by Paula Chase
“Did you honestly call to chitchat, Angel?” Kelly asked, scowling at the phone.
His ironic “yeah, I’m busted” chuckle came through loud and clear.
“You know why I’m calling,” he said. “But for real, you sound like something wrong.”
“Not like you care, but the guy I was with on Friday just stood me up,” Kelly said. She took her time with the short distance, blending in with the light bustle of moms walking their kids or dogs, students walking home—just another person yapping on her phone as she went about her day.
“Awww, he left you sitting at the pizza place by yourself,” Angel teased.
“I’m his tutor,” Kelly said, wondering why she was explaining.
“Oh, then what you care? That’s his grade, not yours,” Angel said. “So you was tutoring him on Friday?”
“No. It was a date. Are you jealous?” Kelly said, meaning it in a sarcastic way.
But Angel surprised her, coming back in his soft but tough way with, “Yeah, I am.”
There was an awkward pause, long enough for Kelly to exit the main street and get through the gates of her neighborhood, where the quiet settled around her, allowing her to hear Angel crystal clear.
“I’m still feeling you. Is that a crime? Look, stop making me look like some sort of old punk,” Angel said with an embarrassed chuckle. “I’m not asking you be my girl or nothing. But I do want to take you to prom.”
“Why? Did your other girlfriend turn you down? I don’t want to be your second choice,” Kelly said, not believing for a minute that she was. No way Angel asked other girls, and they said no. He was too persistent and fine for that. But having the upper hand, even for a second, was nice.
Silence came from the other end of the phone. Kelly thought he hadn’t heard her, so she started to ask him again just as he finally spoke up. His voice was so low, even in the quiet, she had to smash the phone to her ear to hear him.
“Kelly, you barely let me say ten words to you since last March. Every time I thought you might be ready to talk to me, I’d drop over Jacinta’s with Raheem when I knew you was gonna be there. And you cold shouldered a dude.” He snorted. “So I didn’t ask.”
“Well, why now then?” Kelly asked in hushed suspense.
“Real talk, I was gonna blow through prom solo. But Raheem kept riding me about how stupid that was when it was plenty shorties I could ask.” Kelly could practically see Angel winking at her as he said, sweetly “But I wanted to go with you, nenesita.”
“You were going to go alone?” Kelly whispered, completely taken in by Angel’s admission.
Mr. Tough came out as Angel bragged, “Well, I was gonna take two honeys, but they won’t let you buy more than two tickets. So that messed a brother’s game up.”
Kelly looked at the phone as if it had bitten her, then she heard Angel laughing.
“I’m playing, ma. I’m saying, real talk, I didn’t ask no other shorty to go with me.” His voice went silky smooth as he said in Spanish, “Only you.”
Kelly stopped in front of her house.
Aww, only me? she thought, breaking out in a smile.
The words were good balm for a wounded and recently stood up tutor, even if her mind was already weighing the baggage that went along with seeing Angel—explaining this last minute invite to Grand, Angel’s hustling, his uncanny knack for talking her into things she thought she didn’t want to do.
She looked up at the big estate—the sprawling yard, tennis courts off to the side, the pool and studio in the back. Angel was probably home in the small row house he shared with his uncle in his perpetually darkened room, walls covered with posters of near naked models, boxes of sneakers piled high.
Everything about her and Angel were different. And she could say no on that alone. They’d tried it: it didn’t work. Let’s be friends, it’s not you, it’s me, and all that great breakup talk.
It was easy to say no to Angel bursting into the Ria, confident that he could sweep her off her feet. And she should have because saying no to the quiet, sincere Angel was a different story.
“Come on, ma, you know I’m gonna show you a good time,” Angel said. Sensing her silence was in his favor, he added one last gentle ego stroke. “For real, I been missing you.”
And there it was, the boost she needed. One minute, she was scampering away from campus, her ego busted. The next she was telling Angel yes, her mind already calculating how she was going to do this without Grand knowing.
She hung up with Angel, dashed into the house, her mind already concocting a plan, Operation Take That, Greg—a tag she planned to share with no one.
