Addy pulled Lucy and her big poofy dress up from the bench. “I hope you don’t really feel that way because it’s going to be really awkward when you head out to the parking lot, and my doofy baby brother is waiting for you, ready to declare his undying love.”
My mouth popped open. “You can’t be serious? How would he even know?”
Addy smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re not the only one who knows how to send a Strawberry Shake text.”
I felt my eyes welling up with tears. We had been there for one another when Gray found the Squad Goals book and lost his faith in Addy. We had been there for one another when Lucy needed to prove to herself and Simon that her feelings for him were bigger than her image, and now, even though it meant rolling the dice on our friendship, Addy and Lucy were beside me, doing everything they could to make sure I got my happy ending. I couldn’t imagine having better friends.
“Get out of here!” barked Lucy. “Your knight in T-shirt tux awaits!”
I pulled them in for a group hug, whispered thank you to Addy and hustled toward the stairs. I had just reached the door when Addy’s voice rang across the locker room.
“Oh, and hey, Nora.” I turned back to catch her serious expression. “If you break my brother’s heart, I will drive back from the Minnesota State University in the dead of night, rain or shine, and shave your head in your sleep.”
I laughed. “What if he breaks mine?”
Addy didn’t hesitate for a second. “I’ll break his face.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Max
It was a miracle I didn’t run any red lights on my way to the school—safety first, and all. But my mind could barely focus on more than the thought of Nora waiting for me in that silver dress.
When I finally called my sister back after she tried to reach me for a whole forty-five minutes, she tore me a new one. You would have thought someone died.
“Who puts their phone on Do Not Disturb?” she screamed over the car’s bluetooth speaker. “Just set it to vibrate like every other human being!”
“Why are you screaming at me? What happened to Nora? Where’s Mr. College?”
My sister took a deep breath, so loud I could hear it over the speaker and the thumping music in the background. I would remember that deep breath for as long as I lived. It was the sound of a reluctant surrender. And Addy did not surrender gracefully.
“Cut to the chase, Ad!”
“Nora needs you, Max. And I’m sorry, okay. I’m sorry I tried to keep you guys apart, and I ruined your first kiss—barf—but I just didn’t want your reckless dating habits to ruin our group dynamic. If you and Nora broke up, then you would stop being friends and then you’d stop hanging out with us, and I kinda like having you around...sometimes. When you’re not being a douche canoe.”
“Awww...you love me.”
“Just get over here and confess your love, you idiot.”
“I’m on my way, but I don’t have a ticket to get in.”
“Oh shoot. Okay...just wait in the parking lot. I’ll send her out.”
“The parking lot?”
The phone went dead.
And here I stood, under the streetlamp in the middle of Delinki High’s parking lot. Feeling like a real schmuck. It seemed like twenty minutes had passed already. I should have stopped for something...flowers? Chocolate? An I’ve loved you since 3rd grade, please kiss me card? What did one bring to a parking lot love confession? I had a few tokens and a tiny packet of parmesan cheese in my pocket.
This was insane. My sister left me with very little information, but from what I gathered, things with Andrew crumbled, and Nora wanted me. For what...I still didn’t know. Maybe she just needed a friend, a strawberry shake, if you will. A little lighthearted Max laughter to brighten her day.
And maybe she wanted me...for more.
Whatever it was, I didn’t have to wait much longer. The door to the gym finally opened, and that unmistakable silver gown stepped into the moonlight, and I literally lost my breath. As she stared at me from the doorway, I could see her biting her lip. Her hand lifted in a shy wave.
Without a word, she walked over then stopped just a foot away from me.
“Are you okay?” I asked, a very un-Max thing to say, I know.
She nodded, still biting her lip. Her cheeks were tinged pink and the dark makeup under eyes was mostly wiped away, a clear sign she had been crying.
It was obvious she wanted to say something, but I probably wouldn’t have heard it anyway over the way my heart was beating in my chest.
“Proms are stupid,” I said, swallowing down my nerves.
“Not necessarily,” she shrugged. “You just have to go with the right person.”
The words were lodged in my throat. Holding onto this secret, how desperately I wanted to be her boyfriend, had become so normal that letting it out felt impossible.
“I have a confession,” she blurted out before I could speak. “When I made my goal this year, I wanted a serious boyfriend—no, a serious relationship. And I thought that meant finding someone, but maybe…”
She fidgeted with her hair while she kept her eyes on my face. I wanted to take her hand, try to calm her, but I couldn’t move. I hung onto her next words like my life depended on it.
“Maybe I knew all along it was supposed to be you. Maybe my goal wasn’t to find a boyfriend by Prom, but to finally make you my boyfriend by Prom.”
I could finally breathe again, but I sure as heck didn’t know what to say next. The smile that crept onto my face was impossible to hide.
She let out a playful laugh, releasing the tension in the air. “Oh my gosh, why is this so awkward? Max, say something!”
“Wanna dance?” I asked, holding my hand out.
“Here?” She motioned around her. People had started to exit the music-filled gym, and everytime they opened the door, some country song would seep out, and both of us scrunched up our nose at the sound.
