The Perfect Prom Date (15 page)

“Cool,” Brennan beamed. “My mom said she’d be happy to talk to them too.”

“That might help convince them,” I stated.

“We’ve rented a three bedroom place – one room for my parents, one for the four of us boys, and one for Madison and you, if you come.” He added, “I hope you won’t mind sharing with her.”

I laughed at the thought of the four boys in one room, while I slept in a room next door with Brennan’s little sister. “Are you kidding? Of course I wouldn’t mind; we’re sisters, remember. I stood up, “Come on, hurry up and take me home so that I can ask them.”

I’d never seen Brennan look happier. His blue eyes shined brightly in the dimly light diner. “I’ll take you home, but I don’t think you should ask them tonight. It’s getting late.” He pulled out his phone and checked the time. “It’s already 10:30 p.m.,” he cringed. “You might have better luck if you waited and asked them in the morning.”

“Good idea,” I agreed. “It’ll give me time to figure out the best way to ask them.
 
And I’ll be sure to wait until they’re both in a good mood.”

Brennan laughed. “I better get you home quickly, before your parents get upset that you’re out so late on a school night. I wouldn’t want them to think that I’m a bad influence on you.” Brennan held the diner door open for me.
 

“You know they don’t think that. They like you. Although they may not if they knew what we were really doing downstairs in the basement when they thought we’re watching movies,” I smirked.
 

“What do you, mean?” Brennan asked sounding all innocent. “You don’t think they’d approve of this?” He pushed my back against the car and put his hands on either side of me, leaning down to kiss me hard on the mouth. I returned his kiss with an equally demanding one of my own. I pushed my body against his, and a moan escaped my lips.
 
It was impossible to control myself when I was with Brennan. My body completely took over.
 

“I think we better go now,” I panted.

“You’re right,” Brennan said, pulling away.
 

I arrived home a few minutes later, bursting to tell someone my good news. I tried to call Rachel, but it went directly to voicemail. Damn! I’d have to wait until she picked me up in the morning.
 

I rushed up the stairs, still anxious to talk to someone. Ellie and I weren’t the kind of sisters who confided in each other, so I quickly walked by her room. I had a good relationship with my mom, so I was happy to see that her light was still on. She often stayed up late reading in bed, especially when my dad was out of town. She had a hard time falling asleep when he wasn’t home.
 

I poked my head in her door, and whispered, “Hi, mom. I’m home.”

“Kind of late for a school night, no? I know tomorrow is Friday and all, but still.”

“Sorry. Brennan picked me up from practice, and then I was so hungry that we stopped at Carol’s Diner to grab something to eat.”

“Just give me a call or send me a text next time, okay?” I was relieved that my mom didn’t seem angry, just a little worried.
 

“Sure,” I said, apologetically. I started to walk out of the room, but then I hesitated. I couldn’t keep it inside any longer, “Mom, can I tell you something?”
 

“Of course,” my mom said, closing her book and patting the empty side of the bed next to her.
 

“Brennan asked me - ”

“To the prom? I knew it. I knew he was going to ask you. I’m so happy for you,” my mom gushed, hugging me.
 

“No, no mom, he didn’t ask me to the prom,” I couldn’t keep the disappointment out of my voice. Even though I was thrilled he asked me to go on vacation, I still really wanted Brennan to ask me to the prom.

“Really? Well, what then?” She looked at me curiously.

“He asked me to go to Florida with him and his family over spring break.” I was so excited that I spoke quickly. “Isn’t that so cool? He’s playing in a baseball tournament down there, and then they’re all going to Disney for a few days.” I felt my face flush, worrying how my mom would respond.
 

“Oh,” my mom said, not hiding her surprise. “I knew you two were getting serious, but this is a little unexpected.”

“Will I be able to go?” I asked, hopefully.
 
“Please,” I pleaded. “I love watching him play. And you like Brennan.”
 

My mom nodded. “You’re right, I do like Brennan, but I don’t know how I feel about my teenage daughter going on vacation with him and his family.” She sat up in bed and shifted uncomfortably.

