Will the Real Prince Charming Please Stand Up (7 page)

****

There were already about forty people at Ally’s house when Brady, Dante, and I arrived. Dante started to complain there wasn’t any parking on the street near the house when Mrs. Katz appeared and waved Brady into an empty space in their three-car garage.

“You were saying?” Brady said when he turned off the engine.

I crawled out of the back seat and rushed to catch up to Dante. He had started toward the front door without waiting.

“Why are you going this way?” I asked when I reached him.

He looked at me, curious. “To go to the front door?”

I pulled him back to the garage. “They treat Brady and me like family here. We don’t use the front door. Come on.”

Dante followed me into the house, keeping a firm hold on my hand as I moved from room to room in search of my friends. I found Talia in the family room. She wore a white dress similar to mine, and her hair was pinned up and encircled by a braided crown. I could barely see the electric blue streak she’d had earlier that day. She cradled a stuffed owlet as she sat on the armrest of the love seat and was engaged in an animated conversation with Jake and Finn. They were dressed as if they were about to go on an archaeological dig and even had myriad tools holstered on their belts.

“Hey, guys!” I called.

“Hera!” Jake shouted, jumping up. He genuflected, then rose and looked at Dante before he whispered, “Uh, you know Thor is Nordic, right?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Funny.”

“Your costume turned out nicely,” Talia said. She looked up at Dante. “Viking helmet? Where’s your chiton?”

“Last minute character change,” I replied for him. “Where’s Ally?” I scanned the room in search of her. Through the French doors, I could see there were about twenty people outside, but I wasn’t sure if she was among them.

Talia glanced around. “Um, she was talking to one of her brothers earlier,” she replied. “Did you try the kitchen?”

I was leading Dante toward the kitchen when someone in a flowing white gown and long golden tresses materialized and stopped me with a big hug.

“You’re finally here!” Ally gushed. “And your costume looks great!” She looked at Dante. “What happened to Zeus?”

“Character swap.” I tried to hide my annoyance. After all the grief he’d given me about wanting to be a couple at Halloween, he’d dressed up as a deity from a completely different society, and my friends knew it. “I love the hair,” I said, reaching out to touch it. “I didn’t realize it was so long.”

“I hate straightening it,” Ally said loud enough only for me to hear. “Do you have any idea how long it took Talia and me to do this?”

I smiled. “But you look awesome!”

She coiled a lock of hair around her finger and beamed. “Thanks.”

Dante cleared his throat and tugged on my hand.

“I’ll see you later!” I called over my shoulder as I followed him.

He silently led me to a secluded hallway and pulled me close as he kissed me, softly at first, then with a little more urgency. He backed me up against the wall, his kisses intensifying as his hands moved up and down my sides. I shuddered when they brushed up against my breasts, and he grinned at me.

“Can we go somewhere a little more private?”

Alarm bells sounded in my brain. I wasn’t totally sure what Dante would want to do if I led him up to Ally’s room or something, but if his roaming hands were any indicators, I wasn’t ready for it.

“I think we should get back to my friends,” I said, putting my hands on his chest.

“I thought you wanted to be with me,” he said, his lower lip jutting out in an adorable pout as he pulled me closer to him.

I tried to wriggle free. “Of course I do. But we just got here, and I want to hang out with them, too.”

He stepped back and folded his arms across his chest. “Fine,” he huffed.

We stopped in the dining room to get drinks and say hello to a few people there. I saw Zoe Rogers, Dante’s ex-girlfriend, dressed as Dorothy from
The Wizard of Oz
, and another girl I recognized as a cheerleader from Lakeridge High, the nearby public school, was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood. Their outfits were low-cut, short-skirted costumes from one of those Halloween stores that pop up in strip malls during the month of October.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Zoe asked when I picked up a chocolate-covered pretzel.

“Hera,” I replied.

“Hera who?” she said, looking confused.

“Um, you know, Hera? The Greek goddess?” Her expression remained blank. I cringed.

“Hi, Dante,” the Lakeridge High cheerleader said in a sing-song voice. She toyed with one of her blonde ponytails and batted her lashes at him.

“Hey, Tracy,” he said. “You’re looking good.”

She giggled, and I occupied myself by filling a small plate with snacks from the table while Tracy-the-cheerleader openly flirted with my boyfriend.

“I love your helmet,” she said. “Can I touch it?”

“Only if you show me what’s in your little basket.”