And by the way, Greg who? she thought, standing in the middle of her closet, which was the size of most people’s bedroom.
She took inventory of a section vibrant with colorful party dresses. Thanks to Grand, she had enough dresses to attend fifteen proms, if she wanted.
She plucked a pink strapless, tea-length dress from a cushiony satin hanger and held it up to her in front of the floor-length mirror. With her free hand, she pulled her thick, chestnut hair back into a messy updo. She admired her image and realized her heart was racing.
Dropping the bundled hair, she placed the dress on a peg and busied herself looking for accessories. The puzzle of the sudden date came together in her mind.
It made no sense to grieve over a missed tutoring session. Like Angel said, it was Greg’s exam grade. They’d only had one date. It hardly made them soul mates. Going out with Angel, if nothing else, would be an unpredictable good time.
And Jacinta would be there, so she wouldn’t be totally alone with him.
With a push of a button, a panel opened, revealing the cubbies holding her shoes. She grabbed a pair of crystal heel sandals and slipped them on. The entire outfit was coming together well. And the best part was she wouldn’t have to even tell Grand she was going.
Kevin was leaving to fly to Los Angeles after school on Friday to spend time with their parents. He was only in middle school—all he’d miss the last week of school was rented DVDs and lame games disguised as learning.
Grand was seeing Kevin off, then going to dinner and a movie with some friends. Kelly would simply be home before her grandmother.
Nope, no sense in telling Grand about this. It was really only another date, anyway.
Angel had said he didn’t want anything more. But if he did…
Kicking off the crystal heel sandals, Kelly scrambled for her purse and fished out the Sidekick. She plopped down in the middle of the closet and texted Lizzie, the one person who would be honest with her.
Lizzie was having a great day.
She’d gone through the entire school day without a single thought about Todd. Well, there was that little fleeting thought in second period when she’d opened her Chem book and a note from Todd had fallen out and she’d teared up a little before her Chem partner, Tabby, thrust a beaker full of something bubbling toward her.
Okay, it wasn’t great. But Lizzie was having a good day.
She’d changed every single one of her regular routes to class—routes that had been originally chosen for their proximity to Todd’s routes so they’d catch one another in the halls a few times a day. It worked. She hadn’t run into Todd once until…
She was standing in front of the auditorium, talking to Mr. Collins. He was going on about the annual end of the year Role Reversal night Bay Dra-Da held with The Players. “I know it falls on prom night.” His hairy brown mustache wriggled in disapproval. “So that means none of my seniors are going. But I hope to see you there, Elizabeth. Remember, it’s for charity.”
“Well, I…” Lizzie started when she got an eyeful of Todd and Volleyball Girl rounding the corner.
Unable to break eye contact, she took in every detail of their body language. They were walking side by side with barely an inch between them. Of course, Volleyball Girl was laughing like an idiot, and Todd’s mouth was moving, so he was telling some sort of joke, Lizzie figured.
Her eyes bucked in surprise, and Mr. Collins instinctively turned his head to see what she was gaping at. Seeing only two students walking down the hall toward them, he cleared his throat.
“Elizabeth, you were saying?”
Her mouth moved in automatic answer, but her eyes stayed locked on Todd as he moved her way. “Well, I was going to be helping my friend get ready for prom but…”
Mr. Collins cut her off with an exasperated sigh. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me you’re going to prom, too. I’m going to have to talk to Madame Zorba about this and make sure it doesn’t fall on the same date as prom next year. I really need some of my best students to show.”
“No, I’m not going to prom,” Lizzie said, watching as Todd finally saw her watching him. Emotion flickered in his eyes—guilt, in Lizzie’s opinion—then he forced a smile on his face. He threw up a weak, obligatory wave.
Lizzie’s eyes fluttered away. She clamped her mouth shut against the trembling in her jaw.
“Oh, good. So you’ll be there,” Mr. Collins said expectantly.
“Yes,” Lizzie whispered huskily.
