by Jillian Dodd
Me: I promise. I’m sorry, but that’s just fucked up.
Garrett: My thoughts exactly.
Just like a good little mutt.
Lunch
I walk in a daze to the student center. Aiden stands in front of me. “Are you okay?” he asks me.
“Huh?” I say distractedly. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine. My friend is safe. It’s all good,” I try to say convincingly. “Hey, I heard you were the one who told Riley about what Whitney did. That was really nice.”
He gives me a dazzling smile. “Well, I promised to be nice to you. Will you meet me in my room tonight for tutoring?”
“I appreciate it, Aiden. And, uh, sure.”
I walk through the lunch line then sit down exactly where Whitney told me not to. I say hey to Peyton, hoping she can be my buffer.
Whitney leans in front of Peyton and says in a fake sad voice, “I will admit, I was a little jealous that you were catching Dawson’s attention, but now I just feel sorry for you. I’m actually glad that Jake left because now I’m free to go to homecoming with Dawson. He and I totally bonded in the limo. You should have heard us talking about all the fun we had at the last three. And we’ll be King and Queen this year, so it’s only natural.”
I see Peyton narrow her eyes. I’ve heard her talking in dance about how she hopes to be Queen this year. She sits up a little straighter and raises her chin slightly in the air. It’s a move I totally recognize. She’s about to stand up to Whitney.
“I don’t know,” she says. “He seems pretty crazy about Keatyn. And the way he calls her Keatie is so adorable.”
Whitney narrows her eyes slightly, but it doesn’t stop her. She snarls at me. “He’s just using you. Surely you’re a smart enough girl to realize that. He’s not going to fall in love with you.”
I don’t get to answer. She turns away from me and speaks directly to her friends. “He freaked out about the photos of them on Facebook. Do you really think he’s going to ask her to Homecoming and be stuck with those pictures for the rest of his life? Plus, his parents will be here, and they adore me. No way he’s going to introduce her to Fred and Sharon.”
I sit up a little straighter. “I got to meet his parents. After he and Jake ditched you, we went to New York.”
“Oh and stayed with his mom and dad. That must have been so romantic,” she sneers.
“Actually, we only met them for lunch on Sunday. We stayed at my loft.”
“With your parents?” she laughs. “Even better. If he weren’t so well-mannered, he’d have run the other way. He’s asking me, so don’t get your hopes up. And why are you sitting at my table?”
“Just to be clear. We stayed at my loft. Alone. And you’re right. It was quite romantic. And I’m sitting here because he asked me to.”
“Just like a good little mutt would.”
I’m about to unleash my fury when the dean stands up in front of us and taps on a microphone. “I have a few announcements,” he says.
The table I’m sitting at is the first table in the center of the room. It looks out over a large empty area that is used as a sort of stage. The cheerleaders sometimes do little skits here on game days. The dance team has performed during lunch. The swing choir did their thing just last week. I glance back and notice that Riley and Dallas aren’t at their usual table either. They must have had to do the football thing too.
The dean makes a few announcements that we’re not really listening too, but then I hear him say, “Keatyn Monroe, it’s come to my attention that you’ve been seen canoodling around campus with Dawson Johnson.”
Canoodling? What does that even mean?
I turn around in my seat and face him. Wondering why the hell he would say such a thing in public. If I’m in trouble for kissing Dawson on campus, wouldn’t he call me into his office?
He continues. “I know you’re new, but we have very high standards here.”
I hear Whitney break out in laughter. “This is priceless.”
The dean continues. “You’re about to see just how high.”
Then the room fills with the sound of stripper music. The dean drops the microphone and starts dancing to the music.
He doesn’t dance well.
I wonder what the hell is going on. Is this some kind of new girl hazing?
Is someone going to jump out and tell me I’ve been punked?
I glance at Peyton. She shakes her head at me. She has no idea either.
The dean sticks his index finger in his mouth then touches it to his ass. Like it’s sizzling hot.
My jaw drops to the ground and I half scream and cover my mouth with my hand, laughing. The side door opens and a bunch of boys dance in. Jake, Riley, Bryce, Dallas, Tyrese, Ace, and some other football players.
They line up next to the dean and do a naughty striptease dance, pulling their school blazers off and tossing them to the ground.
The students behind me start clapping and screaming.
I shimmy my shoulders to the music.
“For God’s sake,” Whitney whispers loudly over the music, “stop shaking. You look ridiculous. If you’re going to sit at this table at least try to have a little decorum.”
I flip her the bird over my shoulder. Then I stand up, pump my fist in the air, and go, “Woooh!”
All the guys except for Jake strip off their oxfords, the dean included, and swing them above their heads like lassos.
Jake comes dancing up to our table and crooks his finger at me. I skip up to him as he pulls me into his hips and grinds against me.
“Unbutton my shirt,” he says.
I grin at him and quickly unbutton all of his buttons. I even drop it low in front of him and shake my ass a little. He pulls me up, puts my arms up in the air, and slides his hand down the sides of me. I run my finger down the front of his shirt totally getting into it.
He pushes me back a little and says, “Get ready.”