“You can check out my basket whenever you want,” she replied in a seductive drawl. I rounded the table as she put her hand on his arm. She inched closer and thrust her barely-covered chest at him.

“Hey, Dante,” I said as I put a couple of crackers onto my plate, “I’m going outside. You coming?”

He looked over at me. “Huh? Oh, yeah.” He touched the tip of Tracy’s nose with his index finger. “I’ll see you around.”

I tried not to gag when she giggled again. Instead, I cleared my throat and glared at Dante.

He followed me outside where I found Tim and Brady standing beside a patio heater, engrossed in conversation. My brother spotted me heading their way, and they stopped talking.

“Look at you!” Tim said. He twirled his finger in the air, motioning for me to spin around, and I obliged.

“She made it,” Brady said, taking the plate from my hands and transferring its contents into his mouth. “She found a pattern, dragged out my mom’s sewing machine, and did it all herself.”

“Really?” Tim asked, oblivious to the seething glare I directed toward my brother.

I nodded. “It’s not very good, and it drapes weird, and I struggled with finishing the hem, but….”

“I think it looks great.” He enveloped me in a hug, and I inhaled his scent. He smelled like worn leather and wood polish and rain, and I wondered why I’d never noticed it before. Of course, we weren’t exactly in the habit of hugging or anything, but he smelled, well,
delicious
. I wasn’t sure why, but it was seriously messing with my head. I took a step back and put my hand in Dante’s.

“You guys look great,” I said, not wanting to meet Tim’s eyes.

“Yeah, well that Chloe chick asked if we were from
Men in Black
,” my brother said, annoyed.

“Zoe,” I corrected him.

“Did you see how she and her friend were dressed?” Tim asked, as if that explained everything. “They’re not exactly original costumes. And whose attention are they trying to get, anyway?” He stared at my boyfriend, and I could have sworn I felt Dante’s grip tighten around my hand for a split second.

“Um, I’m getting kind of cold,” I lied, looking at Dante. “And thanks to Brady, I’m still kind of snackish. Do you want to go back inside?”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” He and Tim looked like they were staring each other down. The tension between them was palpable.

“Okay, then.” I offered a nervous smile to Tim and Brady before Dante led me back into the house.

“Is everything okay?” Talia asked as we passed her. I held up my hand and shook my head.

“I don’t like him,” Dante said as I followed him into Mr. Katz’s deserted study.

“Who? Tim?”

“He’s a jerk.”

“Oh, come on. I’ve practically known him my whole life. He’s totally harmless.”

“He doesn’t look harmless.”

“He’s a lot more harmless than that half-dressed Riding Hood you were flirting with.” I batted my eyes dramatically. “Ooh, Dante, can I touch your helmet?” I said in a high falsetto before I glared at him and said, “Gag.”

“You act the same way around that Tim guy.”

“No, I don’t! He’s practically my brother. Like, he’s Brady’s best friend. And he has a girlfriend.” I threw my hands up in the air. “I’m not seeing a problem.”

“I don’t want you hanging out with him.”

I froze, certain I didn’t hear him correctly. “Excuse me?”

Dante looked at me, his expression very serious. “I said I don’t want you to hang out with him anymore,” he said, carefully enunciating each word. “The guy is a jerk.”

My jaw dropped and my eyes widened in shock. This was too much. Didn’t he realize I was already sacrificing time with my best friends to be with him? And here he was outright telling me to stay away from Tim? I couldn’t believe it, especially after everything I’d said to my brother in his defense.

I folded my arms across my chest and pursed my lips. “I think I know Tim a little better than you do,” I said. “He’s one of the most decent guys I’ve ever known.”

“Well, I don’t like him.”

“You’ve said that.”

“And I don’t want him around you.”

“Yeah?” I snapped. “Well, I don’t care.”

I heard the slap before I felt it, a sharp sting on the side of my face where he struck me.

I covered my cheek with my hand and stared at him, stunned. No one had ever hit me before. I hadn’t even been spanked as a kid.

“Bianca,” Dante said as I took a step away from him. His eyes were wide with shock. “I didn’t mean to—”

I backed away from him, stumbling as I did so. “Get away from me,” I whispered.

He took a step toward me. “Wait, Bianca,” he pleaded. “Please—”

I cowered in a corner. “Stop talking and leave me alone,” I said.

He inched closer to me. “Bianca, baby,” he cooed.

“Don’t call me ‘baby’ and just go away!” I yelled.

Talia and Jake rushed into the room, quickly followed by Ally and Finn. Within seconds, my friends had assessed the situation and could guess what had happened.

