“Don’t be silly. I’ll drive you.” She looked determined to help, and I knew there was no arguing with her once she made up her mind. I scuffed my foot across the ground as I considered my next question. “Do you think Dad will be upset with me?”
Dad tended to do all the worrying for our family. It was probably a good thing one of us took life seriously, but it made me nervous he’d freak out when he found out there was a problem with the car.
Mom took me by the shoulders and started to walk me toward the door. “Don’t worry about your father. He’ll be fine. Now, why don’t you go get started on your homework?”
I let out a breath and smiled. “I guess I could get cracking on my English paper.”
I felt a sense of calm run over me as I walked from the office. Mom had completely understood about the car. I should have known it would be fine. My relief was short-lived though and quickly replaced by irritation when I saw my sister waiting for me at the end of the corridor. Kitty was four years younger than me and was pretty much the real-life tween embodiment of Regina George from Mean Girls—she was evil. Her life revolved around being popular, and she would do just about anything to rule her grade at school. She had even joined her middle school cheer squad to heighten her status. I only cheered because I enjoyed it, and I couldn’t stand half the girls on our team.
“Are you trying to make me die of embarrassment?” she screeched at me.
“Oh, hey, Kitty. How was school?” I didn’t stop to ask what I’d done to upset her now—there was always something—and walked right past her. Kitty was apparently on a mission though, because she tailed me down the corridor.
“What is everyone at school going to think when they find out my sister was in a cop car?” she continued. “I can’t be related to some criminal.”
“Are you guys still doing that bake sale on Friday?” I always found the best way of dealing with her tantrums was to pretend they weren’t happening. It only aggravated her more—which I secretly loved.
I stepped into my room, and Kitty stopped just outside the door, crossing her arms over her chest and giving me her dirtiest scowl. “I won’t let you ruin my reputation, so I’m giving you this one warning,” she commanded. “Whatever trouble you’re getting into, it stops now.”
I tried to prevent the laugh from bubbling out of my chest. I really did. But I just couldn’t seem to help it, and a small snort escaped me. The sound only made my sister’s eyes fill with more loathing, and I quickly started talking before I could make things worse. “Look, thanks for the talk. You’ve really put me on the straight and narrow.” I patted her on the shoulder before swinging my door shut.
“I won’t let you ruin me!” she shouted through the door.
This time, I let my laugh free. I’d thought the ride home in the cop car was bad, but Kitty’s reaction really put it in perspective. There was no need to be so dramatic.
I went over to my desk to turn on my laptop and slumped into my chair as I waited for the computer to boot up. My desk stood under my bedroom window, and when I looked outside, I could see right into the Becks’s house—Ethan’s room, to be exact.
He was sitting on his desk chair strumming his guitar just like he did every day when he got home from school. His mom was always gushing to mine about the band he was in with his friends. I had no idea if they were any good as I’d never heard him play. Given the amount he practiced though, he couldn’t be terrible.
As I watched Ethan, I couldn’t help but think about his brother and wonder why he had come home. Even during school holidays, Owen was rarely around as he always had a football camp to go to. Would he be back for long or was this only a short visit? Could I dare to hope he might be home for more than a few days? I was desperate to know but had no way of finding out. Perhaps, I should try asking Ethan about his brother again.
As if he sensed me watching, Ethan glanced up from his guitar and looked straight into my eyes. I panicked and instinctively ducked my head. I did it so quickly though that I lost my balance and fell off the chair, my arms and legs flailing up in the air as I crashed to the floor. There was no way Ethan had missed it, and I must have looked like a total idiot.
As I lay on my bedroom floor, I felt completely mortified—even more embarrassed than I had been when talking to Ethan earlier. No only had he caught me staring at him, but my reaction only made the whole thing worse. There was no way I could ask him about Owen now. I’d be lucky if I could ever look him in the eyes again.
When it came to the Beck brothers it seemed there was one thing I could be certain of: I couldn’t stop myself from acting like a complete fool around either one of them.
2
Ethan
My life was over. Well, maybe, not over, but it was safe to say my future was bleak. My brother had finally done something stupid enough to lose his athletic scholarship and get expelled from the stuck-up academy he’d been attending for the last few years. The person who was going to suffer the consequences of his mistakes the most though was me.
Our family always ate breakfast together, and while I never usually minded, today, it was torture. Dad was away on a business trip, so it was just Mom, Owen, and me sitting around the kitchen table. No one was talking and Mom had barely touched her food. She couldn’t even look at my brother, which was a noticeable change from the way she usually treated the golden child of our family.
The silence that stretched between us wasn’t just uncomfortable; it was painful. It was like the quiet had sucked the moisture from the air and the very molecules around us had become prickly and cold as they scraped against our skin. It was a striking difference to the atmosphere in the house the previous night. Owen had arrived home yesterday, and Mom had practically lost her voice after hours of shouting at my brother. Even Dad had put in his two cents’ worth over the phone. He might have been a thousand miles away, but his disapproval had been more than evident last night.
I’d disappeared to my room at the first chance. I didn’t particularly want to take part in the fight, especially not when I was still on a high from Hayley Lawson finally speaking to me. She might have been asking about my brother, but I wasn’t about to let that little fact ruin the moment. She had noticed me for once, and I couldn’t believe it.
