Dating: For the Assist

by Stephanie Street

  Tierney and Mia stared at me with their mouths hanging open.

  Mia was first to recover. “Again, why are we just now hearing about this?” She sat back a little and shook her head. “Danni, this is what you’ve always wanted! Why aren’t you jumping for joy and shouting from rooftops?”

  Because it was a joke. All of it. But how to explain that to these girls who had everything they ever wanted with the guys they loved?

  Glancing down, I picked at an imaginary speck on my shorts. “It was seven minutes in heaven. A game. It didn’t mean anything.”

  All three girls frowned, even Piper who was pretending not to pay attention.

  “What? What do you mean? Of course it means something! He kissed you, didn’t he?” Tierney glanced out at the guys, her eyes narrowing on Luke. “Luke’s not stupid. You’re Piper’s best friend. He wouldn’t kiss you if he didn’t want to. And he definitely wouldn’t kiss you if it didn’t mean anything.” She shot a look at Piper who’d turned away from the guys and was now looking straight at me, distress clouding her eyes. “Would he?” Tierney asked Piper.

  Piper shrugged. “I don’t know what my dumb brother would or wouldn’t do. But I know what I want to do.” It was clear from her tone anything she would do to Luke wouldn’t be nice.

  I held up my hands before the situation got out of hand. All I needed was the three of them getting up in arms against Luke. For one, he and I talked about this. We had an agreement and I meant to stick to it. For another, all three of their boyfriends would back them up and Luke didn’t stand a chance six against one.

  “Hang on, you guys,” I said to get their attention again. “We kissed. And it was amazing. For me. Obviously, Luke didn’t feel the same way- No, I’m serious. Just listen,” I rose my voice when they all took a collective breath in order to blast me with their opinions on that. “We have a deal.” I told them about running into Abby and Aiden and how it came about that I was now Luke’s date to prom. “He wants her back.”

  If it wasn’t for the basketball game going on beside us, it would have been crickets. Piper, of course, had already heard all of this, but she still sat there with an incredulous expression that matched Mia and Tierney’s.

  “Are you kidding me?” Mia finally broke the silence.

  I shook my head even as my heart broke all over again. I might have agreed to Luke’s plan, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. I never envisioned this being the result of a kiss with Luke. We were supposed to kiss. Fall in love. And have a happily ever after.

  I definitely wasn’t supposed to be his prom date to help him make his ex-girlfriend jealous so he could get her back.

  “Well, that’s it,” Tierney said, folding her arms over her chest. “We’re going to make that boy pay. And I know just how to do it.”

  “You guys are crazy,” I said about ten minutes later after listening to the three of them hash out a plan to make Luke forget all about Abby.

  Mia shook her head. “No, this plan will work. There is no way Luke didn’t want that kiss as much as you did and if it went on as long as you say it did, there is no way he didn’t feel something going on between the two of you.” She sat back. “In my opinion, he’s running scared. This whole ‘get Abby back thing’ is just him trying to save face. All we have to do is shake him up a bit. He’ll figure out who the better girl is for him. And that’s you.”

  I hoped she was right.

  Tierney gave me a look of warning. “But you have to play it cool. Keep him guessing. Don’t lay your cards out all at once. We want him to think he’s coming to you. That’s the only way you’ll know it’s for real.”

  Right.

  That shouldn’t be a problem. I’d been playing it cool for a long time now. It was that or get crushed under the weight of my disappointment.

  But this was different. I’d had my shot in Drew’s closet and now, Luke had unwittingly provided me with another. Prom night. A whole evening together. I had to make it count. One last chance.

  “Alright. Let’s do this.”

  My three friends grinned.

  “Let’s do this,” Mia repeated and put out her hand. The rest of us stacked ours on top of hers.

  “Operation Prom Night is a go,” Tierney teased.

  “Piper, Mia, and Tierney for the assist,” Piper called out in an announcer’s voice making us all laugh.

  “You got this, girl. We’ll make sure of it.”

