unused. She put it away.
In just four days, she’d be graduating. Then she could leave Chamberlain and finally live a happy life. Maybe she’d finally found people who would like her.
Carrie did wonder why she felt uneasy about the prom. She also wondered what could have happened if she stayed.