“Yes, here.” I walked over to my car, turned it on, and set my phone up to the bluetooth player. A moment later, The Cure began to blare out of the speakers, overpowering the muffled music from the building.
Nora let out a giggle. I took her hand in mine, and I spun her once before pulling her close, our bodies touching and my hand snaking its way around her waist.
We danced like that, until every ounce of awkwardness was gone.
And before the song ended, I spun her again, just like last time. But this time when she returned to her place in my arms, she grabbed my cheeks and launched in for a kiss.
We melted into that kiss far past the end of the song, when my phone shuffled through the random mix. It was no silent disco, but this little parking lot prom felt a lot like we were picking up where we left off.
Nora
There was hooting and hollering happening all around me. You couldn’t just go kissing a boy in a parking lot to a soundtrack of eighties pop without people taking notice. I only opened my eyes once, but I was relieved that Addy’s face was not among the crowd. I loved her, but I think we could both agree that Max and I dating was going to mean some new boundaries for all three of us. Not that I thought Max understood boundaries. I had been the one to kiss him, but he was really running with it. If the two of us didn’t pull back soon my lips were going to look like those bad commercials for collagen injections.
With both hands planted on his chest I forced myself to push back just enough to prevent me from diving back in.
“There is this one thing I want to do with you,” I said.
Max tugged me closer by the waist. “Aren’t we doing the thing right now?”
I gave an obligatory eye roll, but my perma smile was too big for there to be even a prayer of him believing I was annoyed.
“I want a group photo,” I pleaded. “I can’t finish my high school career without a pic of the six of us in front of that poorly painted mural of the pyramids.”
Max scowled. “I’ll
have you know that I painted pyramid number three.”
“You did not,” I laughed.
“Actually,” said Max looking sheepish. “I did. You can’t be junior class president and not participate in prom planning.”
My jaw dropped. Of course he was on the planning committee. Why hadn’t I thought of that earlier? The terrible theme, baby pools and song selection all made a lot more sense now that I knew Max was responsible for a portion of the decorations.
“You purposely made it awful, didn’t you?”
Max laughed. “Well, when I thought you might have to lower your lofty standards and go with me I was a much better committee member. After you accepted Mr. College’s promposal however, I became inspired in a whole new way.”
I curled my hand into a fist and socked him in the chest. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” he said with a smirk. “The disturbing part is how easy it was to get an entire committee of people to smile and nod at the idea of baby pools full of sand.”
I pressed my tongue against the roof of my mouth. I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered that he was willing to ruin prom for the entire junior and senior class just to help make sure my already bad date went worse, or offended. I was leaning toward flattered. Because he looked so dang cute all gleamy eyed in the streetlight.
I shook my head. “Terrible pyramid number three or not, I want that picture.”
Max shifted his weight from one foot to the other, as his eyes skittered to the entrance of the gym where our senior class president sat making sure everyone entering and exiting had a Delinki High Prom stamp.
“I don’t want to let you down, but unless they accept tokens from Joey’s as payment, I’m not getting in there.”
Ideally, I would reach into my adorable clutch purse and pull out a twenty like, hey babe, this ones on me. Unfortunately, Andrew had insisted on paying for every item on every date we had ever been on, so when it came time to decide whether or not to spend my extra prom cash on shoes or a bag, I’d opted for shoes, knowing Andrew wouldn’t let me pay for mozzarella sticks even if I tried. Now, I was regretting my choice. My five inch glitter stilettos were fire, but they weren’t going to get Max into the prom.
“Ugh,” I groaned. “Can’t you get a free pass for single handedly bringing the vision of Oasis of the Heart to life?”
Max let out a frustrated breath, glancing back at the entry again. “Pretty sure that’s out of the question since I bailed on volunteering tonight. Usually junior class president takes tickets so the senior can enjoy their last prom.”
I was ready to suck it up and accept that a selfie in the parking lot was the best I was going to get, when a wicked idea crossed my mind.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Max
“I found this entrance when we did the calendar photo shoot,” she whispered as we made our way, hand-in-hand, around the building toward some hidden doorway to Delinki’s pool on the dimly lit backside of the school. “Always the charmer, Freddy locked me and Addy out on accident. One of the perks of her being on the swim team was that she learned that this door back here is broken. If you lay into it at exactly the right spot…”
She slammed her rear-end into the wide dent under the handle of the door, and just as promised, it clicked and pulled open easily.
“Ta-da…” she said with a smile, holding the door open.
As I passed through, I couldn’t resist leaning in for another quick kiss. “Finally, my sister has proven her worth.”
She playfully slapped my shoulder.
Stepping into the nearly pitch black pool room was eerie as hell. The only light came from the two bright red Exit signs, but the overpowering smell of chlorine confirmed we were in the right place.
“Well, this is terrifying,” I whispered as she wrapped her arms around my waist.
“I thought there’d be emergency lights or something on.”
We could make out the shimmer of the water, but that was really it. “Maybe this was a stupid idea,” she whispered, looking up at me. Under the glow of the exit sign, I could just make out the soft features of her face.
