Beth stared at me, mouth open, but a wide grin spread across Brady’s face. “I like where this is headed; keep talking.”
“Bebe’s stubborn, and she’s not talking to Beth or me. I assume you two are still planning on going to the dance together tomorrow night?”
“Indeed, we are.” Brady scratched his chin. Wheels turning in his head.
“Well,” I continued, “let’s not give her a choice. If we switch dates and you leave her stranded with me, she’ll have to hear me out if she wants to go to the dance. And if she doesn’t want to go with me, I’m happy to stay home and try to persuade her to stop hating me in other ways.”
Brady looked at Beth. “What about you? Are you ok with this plan? You know it has the potential to seriously backfire. And neither of you are in a good position to accept another strike.”
“I know, but I’m not sure what else to do,” Beth answered him. “If Bea really told you that she likes Cam, then the only thing standing in her way now is her own stupid pride. I think if Cam can just get her alone for two minutes, she’ll give in. She can never stay mad at him for very long.”
Brady appraised us thoroughly before speaking again. “If our little scheme makes her even angrier, I’ll claim innocence. I won’t admit to willingly helping with this plan. I’ll tell her you tried to blackmail me or held me at gunpoint or something. You two understand?”
We both nodded our heads. I felt like I was being scolded by my mother. Nobody besides my mom or Bethany (my other mom) ever spoke to me like this. Freaking Brady Jones.
“Ok, then. Beth, would you do me the honor of escorting me to the homecoming dance?” Brady flashed his pearly whites.
“I’d love to, Brady.” Beth answered. I’m not sure Brady noticed, but she was blushing a pretty pink. Guess he had that effect on all the ladies. Maybe when this was over, I could learn some of his secrets. Except if everything went my way, I’d never need to flirt again. I’d already have the only girl I wanted.
We spent the next fifteen minutes hashing out the details, until we had a solid plan. Then we said good-bye to Brady, and Beth drove me home. I lay in bed that night, once again thinking about Bebe. This time, I wasn’t sad. I was excited for what tomorrow might bring. At this time tomorrow night, Bebe might finally be mine. And maybe, for once, I could go to bed thinking about the kiss we’d actually shared instead of dreaming about the one I was always hoping for.
BIANCA
I spent Friday afternoon in my bedroom. I felt bad about skipping the last part of school. I never skipped because I hated doing make-up work. The regular homework load was plenty without heaping more onto my plate. But I couldn’t face Beth or Cam, and it was impossible to avoid them completely at school. When my dad got home, I told him I wasn’t feeling well and that I’d come home early. Better for him to find out from me than the unavoidable call from the attendance office.
Normally when I’m down, I put on Love & Basketball. But today I wanted to wallow in my misery. So I rented Top Gun. Geez, Bianca, you’re such a glutton for punishment. I rewound the bar scene at least half a dozen times. Cam’s gesture today had been really sweet. I wonder how he got the whole JV team to go along with it? I chuckled at the thought.
Wait. No laughing. You’re supposed to be upset with Cam. Not giggling about how sweet he is. I wanted to be angry, but by the time the movie had ended, there wasn’t much fight left in me. All I could think about was how Cam had done so many amazing things for me this past week. How he told me he loved me—in the girls bathroom, of all places. I felt bad about that one. I doubted he’d wanted to say it in such a horrible setting. I suppose I didn’t give him much of a choice.
I walked over to my dresser and fished the ring he’d given me out of my jewelry box. I sighed as I slid it on my left ring finger and examined it carefully. It would never pass as an engagement ring, but I was a lovesick girl and I could pretend, just for today.
I spent the rest of the evening practicing what I was going to say to Beth and Cam. I wanted them to know how upset I was before I gave in and forgave them. You guys are idiots. That was a really stupid plan. Did you think I wouldn’t find out? I can’t believe you lied to me…again. Way to embarrass me in front of the whole school. All the standard lines reeled through my head. I practiced my best angry faces in the mirror, too. I suck at angry faces. Guess that’s why it was a good idea to stay in my room tonight.