“Mom – I’m eighteen. I’m going away to college in a few months.”
 

“Don’t remind me. I’m not ready for all of this,” she sighed heavily.
 

In order to assuage her fears, I added, “I promise nothing’s going to happen. I’ll be sharing a room with his four year old sister, Madison.”

“I’ll have to think about it. And of course your dad and I will need to talk it over together.”

“I know. I’m just so excited. I finally have a boyfriend - a nice, kind, smart, and handsome boyfriend. I really care about him mom – a lot.” I smiled like a girl in love.
 

“I know. That’s what worries me.” She squeezed my arm.
 

“This is important to me, mom. Really important,” I stressed the word really. I held my mom’s gaze for a long time, making sure she understood how much I wanted her to let me go on this trip.
 

Finally she nodded her head.
 

“You’ll put in a good word for me with dad, right?” My eyes filled with worry.
 

“Is that why you told me tonight, so that I could help you convince your dad?”

“No, I told you because I was so excited I had to tell someone!” I laughed, and my mom laughed too.

“Okay, I’ll talk to your dad, but I can’t make any promises.”

“Thanks, mom,” I said, giving her a big hug. “You’re the best.” She squeezed me back. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” she said, opening her book to read again.

***

“Wow, you look tired,” stated Rachel when she picked me up for school in the morning.

“Thanks a lot,” I said, pulling down the visor and checking my reflection in the little mirror. “I do look like crap.” I sighed and rummaged around in my backpack for some last minute makeup. “I overslept. I had a hard time falling asleep last night, and then when I finally did fall asleep, I was so tired that I slept right through my alarm.” I applied some eye makeup and lip-gloss. “There. That’s the best I can do.” I pushed the visor back up. “Do we have time to stop for a coffee?”

“We do, if there isn’t a line.” Rachel drove through a yellow light.
 

“You haven’t asked me why I had a hard time falling asleep.”

“Okay. Why did you have a hard time sleeping?” Rachel asked, being a good sport.
 

“Because Brennan asked me - ”

“To go to the prom. OMG. We can go double,” Rachel shouted and just missed hitting a car.

“What is with you guys?” I grumbled under my breath.
 

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.” I braced myself for Rachel’s reaction. “It’s just that Brennan did NOT ask me to the prom!”

“He didn’t?”
 
Rachel asked, sounding confused.

“No, he didn’t…but…back up a second – you said that we could go double.
 
Which must mean…that…Kyle asked you?” I looked over at Rachel and she was beaming! I guess that explained her crazy driving and the fact that she just missed hitting another car. I put my hands on the dashboard and silently prayed that we’d make it to school in one piece. I felt bad about being so involved in my own drama that I hadn’t even noticed how happy my BFF was. I turned all my attention to her now, “Tell me how he asked you?” I asked enthusiastically.
   

“He didn’t ask me.”
 

Now it was my turn to be confused. “What?”

“I ASKED HIM! I kept thinking about how I didn’t want to back off. I like him so much that all I want to do is spend time with him, not push him away. And he’s so shy I was worried that he was never going to get up the nerve to ask me, so I said ‘fuck it’ and asked him. He said, ‘YES’, he said ‘YES’,” Rachel shouted.
 
Her tires squealed as she pulled into a parking space at Starbucks and hit the brakes.
 

I gave her a big hug. “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks,” she said shyly. “I hope you’re not mad that I asked Kyle instead of following through with the rest of the steps.”
 

“Of course, I’m not mad.” We rushed inside and ordered our coffees. “I’m happy for you. The steps are only meant to be a guideline. It’s great you didn’t need them all.
 
You’re supposed to stop when you’ve reached the goal, to get a cute date to the prom, whether that takes three steps or all ten!”

“Oh, good.” Her shoulders relaxed. “I’m glad you’re not mad.”
 

Within a few minutes we were back in Rachel’s car, speeding to get to school on time. If I was late again I was going to have to serve detention.
 

“Hey, if Brennan didn’t ask you to go to the prom – what did he ask you?”
 

“He asked me to go to Florida with him and his family.” I smiled brightly.

