The table was littered with bottles and tubes, the accoutrements of paint and polish to make a girl glamorous strewn before her as she settled into the seat. She glanced at the planner open on the side of the vanity table, its pages flipped to the date she’d circled months ago, filled in with a heart outlined in red around four simple words. Tree Hill Prom Night.

She looked up, assessing the girl in the mirror. Her hair was lighter now than it had been when she’d made that note, her face a little thinner, but her eyes were still the same.

The big high school milestones of homecomings, football games and pep rallies were things she’d barely noticed. But the prom? The prom was different.

She’d grown up watching her three older sisters getting ready, transforming themselves for the night into magical princesses in beautiful gowns, a fairy tale come to life complete with Prince Charming at the front door. And she’d always been a sucker for a happy ending.

Proms were bigger than the other high school rituals somehow. The perfect dress, the perfect date, the perfect dance – it was a night for magic.

She reached for her brush and started to pull it through her hair, as she turned her head from side, taking in her reflection. Up or down for tonight? Curly or straight?

Vivian had worn her hair curly. That was the first prom she remembered – Vivian’s senior prom. She’d been eight at the time. That year has been big dresses, enormous skirts over crinoline, acres of fabric that swished and swayed.

Vivian had worn midnight blue, and Haley thought she’d never seen anything more beautiful. She’d tried on the long white gloves that swallowed up her hands and pretended to walk in the high-heeled shoes as she watched her sister curl her hair, piling it atop her head. Vivian had panicked when the door bell rang and she wasn’t quite ready, but by the time she descended the steps, she was completely calm, her face lit up at the sight of her date in his black tie and tails.

But the next morning was what she remembered most about Vivian’s prom. She’d woken up early, slipping into her older sister’s room, eager to hear all about the night only to find the bed still empty. As the sun started to rise, she’d watched out the bedroom window as a car rolled to a stop and Vivian exited, sneaking quietly across the lawn in the early morning light. The pretty high heels had dangled from her hand as she kissed her date one last time, watching as he drove away. Haley had listened as she quietly climbed the stairs and watched as she flopped back on her bed, surrounded by the enormous skirt, and gave Haley a completely sappy grin. Vivian, always sensible Vivvy, had been on cloud nine for a week after that.

Haley smiled involuntarily as she reached for the curlers and began winding her own hair around them. Curly and up then, like Viv.

Quinn had been next, and she’d had her own magical prom night. She’d started dating Jeremy, the literal boy next door, when they were still freshman in high school, and they were practically like an old married couple by the time they went to their senior prom together.

Quinn had worn red, her dress straight and strapless, with delicate embroidery that created a trail of flowers across the bodice. She’d looked beautiful, her lips deep red and her eyes sparkling as Jeremy waited at the door with a corsage of roses that matched the dress to perfection. She’d been eleven that year, awkward in her body and ugly with her braces and too big ears, sure that no guy would ever look at her like Jeremy looked at Quinn, as if she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Haley let her eyes stray to the top of the mirror for a minute, to the picture stuck there, only a quick snapshot of them standing on a beach with their hands clasped together, but it had caught his expression perfectly. Her breath caught in her throat for a minute at the love so clear in his face, even in a still frame.

She tore her eyes away and picked up a tube of crimson lipstick. She needed to focus or she’d never be ready in time.

She picked up a compact of eye shadow and eyed the silky fabric hanging in the corner before selecting a shade and starting to work. What had Taylor always advocated for looking sexy and mysterious? Oh right – can’t go wrong with a smoky eye, Haley-bub. She smiled to herself as she carefully unscrewed her mascara and set to work lengthening her lashes. Taylor, now there was someone who’d embraced the prom experience.

Taylor had managed to wrangle her first invitation when she was a freshman and had racked up a total of six proms before she’d graduated. But her magical night had been her junior year. She’d been in eighth grade that year, watching as Taylor shimmied into her skin tight metallic gold dress. It was about two inches shorter than their Dad would have liked, and ought to have been tacky – but somehow Tay pulled it off.

