by Kat Mayor
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Lilly said and jumped up.
Michelle walked with them to the front door. “Don’t be a stranger, Charlie.”
Charlie waved good-bye as Lilly was pulling him outside. She would have loved to sit with him in his car and talk with him for a while, but Charlie noted, “Um, your mom’s kind of watching us.”
Lilly turned to look. Michelle was looking out the window and waving. Lilly groaned. “See you at school tomorrow.” She stomped up the driveway to the front door.
“Charlie’s wonderful,” Michelle said.
“I know, Mom.”
“I think that if I were twenty years younger, I’d give you some stiff competition, mi hija,” Michelle said. Lilly supposed she should be happy that her mother liked Charlie. At least she didn’t think he was weird. But then again, Michelle was old. She had no idea he wasn’t cool. She probably thought his good manners were charming.
After the successful dinner, Charlie became a fixture in the Garcia household.
***
A few days later, during second period, a bomb threat was called in. On the way out of the building, Charlie grabbed Lilly’s elbow and steered her toward the teachers’ lounge.
“Where are we going?” she asked. “We’re supposed to be lining up outside.”
“And we will. But first we’re taking a detour.”
“What are you doing?”
“With everyone distracted by the bomb threat, now is the perfect time for a coffee break.”
“I have never in my life met someone who likes coffee as much as you do.”
“Well, we don’t have coff—I mean, this kind of coffee where I come from.”
“They don’t have Folger’s in New Mexico?” Lilly asked.
Charlie shrugged. “You know, you should really give coffee a try. Then we could go out for coffee dates.”
Lilly shook her head. “No thanks, I’m trying to limit my caffeine intake.”
As they walked out the double doors of the school, Lilly pointed to a poster in the hall. “Look, Charlie. It’s a poster for homecoming,” she said hopefully.
“Huh? Oh yeah,” Charlie said, tucking his coffee under his jacket so the principal wouldn’t see. Lilly tried to hide her disappointment at his lack of reaction to the homecoming dance as they walked outside.
“C’mon, people. No dawdling,” the assistant principal yelled.
Charlie and Lilly met up with Mrs. Hartman’s class. She hadn’t even noticed that two of her students were missing. They found a patch of grass and sat down.
He took a sip. “It’s OK, but my coffee is better.”
“Yeah. My mom says you make the best coffee she’s ever had.” Lilly picked up a blade of grass and rolled it between her fingers. “Michelle really likes you, but I’m sure you already know that.”
Charlie shrugged, embarrassed.
“She wants you to come to the movies with us on Saturday. I was going to call to invite you, but you’ve never given me your phone number.”
“It’s best if I call you, Liliana.”
“You don’t want me to have your number?” she asked.
Charlie shifted uncomfortably. “It’s kind of complicated.”
“You haven’t told your parents about me, have you?” Lilly asked.
“Um, not exactly,” Charlie said.
“Why? You don’t think they would approve of me?”
“It’s not you, Liliana. They wouldn’t approve of anyone. My parents are very…strict. They think I need to focus on school. To them, a girlfriend would be an unnecessary distraction for me,” Charlie told her.
“What do you think? Am I an unnecessary distraction?”
Charlie brushed back a strand of Lilly’s hair that had blown into her face. “Distraction, yes. Unnecessary, no.”
Lilly grew quiet. It really bothered her that Charlie kept her a secret from his parents. And it hurt her feelings that they wouldn’t even give her a chance. Charlie tried to make her feel better. “This changes nothing. It doesn’t matter what they think.”
“But I hate the idea of you sneaking around,” Lilly said.
“You let me worry about that.”
“All clear,” the principal shouted. Charlie gave Lilly a hand up, and they returned to class.
Chapter 4
Homecoming
After band practice Monday, Lilly got caught up in Claire’s latest drama with Matt. She was crying in the bathroom, and Lilly was trying to cheer her up.
“It’s going to be OK,” Lilly said.
“How can you say that?” Claire wailed. “You can’t understand. You’ve never had a boyfriend; never been in love.”
Friend or not, Lilly was annoyed at Claire’s comments. How dare she assume she was the only one who had romance issues, or that Lilly couldn’t relate. But then Claire was incredibly self-centered. Lilly knew this about her. In Claire’s eyes, no one’s relationships were real except her own.
“As a matter of fact, I do have a boyfriend,” Lilly said. She hoped it was true. She had never referred to Charlie as her boyfriend out loud before.
“What? Who?” Claire asked as she fluffed her hair and reapplied the mascara she had just cried off.
