Prom Kings and Drama Queens (12 page)

“But don’t you think Grams will be disappointed if the captain doesn’t respond?”

Brian frowned. “I guess you’re right. Maybe you can bring it over tonight. I’ll be home alone with Grams.” Hmm. Was he trying to tell me something? Was this the beginning of us “hanging out”?

“My parents are going out to dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Clausen,” he added.

Suddenly, a picture of Brandy Clausen’s face wormed its way into my consciousness. I was silent for a minute, and then finally got enough courage up to ask, “How was Brandy when you dropped her off at home Friday night?” If he did indeed drop her off.

“She was fine, as usual. She’s been pulling this ever since we sort of dated last year. Her migraines always 114

seem to come when everyone else is having a good time.”

“So, um, what did you do then?”

“I took her home, but only after I had to hear all about the weekend spa camp she and Randy are going to before prom.”

“Spa camp?”

Brian laughed. “Yeah, I tuned out for most of it, but I think you just go there and get facials and massages and stuff.”

“Hmm.” I said. “Maybe she and Randy the Girl Scout will earn their massage badges.” Brian laughed again. “I think Brandy already earned that one a long time ago.” He paused and then added nervously, “From what I hear, that is.” I wasn’t sure how to answer, so I didn’t say anything.

I thought it was sweet, though, that he didn’t want me to think he’d personally partaken of Brandy’s massage skills.

“So what time do you have to be home?” Brian said.

“No time, really. I’ve got some studying to do, but that can wait.” In fact, the whole rest of my life could wait.

“Want to grab something to eat and then come to practice with me?”

Practice. It wasn’t exactly what I’d imagined for an almost first date—Brian in his gym shorts throwing a 115

ball around while I sit and watch. The gym shorts did add a positive spin to the whole thing, though. “Sure.” Lunch turned out to be a burger and fries in the car because Brian was late for practice. Since Brian paid, I wondered if this could be counted as our first date.

I found myself wondering the same thing a little while later as I sat in the bleachers, watching Brian bounce the basketball off the backboard and through the hoop.

“Are you going out with Brian?” A voice from behind me.

I spun around to find Daniel’s sister, Brianna. She smiled at me.

“Um, no,” I said, startled by her bluntness. “He just asked me to watch practice.”

Brianna laughed. “That’s a sign,” she said.

“Of what?”

She climbed onto the bleachers and sat next to me.

Then she leaned back and rested her elbows on the seat behind us. “The court is sacred,” she said. “Players don’t invite anyone to watch practice unless they think it’ll bring them good luck.”

“Really?” I said, feeling an involuntary smile coming on.

Brianna kicked her flip-flops off and let them fall under the bleachers. “Austin wouldn’t let me come to practice for months. Then one day, I surprised him at 116

the gym and he made two three-pointers. After that, I was a regular.”

I looked around at the empty bleachers. “But isn’t it boring after a while?”

“Sometimes,” Brianna said. “But Randy and Ariana are usually here, too. We even have Cougar Girlfriend T-shirts.” Then she added, “Mine’s in the wash because I wore it yesterday.”

I nodded. “Cool,” I said, wondering exactly how cool it was to sit around an empty gym watching your boyfriend play basketball, wearing a shirt that defined you by your girlfriend status.

After a while Ariana and Randy showed up and sat in the row in front of us. Both looked a little surprised to see me. Randy gave me a scornful look and proceeded to talk only to Ariana. I’d expected them to leave
me
out of the conversation, but they didn’t include Brianna either. It wasn’t any great loss. They talked mostly about shoes and purses and the weekend spa camp. After a while they got up and went outside.

I turned to Brianna. “Are you going to the spa camp, too?”

She shook her head. “My parents think it’s ridiculous. It costs like eight hundred dollars for the weekend.”

I noticed she never took her eyes off the court. I wondered if I was breaking any of the “girlfriend” rules 117

by not paying attention so I decided to focus on the practice. A lot of the guys had their shirts off. No wonder Brianna kept her eyes there.

I couldn’t figure her out. She was a cheerleader and Austin’s girlfriend, but she didn’t seem to have much in common with the other “Cougar Girlfriends,” despite the Stepford Wife T-shirt. I knew she got good grades because at a school like Crestview you know things like that. And she worked as a Latin tutor to freshmen.

Daniel’s big brother routine must have been paying off.

There was more to her than shoes and spas.

I thought about my psych homework waiting for me at home and tried to pay attention to what was happening on the court. The guys were playing against each other—shirts against shirtless. Too bad Brian was on the shirts side. I hadn’t had a peek at those abs since I’d delivered the captain’s note. Was it possible that was only a week ago? Since then, I’d been hauled off to jail, gone to an athlete/cheerleader party, and had a sort of lunch date with Brian. Matchmaking for the elderly was definitely paying off.

Okay, focus on the game. Brian caught the ball, dribbled, and then tried for a long shot and missed. Austin took it on the rebound, shot, and made it. Then he looked up at Brianna to make sure she’d seen. Brianna let out the appropriate “woo-hoo,” and Austin went back to the game. Funny. That was the kind of thing I’d 118

seen my brother do with my mom.

It was Brian’s ball again, but this time he passed it to Austin, who missed. “Out!” Coach Maxwell yelled when the ball landed on the other side of the painted red line. Brian and Austin looked down and shook their heads.

Ariana and Randy returned and continued to ignore us. They seemed to be following that unwritten cheerleader rule to keep your eyes on the court.