“Well, don’t sound so excited about it,” Mr. Collins said, accompanied by his customary ha, ha, ha laugh.
“Oh, I didn’t mean…no, I’m excited about it,” Lizzie said.
Mr. Collins patted her shoulder. “Good. Good. See you then.”
He walked off, leaving Lizzie in the hallway alone.
Her neck ached as she fought against turning to see where Todd and Volleyball Girl had gone. She was relieved when her phone beeped, signaling a text, saving her from her own impulses.
She pulled open the door to the auditorium and escaped into its cool dimness. The stage was dark, the room still. The only sound, the occasional rumbling of the AC, which spewed cold air into the vast space. Walking into the auditorium brought her bigtime stress during audition time. But today, it was her hiding place. She turned her phone to vibrate so it wouldn’t disturb the silence.
She slunk down into a seat, resting her shins on the seat in front of her, and read Kelly’s message:
Gotta ask u smthng. Pls b honest w/me. Pls!
Lizzie typed back “ok” and waited.
Her eyes popped at Kelly’s response.
Greg ditched our tutoring session. Guess he’s through w/me. But jus fnshd tlkg 2 angel. He asked me 2 prom agn n I said yes. Am I cr8z?
Lizzie sat upright, folding her legs beneath her. She wasn’t even sure how to respond because the truth was, Kelly and Angel were finished before they started. Though she’d done a good job giving him the cold shoulder for the last twelve months—Kelly, being Kelly, was too sweet to cut him off completely forever. So Lizzie wasn’t all that surprised he’d slipped back into the picture.
Her phone buzzed:
u still there? Rmbr b honest! Am I cr8z to say yes?
Lizzie thought crazy was an understatement. But then again, her opinions on dating were 180 degrees different from her friends, and look where that had gotten her with Todd or for that matter, with her own best friend. She threw Kelly her support.
Crzy yes bt its jus 1 nt, rt?
Lizzie detected a definite tone from Kelly’s response—relief.
See thts wht I thght 2! Jus 1 nt. Not lke he’ll gt the goodies ?
Lizzie chuckled low in her throat so the sound wouldn’t bounce off the walls.
Extly, she typed back.
It seemed like Kelly wouldn’t really be rid of Angel until he graduated. If all it took was a prom date from her so he could move on, Lizzie was all about that for her friend, though she wasn’t about to put it that way to Kelly.
She hugged her knees to her chest, holding the phone near her temple as if attempting to relay her thoughts to Kelly telepathically. Obviously, she was the only one who couldn’t just go with the flow, so Todd had found someone who would. Hadn’t everyone been saying that all along?
A hundred clichés filled her head.
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
When in Rome, do as the Romans.
When you’re up the creek without a paddle, jump in and swim back downstream.
She’d made up that last one. But it was the one she preferred over the others because she wasn’t going to just give in completely. There had to be a way to compromise with Todd. If he’d let her.
The phone buzzed urgently in her hand, the vibration tickling her temple. Seeing another text from Kelly, she slid the smooth, cool phone to her ear and decided to call her back. She needed some help of her own.
Compromising Positions
“You ain’t going nowhere, I know because I told you so.”
—Young Buck, “U Ain’t Goin No Where”
With Kelly’s easygoing but practical advice (“Liz, just tell him the truth”) still ringing in her ears, the plan was simple—Lizzie was going to tell Todd how much she really liked him, apologize for not trusting their relationship to run its course, and ask for another chance.
Used to Mina’s more involved schemes for keeping things on track, Kelly’s so straightforward, it might work suggestion was just crazy enough to get Lizzie her boyfriend back.
Lizzie hoped.
She strode into school the next morning, heading toward Todd’s locker, determined. “Todd, I didn’t mean to be such a dweeb about it,” she muttered under her breath, practicing as if she was running lines. Two steps from Todd’s locker, she looked up through the crowding hallway and saw Volleyball Girl, spring fresh in a yellow and blue plaid mini and a matching yellow polo that highlighted her tan, heading her way.
Was she coming to wait by Todd’s locker, too?