“I think you were just trying to get me alone,” I whispered back. Then I turned her toward me and kissed her again. I wasn’t going to get sick of this anytime soon, no way.
There was too much to learn about Nora now, things I hadn’t known from being her friend for ten years. Things like the fact that the top of her head only came up to my nose so that when she wrapped her arms around me, I could tuck her perfectly under my chin. Or that she hummed a little when I kissed her.
And if she wasn’t hell bent on getting this photo, I would be perfectly content with learning as much as I could right here in this pitch black pool room.
“We should probably get this picture before everyone leaves,” she mumbled after pulling away.
I retrieved my phone out of my back pocket and opened the flashlight to illuminate the path in front of us. Together we walked around the pool, keeping a safe distance from the edge. On the other side of the room, the heavy doors led to the main gym through a long hallway. We were almost home free when we pushed on the doors and found them locked. Super freaking locked.
“I don’t suppose you could use your butt trick on this one.”
“Why is it locked from the outside?” She kept pushing on the doors like they would magically decide to open.
“I’m guessing it’s because they know delinquent teens are breaking into the pool through the broken back door,” I answered with a laugh, my phone in hand. “I’ll just text Addy.”
She answered back almost immediately.
Addy: The pool?
Max: Yep. Nora wanted to go skinny dipping, but I said no.
Addy: Shut up. I’m on my way.
It seemed to take forever for Addy to get there, but Nora and I didn’t have any trouble killing time. When my sister finally did push the door open, I almost pushed it closed to tell her to bug off.
But it wasn’t just Addy. Apparently, the whole crew was eager to see what the fuss was all about because Gray, Lucy, and Simon all walked into the dark room with us. Simon, the brains of the group, was smart enough to lodge the door open with a nearby broomstick.
“Oh man, imagine swimming laps in the pitch dark,” Gray said as he walked toward the back wall like he knew the place by heart. “Luckily, I’ve done my fair share of after hours swimming, so I know where the panel is.”
A second later, the room was flooded with light.
“You’re such a swim loser,” Addy joked as she walked over to the pool’s edge. Without another word, she slipped off her heels and sat on the edge, dangling her feet in the water like it was the most normal thing in the world. “What are you guys doing in here anyway?”
“I want a group picture in front of that terrible oasis backdrop. The six of us.” Nora followed Addy’s lead and put her feet in the water too.
Pretty soon, Lucy and Simon were sitting together at the other end, and I squeezed in between my sister and my girlfriend.
Luckily, I had jeans on because I wasn’t in the middle of a formal dance, but the guys had to roll up the bottom of their tuxedo pants.
“How’s this for a group photo?” Gray said as he reached out his crazy long arm with the selfie camera on. The girls squeezed in around me and we all smiled for a ridiculous looking photo of formal attire and bad lighting. Regardless, it came out pretty flawless.
I snaked my arm around Nora’s waist, and she rested her head against my shoulder.
From my left, I hear the indistinguishable noise of Lucy actually squealing. We both turned to see her hiding her excited expression in Simon’s sleeve. I guess people are going to react to us being coupley for a while.
It still seemed so surreal to me. After the past couple months, I honestly never expected this to actually happen. Even at its best moments, I considered myself a fool for Nora and never thought I’d be lucky enough to convince her to give me a chance.
Now that I had this chance, I’d be caught dead before I ruined it.
Suddenly, someone’s far off voice had us all staring at each other in shock.
“Who’s back there?” the voice echoed down the hallway from behind the propped door.
“What do we do?” Nora gasped.
“What do you think?” I said with a laugh as I looked at her, a mischievous wink in my eye.
“No way.” Nora’s eyes were wide and terrified as I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the pool.
“But this is a rental,” one of the other guys whined as the rest of the group one-by-one slid into the water.
“Hello?” the voice boomed closer, so we all assumed the position against the wall, hiding our heads from view of the doorway. Silently, we waited, hiding our laughter and praying that whoever was walking down the hallway wouldn’t find us.
I found the only way to truly keep myself quiet was to busy my lips, so I pulled Nora closer and kissed her smiling face. From behind us, I heard my sister making nearly silent
gagging noises.
Nora
“Coach?” whispered Addy. Gray held a finger over his lips, urging her to stay silent. The six of us stood stone still pressed up against the wall of the pool as we waited for footsteps in the hall to grow quieter with distance. When we were sure he was gone we climbed out of the pool. It was no easy task in my slim fitting ball gown. How Lucy managed to drag all eight zillion pounds of tulle out of that pool I would never know. She sat huffing and puffing on the ledge while the rest of us attempted to wring the water from our formal wear.
“Need a hand?” asked Simon, leaning over to pull her to a standing position. She gladly accepted his help, smiling through a river of eyeliner and allegedly waterproof mascara. I wished I had a camera to capture the two of them in that moment. Him with water dripping from his dark hair, her a blue pile of glitter and tulle. She looked like Cinderella mid transformation. Everything an inch away from perfect, yet beautiful in its own way.
Promised by Prom Page 14