It wasn’t like I had anything against cheerleaders, not all of them anyway. But I’d been brainwashed by my mom at an early age to find other activities. “Do something that’ll make people cheer for
you
,” she said.

I hadn’t found out what that would be yet. But I still wondered why anyone would spend time off from school, cheering at a practice.

Then Brian made a three-pointer, turned to look up at me, and gave me the biggest smile ever. Suddenly, I understood why “Cougar Girlfriends” would spend their Sundays in the gym.

“Woo-hoo,” I yelled.

119

FOURTEEN

Emily Moves Closer

“So what did you do all day?” my mother asked as she sliced a bright red tomato into perfect sections.

“Is that tomato for us or a photo shoot?” Mom laughed. “Sometimes the food is actually for us to eat. I’m making a salad and your dad’s grilling some chicken and sweet potatoes outside.”

“Cool, but it can’t compete with pizza.” My mother tilted the cutting board and slid the tomatoes into a bowl of lettuce. “Few things can compete with pizza. But you didn’t answer my question.”

“Brian and I delivered his grandmother’s note to the captain of the
Conga Queen
. We ate lunch and I watched his basketball practice. Then we came home.” 120

I tried to contain my excitement as I spoke. There was no telling how my parents would react. It wasn’t like we were the Montagues and the Capulets, but the Harringtons weren’t exactly on my mother’s Christmas cookie list either.

Mom ran water over the cutting board, washing the leftover tomato seeds into the sink. “So you’re serious about this matchmaking thing?”

“What do you mean serious?”

“Just that it’s a big responsibility.”

“How?” I hadn’t thought delivering a few notes would be that much responsibility. It would have to end sometime. I mean, wouldn’t Lily and Captain Miguel want to meet each other eventually? Or exchange phone numbers? Who knows? Maybe the captain even had a screen name. Lily could use Brian’s computer, and she and Captain Miguel could IM each other. Put me right out of the message-distribution business.

Mom hesitated. “What if when they meet each other, one of them doesn’t like the other one? Or one of them ends up heartbroken? Will you be ready to pick up the pieces?”

I hadn’t thought of that. Was I ready to go from courier to consoler? Did I have the necessary skills to mend a broken heart? Especially a heart that had been around for a while? “Mom, you’re freaking me out. I never thought of those things.” What I didn’t tell her 121

was that the only thing I’d been thinking about was Brian.

“So what happened after you gave him the note?” I picked up the dish towel and twirled it. “The captain gave me another note for Lily.” Mom shook her head. “I don’t know about this. Do you have any idea what the note says?”

“Of course not. It’s folded in the shape of a boat.” Then I added, “Would a stalker or serial killer take the time to make a little paper boat?”

Mom frowned. “I don’t know.” She poured vinegar and then some olive oil into a bottle. “It’s just that Lily might be a very lonely woman. Her judgment could be clouded when it comes to men. Are you sure you should deliver this note?”

The oil and vinegar bubbled as my mother shook the bottle. “I already said I’d deliver it later tonight.” I paused. “I think I should keep my word.” But was it my word or my date with Brian that I was really worried about keeping?

I waited until I saw the Harringtons’ car leave the garage before I bounded downstairs and out the kitchen door that evening. Brian was already outside, bouncing a basketball on the driveway.

“Good timing,” he said.

I smiled. It’s easy to have good timing when you’ve 122

been waiting for forty-five minutes by your bedroom window.

Brian dribbled a few more times and tossed the ball against the backboard. It ricocheted and headed my way. I caught it and passed it to Brian. He passed it back. “Take a shot,” he said. “We’ll do a little one on one.”

I dribbled a few times and shot from the side. My

“sweet spot.” I knew nothing about sports but somehow when I played basketball with my brother, I was always able to make a basket from that angle. “Yes!” I shouted as the ball went through the hoop.

“Not bad,” Brian said. “A girl who can shoot a basket. Maybe Grams was right.”

“What do you mean?”

Brian took a few more shots. “She said you were the perfect girl for me.”

I caught the ball on the rebound and dribbled. Be cool. Be cool. Dribble the ball like you’re not totally losing it. “Do you believe everything Grams says?” Brian stole the ball from me and laughed. “Almost.”

“So,” I stammered, changing the subject before I made a complete fool of myself, “is Grams waiting for us?”

Brian hesitated. “I didn’t mention it to her. I really wanted you to come over tonight, but I’m still not sure it’s a good idea to give Grams the note—maybe 123

we should read it first.”

I’d been all for privacy before, but Brian seemed nervous. “Okay,” I said. “I guess we could—just to make sure it doesn’t say anything that could upset her.” I took out the note and unfolded it. It had gotten dark so Brian and I stepped onto the porch. The frogs, hidden away in the night, whirred around us as we stood under the lamplight. Brian’s shoulder touched my cheek lightly and I tried to keep my hands from trembling as we read:

Dear Miss Lily,

I am wondering if you would do me
the honor of joining me for dinner next
Sunday. Please, if this is acceptable to you.

Your admiring fan,

Captain Miguel Velasquez

We stood there for a long time, as if we each had to sound out the words syllable by syllable, neither of us breaking apart. I felt the warmth of Brian’s breath on my arm as my blood raced through me. It was as if nothing else existed—like it was just Brian and me, reading the note inside one of his parents’ snow globes.

“Awww,” I finally said in a whisper. “That’s so cute.

He’s such a gentleman. Shall we give it to her now?” Brian shrugged. “I guess it’ll be okay if he took her 124