Lizzie didn’t want to find out. In a panic, she sped up and veered to the left, colliding with Mina.
“Ow.” Mina rubbed her collarbone. “I was trying to run into you today, but not literally.” A tiny smile lit up her brown sugar face. It grew larger when Lizzie smiled back. “Where are you dipping to so fast?”
The hallway filled quickly. People bumped the girls, forcing them to squeeze together to hold their spot. Lizzie glanced back among the crowd, and Mina followed her gaze to Volleyball Girl at Todd’s locker, running her fingers through her lush brunette curls, head cocked to the side as she peered down the jam-packed hallway.
“What’s wrong?” Mina asked.
Lizzie swallowed hard. She was not going to cry. She was not, was not, was not going to be one of those girls who cried at school because of boy problems. Not today, not…
“I hate crushes,” Lizzie said before she began blubbering.
Mina’s eyes narrowed in confusion, but she immediately put an arm around Lizzie and walked her to the only quiet place around, the girls’ restroom. They stood in the empty lavatory for a few seconds while Lizzie sniffled and hitched. Mina waited patiently, handing Lizzie tissues until the tears stopped.
“I was going to apologize to Todd this morning and ask if there was any chance we could try again but…” Lizzie slumped against the sink. She shrugged her shoulders heavily. “I think he’s already moved on.”
“Who, Cassie?” Mina asked.
Lizzie nodded, not surprised that if there was any gossip going around about her and Todd’s weekend breakup, Mina would already know.
“Yeah, she’s totally trying to get with Todd.” Mina dismissed it with a hip nudge and smile before leaning against the sink with Lizzie. “But I haven’t heard anything about him trying back.”
“He sure looked like he was trying yesterday. I saw them together after school,” Lizzie said. She turned and stared at her glossy, red-rimmed eyes in the smeared mirror.
“Well, too bad. The statute of limitations isn’t up on your breakup window,” Mina said. “Shoot, Friday to Tuesday is barely a break, much less a breakup.”
Lizzie’s laughter boomed in the small, cavelike bathroom. It had been a while since she’d heard one of Mina’s made-up, nonsensical life rules, rules that only applied in Mina’s world. The absurd idea that there wa
s actually some sort of time limit where a breakup could be reversed tickled Lizzie and reminded her of a hundred other Minaisms created for the sole purpose of making them feel better about situations that sucked.
Her shoulders shook with the last remnants of laughter, then her green eyes grew somber. “Sorry I went off on you on Friday.”
“Breakup stress. It’s cool,” Mina said. She shrugged, but relief flooded her face.
A warm joy spread through Lizzie’s heart. They both knew some of the things she’d said went beyond any sort of temporary insanity outburst. But she loved Mina for saying so. It was just the thing she needed to hear right now.
“I should have told you about the pact when I first thought about it. At least you would have known how much I wanted us to do it together,” Lizzie said.
Mina nodded. “Be honest. Do you think I’m some sort of sex-crazed bimbette because me and Brian did it?”
Her eyes, crinkled with worry, pierced Lizzie’s, relaxing only after Lizzie shook her head vehemently. “No, not at all. I didn’t want you to take the pact because I have anything against…” Lizzie’s eyes fluttered in a nervous tic. “Doing It. Just seems like we’re both so caught up in the guys, and the pact seemed like a way to help us…” She frowned, concentrating hard on finding the right words before deciding on, “Take a step back.”
“I don’t mean to obsess about Brian so much,” Mina admitted sheepishly. She crossed her fingers. “Scout’s honor that I’ll probably, definitely, maybe work on doing better.”
Both she and Lizzie laughed at the noncommitment commitment.
“I won’t hold my breath,” Lizzie said.
“I never meant to put him before our friendship…. Is that what you thought I was doing?”
Lizzie shook her head, meaning it. Brian wasn’t really the issue. It was the whole invisible tug-of-war with Jacinta, the reality that Mina and Jacinta could now trade stories about contraception and a million other things they might now have in common that Lizzie didn’t want to think about.