by Tiana Smith
He set me back down but kept his arms around my waist.
“Glad you finally saw the light. I mean, it was obvious that I was the better choice.”
“Cocky, aren’t we?” I asked, resting my hands on his biceps. I could get used to those. I still couldn’t wrap my brain around the fact that Robyn had planned on setting up Elena and Vince for homecoming. Sure, they were friends, but I thought that was it. Did that mean Elena liked him? Or that Vince…?
No. Vince had asked me to be his girlfriend, and that had to mean something. Okay, maybe it had been Robyn’s—well my—email that got things started. But he was still trying to give it a go, and that was an undisputable fact; any journalist would agree.
“Nah, just honest. Come on, let’s sit down before the student council starts.”
He led me back to his friends, and I felt a flash of pride. His group wasn’t off-limits to me now. As Vince’s girlfriend, they had to accept me. Hopefully this meant people at school would treat me with a little less hostility, even though Elena had smeared my reputation. Soon enough, my fellow students would see that Vince didn’t believe the rumors, so they shouldn’t, either. Then Robyn’s business would pick back up and she wouldn’t blame me anymore. At least, I could dream.
Robyn came through the gym doors and looked around. I waved at her from my spot at Vince’s side, gesturing for her to join us. She shook her head, motioned to her journalism notebook to let me know she had an article to work on, then slipped back outside. She was doing that a lot lately.
At the center of the gym floor, Elena was arguing with a sophomore standing behind a table of sound equipment. From previous pep rallies and announcements, I recognized him as the techie guy in charge of the sound system.
Elena crossed her arms and took a deep breath, but she didn’t step away from the table with all the sound equipment. The sophomore clicked a few more buttons on his computer, and music started playing through the overhead speakers.
From where I sat, I couldn’t hear Elena over the music, but I could read her lips when she told him he had the wrong song. He shook his head and leaned back against the table.
People were watching the center of the gym now, but the student council members only stood around in confusion.
Someone at the bottom of the bleachers started dancing, and my attention snapped there like a magnet. It was Ron, the guy Tania had been quasi-dating for the last year. She talked about him nonstop whenever we prepped for the video announcements.
Then he was dancing and singing. He must have had a clipped-on mic, because I could hear his clear, strong voice, even with the music blaring. Someone else joined him, and then a few more people with each stanza. By the time they reached the chorus, a quarter of the audience was involved, streaming down to the gym floor.
A flash mob. This must be what Logan had been planning to get Elena’s attention. I tried to evaluate how I felt about that, but then I reminded myself that I wasn’t supposed to be encouraging my emotions, so I tried not to think or feel at all.
“What’s the show choir doing?” Vince asked me. “This isn’t exactly the best time to practice their routine.”
“Ohhh,” I said. “That’s how they all know the same dance.” That made a lot more sense than Logan teaching twenty people a complete dance in a single morning. Then again, if this was Logan’s doing, where was he? I turned on the bench, craning my neck to look for him, but I shouldn’t have bothered.
The crowd parted, and Logan stood in the middle. No, not stood—danced. Okay, maybe I was a little slow to recognize the people in the flash mob, but I knew for an absolute fact that Logan was not a part of the show choir.
Logan didn’t sing with them, but he knew every step of the dance. Maybe he was a really big fan?
The members of the show choir began limiting their moves, doing more of a backup sway to Logan’s center stage. The final chorus played, and Logan danced closer and closer to the center of the gym, where Elena stood with her arms across her chest.
Beside me, Vince tensed, probably angry on the student council’s behalf. I knew he was pretty tight with Elena, after all. Or maybe he thought Logan was doing this for me, but it seemed pretty obvious that Logan’s eyes were on Elena. Vince’s hand almost crushed mine, and I had to untangle my fingers before they needed amputation. Robyn’s words about stealing Elena’s homecoming date swirled around my brain, haunting me.
