by Sherri Renee
“Spill,” she said. “I want to hear every single delicious detail. Oh, man, that guy is hot.” She fanned her face, and I rolled my eyes at the drama, but I wore a happy grin.
I sat crosslegged facing her and debated what to tell her. I grabbed the comforter with both fists to steady myself as she bounced up and down across from me.
“I can’t believe you bailed on me today,” she said before I could say anything. “I’ve been trying to call you. I imagine George has been too.” She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. “You can’t imagine how many times he asked if I knew where you were.”
She rushed on. “So, what was Mr. Sexy McHotPants doing over here and why can’t you stop grinning?”
I needed to tell her what was going on. I would burst if I tried to keep everything I was feeling inside. I knew she wouldn’t give away my secrets. I trusted her with my life. It felt like a dam burst when I started talking. Everything rushed out in a torrent.
I started with how George had been acting and what he said when I tried to break up with him and ended by telling her Matt and I might be secretly dating. I wasn’t sure what our relationship could be classified as at this point, other than weird and messed up, but it sure did make me happy just to think about him.
“No way!” Michelle yelled, grabbing my hands. “That is so awesome. Well, the George part is creepy, but you and Matt.” She bobbed her head, and the whole bed bounced again. “Oh, yeah. You two really work.”
I squeezed her hands. “I think so too. There’s a whole other side to him than the cool arrogant act he uses at school. I mean, he’s that too, but he’s also a really nice guy.” I thought about how he’d carried the groceries for Mom and opened the door for me.
I dropped Michelle’s hands and scooted up to the headboard so I could lean back. “I just don’t know what we’re going to do. You saw George today. He was ready to kill that kid just because he bumped into me. What do you think he’d do if I told him I was dating someone else?”
Michelle sat beside me and bunched her lips to the side. “That wouldn’t go over well.”
I nodded in agreement. “I think he’s using steroids,” I said without looking at her. I was embarrassed on so many levels to say the word out loud. It also felt like I was betraying George to talk about something like that no matter how he’d been acting.
“I can see it,” Michelle said carefully. “I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the other guys are juicing too.”
“Juicing?” I gave her a confused look.
“You know, juicing,” she drawled the word and rolled her eyes when I gave her a blank stare. “Steroids,” she said. “Those guys are determined to win the state championship this year. Danny said the coach is putting crazy pressure on them to claim the title.”
“Danny? Danny Armstrong? Since when do you talk to him?” I pictured the tall guy who’d supposedly transferred to our school just to join the football team. There were rumors the new car he drove was a “gift” from the athletic department, but of course, nothing had been proven.
Michelle tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Oh, you know, I see him in the gym sometimes. We might have gone out the other night.”
“What! You’re dating the new guy, and you didn’t even think to mention it to me, your best friend in the whole wide world?” I pressed my hands to my chest and gave her my most crushed look.
She shoved my shoulder playfully. “Shut up. Everything happened so fast. I mean, I thought he was cute from day one.” I nodded. “He was just so quiet, though. I’d tell him ‘hi’ when I saw him, and he’d all but run the opposite direction. He seemed terrified of me.”
She laughed, and I joined her. I could picture the poor guy being nervous to talk to a girl as beautiful as Michelle.
“So how’d you get him to stop running?”
“I became a damsel in distress.” Her eyes flashed and she smiled mischievously.
I tilted my head and raised a brow, but couldn’t hide my smile. “How exactly did you do that?”
“I was lifting weights after school. Everyone else had cleared out except me and Danny.” She gave me an innocent wide-eyed look. “Those weights can get pretty heavy you know. I just didn’t have the strength to lift the bar back to the rack. If Danny hadn’t been there to save me I don’t know what would have happened.” She fluttered her eyelashes, and I burst out laughing.
“You did not! You tricked him into talking to you?”
She shrugged. “I had to do something. Prom’s less than a month away. He certainly wasn’t going to make the first move.”
“Did he ask you? Are you going to prom with him?”
She looked at me solemnly before breaking into a huge grin. “Yes!” she shrieked. I yelled with her and wrapped her in a quick hug. I knew she hadn’t been looking forward to going to prom solo but wasn’t interested in any of the guys we knew.
“Everything okay up there, girls?”
“Yes, Mom,” I yelled down to her.
“That’s so awesome,” I said. “When do I get to meet him?”
“I would have introduced you at lunch today if you hadn’t skipped out. He sat at our table.” Her eyes sparkled with happiness, and I hugged her again. It had been a long time since she’d seriously liked anyone.
“I’m really happy for you.” I put on a pout. “Sad for me because I’ll be stuck at prom with George the juicer, but happy for you.”
She giggled at my nickname for George, but her smile quickly faded into a look of sympathy. “There’s got to be a way for you to dump him without him taking it out on anyone.”
I shook my head, but said, “If you have any ideas I’m open. I can’t think of anything that won’t get either Adam or Matt or both of them hurt if I try to break up with George.”
Chapter 13
“What if you find him a new girlfriend? Someone much better than you.”
