"And your winners are...Tommy Ross and Carrie White!" When she heard her name announced, she felt her heart stop beating. Time itself seemed to freeze. She couldn't believe it. Just when she thought this night couldn't get any better, Carrie White, the outcast, the "bible retard" who no one seemed to notice unless it was to bully her, the shy, timid girl who was always on the outside looking in, had been voted Queen of the senior prom.
She looked at Tommy, who only smiled boldly at her and offered his arm. "C'mon." He led her towards the stage, past the crowds of students, all clapping and cheering for them. The jumbo screen showed them ascending the steps to accept their title. Carrie looked out at the faces in the crowd. They were smiling. Smiling for her.
When she heard the teacher announce Carrie's name, Sue stopped smiling and started getting suspicious. Carrie was a sweet girl, but this didn't make sense. She had been the butt of everybody's jokes for the past seven years. Then, one hour of popularity, and she was the Prom Queen? It just didn't seem possible. Her suspicions growing, Sue snuck through the crowd, trying to stay under the radar of Miss Desjardin. Finally, Sue got close enough to the stage.
That's when she saw it. Chris Hargensen, her former BFF, hiding in the rafters above the stage with her no-good criminal of a boyfriend, Billy Nolan. They were crouched in the darkness, and Chris was holding a rope that connected to a bucket perched just above where the Prom Queen was supposed to be standing. It hit Sue. Chris wanted revenge. She blamed Carrie for getting kicked out of the prom, even though it was Chris's own fault. Now she wanted to get back at Carrie by ruining her night.
Carrie stepped onto the stage next to Tommy, listening to the applaud of their peers. She felt her eyes get watery as one of the female teachers handed her a bouquet of white lilies. "Ewen High, I give you your newly-crowned King and Queen of the prom!" Carrie couldn't stop smiling. She wanted to cry for joy. For the first time in seven years, she was accepted. Loved. Adored.
This is the happiest day of my— Her train of happy thought was cut off by a scream. "Carrie, look out!" Everyone gasped to see Sue Snell running up the steps towards her boyfriend and his prom date. She dove in, pushing Carrie off her feet and onto the ground two feet away. At first, Carrie was hurt and confused. Why was Sue doing this? Why was she trying to ruin the one moment of happiness she'd ever had?
Carrie sat upright just in time to see a waterfall of red liquid fall onto Sue's head. It made loud splashing sounds as it ran through her hair and stained her clothes. Some of it skidded off her and splattered onto Carrie's handmade dress and Tommy's white tuxedo. As the last of it fell from above, the entire auditorium fell dead silent.
Carrie looked at the blood stains on her pale pink dress before slowly turning her head up to look at Sue with wide, startled, somewhat frightened eyes. Sue's hair was flat and wetted, with only a few cracks showing her true bleach blonde color against the red. Blood dripped down her face, leaving tracks on her skin. Her clothes were completely soaked through with the blood that Carrie now realized had been meant for her.
She looked around. Miss Desjardin, who had been climbing the steps to reprimand Sue, had frozen mid-step. She had her fingers pressed over her mouth, trying to hide her shock. Everyone else was just staring at Sue with blank expressions, as if they didn't know what to make of what just happened. An eery silence filled the room. The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.
Tommy was the first to break the silence. "What the HELL?!" He scanned the crowd, giving them dirty looks. He was disgusted at his classmates for trying to pull such a cruel prank on a lonely, hapless girl like Carrie. Carrie got on her feet and walked up to look Sue straight in the eye. "You saved me." Sue gave her a weak smile, past the blood trickling onto her lips.