And if looks could kill, Dante would have been hung, drawn, and quartered sixteen times over.

“I think you’d better listen to her,” Talia said firmly, putting her arm around me.

“I only want to explain—”

“Then you can explain it to her brother,” she snapped, not bothering to let him finish. “Somehow, I highly doubt Brady would be too thrilled with you hitting his sister.”

“But I didn’t mean—”

“Just go, Dante,” I said, burying my face in my best friend’s shoulder as I felt my eyes well with tears. I didn’t even bother to look up to see if he’d left. I knew my friends would make sure he did.

“Bianca!” Ally screeched after a few seconds. “What happened?”

I sank into one of the big leather chairs in the corner as Finn closed the French doors, shutting us off from the rest of the party. Jake handed me a napkin as he sat in the chair next to me, and Talia propped herself up on the armrest. Finn and Ally stayed by the door. They all looked expectantly at me.

“I swear I don’t know,” I said, dabbing my eyes. “It was the weirdest thing. Like, we were okay when we were outside talking to Brady and Tim, and then we come back in and Dante’s going all bizarro on me and telling me he doesn’t want me talking to Tim anymore.”

Jake looked confused. “Really? Why?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t want me around him, I guess. He said in no uncertain terms that he thinks Tim’s a jerk.”

“Well, it takes one to know one.”

“You aren’t helping, Talia,” Finn said with a stern look in her direction.

She pressed her lips together into a tight line and huffed. “Dante’s a control-freaky misogynist,” she spat, venom lacing every word. “I’ve seen the type. I
know
the type.”

“A what?” Ally asked.

“She’s saying he hates women,” Finn explained.

“No, I’m saying he doesn’t have any respect for them, like they can’t be trusted to make their own decisions or choose their own friends.”

“That’s not true, Talia,” I said with a sniff.

“Really? Then why didn’t you get into costume here like you always did? Why aren’t you sleeping over tonight?”

My cheeks grew hot, but I nodded. There was no question why Talia was my best friend. I never needed to say anything. She could see right through me.

“But why wouldn’t he want you around Tim?” Jake asked, amazed. “He’s Brady’s best friend.”

“I know,” I replied. “
And
he has a girlfriend. And I told him that and he still was all like, ‘No, I don’t like him. I don’t want him around you.’” I lowered my voice to imitate him. Ally snickered but stopped when I looked at her.

“And so he hit you?” Talia asked, her eyes narrowed.

“Well, he was like, ‘I don’t like that guy,’ and I was all, ‘Yeah? Well, I don’t care.’ And then he slapped me and then you guys came.” I shuddered.

Ally stared at me, dumbfounded. “I’m glad Talia saw you guys go in here. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I only know I don’t want to be around Dante right now.” I looked down at the folds in my skirt. “He freaked me out. That’s all.”

“No, that’s not
all
,” Talia said.

I took her hand and gently squeezed it. Her dad got arrested at her house a few years ago, right after we started fifth grade, and her mom filed for divorce not long after. Though Talia never talked about it, there were all kinds of rumors going around about domestic abuse, like how her dad used to hit her mom or something. That’s what I overheard my mom telling my dad, anyway.

“I’ll be okay,” I said to her.

“Are you going to tell Brady?” Finn asked.

“Oh, no.” I covered my face. “We’re supposed to give Dante a ride home.” How was I going to explain this to my brother?

“It’s cool.” Jake stood and walked to the door. “I’ll get Zack or Keith to get him out of here.”

I nodded. “Thank you,” I said as he left the room.

“And I’ll tell Brady that you changed your mind and wanted to stay over tonight, so Dante got a ride on his own to some other party,” Ally said.

“Way to make him sound like a hero!” Talia called after her as Ally rushed out.

Finn watched Ally retreat and looked at my best friend and me. “And I’ll, um, go socialize. Or whatever.” He walked out and closed the door behind him.

Talia and I sat in silence for a few moments before I said, “Go ahead. You can say it.”

“Say what?”

“That you told me so.”

She moved into the other leather chair and lowered herself into it. “I was kind of hoping I wasn’t right, though.”

“Really? You acted like you hated him.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m his biggest fan. I mean, Dante’s not exactly the greatest guy in the world.” She lifted a shoulder and let it drop again. “I didn’t want him to take you away from me, you know? Like, I didn’t want to lose my best friend because she got a boyfriend.”

I frowned. “But I would never let that happen.”