“Hey!” I slapped at Michelle’s leg.
“You know what I mean. Someone George thinks is better than you. Maybe someone who has a better chance of snagging the crown at prom.”
“That would be you,” I said with a sigh. “You want him?”
“Heaven’s no!” She looked horrified at the thought.
After shooting Michelle a wry look, I went back to the bookshelf and sorted a few more books.
“Maybe I can have Danny talk to him. As a teammate, he might be able to get through.”
“Unless you want Danny on George’s bad side that sounds like a terrible idea. Most of the team looks up to George. If George says the word they could all turn on Danny.” I shook my head and placed a book of poems that I didn’t even remember buying between the mysteries and romances.
“Why don’t we go hang out at my house for a while?” Michelle asked. I looked back at her in question. “My room could use some organizing.”
“Haha. Very funny. You know I clean when I’m upset.”
“Exactly! Let’s go before you calm down!”
I shook my head and laughed. “Why don’t you focus on saving me from my misfortunate choice in boyfriends.”
Michelle pursed her lips and tapped her shiny pink nails on the comforter. “I got nothing.”
I plopped down on the chair where Matt had been sitting. It was funny, but I missed him. Michelle seemed to pick up my thoughts because she flipped over on her stomach, rested her chin on her palms and started interrogating me about Matt.
I frowned at her barrage of questions but deep down I was thrilled to talk about him.
“He sounds great,” Michelle said after she ran out of things to ask. “Maybe after you work things out with George you and Matt can go on a double date with Danny and me.”
I liked the sound of a double date. It was the working things out with George that I wasn’t so sure about.
The next day at school things almost seemed back to normal. George met me at my locker before first period and acted like nothing strange had happened the day before. All he
talked about was the game on Friday and what their chances of winning were.
I watched him from the corner of my eye as we walked towards class. He was in a great mood since he said their chance of winning was high. I, on the other hand, was a bundle of nerves. I kept waiting for him to flip the Jekyll and Hyde switch and go crazy on me, but he didn’t.
At lunch, I met Danny, and Michelle was right, he was really nice. A little quiet and reserved, but he had a quick wit and threw in some random and funny comments during the conversation that had everyone at the table laughing. Along with his great looks and nice physique I could easily see why Michelle liked him so much.
I tried not to think about Matt, but my mind kept straying to him. I found myself looking around the cafeteria for him every few minutes. George finally noticed my distraction. “What’s up with you today?” He growled towards my ear while keeping a smile plastered on his face. “You’re ignoring everyone. You won’t get their votes if they think you don’t listen to them.”
I wanted to roll my eyes and tell him to earn his own votes, but just then I saw Adam walking across the cafeteria carrying his tray. Our eyes met, and I started to smile, but he looked at George sitting beside me and almost dropped his tray. I could see fear written across his face. He spun around and headed away from our table as fast as he could without running.
Poor kid. It had to be hard enough for him being so much younger than everyone in his class. Having an over-grown bully like George target him had to be terrifying.
Seeing him was the reminder of why I needed to placate George. For now at least. I hid a sigh. “Sorry,” I whispered and did my best to jump into the conversation. I complemented Eva’s new shirt, which was really cute and asked Bobby who he was taking to prom.
It wasn’t hard to talk to my friends. I liked them all. I just suddenly hated the fact that complimenting someone or asking them about their day was no longer friendly conversation. It was all calculated to make them like me and remember to vote for me and my running mate when the time came. I hadn’t noticed before, but I was starting to realize I didn’t like the person I’d become. I blamed George for that too.
I didn’t see Matt at lunch and couldn’t remember if he usually ate in the cafeteria or not. I’d never looked for him before. As a senior, he could leave campus during lunch, and I wondered if he did. Then I wondered who he went with if he did. What if he took some other girl to lunch since things were so messed up with me?
I chewed off my thumbnail before Michelle hit my leg. “Knock it off,’ she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
“What?” I asked even as my eyes darted over every table for the fifth time in search of the face I wanted to see.
“Stop looking for him. You’re being really obvious.”
My eyes shot to her face, and her worried look got through to me. “Thanks.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what got into me.”
Michelle cast a quick look at George to make sure he was still talking to Bobby about football. She leaned close. “He’s in study hall helping Rick Price with pre-cal. I overheard them making plans to meet during lunch.” She pursed her lips. “Girl, you got it bad.”
I let out a small snort. She didn’t know the half of it. I’d dreamt about Matt last night and ran to my window this morning to watch him drive off when I heard his car start. I did have it bad, and I wished I was in a position to do something about it. But I wasn’t.
I was no closer to coming up with a way to get George to move on than I had been two days ago. Thankfully he was at least acting human today.
George and Bobby left the cafeteria a little early to watch a video of the team they were playing tomorrow. George gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me he’d see me after school. I felt an oppressive cloud lift off my shoulders as soon as he walked out the door. I didn’t even realize how stressed I was when he was around.
