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But the prom was coming up. And it may have been a stupid fantasy, but I wanted to go with Jake. I had a whole daydream of him in a tux and me in some gorgeous dress, walking into the dance together and everyone stopping to stare. In a good way, of course. Why couldn’t I have that? Why did everything have to be so screwed up?
“You okay?” Jake asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” I said, forcing a smile even though my heart was so heavy it was tugging down on the corners of my mouth.
Maybe I’d just work a double shift the day of the prom. Earn money instead of spending it on a dress and a ticket and a limo. Save up for next year’s prom.
When maybe, just maybe, things would be different.
jake
I was standing outside my English classroom, cramming for the test I was going to have to take in three minutes, when Trevor and Todd came bouncing up to me out of nowhere.
“Dude, dude, dude! Did you ask anyone to the prom yet?” Todd asked, slapping my shoulder and squeezing it. Hard.
I flinched, still clutching my copy of The Odyssey in both hands. My thoughts instantly flashed on Ally, and my cheeks flared. “No. Why?”
“Cool! Because I just asked Je
“And I asked Kiersten Staples—”
“And they said they won’t go unless Carrie A
“So will you ask her?”
I stared at them. “Who?”
“Carrie A
My blush deepened and I nodded. “Right. Carrie A
“I don’t know, guys.” I looked down at my book and tried to concentrate.
“Come on, man! If you don’t ask her, we don’t have dates,” Trevor said, bouncing up and down in his destroyed Chuck T’s.
“Why won’t they go without her?” I asked.
“Who knows?” Todd said, throwing up his arms. “Some stupid girl code? They’re like BFFs or something, and they all want to go.”
“What’s tripping you up man? The big boobs or the hot legs? Why is this even an issue?” Trevor added.
I took a deep breath. The thing was, it wasn’t like I could go to the prom with Ally.
Whatever we were doing, we’d decided to keep it a secret. For a very good reason. But I couldn’t not go to the prom. Everyone was going. We were getting a limo together, and we were going to all drive down to Hammond’s house on LBI after. It was going to be sick. I couldn’t miss it. Ally couldn’t expect me to miss it. And if I couldn’t go with her, I didn’t really care who I went with.
“All right, fine,” I said. “I’ll ask her.”
“Yes!” the Idiot Twins cheered, chest-bumping each other. They turned toward me, thrusting their chests out again, but I shook my head.
“No. I’m good.”
“Thanks, man,” Trevor said, slapping me on the back. “You won’t regret it.”
The bell rang, and I turned to walk into my English class, feeling tense and nervous and sick. I told myself it was just because I was about to fail my English test, but I knew that wasn’t it. Even though what I’d just promised to do made perfect sense, I had a feeling that Trevor was wrong. Somehow, I was going to regret it.
jake
I pulled my Jeep into the parking lot at the elementary school and took a spot at the back. There were a few other cars in the lot and at least twenty people playing touch football in the sun out on the Little League baseball field. I spotted Ally right away. She was laughing as she tried to tag Chad Lancaster, but he dodged her outstretched fingers and scored, spiking the ball near the backstop. All his friends gathered around him, cheering.
What the hell was I doing here? These guys weren’t go
I glanced at Ally again. She hadn’t seen me yet. I could just bail. Say something came up. Tell her I was having a psychotic break when I’d texted yes after she’d asked me if I wanted to come.
What if my friends drove by and saw my car here?
I gripped the steering wheel tightly, then got out of the Jeep. I was not going to let my friends dictate what I could and couldn’t do. Just being here didn’t automatically mean that me and Ally were a thing. I could have driven by, seen the game, and asked to join. Besides, Sha
A couple of the guys spotted me as I walked over. Everyone stopped playing. Yeah. This was a mistake.
“Jake! You came!” Ally shouted, her smile huge.
Or maybe it wasn’t.
She jogged forward and stopped in front of me. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
Was I supposed to kiss her? Hug her? I wanted to, but not with everyone staring at us like this.
“Hey, guys. Jake’s on my team,” Ally said, turning to her friends.
“What? No way,” Chad said, palming the ball.
Here we go. Out with the Crestie.
“You’ve already got twelve,” Jessica Landry said. “He’s on our team.”
“But, dude, you have most of the guys,” Marshall Moss argued. He had dirt all up the side of his sweats and T-shirt. “Your team is stacked.”
“What, like guys are somehow better at this?” Ally joked.
“Uh, yeah,” Marshall joked back.
She shoved him and he shoved her back, laughing. Okay, so they weren’t throwing me out, but I did not like this crap between Ally and Marshall.
“I’m on Ally’s team. She invited me, so that’s where I’m going,” I said.
“Whatever,” Chad said, tossing me the ball. “We’ll whoop your ass anyway.”
“Yeah.” I laughed. “We’ll see.”
Ally gri
“You thought I wouldn’t?” Now that I was here with her, the idea that I’d almost bailed seemed impossible.
“No. I’m just glad you did.”
I smiled back. I was glad too.
So, Chad’s team did whoop our asses, but it was fun. An hour later we were all dirty and sweaty and clamoring for our Gatorades and Snapples. Ally and I dropped down onto the rickety wooden bleachers and leaned back on our elbows as a few of the other guys messed around on the old jungle gym.
“Having fun?” Ally asked me, tilting her face toward the sun.
“Yeah.” All I could think about was where we could go after this. Where could I take her in the middle of the day so that I could kiss her?
“Apparently Cresties and Norms can get along,” she joked.
I felt a twinge of apprehension in my chest and shifted my weight. Somehow this suddenly felt like a test. “Yeah. I guess so.”
“Jake! Nice game.” Marshall walked over and slapped my hand.
“Thanks,” I said.
“So, I heard you’re going to the prom with Carrie A
I almost choked on my Gatorade.
“What?” Ally blurted.
I shot Marshall a look of serious, painful death. Ever so slowly, I capped my drink, put it down, and turned to look at Ally. My heart pretty much stopped. She looked like I’d just run over her mom with my Jeep. Crap. I already felt guilty for lying to her the other night when she’d brought up the Paddy B’s thing. Now this.
“You asked someone to the prom?” she said.
“Oh. Oops. Sorry, man,” Marshall said, backing off.
Yeah, sure you are, buddy.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ally asked.
“Can we talk about this somewhere else?” I said, getting up and tugging her away by her arm. She followed me over to a huge oak tree a few yards away from the bleachers. Ally leaned one hand against the trunk and looked down at the ground, kicking the dirt with her toe.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.