“And?”
She sighed.
“You’re hot.”
“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“You’re also a pain in the ass.”
That made me smile. This girl had spirit.
“You do know I have a girlfriend?”
“I didn’t say you were perfect. So, will you let me take you to Prom?”
“I just have one question: what color dress will you be wearing?”
“Blue.”
I heard in the background, “YES! He said yes!”
She came back on and I was chuckling.
“Crud, you heard that. I’ll call you when I have it all arranged.”
AT LUNCH, IT WAS ‘TORMENT Poor David’ day. I think everyone was enjoying me not having a date to Prom. I might have been a little bit of an ass, bragging about taking Adrienne. I was making a list in my head of who was getting payback at some point.
“David only has two days to find a date for Prom, people,” Gina said, holding court. “We need a list of eligible people. We can’t be picky here, so any idea’s a good idea.”
Jeff raised his hand. Gina pointed at him.
“I heard Maryanne Webber is still looking for a date.”
Poor Maryanne was hands down the homeliest girl at Lincoln High. On top of that, she was barely passing, which gives you a hint that she was dumber than a sack of rocks. Rumor had it that she had licked the peanut butter spoon and put it back into the vat the cafeteria put out each day. Since then no one would touch it. Jeff just made the list.
“Okay, write that one down, Cassidy,” Gina said, enjoying herself just a little too much.
Mike stuck up his hand and Gina nodded at him.
“Lisa Felton,” he shared.
There were a lot of oohs and aahs from the guys, but Cassidy waved her hands to stop them.
“She’s taken. Brad asked her out this morning.”
The girls all perked up, knowing I would NEVER date her now. I felt a little sad. Mike got a pass.
Alan raised his hand and the floor recognized him.
“Stacy Clute.”
There were some nods at her name. She was in my art class. That was a very good suggestion, which moved my buddy up a notch. But I had already asked her, and she turned me down.
“Sorry guys, she said ‘no,’” I told them.
“Are we in the Twilight Zone? Our David got rejected twice in the same week?” Jim asked, to the delight of everyone.
Then Eve raised her hand. I had a bad feeling about this one.
“We have someone right at this table: Tracy.”
It was a classy move by Eve to, in effect, give permission for me to go out with Tracy. Everyone had kind of shunned her after she and I hooked up. She had put on a brave front and kept eating with us. We had kept our distance to keep from causing trouble, but she knew I still cared for her.
Tracy waved her hand.
“I can’t,” she said. Of course, everyone assumed she had a date. “David already has a date.”
She floored them with that. I was wondering how she knew when I had just said yes five minutes before lunch. She held up her phone.
“I just got a text from Kendal that says David is taking a Miss Haley Durham to Prom.”
All heads snapped from Tracy to me.
“Who’s that?” Gina asked.
“She was my third-grade teacher. I always thought she was good-looking,” I offered.
Miss Dudley was good-looking. Every guy in third grade followed her around like a puppy. She was still single, but rumor had it she was dating someone.
“I call bullshit,” Eve said. “Show us a picture.”
I opened my tablet and showed the picture Adrienne had sent me. Ed was shaking his head.
“I swear. You’re the only guy I know who could fall into a pile a shit and come out of it smelling like a rose.”
“But I thought he gave his tickets to Wolf? Aren’t they sold out?” Mike asked.
Someone told me Wolf wasn’t going because he couldn’t afford it; his dad was currently laid off. So I gave him my tickets when I decided not to go. The baseball team had put together a drawing for a tux rental, which he somehow won. Jim and Cassidy needed someone to double with, so Jim was driving and paying for dinner. Small towns take care of their own.
Gina snorted.
“Do you think for one second that the guy that got Ford Models to pay to move Prom from the gym to the country club wouldn’t be able to get tickets?”
“There is that. Plus, she’s hot,” Mike offered; that got him a glare from Eve.
It didn’t look like Eve was on board with this. I got up and she and I went for a walk.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
I could hear the hurt in her voice.
“I literally only found out on the way to lunch. I was planning on telling you before everyone else, but Kendal had to tell Tracy. You know that I was planning on staying home.”
She was still fuming, but I could tell she was calming down.
“Yes, sorry, it just caught me off guard. So who is this girl?”
“Ford Models found her for me back in January. She’s an actress trying to get her career back on track. She was looking for someone to pose as her boyfriend. Ford thought it would help my career and hers. I turned them down.”
“So why is she back?”
“I figured she’d be a better date than someone from around here who might get their feelings hurt. She just seemed like a safe alternative to sitting at home.”
She kissed me.
“I’m sorry for getting mad. I know we’re in a weird relationship, and I have to remind myself just to enjoy today. I know better than to be all clingy since I’ll be leaving soon.”
“Eve, it was a weird situation with me taking Adrienne. If I had my choice, I’d be taking you to Prom. We have Bill to think of, though. He’s a good guy, and I want you both to have a good time. Taking Haley will let me come. Will you save me a dance?”
“You bet. We’ll have a good time,” she told me, then she changed the subject. “Is your dance class ready for tonight?”
“Yes, and they love your song. It’ll come off well. I’m even going to be all cowboyed-up, just for you.”
The bell rang, so we walked to class.
THE TALENT SHOW HAD drawn a big crowd this year because they’d announced that Eve would be introducing her new song. Angel had also gotten the local country stations to announce it. She was making the circuit of stations on Friday and letting them play the new song before its release.
We were scheduled to go last. The dance team had been working hard, and I thought we were going to look good. One of the girls was in theater also and got them to help us with a set. The theater group had done Grease in the fall. They still had the old ’50s-diner props. That had been one reason I didn’t want to do Grease again. The fall production was good, and I didn’t want ours to be compared to it.
I liked the changes the dance class had made. They made our dance moves more country than swing.
Eve and I watched the other performances from the wings. Most were forgettable, but a couple were decent. A quartet did a classical chamber piece that was good. A brother/sister team did the old classic by Sonny and Cher, I Got You Babe; that was a hit. They’d scheduled a fifteen-minute intermission before we came on.
Eve and I watched in amazement as mass chaos ensued. The theater department set up two-thirds of the stage as a diner. The other third was for Eve. They placed a stool with a microphone and a guitar stand for her acoustic guitar. The stage manager had us take our places. The lights went off on the stage and I could hear the MC.
“Now for what you all have been waiting for: Lincoln High Dance Team accompanied by a special guest, Eve ‘Country Girl’ Holliday!”
The curtains pulled back, the spot on the MC went out, and lights for the diner came up. There were two booths with girls dressed in bobby socks and poodle skirts. There were also girls at the counter, with one of the girls dressed up like a waitress. In the center was a table for two with one of those old-time five-cent jukeboxes.