I headed to my locker early too so Michelle could have some time alone with Danny. They made a really cute couple, and I liked the way Danny treated Michelle. He was attentive, and he took care of her without going overboard.
Like when Eva spilled her drink and Danny mopped it up with a wad of napkins before it reached Michelle’s tray. Or when her purse got stuck between the chair legs and he helped her work it loose. Little things, sure, but it was sweet to see them together.
I just happened to take the long way to my locker. The way that just happened to go past the library which was on the other side of the building. At the library, I stopped and casually read the poster taped to the window with red and pink hearts all over it advertising a fundraiser.
I tucked my hands in my pockets and rocked back on my heels trying to look cool as I glanced up and down the hall to make sure no one was watching me. The coast was clear so I ducked down and peered under the poster, searching the scattered tables inside for the face I wanted to see.
There he was. Matt and another guy had their heads bent in conversation, walking towards the door.
I drank in the sight of him before panic struck. I couldn’t let him find me standing here watching him like some kind of stalker. I quickly started walking away from the library before jerking to a stop. My locker was the opposite direction. Dang it.
I spun around and tried to hurry past the door before they came out, but I was too slow. I ended up running smack dab into Matt.
“Umph!” I grunted from the impact as I collided with his shoulder. He reached out and grabbed my arms to steady me. His eyes lit with surprise when he realized it was me who’d just tried to plow him down, and he started to smile.
Oh, he was so cute. All I wanted to do was wrap him in a giant hug. His friend was watching our exchange closely, though, so instead of hugging him I frowned and pushed him away. “Watch where you’re going.”
His eyes widened, and I shot a look towards the guy he was with, hoping he’d understand. He got a shuttered look, mumbled an apology, and fell into step with his friend as they headed towards the lockers.
I watched Matt’s back and felt like crying which made no sense. He’d acted as if he barely knew me, but that was what he was supposed to do, right? That’s what I’d just done. Nerves tightened my stomach, and I pressed both hands against it. Surely Matt understood I was acting the way I was so no rumors would get back to George about us.
Just before Matt turned down the side hall, he looked back. I held my breath as time froze for a split second. The air between us felt alive with tension, and I tried to send a message to him with just a look. I wanted him to know I’d stopped by the library to see him. I wanted him to know I missed him even though I barely knew him.
I debated running down the hall after him to apologize for being rude, no matter how foolish that would make me look when the corner of his mouth kicked up in a crooked smile before he winked at me. The nerves in my stomach unwound, and I let out my breath.
He disappeared around the corner before I could respond. A huge grin slowly grew across my face, and I hugged myself tight. Everything was okay with us. Strange and possibly dangerous, but okay.
I tamped down what felt like a hundred watt smile and looked around to make sure no one had seen us. I found myself smiling throughout the rest of the day every time I thought about the wink he’d given me. I couldn’t wait until school was over. We hadn’t made plans, but I hoped he’d come over to my house again.
Chapter 14
I didn’t see Michelle again until we had cheer together last period. Even dressed in green shorts and a white t-shirt like the rest of us she managed to look gorgeous. She was in a bubbly mood that seemed to be contagious. Our entire squad spent the period laughing and joking in between cheers which was great considering anytime you got twelve sometimes-hormonally-imbalanced girls together there was always a chance of pettiness and bickering.
We’d just finished running through the dance we were performing at the pep rally tomorrow, and I jogged over and turned off the music. “Great job.” I clapped my hands.
“Let’s take a break.” Everyone dropped to the floor where they were, and I went back over and joined them.
Kara Jensen laid back and put her arm over her eyes. “I’m beat,” she said and got a few groans of agreement. It was a challenging routine, but it was a good one.
“It will be worth it tomorrow when Bobby’s watching.” I smiled at her prone form waiting for a reaction. She kept her eyes covered, but I saw the beginning of a smile on her lips. “I just happened to hear he may or may not have asked you to prom?” I ended the sentence in a question.
She sat up with a full grin and looked around, the center of attention. “He did!”
Everyone went a little crazy since we’d been hearing about her crush on the oblivious Bobby for the past couple of months.
“That’s great!”
“Congratulations!”
“How’d he ask you?”
She twisted her bracelet and her cheeks competed with her red hair for attention. “Tuesday night the doorbell rang. When I answered it no one was there except for a giant teddy bear sitting on the porch with a note pinned to it that said ‘Prom?’.”
“Aww. That’s so sweet,” Michelle said.
Kara nodded. “Then Bobby came out from around the corner with a dozen red roses and asked if I’d go to prom with him.” She hugged her knees to her chest. “It was one of the best moments of my life.”
She met my eyes. “I know you and George are going together, but did he ask you or was it just kind of understood?”
Everyone focused their full attention on me waiting for what should have been a romantic story. I thought about how George had “informed” me we were going together and clenched my teeth.
These girls were my friends, and I wished I could tell them all about how George had asked me to the prom, but that wasn’t an option at the moment. I pasted on a smile. “It was just understood. We’ve been talking about it for a while now.”