I was about to follow her when Mason suddenly appeared right beside me.

For one brief second, I thought he had come to apologize for breaking her heart.

Instead, he leaned close and whispered, “I did my part. Now it’s your turn.”

I stared at him in complete disbelief. “What deal?”

His jaw tightened. He glanced toward Elsie, then toward the dim hallway near the stage.

“Don’t make a scene here. Come with me,” he commanded.

I should have called the principal right then, but instead, I followed him.

Mason led me down the hallway past the trophy case and stopped at a small supply closet behind the stage.

He opened the door. Inside, under a flickering light, a man sat hunched on an overturned bucket.

At first, I only saw gray hair and tired shoulders. Then he lifted his head.

“YOU?” I shouted. “You did this? How could you?”

Darren stood up so quickly he nearly hit the shelf behind him.

“Rachel, I can explain—”

“No. You left me and Elsie the night you walked out of my prom. And now you used a teenage boy to manipulate your own daughter?”

Darren frowned. “I didn’t hire him. Not exactly. We made an arrangement. I did this because I needed one chance to talk to her.”

“And now you choose her prom? Through him?” I pointed at Mason, who looked like he wanted to vanish.

Darren’s face twisted with guilt, but in that moment, I saw the truth. He was still the same selfish boy.

Then a brilliant idea suddenly clicked into place in my mind.

I stared at him for a long moment, then let my shoulders fall, pretending to give up.

“Maybe you’re right,” I said softly. “If Elsie learns you planned all this before she hears you out, she’ll run. So let me talk to her first.”

He stepped closer, full of hope. “You’ll help me?”

“I’ll bring her,” I said, lowering my eyes. It was the first lie I had told all night.

However, as I turned around to walk back into the crowded gymnasium, I noticed that Mason’s phone was sitting open on the hallway ledge. The last text message sent from an unknown number revealed a dark stipulation to the deal that Darren hadn’t mentioned — and it involved a hidden camera already rolling inside the gym…