She remembered asking Taylor if she was in love with Steven, her date for the night, as she’d sat on the bed, watching the transformation. Taylor had shrugged, and insisted with a wink as she slid her big hoop earring on that you never knew – magic happened on prom night. And somehow it had. Taylor had come home happier than Haley had ever seen her sister, and had stayed with Steven the rest of the school year and summer until he left for college, a record for Taylor.

Haley picked up her own large hoops and slid them in place. Of course, Taylor had moved on and was back to her usual wild and crazy ways by the time her senior year started, but for a little while, even she had seemed to find a storybook romance on prom night.

Haley reached up and gently unfurled her hair from the curlers before carefully piling it atop her hear. She gave herself a final look, side to side. Not bad. More dramatic than usual, a little mysterious. Perfect.

She slid open the buttons on her shirt, carefully removing her outfit from its hanger and settling it into place, fumbling the zipper for just a moment before getting it to slide smoothly up. She bent, carefully balancing as she slipped on the high heels and fastened the strap around her ankles.

A knock sounded on the door. “Hurry up, Haley.”

She walked back over to the mirror for one last look. Her hair was lighter, her face was thinner, her clothes and makeup more dramatic. But her eyes were still the same they’d been since the day she left Tree Hill.

Lonely.

She closed the date book. It was prom night in Tree Hill and she was a thousand miles away from her own fairy tale evening.

She opened her case to pull out her guitar in preparation for the night’s act. There was a picture of Nathan in the bottom, a little creased and worn, and she found herself pausing, stopping to touch the image briefly. Had he gone to the prom tonight? Was he already moving on?

She pulled out the ring she’d taken off weeks ago, before his visit, before his accident, before that awful visit from his father with those annulment papers that had made her heart break, before Luke had shown up and she’d sent them back to him, her mind made up. She rolled the circle between her fingers, warming the cold metal, and then impulsively slid it back on her finger, the feeling of the simple band both familiar and strange at the same time as she walked out the door.

“”Bout time, James,” Chris drawled as he fell in step beside her.

“Don’t call me James,” she snipped back. “My last name is Scott.”

He ignored her as usual. “They’re going to love Chris Keller tonight. I’ve got a new song worked out.”

“Uh-huh,” she replied, only half-listening as she peered out at the packed club. “I’m sure they will.”

She shifted impatiently beneath one of the new tour posters she now adorned, waiting for them to be called to do their duet so she could kick this unsettled feeling that had been rolling through her stomach all night. Too many trips down memory lane.

She just needed to find herself again in the music, get lost in the notes and harmonies and remind herself why she was here. She’d made up her mind during Luke’s visit that it was time to let Nathan go if that was what he wanted. She’d done enough growing up this year to know that there really were no such things as fairy tales with happy endings.

She waved at the crowd as she and Chris were announced, throwing herself into the duet and the next few songs they’d worked out, before taking her bow and ceding the mic to Chris for his solos. The cheers washed over her, a sound that normally made her heart race and brought a smile to her face, but she knew that tonight it just wasn’t enough. It wasn’t these people or the place or the music. It was just – this wasn’t where the magic was tonight, not for her, not in this tiny club.

Chris strummed his guitar and the opening notes of the song floated out over the hushed crowd as he began to sing, “Every time I think of you, I always catch my breath. I'm still standing here, and you’re miles away.”

The words hit home as he continued to sing, and the crowd joined in, the lights slowly coming up until she could see each person, each face. And none of them were the one she was looking for. The magic she’d expected this night to bring when she’d noted the date in her planner so many months ago was a thousand miles away in a tiny town, in a tiny gym decorated with balloons and badly painted sets. It was with the one man she’d promised to stay with forever. She missed him. And in her heart, she knew she wasn’t ready to let him go.

Her throat was dry and she knew she couldn’t sing another note as she stumbled off the stage, suddenly sure of what she needed to do and where she needed to be. It was time for Haley James Scott to go home. She might have missed her fairy tale night with the perfect dress, the perfect date, the perfect dance. But she’d already found her Prince Charming, and she was going to find a way to make her own happy ending.