The music switches and the lyrics scream, Aaaaare yooooou readyyyyy? The crowd behind me yells back, “YES!” Then a fast techno beat blares through the speakers.
The dean jumps out from the line and rips his t-shirt straight down the middle. On his white pasty chest is a red painted H.
Jake follows suit. Ripping his shirt down the middle. On his chest is a red O.
Ho? Do they think I’m a ho because I’ve been canoodling or whatever with Dawson? What is this, the freaking Scarlet Letter? Is he trying to make an example out of me?
Riley jumps up in line and goes next. On his chest is the letter M. And on down the line, boys rip their shirts off, reveal their chests and a red letter. E. C. O. M. I. N. G.
I read them across. HOMECOMING?
Is this some sort of skit to get people excited for homecoming? Like, to sell tickets or something? But then, Dawson slides in at the end of the line.
He has a bouquet of the palest pink tea roses in his hand, just like the ones I admired at his house.
I hear Peyton next to me go, “Ahhh, that is so adorable.”
Dawson walks over, hands me the bouquet, then he very slowly and oh, so very sexily, rips his shirt off too. On his chest there is a ?
He tilts his head at me and gives me a smoldering grin. “What do you say, Keatie? Will you go to homecoming with me?”
All of a sudden I feel sort of choked up.
But then I scream out, “Yes,” jump into his arms, and give him the kind of kiss that is definitely against the school’s decency policy.
I hug all the homecoming letter boys and even the dean, who now seems surprisingly cool.
Dawson takes my hand and we sit down at the table.
Peyton is gushing about how crazy it was to ask that way.
Whitney says, “How’d you come up with something so tacky, Dawson? You always asked me in a classy, dignified way.”
He rolls his eyes at her. “You mean a boring way? Keatie is a lot different than you, Whitney. I love that she doesn’t give a shit what people think, so I knew she’d
get a kick out of it.”
Ace says to me, “I loved how you started dancing with Jake.”
Dawson looks straight at Whitney. “Some girls know how to have fun.”
The tension suddenly feels thick. I figure I better change the subject.
“And the dean! Ohmigawd! I really thought I was in trouble at first. Then I thought it might be like some new girl hazing. But I didn’t think the dean would be involved in something bad. So I just went with it. And when he took his shirt off. I about died! Did you see how white his chest is?”
Everyone at the table starts laughing.
“Told you she’d love it,” Jake says, elbowing Dawson.
“I did love it.”
Everyone starts focusing on their lunch.
I run my hand up Dawson’s thigh under the table.
Whitney scowls at us. “Ohmigawd, we’re trying to eat here.”
Dawson kisses my check then whispers in my ear, “You better stop rubbing my leg, or I’m not gonna be able to stand up. I’m hard as a rock.”
“Mhmm. Too bad we have class,” I say, messing with his hair. His face is close to mine. Our cheeks touch as we whisper in each other’s ears.
“I keep thinking how sexy you looked naked all weekend. I'm having a hard time focusing in class.”
“Then maybe you should start focusing on what's gonna happen tonight.”
“What’s gonna happen tonight?”
“You know.”
“I wanna hear you tell me,” he growls.
“You’re naughty.”
“I’m horny.”
“As many times as we did it this weekend, you shouldn't be horny for weeks.” I run my hand across the back of his neck and down his back.
“Tell me, please.”
“I’d rather surprise you.”
“I love your kind of surprises.”
The end . . . well, for now.
Jillian Dodd
date me
The Keatyn Chronicles
Book three
Monday, September 26th
You have a wild side.
French
I float my way to French class on cloud nine.
When I take my seat, Aiden says flatly, “Well, that was something.”
I turn around. I’m beaming. I think my smile will be on perma-blast all day long. “Wasn’t it outrageous? The way he asked. I loved it!”
“You like stuff like that? Being the center of attention.” He rolls his eyes toward the ceiling and laughs in a deep, sexy way. “Never mind. Don’t answer that. Of course, you do. You seemed to be enjoying yourself. So, how come you never danced like that when we danced? It was pretty sexy.”
“Oh gosh, did I look stupid?”
“No, everyone loved how you played along. You looked shocked. Were you?”
“I had no clue. I thought I was in trouble. Even when the dean started dancing, I thought it was some new girl hazing or something.”
“You have a wild side.”
“Everyone does. Do you?”
“You have a boyfriend now. You probably won't be finding out.”
“If I was wild, that wouldn't stop me,” I fire back.
He gazes at me for a beat. “No, I guess it wouldn’t,” he finally mutters.
“You’re right though,” I say. I’m practically bouncing in my seat. “I would never cheat, but he only asked me to Homecoming. Not to be his girlfriend.”
Annie sits down and grabs my arm. “That was so adorable! I can't believe you danced with Jake like that! Whitney was seething! It was awesome!”
“Just before it all started, Whitney was telling me that Dawson was going to ask her to Homecoming. Telling me how they bonded in the limo. How they will be king and queen.”
Annie sighs. “Don’t do anything to make her mad at you, Keatyn. She’s not a nice person.”
I nod. Because I think I know that.
What did I say about Vanessa? Been there. Seen it. Burned the T-shirt.
