by Dell, T. J.
Both boys and Pete dropped their jaws. “You know about the Green Lanterns?” One of the boys stammered out.
“Is there more than one?” Beth pulled up a chair to join the conversation. “I really wanted to see that movie. Ryan Reynolds is one of my favorite actors.”
“Sure—the movie sucked though.” Alyssa replied
“I know!” Both boys exclaimed at once. After a discreet nod from Brent one of the boys launched into an explanation of the Green Lantern Corp and the Guardians of the Universe. Beth listened carefully and Pete was left, forgotten, standing next to them. He wandered off eventually, scowling as he went.
Alyssa dredged her memories to impress the boys with her comic book trivia. Beth joined in, sighting some of the cartoons she remembered. Beth thought that maybe Batman could beat Superman because didn’t he have Robin and Batgirl to back him up? Alyssa sided with the boys out of sheer good-natured contrariness. Finally Beth and Alyssa stood up to leave. There was still work to do after all.
“Is she like your girlfriend? The cat?” Alyssa heard one of the boys ask and she slowed her steps to hear the rest.
“It’s kind of complicated.” Brent offered quietly.
“She’s awesome—and so hot.”
“Dude!” His friend slugged him in the shoulder and they both blushed.
“It’s cool. She is.” Brent sounded like he might be smiling.
That was all Alyssa could hear before someone handed her a box of decorations to carry out to her car. She couldn’t help wondering which statement Brent had been agreeing with.
The next day was Friday—the day of the homecoming game. There would also be a parade featuring floats from all the school’s clubs. Alyssa was dressed in her full cheerleading regalia for school. Her only concession to the weather was the leggings she wore beneath her short skirt.
“You gonna wear that all day? Like to classes?” Brent was carrying two plates from the stove to her kitchen table when she came downstairs. They looked like omelets. Her mouth watered.
“It’s a tradition on game day.” Alyssa replied. “What are you doing here?”
“Making breakfast. We need to talk.”
“Oh.” Alyssa had purposely slipped away from the hospital the night before, without talking privately with him. She’d decided not to ruin their perfect afternoon.
“I mailed your application.”
That was so not what she was expecting him to say. “What?! How?”
“Your mom let me in yesterday afternoon, and I found it still in the envelope in your desk upstairs. So I mailed it on my way to the hospital.” Brent shrugged and then shoveled several bites into his mouth.
Alyssa was speechless, so she ate too.
“I thought I’d drive you to school today. We can talk in the car.” Brent finally spoke again after they’d rinsed their, now empty, plates. Taking her backpack from her, he headed out the door not waiting for an answer.
“When you get your acceptance letter—you can always turn it down if you decide you don’t want to go.” Brent started when they were on the road. “This way you have options.”
“If I get in.” She corrected him.
“Okay, if you get in.” Brent chuckled at her. “If you decide to stay here—I’ll still be you friend Lyssa. I feel ridiculous even saying that since it is a given, but… Well the other night you seemed like you needed to hear it.” He waited for a response. Nothing came. “Things don’t have to get weird—just so you know.” This time Alyssa at least smiled. “What time is the parade thing?”
“5:15. I wasn’t sure you were still planning on coming.”
Brent rolled his eyes at her. “I said I would. Prince Charming will report for duty at 5:15 on the dot—as promised.”
“Thanks.” Alyssa moved to step out of the car.
Brent stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Have a good day, Chere.” He grinned at her when she laughed out loud before heading towards the school doors.
Every year a lot of people turned out for the parade. It was a small town, and even the high school’s homecoming game counted as big time entertainment. All the school organizations and clubs built floats. The cheerleaders had a very simple flat bed float decorated in blue and gold. Alyssa would be leading cheers from the center of the float. She didn’t have time to find, or even look for, Brent before they lined up. The parade route circled two blocks, and ended up back in front of the school. It wasn’t until after the parade floats were parked and the crowd was headed toward the football stadium that she found him. Actually he found her.