As the last strains of music came over the speakers, Logan did a move that brought him to his knees, where he then put his hand under the table of sound equipment and brought out a paper sign. He knelt before Elena with the sign facing her, so I couldn’t read what it said.
Elena’s eyebrows crinkled together and she pursed her lips. Her eyes darted from the sign to find me. The anger in her gaze pinned me to the bench. Eventually she looked back to Logan, but not before the heat burned a hole where I sat. She gave a terse nod to Logan when the music was over, and everyone in the gym started clapping.
Elena grabbed a mic from the table of sound equipment and stepped to the front, effectively cutting Logan off. He didn’t seem to mind. He gave me two thumbs-up before walking to the bleachers and sitting down. Watching our exchange, Elena glowered at me even more, if that were possible. Sheesh. What had I ever done to her? If anyone deserved to be angry, it was me. Here I’d been contemplating ways to make up with her, but she obviously was still firmly in the We Hate Mia camp.
I stared back, undeterred, and she grasped the mic like she was imagining it was my neck between her fingers. Vince looked between Elena and me, his questioning gaze making me feel self-conscious.
“Okay, let’s get this party started!” Elena said, switching into drama mode. Her smile showed too many teeth, but that was probably part of her theater training. Music pumped through the speakers again, but this time, the familiar school song started playing.
“What was all that about?” Vince whispered in my ear.
“No idea,” I answered. It was the truth. Elena had been jealous of the attention I was getting from Logan and Vince, so I had thought she’d jump at something like this. It didn’t make sense that she’d be angry—especially at me.
After the song, the student council members announced the themes for spirit week, and I groaned. Pajama day I could do, but whoever thought togas were a good idea? Just because our town was named Athens didn’t mean I wanted to be Greek for a day. Maybe I could get by with wearing gold bangles and some sandals. I didn’t own anything with an animal print on it except for a bra I’d bought on a dare, so jungle day was a no-go, and there was no way I was going to do ’80s day. Friday was the only other day I could really participate in, since our school colors weren’t so bad.
Besides, I had bigger things to worry about than dressing up next week. My future career as a journalist depended on me writing killer articles that would bring in hundreds of page views, which wasn’t coming easy. Especially if I’d need Logan’s help with the pictures. Elena’s little stunt had given her quite the lead, up until Mr. Quince disqualified her. I was still second place behind the comics, though, and I couldn’t think of a way to beat them. Plus everyone hated me at school, and as much as it hurt to think about, I couldn’t help but wonder what if. What if Robyn was right about Logan being the right guy for me? The question circled around and around in my head like a vulture, waiting for me to break under the sheer weight of its presence.
The announcements ended and everyone milled around, returning to their regular eighth-period routine. I gave Vince a peck on the cheek. “I have to do some work in the journalism room.”
“See you tonight?” he asked.
“Tonight?”
“A real date. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
I bit my lip to keep my smile from taking over my face. A thrill went through me, and I felt like this was finally the beginning. I couldn’t help but give him another kiss in response.
“Sounds great,” I said as I left.
Lo
gan met me at the doors.
“What’d you think?” he asked. He leaned against the wall, all swagger and smiles. My smile disappeared.
“It was great.” My voice sounded flat to my own ears, so I kept talking to mask it. I was upset at Elena, but not Logan.
Okay, maybe a little at Logan, too. Was I that easy to forget?
“You definitely got everyone’s attention. What was written on the sign?”
“I asked if she’d go to homecoming with me. She said yes.”
I didn’t say it, but the idea made me nauseous.
“How’d you know the dance?” I asked rather than follow my uncomfortable line of thought.
Logan grinned. “Couple of weeks ago Ron and I were talking. He said show choir was harder than tennis, and of course I disagreed. One thing led to another.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“We made a bet.” Logan shrugged one shoulder, still smug. “He had ten tries to beat me at tennis, and I had ten hours to learn one of his routines. Guess you know who won the bet.”
