"What about it?"
"You should go with your dad. As your date." Lucy said it like it was obvious, like she'd already worked the whole thing out in her head before she'd even sat down.
"Everyone loves Mr. Julian. You show up on his arm looking incredible, and I promise you, by Monday nobody in that corridor even remembers what they said to you today. You'd be the coolest girl in school again in about four seconds."
Justina turned to stare at her. "Are you insane, Lucy? Nobody wants to go to a school dance with their dad."
"I would," Lucy said, and something in her voice went a little flatter, a little more matter-of-fact than usual.
"My dad's in jail. I've got two mums. So no, I'm not going with either of my parents but if I had a dad like yours, trust me, I'd use him."
She shrugged it off before Justina could say anything about it, moving straight past the moment the way Lucy always did when she mentioned her dad, quick and light so nobody had time to feel sorry for her.