Alyssa and Beth were chatting with a couple of little girls dressed like cheerleaders. They were so adorable Alyssa and Beth couldn’t resist lending them their blue and gold pompoms and teaching them a few simple cheers.
“You’ll be cheering in a parade like this in no time at all.” Alyssa was saying as she pulled out a little tube of glitter make up to make stars on each of their faces. Behind her she heard the familiar snapping of a camera shutter. Brent. “Enjoy the game guys!” Alyssa waved as the little girls danced off behind their parents
Brent walked over to them quickly. “Hey, great job ladies!” He said as he swung an arm around Alyssa and the three of them headed over to the stadium together.
Most of the evening was a blur. Brent didn’t take a stance at the railing behind the cheerleaders as he had the week before, but she saw him waving and clapping when they performed at half time. The squad got a break during the third quarter of the game. Brent was waiting for her with a cup of hot chocolate when she came off the field.
“Bring one for me?” Jennifer squeezed past Alyssa when she saw him.
“Sorry Jenny—I’m a one-hot-cocoa-man.” Brent’s long arm had no trouble reaching around her to pull Alyssa out of the crowd. “Your parents are here. They brought your Pop too.” Brent leaned over to whisper in her ear.
“They never come to this stuff!” Alyssa panicked. Things would get real weird real quick if her mom and dad saw Brent’s boyfriend routine.
“I know. I think Pop called them—he wanted to come.”
“What are we going to do? Maybe we could hide? We only have to avoid them for fifteen minutes.” She looked over at Brent when he didn’t answer. He was staring straight ahead and mumbling something so low she could only see his lips moving. “What are you saying?”
“I was counting to ten.” Brent sighed his now familiar sigh. “You really want to avoid Pop? For fifteen football minutes?”
“I don’t want to, but do you want to explain all the handholding?” She held up their intertwined fingers for emphasis.
“Let’s get some food. We can’t hold hands while we eat.” Brent still wasn’t looking at her, but at least he’d stopped sighing. And the food thing was brilliant. For a guy who wasn’t overly fond of subterfuge he sure thought fast on his feet.
Carrying a tray laden with nachos and popcorn, they joined her family in the bleachers. “Good game tonight.” Pop said after he’d hugged her hello. “That Edser kid’s pretty good.” Brent choked on a popcorn kernel. A few minutes fluttered by. They talked about the game, and Alyssa’s mom complimented the squad’s half time show.
“Got room for one more?” Beth asked from the aisle, and Alyssa made her family scoot down along the bench seat. “Nice to meet you.” Beth said after introductions had been made. They all sat together snacking and enjoying the game until it was time for Beth and Alyssa to rejoin the squad. As far as Alyssa could tell no one suspected anything. Her parents and Pop were still in the dark about her fake relationship, and Beth didn’t seem to think anything was off either. By the end of the night Alyssa was exhausted.
“You look amazing.” Beth was fastening Alyssa’s necklace for her. It was the finishing touch. Beth had been at Alyssa’s house since the early afternoon. Now, they were almost ready for the limo and the boys to pick them up. Looking in her full length mirror Alyssa silently agreed with her friend. The warm coffee color of her dress
made her skin look creamier, and her hair look glossier. Her favorite part was the beaded bodice that brought subtle attention to her push-up-bra-enhanced cleavage. Beth looked good too. She’d opted for a high collared, but backless gown in sapphire blue. Her own blue eyes popped more than usual because of the color. And her hair was swept back off her face in a neat French knot, leaving her neck seductively bare.
“You look pretty amazing yourself. Tommy’s going to swallow his tongue.” The girls shared a giggle.
“That’s kind of the idea. He’s so amazing. Sometimes when I see him walking down the hall at school I can actually feel the butterflies in my stomach! I’ve never felt like this about anyone. And he’s so sweet too—not at all pushy you know?”
“Actually most of the guys I’ve dated have been the pushy type.”
Beth’s face filled with concern. “Really? Brent seems so laid back, but I can see that about Pete.”
Oops. She was supposed to be dating Brent, right. “Oh, not Brent. He would never push.” She hurried to correct herself and clear her friend’s name.