I’d waited by my window for Cam and Beth to get home from school. I wanted to see them when they got here. See if they looked as upset as I wanted them to be. Beth pulled in the driveway and Cam got out of the car, then headed across the street to his house. My heart fell a little. Well, what did you expect, stupid? That he’d come rushing up the stairs and throw himself at your feet? He said he loved you, and you told him to go away.
It was bedtime now, and I hadn’t spoken to either of them. Maybe I was being irrational. Maybe I needed to reexamine the reasons I was mad. Maybe I should give in and talk to my sister. The second the thought passed through my head, there was a knock at my door. “Bea? Are you in there? Can we talk, please?” Sometimes I really believed we had a super twin sense. Well, at least Beth did, anyway.
“Fine, come in.” I lay back on my bed. Beth opened the door and stepped inside. One look at her apologetic face, and I knew I’d practiced my angry speech for nothing.
“Bea, I’m really sorry.” She paused, then shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“How about starting with why you didn’t tell me what was going on?”
“It wasn’t my secret to share. Cam was scared to tell you how he felt. Honestly, I don’t blame him.”
“I don’t understand why he was so scared. Cam’s not scared of anything.”
“He was afraid you wouldn’t return his feelings and he’d ruin your friendship. Don’t you think his worry might have been justified?” Beth asked, frowning. “He made a grand display of affection today, and you ran away. He probably thinks you hate him.”
“I guess I could have reacted better, huh?” My admission didn’t mean I wasn’t still upset. “But you both promised after the stupid note fiasco last week that you wouldn’t lie to me again. Then you turned right around and did it anyway. Not to mention the fact that you embarrassed me in front of half the school.” I wasn’t yelling. More like arguing for argument’s sake.
Beth held up her hands in surrender. “I didn’t know what he was planning at lunch. I swear. He just asked me to make sure you sat at that table and that I saved him a seat. Honest.” She paused. “You do understand why we lied, though, right?”
“Well, I do now. But that doesn’t make it ok,” I grumbled, folding my arms across my chest. I don’t know why I couldn’t just drop it.
“No, it doesn’t.” Beth admitted in frustration. Then her voice softened, probably to keep me calm before her next question. “But haven’t you been lying to both Cam and me? After all this, are you still not willing to admit that you like him back? Not even to me? He’s obviously not going to call me up for a date.”
“He doesn’t have to call.” I huffed, biting my cheek to suppress a smile. “He’s already got a date with you tomorrow.” Even though it was a crappy situation, some sick part of me still enjoyed feeling like I was right.
Beth waved me off. “That’s just an unfortunate technicality. You know for sure now that Cam is totally into you. He’s written you love notes, showered you with gifts, had you serenaded in front of a cafeteria full of people.” Beth smiled on that point.
I looked down at my bed before whispering, “He told me he loved me. Today at lunch.”
Beth gasped. “He did?” she asked. Her eyes went wide. I bit my lip and nodded in shame. I really should have responded differently to that admission.
After her shock wore off, she broke into a grin. “Now you have to admit you like him; you don’t have any reason not to.”
I winced as I bit my lip and shook my head no. I just
couldn’t do it. Beth sighed. I could tell she was trying really hard not to be frustrated with me.
“So, let me get this straight,” Beth reasoned. “Cam opened up and told you he loved you. But, you won’t admit you love him back because, somewhere deep down, you’re still doubting how he feels about you?” I nodded yes in silence. It’s scary how well she knew me.
Beth put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. “I’ll tell you what I think. I think you know this is the real deal, and you’re just too chicken to act on it.” She paused for a second to let her words sink in. “If you don’t pull your head out of your butt and swallow your stubborn pride, you’re going to lose him.” Her voice softened. “Is that what you want?”
I looked out my window toward Cam’s house. I’d been acting stupid and prideful. I knew it, Beth knew it. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know why, but I still have a hard time believing that a guy as perfect as Cam could be into someone like me.”