Rachel stomped on the brakes. “Shut up!”
 

“Damn it!” I shouted as half of my coffee spilled down on the front of my shirt.

“Sorry,” Rachel apologized. “I just got so excited for you.”
   

“It’s okay.” I wiped uselessly at the stain with a napkin that she handed me.
 

“Wow, this is HUGE! This is bigger than Prom. Are your parents going to let you go?” Her voice filled with worry.

“I don’t know yet.” I shrugged. “ I told my mom, and hopefully she can convince my dad to let me go.”

“They have to say yes. They just have to,” Rachel proclaimed, as she grabbed her bag out of the car. Suddenly the bell rang, announcing that we were late. “Shit, I gotta go! We’ll talk at lunch,” she called over her shoulder, as she sprinted in the direction of her first period class. Her teacher was nice and would look the other way if she was only a minute or two late.
 

“Okay,” I shouted back.
 

I took my time walking to class. I thought about skipping all together, because either way Mr. Perkins was going to assign me detention, but in the end I didn’t want to miss seeing Brennan. He smiled when I walked in.
 

“Well, well, well, Miss Abbott. Nice of you to show up,” Mrs. Perkins said, noticing me as I tried to slip in the classroom.
 

“Sorry, I’m late,” I mumbled.

“You’ll enjoy detention, no doubt.”
 

I groaned inwardly and took my seat. Tracy turned around and smiled at me with pleasure. She got off on the fact that I was being punished for my tardiness. I glared back at her.

“Now we can begin class, hopefully without any more interruptions,” Mrs. Perkins stated, giving me a disapproving look. I wasn’t sure what I’d ever done to her, especially since I was one of the few students who actually did the readings, but it was clear she didn’t like me. “I hope you all read the assigned chapters, because there is a quiz.”

The majority of the class moaned, while Brennan and I exchanged a knowing look.
 

Mrs. Perkins put the multiple-choice quiz up on the SMART board and asked Tracy to pass out the clickers, electronic personal devices that we used to enter our answers. Mrs. Perkins knew by the time we were finished exactly how everyone did, including which questions each student missed. I could see by the look on her face that most of the students hadn’t done well, again. She sighed heavily and slumped into her chair.
 

I grabbed my binder and held it up against my chest, daring her to start reading to us. I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when Brennan and I walked out. I glanced over at him to see if he was still okay with the plan I hatched last night, and he gave me the thumbs up sign. I gave him one too. Sure enough, Mrs. Perkins opened her battered copy of “The Catcher in the Rye,” and instructed the class to do the same.
 

Brennan and I stood up at the same moment, grabbing our backpacks. We headed toward the door.
 

“Just where do you two think you’re going?” snapped Mrs. Perkins, looking frustrated and unsure.

Brennan spoke up, “We both did the reading like you assigned, so we don’t need to sit hear and listen to you read it to the rest of the class.”

“Well, you can’t just walk out of here.”

“Check our quizzes – I bet we both got perfect scores,” I added, smiling with a sense of power.

“I don’t need to do any such thing,” Mrs. Perkins pushed her chair back and stood up. “Even if you both did get them all right, you can’t leave class.” Mrs. Perkins’ face was red, and she was starting to sweat.
 

“Sure we can,” said Brennan, taking a step closer to the door.
 

“I’m calling the principal immediately and informing him of your disrespectful behavior.”
   

“Go right ahead,” I replied, smartly. We walked out holding hands.
 

As soon as we got out in the hall, we took off in a run toward the closet exit. We didn’t have much of a plan. Reaching the edge of the soccer field, we collapsed, laughing our heads off.
 

“Did you see the look on Mrs. Perkins’ face. I swear any punishment that we receive will be totally worth it,” I giggled.

“I agree,” Brennan chuckled. He paused to brush the hair off of my face. I could feel his heart beating rapidly next to mine. Rolling over and pulling me on top of him, he asked, “Now what?”
 

I drew a shaky breath. “Now you kiss me until we need to leave for our next class,” I whispered, my voice catching in my throat as he stared down at me with hungry eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck.