“Hmmm,” Cass hummed. “I don’t know. Looks to me like Sean did all the work. Perhaps we need a redo.”
“I’m ready when you are.” Sean puckered his lips at Bella, and she blushed furiously. But she was saved when someone’s phone rang loudly.
Trish jumped up. “That’s me.” She ran to her bag, and Bella used the chance to scurry back to her seat unnoticed. Trish answered the call. “Hello?” There was a pause, and her eyes got wide. Any wider, and they’d have fallen out of her head. “Oh, hi, Kevin.” She bounced on her toes, silently mouthing, Oh my gosh! There was an outbreak of excited gasps and whispers. Trish slipped into the bathroom and shut the door.
“Uh-oh.” Mia slapped her hand over her mouth.
“What?” I felt like I was missing something.
“That’s Kevin.” I was still confused, and she looked at me as if I was dense. “Kevin-Kevin? As in the Kevin from her Instagram dare.”
“Oh!” I finally understood what all the fuss was about. “You think that’s a good thing?”
Mia clenched her teeth and gave me a distressed smile. “I hope so. Or I’m going to feel horrible.”
The game was paused, and everyone speculated while we waited for Trish to return. A couple minutes later, she came out of the bathroom with the brightest smile I’d ever seen. “He asked me to Homecoming!”
All the girls pounced on her, screaming and jumping. It was exactly the situation you’d expect to see in a teen movie. And it was far too much for Sean to handle. He latched on to their group hug, jumping and screaming with the rest of them. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. When Stacie realized what he was doing, she elbowed him in the gut. He bent over in pain, and I laughed even harder.
Eventually, everyone sat down. Truth or dare had been replaced with animated Homecoming babble. I was a tad disappointed. Not so deep down, I’d been hoping to get as lucky as Sean had been: that someone would dare me to kiss Mia. I lamented for a bit, ultimately deciding that I’d have probably gotten stuck kissing Cassidy again anyway.
Mia pouted. “Hey, wait a minute. What am I supposed to do about Homecoming?”
“I’m sure you’ll get plenty of invites,” Trish reassured her. A few people nodded in kind support.
“Yeah,” Cassidy quipped. “I don’t know what you’re worried about. It’s still three weeks away. I’m a little surprised nobody’s asked you yet.”
“So, I’m allowed to go with a date, then?” Mia raised an eyebrow with a pointed look at Cass and Stacie. “Because I’m sure as heck not going solo.”
Stacie’s forehead wrinkled, as if she was trying to work through a problem. “I didn’t even think about Homecoming. But football season won’t be over yet, so technically…”
“Come on,” Mia whined. “You’d really make me miss my senior Homecoming?”
“Yeah,” Sean blurted. “That’s messed up.”
Stacie held a hand out to shush him. “If I wanted your opinion, Lord of the Kiss, I’d have asked for it.” Her face softened. “I’m not heartless, Mia. Geez. Nobody’s saying you have to miss Homecoming.”
Mia folded her arms across her stomach. I crossed my fingers, hoping she’d tell Stacie to mind her own business. That she’d go to the dance with whomever she darn well pleased. But this was Mia, so it didn’t happen. Her eyes glistened, and her lip quivered as she asked, “What do you suggest I do? Take one of you guys?”
There was a heavy pause, and then Cassidy’s face lit up. “Yes!”
Mia snorted. “I was being sarcastic. No offense, because I love all of you, but I’m not going to the dance with a girl.”
“Did I say a girl? Hello! We happen to have a very handsome male teammate.” Cassidy pointed at me, and my stomach churned. “You can go with Nick.”
“Yeah!” Stacie jumped in. My heart raced. I could feel a vein in my neck start to tick. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. “It’s perfect, actually. We know we can trust Nick not to put the moves on you”—Uh…I wasn’t so sure about that—“and you won’t have to worry about turning guys down for the next three weeks.”
The room started to spin. I braced my hands on the ground behind me. This was not happening, couldn’t be happening. I must have hit my head or something. Breathe, Nick, breathe.
“That’s not fair to Nick,” Mia argued. “I’m sure he’d prefer to pick his own date.” Nope. I’m totally fine with this arrangement. Sean saw me thinking and opened his mouth. I sent him a silent warning; if he said a word, I’d kill him.
He grinned wickedly. “Nick won’t mind. Will you?” He was a dead man.
How did one answer a question that loaded? Deflection. “I think Mia should get a break from the rules for one night and pick her own Homecoming date.”
Saying it was like a dagger to the heart. I was openly advocating for her to go with someone else, when all I had to do was agree and she’d be stuck with me. But I didn’t want her to be stuck with me. I wanted her to choose me.
“What’s wrong with Mia?” Cass asked. “Would it be so horrible to go with her?” Great, now I looked like a jerk. The rest of the team kept their mouths shut as they watched the drama unfold.
“No!” I rushed in defense. This was headed south faster than I could fix it. “There’s nothing wrong with Mia. Mia’s great. I’d be honored to go with Mia.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Stacie asked.
“Yeah, Nick? What’s the problem?” Sean echoed. He scooted to the edge of the couch. Resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands, he smiled at me like the Cheshire cat. I was going to punch his smug teeth out. And yes, teeth can be smug.
“I don’t have a problem.” I threw my hands up.
“Then ask her to Homecoming,” Cass pushed.
The conversation had completely derailed. “Did you guys stop to think that she might not want to go with me?”
“What? Why not?” Sean whipped around. Suddenly all eyes were on Mia. She had that deer in the headlights expression. It was like a bad traffic accident; I wanted to turn away, but I couldn’t. “He’s a good-looking guy. I mean, not as good looking as me, but I’m off limits. You guys are friends, aren’t you? You’d have fun together.”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Stacie interrupted. She was treating this like a simple business contract. All we had to do was sign on the dotted line.
I could tell Mia felt as flustered as I did. “It’s not a big deal,” she replied.
“Then just say yes already,” Cassidy demanded.
“I can’t say yes,” Mia argued through clenched teeth. “He hasn’t asked me anything.” Her face was red. She was embarrassed. Crap, did she think I didn’t want to ask her?
“Nick hasn’t had a turn yet,” Sean said.
“A turn for what?” I snapped at him, my short fuse millimeters from exploding.
“Truth or dare.”
The second he said it I knew what was coming, but I wasn’t fast enough. “All right, Nick,” Stacie said. I silently prayed she wouldn’t finish. I guess God wasn’t on my side tonight. “I dare you to ask Mia to Homecoming.”
The entire room became silent, waiting for my answer. I was royally screwed. If I didn’t ask Mia, she’d think I didn’t want to. Worse, she’d probably feel rejected. And if I did ask her, she’d only think I was doing it because I had to, which couldn’t be further from the truth. What might have been a dream come true had somehow turned into my worst nightmare.
Chapter 14
I was dying. Literally dying of embarrassment. My body started to shake. My breathing became shallow, and my chest hurt. It was a crushing pain, like an elephant was sitting on my lungs. Is this what a heart attack felt like? I was too young to have a heart attack.
I hoped that somehow Nick would fix things. But I knew he was panicked over watching me panic. The chances of him stopping this catastrophe were dwindling…along with my depleted life force and my dignity. I should have told ev
eryone to back off. I wanted to. I even tried. The words just wouldn’t come.
“Truth! I pick truth!” Nick yelled. I guess I really was that awful. His attempt to change the subject felt like a slap in the face. It also backfired.
“Okay,” Cass said. “Tell us why you won’t ask Mia to Homecoming.”
Couldn’t she see what she was doing? She and Stacie thought they were helping. I knew that. But the humiliation caused by their good intentions was enough to give me nightmares. I felt the tears well up. “Please don’t cry,” I silently begged myself. “It’ll only make things worse.” It was no use. The dam broke, and a traitorous tear ran down my cheek.
In a flash, Nick was on his feet and pulling me up. I didn’t know what was happening, only that he was holding my hand and we were moving very quickly. I heard my friends call out for us to come back, but Nick didn’t listen. He hauled me outside and around the corner of the house, away from prying eyes.
Nick placed his hands on either side of my face and bent his knees to meet me at eye level. “Mia?” I was still in shock and didn’t answer. “Hey, it’s okay.” He wiped his thumbs across my cheeks to dry the tears. Then he pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me.
At first, the only thing my numb body felt was the cool grass beneath my feet. Nick ran his hand down my arm and cradled my head against his chest. It was warm. His heart was beating much slower than mine. I focused on the sound. “That’s it,” he cooed. “Take a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth.” I obeyed. “Good. Keep going.”
I don’t know how long we stood there, but after a while my head started to clear. My breathing regulated, my heart rate slowed down, and the tears stopped falling. “Thanks,” I mumbled into his shirt. I didn’t know what else to say.
He stretched back to look at me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, even though I already missed the comfort of having him near. “Sorry I freaked out in there.”
His face hardened. “You have nothing to be sorry for. They ganged up on you. On both of us. If Stacie and Cass weren’t girls, I’d be throwing down right now. Sean and I are going to have a come to Jesus when we get home.”
I let out a strangled laugh. “Don’t be too tough on him.”
Nick grunted. “I promise you, whatever he gets is less than he deserves.”
“They were only trying to help.”
“That wasn’t help. It was plain old bullying.” He shook his head. “Do they always push you around so much?”
“Not really.” Nick took my hand and looked at me sideways. “Okay, sometimes,” I admitted grudgingly.
He led me to the back porch while I alternated between chuckles and sniffles. We sat side by side on the bottom step. He continued to hold my hand, but it didn’t feel romantic. It was a nurturing gesture, like he only wanted to take care of me. And right now, I wanted to let him.
I leaned my head on his shoulder, and we absorbed the silence. Nobody talking or laughing. No one barking orders. No one demanding things I didn’t really want to give. Only the stars and the moon and the crickets. The summer breeze kissed my face, and I closed my eyes. It’d been a long time since I felt so at peace.
“Mia?” Nick finally spoke.
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to go to Homecoming with me?”
I sat up and looked at him, shaking my head. I didn’t want such a nice moment to be ruined. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t have to. I would have asked you back there, but I thought it might sound insincere. Plus, I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction.” He paused. “Then you started hyperventilating, and my priorities switched.”
“Humpfh.” It was half laugh, half grunt and not at all attractive. “I appreciate the offer, but really, I don’t want you to feel obligated.”
“Would you believe me if I told you I was going to ask you anyway?”
“Were you?” My voice was desperately hopeful.
He nudged me in the side. “Depends on if you believe me…”
I bumped him back. “I’m about fifty-fifty right now.”
“Good enough,” he replied. I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees. A curtain of hair fell in front of my face. He reached up and tucked it behind my ear. “Seriously, though, I’m asking because I want to. Sean might be a moron, but he was right. I think we’d have fun. Unless, you don’t consider me a friend…” Nick trailed off, and I fell for the bait.
“Don’t be silly. Right now, you’re being a better friend than all my other ones.” I tried not to be disappointed by his use of the F word. After all, he’d never really done anything to imply that he liked me romantically. I’d conjured up that delusion on my own.
“So, is that a yes? Because it’s kind of rude to leave a guy hanging. And the Mia Ashlock I know—the one that eats pizza with a fork and knife—doesn’t have a rude bone in her body.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. I didn’t want him to see me grinning like a goofball. “Yes. I’d love to go to Homecoming with you.”
He dropped my hand and slung his arm over my shoulder before letting out an exaggerated sigh. “Phew! You had me worried for a second.”
“Please. You’re a catch, and you know it.”
“I don’t know it! In fact, you’re only the second girl who’s ever said that to me.”
“Who was the first?”
Without missing a beat, he replied, “My mom.” I laughed, a real, healthy laugh this time. “It means a little more coming from you, though,” he added. Then he reached up and tapped me on the nose.
“I should hope so.” My insides were getting gushy, and my blasted lips were so tingly they were practically numb. “You think we should go back in?” I asked.
“Nah. Let them sweat it out for a while.”
I leaned my head back on his shoulder. “Okay.”
We waited until eleven to rejoin the party. It was nice to sit and chat about things unrelated to cheer or the team: our likes and dislikes, our families, our plans for college. Nick told me about his job teaching gymnastics. I became even more smitten with him and vowed to watch him work someday, even if I had to sneak in wearing a disguise. There was something hot about a guy who was good with kids.
Sean took off while Nick and I were outside. The girls said he waited for a while but realized he was in trouble when we didn’t come back. Stacie and Cass showered me with apologies, and as usual, I forgave them without retribution. Nick did, too, at my request. However, Sean didn’t get off so easily. We waited until two a.m. to exact revenge with a twenty-four pack of toilet paper. By the time we were done, his trees and bushes were as white as the winter snow.
I knew he kind of deserved it for crashing our party, but it was such a huge mess that I contemplated going over the next day to help him clean it up. That is, until Nick bounced into the kitchen for breakfast, raving about how awesome Sean’s new landscape décor was. For once, my sense of loyalty trumped my guilt.
After such an emotionally packed night, I was looking forward to friend-free time on Sunday. Normally, it was reserved as a family day. But my dad was out of town at some nerd conference, so Mom decided it was a good time to shop.
“This one’s pretty,” Mom said, holding a gown up in front of her.
I studied the dress. “It’s very pretty, but I think it’s a little too fancy. That one’s more like a prom dress.”
She put it back. “Too fancy, got it.”
“How about this?” She plucked another from the rack. “The shade of blue would look lovely with your skin tone.”
“That one could work. Add it to the try-on pile.” I wandered up and down the rows, skimming my hand over all the lace and satin. I liked to dress up as much as the next girl. But the fact that I was going to the dance with Nick gave me extra motivation to find the perfect outfit.
Mom had been quieter than normal. I could tell she had something on her mind, but she was holding back. While we we
re waiting for the sales girl to open a fitting room, Mom finally got the nerve to speak up. “You know, Mia, I’m proud of you for going to Homecoming even though Cole called things off. It shows independence and self-confidence that you’re willing to attend without a date.”
Shoot! I forgot to tell her about Nick. It totally slipped my mind. Her feelings were going to be hurt. She was usually the first person I told about that kind of stuff. “Here you are,” the store associate said. She took the dresses from me and hung them in the stall.
“Thanks.” I waited until I was behind the closed door to address my mother’s comment. “So, uh, I actually got asked yesterday.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” I could picture her face right now, wearing the sad frown that produced a tiny wrinkle between her eyes. “And ladies don’t say uh.”
“Sorry,” I said, muffled by the fabric of my shirt as I pulled it over my head. “It happened during the party, and there was so much going on, I sort of forgot.”
“I thought it was a cheer party?” She sounded confused.
“It was.” I slipped on the blue dress and zipped it up the side. It did complement my skin and eyes, but it was floor length and awfully tight. I needed something more befitting a girl with a little booty. And something easier to dance in. I’d already decided the dress was a no, but I opened the fitting room door to show Mom anyway. Her lips were pursed, and her nose crinkled. I looked down at myself and chuckled. “It’s not that bad, is it?”
“Oh, no. The dress is fine. I’m just wondering who asked you if you were at party with all girls?” I could see the real question written on her face. I tried not to laugh as I considered telling her that Stacie and I had decided to go as a couple. But with her propriety and religious upbringing, she wouldn’t have found the joke nearly as funny as I would.
“Didn’t I tell you about Nick?” I asked. I was sure I had. But maybe I’d been thinking about him so much that I hadn’t actually remembered to say anything.
“I don’t recall hearing about a Nick. Is that short for Nicole?”
I stepped back into the fitting room and closed the door. “Hmm, I’m not sure, but I’d be willing to bet it’s short for Nicholas.” I heard a tiny sigh. “And I could have sworn I told you about him. We had a guy try out for the team this year. Nick Moody. He’s an amazing tumbler and a decent dancer, so we decided to keep him.”
One of the Girls (Friendzone #1) Page 12