“Well I’m glad. But you’ve known each other for ages, right? So I bet it was pretty natural…” Beth seemed to read the discomfort in Alyssa’s face because she let the subject drop.
“Alyssa! The boys are here!” Her dad was yelling up the stairs to them. Alyssa was never happier to end a conversation in her life.
At the bottom of the stairs Alyssa was surprised to find Brent waiting with Tommy. She was sure she’d told him to go right to the limo.
“That’s a beautiful dress, Lyssa.” He murmured as he held out a corsage box. He did look incredible. As much as Alyssa loathed agreeing with Jennifer—he did look yummy in a suit.
“Thanks. You clean up pretty good yourself Carter.” Alyssa joked to cover up the butterfly feeling in her stomach. Damn Beth for planting these ridiculous thoughts in her head. Brent did not give her butterflies. He didn’t!
“This is so nice, you two going to the dance together.” Alyssa’s dad started to talk.
“We gotta go dad! Bye!” Alyssa pulled the others out the front door before her father could blow their cover.
“Why’d you come inside?” She whispered fiercely to Brent as they made their way towards the limo sitting at the curb.
“Must be the gentleman in me.” Brent replied wryly. “Don’t worry those two can’t see anything but each other.” He gestured to where Tommy and Beth were walking arm in arm in front of them.
Alyssa’s house was the limo driver’s last stop and climbing in was a problem. It was a very tight fit indeed. Of course when they’d originally ordered the car they hadn’t counted on Lisa or Brent. Alyssa was very glad for the dim lights inside because she was suddenly reminded of her bold statement to Jennifer of how she would solve the space issue. And she was very sure that sitting in Brent’s lap would be a bad way to discourage her traitorous butterfly-filled stomach. Lucky for her she was spared that experience when at the other end of the long bench seat Pete dragged a giggling Lisa into his lap. The two of them groping five feet away from her probably should have bothered her, but she was too busy being bothered in an entirely different way by the smell of Brent’s cologne, and the warmth of his body against hers. Since when did Brent wear cologne?
At the school and out of the limo, fresh air helped calm Alyssa down. Dim lights and slightly cheesy decorations transformed the gym. Tables lined three of the walls and a DJ was set up on the fourth wall. The room was crowded to capacity and every time Alyssa turned around she was saying hello and complimenting someone’s dress or suit. Alyssa and Brent settled themselves at a table next to Beth and Tommy. As soon as they sat down Jenn and Jeff claimed the last remaining chairs. To Alyssa’s dismay Jenn ended up on the other side of Brent, and Jeff wasn’t paying enough attention to mind at all.
To Brent’s credit he ignored all of Jenn’s pointed advances and he was very attentive to Alyssa. They danced to all her favorite songs—he even did the chicken dance which broke Alyssa into a fit of laughter so violent they had to leave the dance floor in search of the punch bowl. Dancing with Brent was just as disconcerting as sitting next to him in that crowded limo. Even after he’d discarded his jacket and tie, and looked more like his usual self, she found her heart leaping strangely when he pulled her close for the slow songs.
At some point during the evening Alyssa was able to forget that this was a fake reputation-saving-date and she just started having fun. Tommy, as it turns out, was a big hockey fan. And even though he was a Penguins fan Alyssa still enjoyed his company. Before she’d gotten closer to Beth she hadn’t noticed Tommy very much.
“Are you guys gonna talk hockey all night?” Beth was laughing, but Alyssa could tell she was also bored.
“Sorry. I guess I got carried away. I can’t believe you’ve never been to a game before. We should go sometime.”
Beth beamed. “Yay, a double date! That does sound fun.”
Alyssa worked very hard not to look at Brent. She hadn’t meant to set up another date where he would be obligated to play prince charming again. It just slipped out.
“It does.” Tommy was saying. “I guess my reputation can handle sitting next to a couple of Flyers fans.”
“Come on, Chere. I like this song.” Brent stood up and led Alyssa to the dance floor.