“You will be coming with me to the school today,” Mom said, finally breaking the silence. She still refused to look my brother in the eye, but it was fairly clear he was the one she was addressing. “We need to get you registered so you can start next week.”
Thanks to his expulsion, Owen was returning to Lincoln High, and I was dreading it. We weren’t the kind of twins who read each other’s thoughts; we were the kind who couldn’t stand each other, and the rift between us had only grown worse since he moved away. The academy he’d attended had completely changed him, and over the years, he’d gone from slightly self-assured to completely full of himself. He legitimately thought he’d created the sun and it shone only for him. The last thing I wanted was to see his arrogant face in classes for the rest of the year.
“Sure, Mom.” He gave her his trademark smile, which was usually one of the more deadly weapons in his arsenal. The thing was like magic and had always managed to enchant even the harshest critics. From annoyed teachers to strict coaches, no one could resist Owen when he smiled at them like that, and our mom was the biggest sucker of them all.
She barely looked at him though, and his smile faltered. “This school is your last chance,” she said. “And you’re unbelievably lucky they’re allowing you to enroll there after what you’ve done. If I hear one whisper that you’re not acting as a model student, I’ll be locking you in your room and throwing away the key until you graduate. That good behavior starts today.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but Mom was out of her chair and headed for the kitchen before he could utter a word. To say she was livid was an understatement, and I didn’t blame her. Owen had done plenty of stupid things over the years, but he’d finally g
one too far.
He’d barely spoken to me since his return, and I was more than happy for things to stay that way. I didn’t want to hear anything that came out of Owen’s mouth. Unfortunately for me, I was now left alone with him.
“Happy to have me back, brother?”
I was suddenly missing the awkward silence that had filled the house all morning. I looked away and took a bite of my toast to save myself from having to respond. I didn’t really want to lie, so I’d rather just pretend he wasn’t talking.
He grunted. “Well, at least the girls at Lincoln will be happy to see me.”
My stomach twisted as I thought of the one girl who had already shown an interest in his arrival: Hayley. What if he noticed her in return? Had he seen her watching him yesterday? My toast seemed to lodge itself in my throat at the thought. I somehow managed to swallow it before I focused on my brother once more. “Got your sights set on any of them?”
“Hardly.” Owen leaned back in his chair. “But, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of them thirsting after me once I’m back in class.”
“I’m sure,” I muttered in agreement. The rest of the year was beginning to feel like it might stretch out for an eternity. Owen being back was like some form of punishment, and I really had to wonder what I’d done wrong to deserve it.
“From what I hear, I’ll be back just in time for prom,” he continued. “Do you have a date?”
I didn’t answer, and he gave me a self-satisfied smile. “I suppose not.”
“Don’t act so smug. You hardly have a date.”
His eyes lit with amusement. “True, but unlike some people, I can have any girl I want. Plus, I would never secure a prom date more than a day or two before the dance. Girls get far too clingy, and who knows what you could be missing out on if you lock yourself in too early?”
I placed the rest of my toast back on my plate, my appetite suddenly gone. My brother didn’t appear to care he’d lost his scholarship. Were girls really all he could think about right now? Didn’t he at least feel bad for upsetting Mom the way he had?
I picked up my plate and stood from the table. I didn’t want to hear whatever stupid thing my brother would say next.
“Where are you going?” he grumbled as he eyed my half-eaten piece of toast.
“School. Some of us are still welcome there.” I didn’t wait to hear his reply.
* * *
“What’s up, loser?” Isla asked, as she slumped into the seat next to me.
I’d been sitting in homeroom quietly stewing over Owen’s return, and my friend was a welcome distraction. As I looked at her, I noticed she’d dyed the ends of her dark hair blue over the weekend. Combined with her army boots, skinny jeans, and the plaid shirt around her waist, she looked like some kind of Korean punk princess.
“New hairstyle?” I asked.
“Yep.” She grinned as she twirled the blue strands of hair around one of her fingers. “Do I look cool enough to be in your little band now?”
I chuckled. “You definitely look the part, but there’s still the little problem of you being tone deaf, so I don’t think the band thing is going to happen.”
“I’m not tone deaf. I’m tone challenged. And, you guys should be so lucky to have my off-pitch musical styling.” She was still smiling, so I knew she didn’t take any offense. We’d been friends forever, and this was hardly the first time I’d given her crap about her lack of musical skills. She actually wasn’t all that bad at singing, but we’d been joking about it for so long that I sometimes forgot it wasn’t true.
“I guess I’ll just have to settle for being the band’s biggest groupie,” she continued. “Do you think I’ll need to get your face tattooed across my back to earn my place in the fan club?”
“Ah, no.”
“Please don’t do that,” Colin added as he sat down at the desk on my other side. “Ethan has enough groupies, and we don’t want to give them ideas.”
“I don’t have groupies.”
“Yeah, you do,” Isla said with a laugh. “Not that you ever pay them any attention.”
“I don’t have groupies,” I repeated.