  I only wished I had Mia’s confidence.

  9

  Dannika

  I hadn’t forgotten my plan to figure out what I wanted to do with my life even if that life didn’t include Luke or any other guy for that matter. I couldn’t rely on some relationship to make my decisions. And that should probably extend to my relationship with Piper. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t still concerned about my friend. To the outside world, she seemed to be on top. She had an amazing boyfriend. Great family. She was a star athlete with amazing opportunities waiting for her to choose the one that would become her future. But she hadn’t done that yet.

  “Piper, graduation is in just a few weeks! Don’t you have to let some of these schools know what you’re going to do?” I asked, gesturing to the stack of letters from Division 1 schools fanned out on her bedspread. It was Tuesday before prom and a day and a half after we’d hatched our half-baked plan with Mia and Tierney to make Luke fall in love with me. But honestly, we had more important things to worry about. Like our futures.

  Piper sighed from her position on the floor of her bedroom. She had one arm draped over her eyes. “Yes. I do.”

  “Well, which one have you chosen?” I wasn’t stupid. I knew she would have to report for summer training. These schools would not wait forever to hear from her.

  Piper rolled into a sitting position and wrapper her arms around her long legs. “I haven’t yet.”

  “Why not?” What was so hard about this decision? There were probably ten schools, scattered all over the country, looking to recruit Piper for their basketball teams. Full ride scholarships.

  Piper threw her hands in the air. “What about you? Where are you going? Have you decided what you’re doing?”

  I sat back on the bed and studied my best friend. “What difference does it make? I don’t have anyone recruiting me. I don’t have scholarships waiting to be accepted.” I didn’t tell her I’d applied at all the schools who’d offered her a spot on their team. And I’d been accepted to most of them. I had a feeling Luke had done the same thing, only I didn’t know if he’d been accepted.

  “Did you know Indiana offered Luke a scholarship for music?” she asked.

  “What? Really?” I knew Luke was good. Incredible, in fact. I was around a lot when he practiced. Even when he wasn’t practicing, he would randomly stop at the piano and play a few chords before moving on to whatever he was doing. I had no idea why he wanted to hide his talent, because it wasn’t normal. He wasn’t a run of the mill pianist. He was a master.

  Piper nodded. “And not just Indiana. There are conservatories in New York and San Francisco who want him as well.”

  “Are you serious?” I wasn’t really surprised, but the news was like a kick to the gut. Luke going to New York or San Francisco? “What’s he going to do?”

  “I have no idea.” She pinned me with a look. “Because my brother thinks he needs to put his own life on hold to babysit me.”

  Oops.

  “And so do you.” Piper got to her feet. She towered over me where I sat on the bed. I would have gotten up myself but it wouldn’t have helped. Piper was over six feet tall. I’d have to stand on a chair to be taller than her.

  “Piper-” I started to say.

  “No! It’s true.” She paced the small patch of carpet beside her bed. “You. Luke.” She paused, watching me with wounded eyes. “Drew.”

  I swallowed. She was right. But I didn’t know what to say. We were all worried about her. Piper was strong, but there was some element within her that seemed so
fragile. Like she could shatter at any moment.

  “We just love you, Piper. We care.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  She deflated like a balloon, sinking down onto her bed beside me. “I know that.” Her eyes met mine and in them was a pain she rarely let anyone see. “But how will I know if I’m ever going to be okay on my own if I never am alone?”

  I frowned. “Pipe, why would you ever have to be alone?”

  We were both silent for a long time. Finally, Piper smiled. “You’re right. Why would I ever have to be alone with such amazing friends and family surrounding me?” The words were right, but her tone was off.

  “Piper, I don’t understand-” I began.

  “Drew made reservations for dinner and rented the limos for Saturday,” she interrupted.

  I knew we needed to finish this conversation, but I was distracted by what she’d said. “Limos? Plural?”

  Piper looked at me like I was slow. And maybe I was. “We can’t be in the same limo. That wouldn’t help your plan at all.”

  Right. The plan. The plan where I was supposed to seduce Luke without it coming off like I was seducing him.

  Maybe seduce wasn’t the right word.

  But I didn’t have the right word for hit him over the head with a baseball bat, aka, me in my stunning prom dress (insert eye roll) and spend the evening showing him what he would be missing if he chose Abby.

  “Why did I agree to this plan again? I’m starting to feel like I have no self respect.” Like at all.

  Piper turned to me with a concerned expression. “What? Why would you feel that way?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I have to trick the guy I like into liking me back?”

  Piper’s lips thinned. “That is not what we’re doing.”

  I gave her a look.

  “It isn’t,” she insisted. “Look, you’ve kissed, right? And it wasn’t just a kiss, it was a long, make-out kind of kiss. I’m sorry, but there is no way Luke hasn’t been thinking about it. About you. We’re just going to remind him how awesome kissing you was and get him thinking about doing it again.”

  “That’s just it, though. I don’t just want to kiss Luke. I want the whole thing. Dates. Holding hands. A relationship.” I wanted what Piper and Drew had.

  “I know. I get it. I really do. Drew didn’t think he wanted a relationship at first, either. It took some time, but he’s totally on board now. And I don’t think Luke will be that hard to convince. He’s known you forever. We just have to get him to link the Dannika he’s known since third grade to the Dannika he made out with on Saturday night and you have a boyfriend.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Piper rolled her eyes at my skepticism. “Well, I do know. Seriously, who could resist you? You’re gorgeous, and funny, and sweet. Way better than that other girl.”

  Piper was trying to be helpful, but I hated being compared to Abby. She was the pretty one. The popular one that all the guys wanted. She was the one who’d held Luke’s attention for eight months. Nine years of him ignoring me was no competition for that.

  I’d go along with the girls. Get dolled up and play a little hard to get with Luke, but it wasn’t going to change anything. In the end, we’d go our separate ways and hopefully he’d end up with the girl he wanted because I really did want him to be happy.

  At school the next day, Luke cornered me at my locker.

  “What do you want?” I asked. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him being a jerk. I was pretty certain I’d just failed a pop quiz in Trig and I wanted to scream. It was the end of senior year and along with the rest of the senior class, I was over school.

  “That’s not a very nice way to greet your date to prom.” He fell into step beside me.

  My only response to that was a growl.

  Luke laughed. “Okay, okay. I get it. Rough day.”

  It had been. And thankfully, it was over. “Is there a reason you’re following me?”

  Luke’s eyebrows scrunched. “Um. Aren’t we going to the same place?”

  Technically, that was true. I did usually hitch a ride with Piper and Luke, or sometimes, just Luke if Piper was going to ride with Drew. Like today.

  “Yeah, but you never walk out with me. You always just wait for me at the car with your fingers tapping on the steering wheel.” Luke wasn’t known for his patience.

  Luke’s shoulders tightened. “Look, I just wanted to talk, alright? We have a date this weekend. I thought we should discuss things like when I should pick you up. Where we’re going to dinner.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Why are you being so difficult?”

  Uh.

  Maybe because you kissed me like you meant it then took it back right after roping me into being your date to prom in an attempt to make your ex-girlfriend jealous?!

  Of course, I didn’t say that. Instead, I said, “I didn’t think you cared that much. Piper and I arranged everything.”

  Luke frowned. “Why would you think I don’t care? Just because we’re going as friends doesn’t mean I want everything to suck. We can have some fun, can’t we?” He looked at me with his gorgeous eyes and I almost forgot what we were talking about. It was so irritating that he had that effect on me.

  I shrugged and tried to pretend it didn’t matter to me one way or the other. It was just prom. Just one night. Making a bigger deal out of it wasn’t going change anything. To be honest, I was probably just setting myself up for disappointment.

  In fact, disappointment was almost a guarantee. Might as well lower my expectations to rock bottom and then I might come out of this with a fun memory with a good friend and not a broken heart.

  Beside me Luke sighed. “Well, are you going to tell me what these plans are or not?” He pushed open the door leading out to the student parking lot, holding it for me to pass through.

  “Sure. What do you want to know?” I didn’t have to make it easy on him.

  Luke growled this time. “What time do I need to pick you up? Where are we going to dinner? What color is your dress? Did you already order flowers? Do I need to pay you back for them?”

  I tried to remember the questions in order. “Drew order a limo. I live across the street. Piper made reservations at that steakhouse downtown. I can’t remember the name. My dress is red. Flowers are ordered. Drew paid for everything, or his dad did, you can settled up with him if you want. But I don’t think he cares.”

  Luke stopped walking somewhere in the middle of all that to stare at me. “Drew paid for everything?”

  “Yep,” I replied.

  He stood up taller. “I don’t want him to pay for us. I have money to pay for you and me.”

  I shrugged. Part of me thought he was being silly. Drew had more money than he knew what to do with. But on the other hand, I respected that Luke didn’t want handouts from his sister’s boyfriend. “Whatever. You can work that out with him.” I started walking toward his car again.

  “I will,” he replied, following close behind.

  “Fine.” Opening the back door, I tossed my backpack in the seat. It wasn’t as heavy these days and the realization caused a wave of sadness to wash over me. High school was almost over. In a few short weeks everything would change. Not only would I not see my friends everyday, some of them I might not ever see again, except on social media. At least, that was what my mom kept telling me, that we’d all become ‘Facebook friends’, only knowing each other through posts with pics of cute kids, pets, and what was ordered for dinner at a favorite restaurant. I didn’t even get on Facebook. There were too many political posts about stuff I didn’t understand.

  Luke marched to the driver’s side and put his backpack next to mine in the back seat. I could tell by the furrow in his brow he wasn’t satisfied with our conversation. But really, what did he care? This wasn’t a real date. This was ploy, a strategic move on his part to get something he wanted.

  But wait? Wasn’t that what I was doing, too?

  “You did
n’t tell me what time,” he said once we were both settled into the front seats. “On Saturday?”

  “I think five. Our dinner reservation is at six, but we have to drive there and our mom’s want pictures. At least we live close to each other. We’ll just do them all at your house and my mom can come over too.” Because apparently prom was something she actually cared about. I thought she was going to burst into tears when I told her I was going with Luke. I’d never told her outright that I had a crush on him, but she wasn’t stupid. As a real estate agent it was her job to notice details. Even though she wasn’t around much, it would have been hard to miss the signs of my obsession with my best friend’s brother over the last ten years.

  Luke put the car in reverse and backed out of his parking spot.

  At this point, I’d begun to hate being alone with Luke. Honestly, it was bad before, knowing he had a girlfriend and wasn’t interested in me at all, but now, it was pure torture. One, he didn’t have a girlfriend anymore. Two, I knew what it was like to kiss him. Three, he still didn’t want me. And lastly, I had a ‘just friends’ date with him this weekend.

  Yeah, I liked torturing myself.

  Slouching down in my seat, I leaned my forehead against the window. All of these thoughts reminded me of the pact I’d made with myself to figure out what I wanted with my future. The only problem was I had no idea what that was. How sad was that? I had absolutely no ambition in life. I always assumed I’d go to college, get some generic degree, and then get married and have kids.

  I really wanted a family. Maybe it was silly, but my dream was to become a soccer mom. I had visions of making cookies on Sunday afternoons with my kids, dressing them in cute clothes for family photos, and volunteering at their schools. Even if I couldn’t have kids of my own, I planned to have a huge family whether through adoption or fostering, whatever it took. That’s what I wanted.

  Probably because I’d never had that myself. My mom wasn’t the nurturing sort. She was not at all an example of the kind of parent I wanted to become. All the things I wanted to do with my future kids were the things she’d never done with me. Decorating sugar cookies. Making pancakes on Saturday morning. Taking family vacations to see national landmarks. Bringing homemade treats to class on my birthday. Reading chapter books together before bed.