Crap. She was in trouble again. And she’d been having such a good time too. It was her own fault really. She knew where Brent stood on the whole fake boyfriend thing. “I’m so sorry Brent.” She said when he’d settled her against him.
“Hmm?” He looked down at her.
“About the game thing. I’ll get out of it later.”
“We can go to a game, Lyssa. We go to games together all the time. And Beth and Tommy are cool, it’ll be fun.”
Alyssa was confused. “Why are we dancing then? I mean, if you didn’t drag me out on the dance floor to yell at me?”
Brent sighed. Alyssa barely noticed the sighing anymore. “We’re at a dance. I like this song. So I asked you to dance with me. Not everything has five lines of subtext attached to it. And I hardly dragged you—what am I, Captain Caveman?”
Alyssa stepped a little closer. It was so easy to pretend this was a real date. Thinking about pretending her pretend date wasn’t pretending gave her a head ache. So for a moment she let herself stop thinking. Brent wasn’t that much taller than her when she wore heels. She was able to tilt her head upward and bring her face very close to his.
“Can I cut in?” Pete appeared beside them. He was slurring his words together.
“No.” Brent spun Alyssa around turning his back to him.
“I was asking her.” Pete reached out to grab Alyssa’s wrist, but he was obviously drunk, and he stumbled forward missing her completely. Turning, he glared at her “You never danced with me that way.” He was thankfully speaking at a normal volume, but Alyssa was still mortified. When he started to reach for her again Brent’s hand closed around his bicep.
“Let’s take a walk Edser.” He turned to Alyssa. “I’ll be right back, Lyssa.” She hesitated. “I’m just gonna call him a cab, go sit with Tommy and Beth.” Turning, he walked Pete towards the exit.
Alyssa was too shocked to do anything else, so she sat down with Beth as he’d instructed. Out of the corner of one eye she saw Lisa Thompson hurrying to follow them.
“What’s that all about?” Beth asked.
“Oh, I guess Pete’s been drinking. Brent is going to call him a cab.”
Jennifer was stretching her neck trying to see out the exit doors. This wasn’t possible because the lights were dimmed for the dance, but it was clear Jenn was sorry that she might be missing a news worthy scene. “I do hope he gets out of here before a teacher sees him. That would be the end of our football season.” Everyone at the table glared at her, and she had the grace to blush slightly. “Well it must be nice to have such a strong man around to defend your honor.” Alyssa ignored her, but privately she thought that y
es, it was nice.
Brent returned to the table. “Pete and Lisa had to leave early.” Was all he said. Alyssa admired him so much. Always cool and collected in any situation. He really was very nice to have around. The rest of the evening went by pleasantly, if unremarkably. At one point Jennifer did try and get Brent to dance with her, but he refused her politely.
They’d been the last stop on the way to the dance, so at the end of the evening they were the first to be let out. “Night guys!” Alyssa called over her shoulder as Brent walked her to the front door.
Brent’s tall large body was very close to her as she put her key in the lock. Alyssa wondered if he noticed her hand shaking. Really—when had he started to wear cologne?
“Invite me in.” He whispered into her ear.
“Okay sure.” Was her voice squeaking? She suddenly felt very sure that their relationship was about to experience a big change.
He followed her inside and once the door was shut Alyssa turned around slowly to face him. He wasn’t there!
Brent was in the kitchen pouring himself a glass of milk. “You guys need to keep more junk food around. All that dancing makes a guy crave carbs.” He said lightly when she walked in.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh.” He looked a little confused and then he reached into the cabinet again. “Did you want a glass?”
“No. I meant, well… you wanted me to invite you in so you could insult our pantry?”
“Not the actual pantry—just its contents.” He grinned. “Your friends were watching. They would have at least expected a kiss goodnight at the door.” He clarified for her.
Right. Pretend boyfriend. Pretend date. What was wrong with her anyway? It wasn’t like she’d wanted that kiss goodnight. Man, they had to end this fake boyfriend thing soon. Her emotions couldn’t take it anymore.
“Oh.” That was it. That was all she could think to say. So she walked around him, opened a cabinet, and pulled out a box of lucky charms.