Beth rolled her eyes. “Someone like you? You mean a cute, funny, smart, athletic girl that he has loads in common with? Yeah, super hard to believe.” She was laying the sarcasm on pretty thick.
I laughed at her. “Well, when you say it like that, you make me sound like a moron.”
“Hey, if the shoe fits…”
I picked up my pillow and threw it at her, then focused on my hands in my lap. “What do I do now?” I asked, not wanting to meet her eyes and admit that I was scared. After a second, I decided to be real. “I’m completely petrified of confronting Cam.”
“Bianca, you have no reason to be scared. The guy already told you he loved you; now all you have to do is say it back.”
“I don’t know if I can do it.” I winced.
“How about you practice?” Beth smiled. “Tell me how you feel about Cam. Tell the universe how you feel about Cam.” Beth waved her arm around the room, then waited, foot tapping. I couldn’t speak. My stomach was all jumbled up.
“I can wait all night,” Beth warned. “Just do it. Take a deep breath and say it. Out loud.”
I needed to do this. I could do it. Just do it already, Bianca. I took a deep, long breath, then slowly let it out. “I love Cam,” I whispered.
Beth smirked. “What was that?” She put her hand to her ear. “I couldn’t quite hear you.”
I took another breath. “I love Cam,” I said a little louder.
Beth’s natural cheerleader broke free. “I’m still not convinced. Neither is fate. Come on, Bea, show the universe who’s boss. How do you feel?”
Adrenaline shot through my veins and from somewhere deep inside, courage bubbled up and took control of my vocal cords. “I love Cameron Bates!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. Then I slapped my hand over my mouth in shock. Beth was grinning, and I took a few more deep breaths, this time in an effort to keep myself from having a panic attack. I can’t believe I’d just said that. Not only out loud, but to Beth, Cam’s freaking homecoming date.
I sat quietly, watching and waiting. I’m not sure what I thought would happen. Maybe that Cam would come running through the door and sweep my sister into a kiss. But after a minute, nothing happened and I realized that I’d already known it wouldn’t. I pulled my hand from my mouth, revealing a smile that I couldn’t hold in any longer.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Beth asked. My smile widened in response. “Now, the only thing left to do is go claim your man.” She grabbed my hand and started to pull me up from the bed. “And you should do it right now, because he’s a huge mess. I’ve never seen him so worked up about anything.”
“What do I say to him? I feel so stupid and embarrassed. He’s going to be mad at me for being mad at him. Considering all he’s done for me in the last week, I deserve his anger. I’ve acted like a really big jerk in the last twelve hours.”
“Start with an apology,” Beth suggested. “Or, even better, how about you don’t say anything. Skip the talking and just show him how you feel.” Beth waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“That sounds like an awesome plan.” I sighed. “But I see one small problem still.”
“What’s that?” Beth asked.
“I can’t just march over to Cam’s house, plant one on him, tell him I love him, and then go to homecoming with a different boy.”
“Hmmm.” Beth was thinking out loud. “That is a problem, isn’t it? Maybe if you just explained to Brady…” she trailed off.
“Nope. I’m not going to do that to him.” I paused for a minute, debating how much info to share with her. Finally I gave in. “I told Brady that I liked Cam today.”
“Wow,” she breathed, though she didn’t sound as surprised as I expected her to be. “How’d he take that?”
“Really well, actually. He was very cool about it and extremely mature. I felt horrible, because if Cam wasn’t the one for me, I could probably really like Brady. He offered to back out on our homecoming plans so that I could go with Cam. But I wasn’t going to tell him I wasn’t into him, then top it off by leaving him without a date. Or any time to find a new one. I’m not that horrible. Brady and I agreed to go to the dance together, as friends, and I have to stick to that agreement.”
Beth frowned at me. “Well, I guess you’re right, then. If you aren’t going to the dance with Cam, maybe you shouldn’t tell him how you feel yet.”
“I’ll tell him after the dance tomorrow. I promise. I won’t even wait until Sunday morning.”
“You know,” Beth said, “Cam seeing you with another guy all night and not knowing how you really feel about him is going to be just as bad as if he did know.”