I laughed. “So what did you get for winning?”
“I told him he owed me something in the future. He just paid off his debt.”
“You like doing that, don’t you?” I asked. “Holding a debt over people’s heads and then cashing in when you see fit.”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have made him do it. I actually thought about backing out, but Ron wouldn’t let me because he’s a total show-off. Plus this will get him points with Tania. With you, you couldn’t get me out of that soccer game fast enough, so something tells me you secretly wanted to go out with me, too.”
Something in my chest hitched, waiting and wishing for him to claim that Elena was just a decoy. Logan didn’t have any epiphany, though. He looked at something or someone behind me and within a few seconds, his expression changed. He hiked his bag farther up on his shoulder. That sensation in my chest deflated. “Well, uh, I should go thank Ron for helping me out,” he said. “I’ll see you around.”
He slipped back into the throng of people, and I escaped through the doors. Robyn was waiting for me on the other side, watching Logan as he walked away, but Elena caught up to me before I had taken ten steps. If her face was any indication, I was in for a world of pain.
“I can’t believe you,” she said. “I know my article was bad, but if you were angry, you should have just told me. You shouldn’t have done this.”
“What are you talking about?” I said, trying to keep my voice even. With how much practice I was putting in at controlling my emotions, I could probably pass for a robot.
“I know you’re behind all this. You have Logan so wrapped around your finger, he’d do anything for you, but making fun of the fact that I’m single is low, even for you. And to do it in front of everyone is even worse. You made me into the bad guy here. If I said no to him, everyone would think I was a jerk, but when I cut things off after only one date, they’ll think that anyway. I know Logan is only interested in you, but they don’t know that. They don’t know he’s only pretending so that you can get back at me. How could you?”
My mouth hung open. I couldn’t help the anger that was building up like a Mentos put inside a shaken Pepsi. Robyn looked up and down the hallway, perhaps searching for a teacher among all the students. Or maybe she just didn’t want witnesses who could connect this to her business and was looking to see if anyone was paying attention. I couldn’t be bothered by that, though; I was too angry at what Elena had said.
“Drama queen much?” I said. “First of all, you’re just the pot calling the kettle black. You say I should have told you I was angry? Well, speak for yourself. No one forced you to write that article, you know. Don’t you try blaming it on Mr. Quince’s competition. And secondly, Logan really does like you, not that you deserve it.”
Elena laughed, a hard, bitter sound. It wasn’t a laugh she’d ever directed at me before, and I took an involuntary step back. How had things gotten so bad between us?
“Don’t mock me,” she said. “You put him up to this. I saw him give you a thumbs-up after he was done.”
I let out a huff of air, but she spoke over me.
“It was bad enough that you had him interrupt our spirit week announcement, but having him pretend to like me is stupid. What are you really hoping to achieve? Did you want to see me fall all over him and then laugh when it was all a joke? Well, too bad, Mia. The joke’s on you.” She put her hands on her hips. “You know what? I don’t care. You play your little game. I’m done.”
Then she turned on her heel and began to walk away.
“If that’s how you treat friends, then maybe it’s for the best,” I called after her. I choked out the words, because I already wanted to take them back.
She turned. “Friends? Friends take an interest in my life. They know who I like. They ask how callbacks went. They don’t pull stuff like this. And that goes for both of you.”
Elena walked off, while I struggled not to cry. I felt like I’d been hit by a bus. The big double-decker kind.
Robyn bit her lip and put an arm across my shoulders.
“Want to get out after school? Do something?” she asked softly. “Or do you want some time to be alone?”
I shook my head but remained silent. When I could trust myself to speak, I asked, “What should we do?”
“I don’t know. Coffee shop? Retail therapy? We could shop for homecoming dresses, and you could try on all the sparkly jewelry.”