“I know,” she said, nodding. “Well, I mean, I know that
now
.”

We both stared at the walls in silence. I studied the pattern of the wainscoting, searching for some non-existent irregularity.

“So are you going to tell him?”

“Tell who what?”

“Tell Brady what happened?”

“Oh.” I bit my lip. “I don’t want to.”

“You should.”

“I know,” I said. “But I don’t want him thinking I can’t take care of myself.”

Talia arched a perfectly shaped brow and looked sideways at me. “He’d scare Dante more than he’d actually hurt him, you know.”

The thought of this made me smile. There was no way Dante could stand up to Brady. It wasn’t like Dante was scrawny or anything, but my brother lifted weights daily and was in crazy good shape. A confrontation between them would have been so unevenly matched. There would be no contest.

But the reality was that I didn’t
want
my brother to hurt him. I liked Dante, and I liked that he liked me. I liked that he met me after each class to walk me to the next one. I liked that he sat with us at lunch every day and didn’t care what his friends were saying. And I especially liked that I could plan on going to the Winter Formal because I knew Dante would take me. Plus, provided he passed his test, he’d be getting his license soon, which meant we could go on real dates — just the two of us.

No, I definitely didn’t want to tell Brady. I was certain Dante hadn't meant to hit me. He was insecure, and I wasn’t exactly sensitive to that. He and I could work this out. I was sure of it.

There were two soft knocks on the door before Ally glided into the study, holding my gym bag.

“Your brother is so adorable,” she gushed. “He said he had a feeling you’d change your mind about sleeping over, so he packed your bag!” She plopped it at my feet. “Surprise!”

“Oh,” I said, blinking in astonishment. “Wow.”

“I know, right? There’s no way any of my brothers would have done that for me.” She beamed as she stood before us, her arms akimbo. “And you’ll never guess what I just heard.”

“What?” Talia demanded when she saw her expression.

Ally was radiant, so we knew she had uncovered a juicy bit of gossip. I sat up straight and tried to smile, the earlier events of the night almost forgotten.

“Okay, so remember how I told you guys that Tim was going out with Chelsea Cooper?” I stifled a groan and nodded, and she continued. “Well, it turns out, yeah, they went to the dance together, but only because she asked him.”

“But I thought they were going out afterward,” I said. “I mean, they hung out at the lake with Brady and stuff, and she was all over him at school.” I caught Talia looking at me and shrugged. “Well, she was.”

“Oh, yeah, they went out a couple of times afterward, but she’s decided that she’s over him, and she’s moving on.”

“Wait. What?” I was confused.

“Seriously?” Talia sounded excited as she leaned forward. Her eyes were almost as wide as Ally’s.

“I swear.” Ally raised her right hand and laughed. “This came from a highly reputable source.”

“Like who?” I demanded.

If it was possible, she was even more animated as she spoke. “You know Chelsea’s sister Stephanie? She’s a junior. Well, I was talking to Brady, and we went to the garage for your stuff, and when I came back, Vicky Irvine was totally hanging all over Tim and stuff. So I asked Stephanie if Chelsea knew what Vicky was doing because they’re, like, you know, total frenemies and all, and that’s when Stephanie told me that Chelsea told her that Tim was really nice and everything, but he was kind of blah.”

“I don’t think Tim’s blah.” Talia looked at me again and I said, “Well, he’s not swoon-worthy or anything, but he’s not blah.”

“She wasn’t really saying
he’s
blah,” Ally said with an exasperated sigh. “He’s just blah toward her. You know, like not interested?”

“Wow,” Talia said, dragging the word over four syllables. She had a mischievous grin on her face, and I could almost hear gears turning in her head. “So you’re saying Tim’s available?”

“Oh, definitely.” Ally nodded. “Well, I mean, unless Vicky gets her claws into him, which she very well may. But he didn’t seem too interested in her, either.” They both looked at me, as if they were expecting some kind of response.

“What?” I said.

Their mouths were twisted in matching smirks.

“Oh, come on. That was so six years ago.”

Finn peered into the room and tapped on the open door. “Jake said Zack and the rest of the guys took Dante to some other party, so the coast is clear. You aren’t going to hang in here all night, are you? I’m supposed to be the anti-social one.”

“You aren’t anti-social,” I said as I stood and gave him a hug.

“You’re right. I just don’t like people.”

I put my arm through Finn’s as we rejoined the party. I was a little more relaxed knowing Dante was gone, but a part of me felt like I was only postponing the inevitable.