“Probably,” I answered, grumbling. “But if he wanted to avoid all the drama, he should have asked me first.” I still placed a little blame on Cam for this mess. I could be going to homecoming with him tomorrow. Dancing, in his arms, kissing, making out… I know, I know, I’m a selfish twit.
“Touché,” Beth agreed.
“I promise I’ll tell Cam how I feel after we get home from the dance, but you have to promise not to say anything to him until I do. I don’t want to ruin Brady’s night, and I think it’s better for Cam to hear how I feel from me than from you.” I warned her with my eyes. I knew she was tempted to walk out of my room and text Cam with the news right now.
“Ok, I promise.” She sighed. I knew keeping info like this to herself for a whole twenty-four hours was going to push her limits. “But you have to promise me that as soon we get home, you’ll march straight over to Cam’s house and declare your love. And make it awesome. You know, to make up for the torture you’ll be putting him through during the dance.”
Cam was lucky to have a girl like Beth on his side. I smiled at the thought of kissing Cam repeatedly as I saluted my sister. “Yes, Mother. I won’t let you down.”
. . . . .
It’s a good thing Beth and I made up yesterday, because it would have sucked to get ready for the dance without her. My dad had to work today, and he felt really awful that he wouldn’t be there to take pictures and see us off. He did let us know, however, that he’d be done before we got home, reminding us that there’d be no late-night monkey business. The dance went from eight to eleven, and he figured we’d want to get dessert after, so he graciously extended our standard eleven o’clock curfew to midnight.
To make up for missing our evening, he handed us three hundred dollars and told us to go out to lunch, get our nails done, our hair done, and then get Cam’s mom to take some pictures of his beautiful daughters. He really is the best dad a girl could ask for.
We got home from the salon around five, and I have to admit that my hair looked fabulous. I always got really hot when I danced, and I didn’t want my neck to get covered in sweat. You know, in case Cam would be kissing it later tonight. So I went with the full updo. Every single one of my unruly waves was pinned neatly into place on the top of my head and covered with a pound of hairspray. My hair wasn’t going anywhere this evening.
Of course, this
might be a problem when it came time to take it down, but I’d worry about that later. Beth’s hair was equally fabulous. The top half was piled on her head much the way mine was, but the bottom half was pinned to the back of her head so that some of it cascaded down her neck and shoulders. She and Cam were going to be the most beautiful couple at the dance.
“Now it’s time for makeup.” Beth clapped her hands giddily. I frowned at her. Makeup was definitely not my forte. I was good with mascara and lip gloss. Maybe even a little blush and some concealer to cover the black bags under my eyes. But giving myself an evening look was not something I knew how to do. Beth patted the seat of the toilet in the bathroom we shared. “Your throne awaits you.” She waited for me to take a seat.
“You don’t have to do my makeup. You won’t have time to get yours finished, if you work on my face first,” I argued with her.
“Oh, pish posh. I’ll have plenty of time. Besides, no offense, but you wouldn’t know how to apply evening makeup even if you had a magic wand to do most of the work. Now take off your shirt and sit down before we run out of time. The clock’s ticking.”
“Why do I have to take off my shirt?” I questioned.
“Because your shirt has a high collar, and I want to make sure that your foundation blends into your neck. You don’t want a big fat makeup line, do you?”
I sighed as I unbuttoned my shirt and threw it over the edge of the tub. I didn’t want foundation at all, but there’s no way I was getting out of this, so I complied. Beth looked down at my bra and frowned. “Is that what you plan on wearing under your dress?”
“What’s wrong with my bra?” I asked. “It’s not like anyone is going to see it.”
“I know that.” Beth was irritated by my lack of knowledge on formal underwear. “But if you wear a plain bra, you’ll feel plain. If you wear a sexy bra, you’ll feel sexy.”
“I don’t own any sexy bras. They aren’t practical. You’re lucky I’m not in a sports bra.”
Perfectly Oblivious (The Perfect Series Book 1) Page 22