I turn back around to face Aiden. “You know, it’s because of you that Dawson and I are still together. I haven’t thanked you properly, but what you did—how you told Riley. Seriously, thank you.”
The look that crosses his face is indecipherable. He nods his head, agreeing with me and giving me a little smile, but he’s grinding his pencil into his notebook. Like it’s a horcrux and he’s trying to kill it with a basilisk fang. He leans closer to me and says quietly, “I told you in the chapel that I’m done pretend punching your head.”
I smile. “I’m glad, Aiden. I don’t like when we fight.”
He gives me the sweetest smile, but then says flatly, “I’m done fighting.”
I turn around and try to focus on class.
But I can’t.
He’s completely given up on us. Hasn’t he?
That’s why he told Riley about what Whitney did.
After my breakdown in the chapel, he knew it for sure.
No way a lunatic like me could be his true love.
Life twists and turns.
2:45pm
After soccer practice, I run up to Aiden, who is practicing kicking a football through the goal.
“Hey, would it be okay if we did tutoring in your room tonight? Everyone is talking about lunch, about how Dawson asked me to Homecoming, and I know if we go to the library we won’t get anything done because people will come up to gush about it.”
“Uh,” he says, hesitating, “I’m sure the library will be fine.”
I look at him funny. He’s acting quite strange today. Maybe I should let him go to the library to get his aura recharged or something. But I don’t want to. He’s easier to deal with when his powers are weak.
“Please,” I say with a pout.
He sighs. “Oh, fine.”
After dance, I knock on his door.
He doesn’t answer.
I check my phone to see if he’s running late.
There’s nothing from him.
I knock again, wondering if maybe I caught him in the bathroom or something. He still doesn’t answer, so I slide down the hallway wall and sit on the floor. Sitting here reminds me of one of my first nights here. I close my eyes and remember the party. The night Dawson gave me the worst kiss ever and how I ran out to this very spot and slid down the wall. I remember Aiden sliding down next to me. Me fighting back tears and telling him how Dawson ruined my lips. How Aiden kissed them and made them better.
How perfect it felt.
It’s funny to me now. Life twists and turns in ways you never expect it to. I could practically see my future with Aiden. I thought he spoke to my soul, for god’s sake!
I’m suddenly aware of a body sliding down the wall next to me. I open my eyes and see him. He looks out of breath. Like he ran all the way here.
I fight the urge to reach out and put my hand on his chest. To feel his heartbeat.
“Sorry, I’m late.”
I nod. “It’s okay. I haven’t been waiting that long.”
He takes a deep breath and gives me one of those smiles that almost blinds me. The kind of smile that makes me want to drag him to a little chapel in the woods, say I do, and make him the last boy I ever kiss.
“This is familiar.”
“What is?” I say, pretending not to know exactly what he’s talking about.
“Don’t you remember the party? When I kissed you right here?” He reaches up and gently touches my lips with his finger. “Fixed your lips.”
“Yeah, I remember, Aiden,” I say. What I don’t say is, And it makes me sad. Sad to know that you knew so quickly that I wasn’t the one.
I start to get up.
He grabs my arm. “Why don’t we just sit out here and study? Um, my room’s a mess.”
“You’re such a liar. Your room is always perfect.” I almost say, I love that about you, but I don’t.
He rolls his eyes at me again, then says firmly, “I think out here would be better.”
“Aiden
, what is in your room?”
“I just . . . there’s something I don’t want you to see, okay?”
I grin, wondering what he’s hiding from me and now totally curious.
I get up and open his door. Look around. “It looks normal.”
He looks around his room, like whatever used to be there is gone, maybe?
“Okay, well, let’s get to it.” He sets his backpack on the ground and pulls his French workbook out.
I grab mine too and set it on his desk. “It’s been an exhausting, crazy day,” I say, and then flop down on his bed.
He gets all nervous-looking again.
He’s acting very strange. I’m half expecting a naked girl, or a blow-up doll, or something embarrassing to appear. I look around his room again. All is completely in order, so I close my eyes. “Okay, so I worked on the first page of our homework during drama today. Do you want to copy it and just go over it? It’s mostly review.”
“Uh, sure,” he says. “Give me a minute.”
I hear him turning pages and then writing.
I open my eyes and look up at his ceiling.
“You don’t have the twinkle lights on,” I say. “It looks weird.”
He looks up from his workbook and makes a sort of coughing sound. I glance at him, but he appears to be fine. My eyes go back up to the twinkle lights. Then I notice there’s something new on his ceiling. Stars.
“Aiden! Oh my gosh! You put up stars. Are they the glow-in-the-dark kind? I love those! My little sisters had them all over the ceilings of their bedrooms.” I study them more and realize they aren’t just randomly scattered. They are in some kind of pattern. It’s hard to tell since they are sort of blending into the ceiling right now.
“Yeah, they’re in a pattern.” He taps his pencil on his workbook and says in an irritated tone, “You were the one who wanted to come here so we wouldn’t get distracted. Let’s focus on French. We have a lot to do.”
“No. I want to see them lit up first. I’m gonna turn your lights off for a minute.” I start to hop up but, in a flash, Aiden is sitting on the edge of the bed, blocking me.