“So, those girls always screaming your name when the band plays are just a figment of my imagination?” she asked.
I grunted in response, deciding it was easier to ignore the comment rather than trying to convince Isla otherwise. “Anyway, if you’re going to get someone’s face tattooed on your back, shouldn’t it be Dex’s?” I asked instead. Dex was our drummer and had been Isla’s boyfriend for almost a year now. He was in college and was the main reason we scored most of the band’s gigs. He was an expert at talking venue managers into giving us a shot, something I was certain Colin and I would fail miserably at if it were up to us.
Isla started to respond, but I was distracted as Hayley Lawson walked into the classroom. My gaze trailed after her as she went to sit next to one of her friends, her high ponytail bobbing as she glided across the room.
Homeroom was both the best and worst part of my day. It was the best because I got to start each morning with my two best friends. But it was also the worst, because every day, I watched Hayley enter the room, and every day, she failed to notice me. She might have finally talked to me last night, but I knew it was only because of my brother. It was yet another reason to hate him. He caught the attention of the girl I liked without even trying.
“Maybe Ethan’s the one who needs a tattoo across his back,” Colin said, as he saw where I was looking.
I punched him in the arm. “Shut up.”
“Don’t you mean across his heart,” Isla added.
I scowled at her. “I would punch your arm too, but I can’t because you’re a girl.”
“That’s so sexist,” Isla replied.
I rolled my eyes and lightly tapped my fist against her arm.
“Much better.” She laughed before her eyes turned serious. “Are you ever going to stop pining over her?”
“I’m not pining after anyone.”
“Well, you are,” Colin said. “You have been for years.”
“And it’s getting ridiculous,” Isla added. “You’re the lead singer of Velocity. And I know that means nothing to most of the idiots who go to our school, but you guys won battle of the bands last year, and you’re insanely talented. There are girls who would kill to date you. College girls.”
“She’s right, you know,” Colin added. “Several girls were waiting offstage for us on Saturday night, and I’m pretty certain they weren’t there for me.”
“Sure, they were.”
“Yeah, because chicks dig skinny, redhaired guys,” he replied, sarcasm dripping off his tongue.
“They do when you’re playing guitar,” Isla told him. I nodded along with her. Colin’s talent when he played was unrivaled, and there was no way we would have won battle of the bands last year without him.
Colin scoffed. He’d never had much luck with girls, which was probably why he didn’t believe us. I didn’t exactly have the best track record either, but only because I was completely fixated on the one girl who would never look at me twice.
I could remember the exact moment I fell for Hayley. We were thirteen years old, and it was our first day of gym class for the year. Bobby Newman had gone up to Hayley and told her she looked hot. I remember her blushing right up until the moment he lowered his gaze to her chest and congratulated her boobs for finally making an appearance. She’d punched him in the nose, sending him crying to the nurse’s office.
The moment felt like lightning striking me. I’d always thought Hayley was beautiful. But it was her attitude that had made my heart lurch. Hayley didn’t take crap from anyone—which only made her more attractive.
There was something seriously sexy about a girl who stood up for herself. I had no hope in the world of ever catching her attention though. I was so thoroughly outside her field of vision I had to wonder if I was just a blur in the background whenever we were in the same room.
&nbs
p; It really didn’t help my chances that Hayley seemed to like my brother. She was always so full of life, but whenever he was around her, it was like watching a rabbit in the headlights. Her eyes went big, and she looked like she wanted to run away. Last night, when she’d caught sight of him, she seemed completely unable to move. It had been painful to watch her walk down the driveway and turn into a statue as Owen emerged from the car. It wasn’t until he’d disappeared into the house that she’d even noticed I was there.
That was another major reason I didn’t want my brother back at school with me. If he realized how amazing Hayley was, she’d be lost to me forever. Owen was so wrapped up in himself that I was hoping it wouldn’t happen.
“Why don’t you go on a date with someone who actually knows you exist?” Isla asked. She was talking in what I’d dubbed her mother hen voice, which she loved to use on Colin and me whenever she felt the need to give us advice. She wasn’t exactly one to hold back on her opinions, so the voice tended to make a daily appearance.
“Hayley knows I exist,” I grumbled. She had at least shown she knew my name last night, which was something.
“Are you sure about that?” Colin asked. “I know you like her, but maybe, Hayley’s just like all the other cheerleaders in our school.”
He wasn’t looking at Hayley when he spoke. Instead, he was focused on the white-blonde locks of the captain of the cheerleading team. Laurie was nothing like Hayley though. She was an ice queen who ruled our school by striking terror into the hearts of all her subjects. I frequently saw her walking through kids in the corridor as if they weren’t there, and she really wouldn’t have any idea who I was. I was shocked Colin could even suggest the two girls might be alike.
“Hayley knows I exist,” I repeated. “And she’s nothing like Laurie.”
I looked to Isla for support, but she was staring at me with her head tilted to the side, as if she were assessing me. “Maybe, if you took your glasses off at school, the girls here would notice you,” she suggested. “You never wear them at gigs, and the glasses just emphasize that whole reclusive dork vibe you’re always giving off. It’s hurting your image.”
The Wrong Prom Date Page 2