Hi, Ash.
Hi, yourself. How do you feel?
Like crap. You?
Better now.
Sorry about last night. Can you talk?
I know that is code for am I alone?
Yes.
My phone rings almost instantly.
“Hey,” I say
“Hey.” He sounds worse than I imagined.
“Wow. You sound horrible.”
“Yeah, thanks.” I can hear his smile.
“Sid was pretty sure your dad was going to kill you, so I’m glad to hear you are still alive.”
He gives a small laugh. “Barely.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Well, I just threw up all over him.”
“Your dad?”
“Yup.”
I press my lips together to try not to laugh. “How’d that go over?”
“Not well.”
I know this isn’t funny, but I can’t get the image of Todd’s dad out of my head. He’s always so buttoned up.
“Did you tell him about Penn State?”
“Yeah, but before he was covered in my vomit, so that didn’t really help.” There’s a long pause, and I know before he even says the words, “I can’t go tonight, Ash.”
And there it is. My first thought is how much I hate Casey. This is his fault. I don’t know what to say, so I don’t speak.
“I’m so sorry. Now I’ve ruined your homecoming, too.”
Silence.
Anger.
More silence.
“Say something, Ash,” he says quietly, finally breaking the silence.
“What can I say? You can’t go, which means I’m not going.”
“That’s ridiculous. You should still go. I want you to go.”
“But I don’t want to go without you.”
“Ash, I’m going to try to fix this. I showered, and I still feel like I got run over by a truck, but I’m going to go outside and paint the fence with my dad. Maybe if I do everything I’m supposed to do today, he’ll change his mind.”
“But what if he doesn’t?”
“Then you should still go. Sid and Shane will kill me if you don’t go. And I want to see you in your dress.”
“But you won’t be there.”
“I’ll figure out a way.”
Chapter 9: The Dance
ASHLEY
Todd’s dad didn’t change his mind. In fact, he called my parents, and now Ryan is allowed to go to the dance but nothing else. He has to come straight home, which means I have to come straight home, too.
More hate for Casey.
I’m going through the motions of getting ready, though I couldn’t care less. Sid, on the other hand, is still beyond ecstatic and still coming over to get ready. Todd said he almost convinced his parents it was a stomach bug, but when his dad discovered his car was still at Mark’s, it sealed the deal on what his dad already knew—this is no stomach virus—which equals Sid’s parents driving her over here and no Todd.
When I hear Ryan opening the front door for her downstairs, I want to be excited, yet I can’t bring myself to even fake it.
My bedroom door swings open while I remain planted on my bed. I have improved on my make-up abilities since last year, so that is done; however, I’m still in shorts and a T-shirt.
Sid is standing there in my doorway with her giant garment bag and a smile bright enough to light up my dark room.
“Get up. It’s homecoming!” She’s so giddy she reminds me of Gretchen. I actually think they would be good friends if they got to know each other better. “And turn some lights on, for God’s sake. So what if he can’t go? I told you last night. I knew it,” she continues as she moves around the room, turning on all of my lights.
“Thanks, Sid, but the I-told-you-so’s don’t make me feel any better. I’m still going alone.”
“Excuse me? What am I, chopped liver? And Shane is going to be here in twenty minutes. You have two dates.”
“You have Simon and Shane has Johnny.”
“And you have Todd ... and Casey.”
My eyes dart to hers, filled with anger and shock. I can’t believe she just said that.
“Finally, a reaction. Please, we all know how you and my brother feel about each other and how much he loves you after last night. I mean, he wouldn’t shut up about it in the car.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t remember any of that, so it’s probably a good idea not to bring it up.”
Her eyes study me for a moment before she finally drops her arms and shrugs like she’s been defeated.
“Fine. Don’t go.” The look of disappointment on her face is enough to guilt me into finishing to get ready and at least pretend like I’m happy about it.
“I’m going.” I push myself up. “Geez, I didn’t think you’d give up that easily.”
Her lips turn up in an evil smile. “I knew that would work. That was all part of my plan.” Then she cackles, actually cackles.
“You are evil.”
“Oh, please, like I was going to let you not go.”
***
Shane and I are a sweaty mess. We have been dancing nonstop and are finally taking a break on the chairs that are lining the room.
The dance is more fun than I thought it would be without Todd. Johnny and Shane seem better, even though Shane says they are playing it as “just friends.” At least they are talking. Shane seems happy except for when Johnny dances with girls, which he is currently doing. The one positive is it motivated us to take this break.
“You know what? I’m going to dance with a girl, too. Let’s see how he likes it. Why can’t I dance with a girl?”
“Hello. Girl. Sitting right here.”
His eyes connect with mine as he brushes his sweat soaked hair off his forehead. “Come on, Ash, you know what I mean.”
His eyes relock on Johnny who is in the middle of a slow dance with Courtney Fleming. She’s one of the leaders of the popular junior girls, and she is all over him.
Surprisingly, a lot of girls came to homecoming alone this year, so I fit right in. The chairs along the perimeter of the room are packed with girls during all of the slow songs.
I gesture over to the line of girls. “Well, there’s tons to choose from.”
Shane glances over, and I can almost see the wheels turning.
“Yeah, but which one?” he says under his breath.
“How about Emma Miller? She’s nice. And I actually think she might have a crush on you.”
His shock-filled eyes meet mine. “Really?”
I just give him a headshake and an eye roll. “You are ridiculous, you know that?”
“Don’t Sid me. I saw that.” He slowly gets up to make his way to the group of girls lining the wall.
“It’s our one year anniversary!” Sid squeals as she plops down next to me.
“Oh, yeah, it is. Wow. I can’t believe that was one year ago.” I think back to last year’s dance and how jealous I was of RTS when I saw her kissing Todd. It’s incredible how much has changed, and I can’t help smiling at that. “Speaking of, where is Simon?”
“Bathroom. Plus, I needed to take a break. Where’s Shane?”
I gesture over to the direction he just went, and then Sid and I both do a double take. Our heads whip back to one another.
“Emma Miller?” we both say over one another.
I fill her in on Shane’s plan, but neither of us can look away.
Shane looks uncomfortable and unsure of what to do with his hands, but Emma looks elated. Poor girl, if only she knew…
Surprisingly, Emma takes control of the situation. She wraps her arms around his neck and rests her head on his chest, while Shane nervously glances over in our direction, looking for help. Sid and I get up and embrace each other to show him what to do, he gives us a head nod with a smile.
One thing Shane made sure he did right was place himself directly in Johnny’s line of sight.