I gave her a wobbly smile. I’d gotten my formal dress with my mom already. But Robyn’s parents weren’t exactly hands-on, unless her brothers were involved. Maybe a little frivolous shopping was exactly what I needed.
I nodded and Robyn smiled, which immediately loosened the knot in my chest by a fraction. If nothing else, at least I could still make my best friend happy.
If only Elena were so easy to please.
fifteen
The store bell chimed when I opened the door, and a wave of incense hit me, causing me to wrinkle my nose. Why dress shops had to smell like the inside of a wedding bouquet was beyond me. If anything, it made me want to leave the shop faster, before buying the uncomfortable shoes that would promptly be discarded at the side of the dance floor come homecoming night. There weren’t many store options in our town, though, so it wasn’t like I had much choice.
“Robyn?” I called, walking toward the dressing rooms in the back. She’d texted me a few minutes ago, so I knew she was here already.
“Here!” she called, waving a hand above one of the doors. “What do you think of this one?”
She pulled open the door and emerged in a gorgeous red-satin dress.
“Super cute,” I said, motioning for her to turn around. She gave a twirl, and I noticed the oversize red bow in the back. “Perfect for Cupid.”
“Right?” She flounced into the main room of the shop to stand in front of the three-way mirror. The door dinged as someone else entered, and I turned to find Logan standing awkwardly in the entryway.
“Robyn,” I said, drawing out her name. “What is Logan doing here?”
She glanced past her shoulder and motioned him over. He walked toward us cautiously.
“I think this is the one,” Robyn said to us both, swishing the skirt in the mirror. “I’m out.”
“But I just got here!” I said.
“And you were going to help me pick out a tux,” Logan said. But he didn’t look surprised. Was he in on this? Whatever this was? The tux-rental store was right next door to this one, which explained why he was meeting Robyn here.
“I already picked a few out and put your name on them,” she said, patting Logan’s shoulder. “Mia can help you decide which one looks best.”
Oh no I couldn’t. Maybe I’d have to spend time with Logan for the journalism competition, but that was where I was drawing the line.
But Robyn was already walking back toward the dressing rooms like the matter was decided. How early had she gotten
here to have picked out tuxes for Logan and tried on dresses herself? Or had she decided on this dress long ago, and only used shopping as an excuse to bring me and Logan together?
But why? She wanted me to work out with Vince. And she’d set Logan up with Elena. That was what Robyn wanted, right? I knew I hadn’t spent much quality time with my best friend lately, but it was like I couldn’t read her at all anymore.
Robyn closed the door to the dressing room, sequestering herself inside. I refused to look at Logan. Logan, who was casually leaning against the wall, watching me blush and squirm. I fiddled with my purse strap instead of meeting his gaze, wondering if I should tell Vince about this on our date tonight. Then I wondered if that meant I’d already decided to go with Logan to the tux shop.
Robyn emerged a minute later, fully clothed, with dress in hand. She walked directly to the cashier counter without saying anything. I followed, because really, what else was I supposed to do? Hang on her ankles and beg her to stay? I wasn’t that desperate. Yet.
She paid for the dress and turned to face Logan and me.
“You’ll be fine without me. Just don’t let him wear a yellow shirt,” she said, directing the last comment at me. “It wouldn’t look good with his olive skin.”
“I really have some journalism articles I should be—” I said.
“No, you don’t,” Robyn cut in. “You were going to help me for the next hour, so I know you’re free.”
One side of Logan’s mouth quirked up in a grin, and he shoved his hands deep in his pockets.
I swallowed.
This was dangerous territory. But just because I was with Vince didn’t mean I couldn’t be friends with other guys. Right? And I needed to stay on Logan’s good side to get the better pictures for my articles. So hanging out with him would be in my own best interest.
“Okay,” I found myself saying. I’d help him find a tux and be out of there before anything funny could happen. In and out. I tried to catch Robyn’s eye to figure out what she meant by putting us together yet again. But Robyn wasn’t giving away her secrets.