“Charlie Gray,” Lilly said. Claire looked at her as if she were speaking Greek. Lilly rolled her eyes. “You know. The new trumpet player from New Mexico.” It was really sad that her best friend wasn’t even aware of whom she was dating.
“That strange, short guy?” Claire asked. Lilly nodded. To each his own, Claire thought. “Oh well, that’s nice, I’m sure. But right now I’ve got a serious problem with Matt, and I don’t know what to do…”
***
While Lilly was sitting with Claire, Charlie was out practicing with the trumpets. Dan decided they needed an extra practice. After they finished, Beth ran up to talk to him. “Lilly told me about your date at the planetarium. Actually, she gushed about it.”
If Charlie had been able to blush, he would have. Instead he just shrugged.
“So what’s your next move?” Beth asked.
“Next move? You think I should ask her out again?” Charlie asked.
Beth sighed, exasperated. Guys could be so dense, even the so-called intelligent ones. “In case you haven’t noticed, we have a very important dance coming up. It’s called homecoming. I happen to know that Lilly loves to dance, and she would be thrilled to go with you.”
“You really think so?” Charlie asked. He vaguely remembered seeing some posters up around the school announcing the dance, but that was only because Lilly had pointed them out to him. “Liliana’s different. She’s not like other Ear—uh, girls. She doesn’t like to get all dolled up.”
“Yes, Lilly is different, but she’s still a girl. Trust me. She’s been hoping you’ll ask her.”
“You haven’t steered me wrong so far,” Charlie said.
“No, I haven’t,” Beth said. “And please get her a halfway decent mum. This is her senior year, and she deserves it.” Beth took off for the band hall. Charlie heard her muttering, “Dolled up? Who says dolled up anymore?”
Mum? What’s a mum? Charlie asked himself. As he was walking across the field, back to the band hall, he rehearsed how he was going to ask Lilly. Ian was waiting there, hanging out in front of the girl’s restroom.
“They’re still in there, dude. Beth just went in to check.”
A few minutes later, Lilly emerged from the restroom. “I’m afraid I can’t go to McDonald’s today. It’s a long story. I’ll tell y’all about it tomorrow. And Charlie, I hate to ask, but can you take Beth and Ian home?”
“We can leave our horns here if there’s not enough room,” Beth offered.
“Sure, that should be fine,” Charlie said. He was a little disappointed. He wanted to ask Lilly to the dance now. Today. Get it over with. But it would have to wait.
“This is what happens when you date a single mom with kids. We’re a package deal,” Ian said, shrug
ging his shoulders.
Charlie sighed. “OK, let’s go.”
“Yes,” Ian said. He was eager to ride in the Mustang again.
“Can we go by McDonald’s?” Beth said.
“I suppose,” Charlie said.
“Can I drive?” asked Ian.
“Absolutely not. That was a one-time deal.”
***
The next day at lunch, Lilly filled Charlie in on the Claire/Matt saga. “So Matt shows her the mum he got her for homecoming, because she demands to see it. And she absolutely throws a fit. She tells him, ‘It’s not big enough. I want another one.’ Then he tells her, ‘Forget it. I’ve already spent enough money on this one.’ She starts crying and says, ‘You don’t even love me.’ And he says, ‘Fine.’ He grabs the mum out of her hand. ‘You don’t like this one, I’ll just give it to someone else.’ I think this time he really means it. Claire thinks he might ask Jennifer Cromwell to homecoming.”
“Not might ask,” Ian said, plopping down beside Lilly, “did ask. And of course, she said yes. Serves Claire right, that snotty b—”
“Ian,” Lilly interrupted. “She is my friend.”
Ian couldn’t stand Claire. He had a crush on her when he was freshman, but she humiliated him when she told him to get lost in front of the entire band. Since then, Ian had spent a lot of time reminding Lilly she could do better in the best-friend department.
“Well, what’s done is done,” Lilly said. “I hope it’s worth it when she’s sitting home alone for homecoming. She should be thankful she had a date at all. Some people have never even been asked.”
Charlie smiled. OK, so he hadn’t noticed before, but he was definitely paying attention now. Both Beth and Claire were making an issue of this mum thing. Whatever it was, it must be pretty important, and he’d better get it right.
***
Charlie finally got his chance to ask Lilly that afternoon. They had just dropped off Beth and Ian, and now he and Lilly were back in the school parking lot, sitting in her Jeep. “Liliana, I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Charlie said.
“What is it?” Lilly asked.
“I was wondering if maybe you would like to go to the homecoming dance with me.”
Lilly threw her arms around Charlie and squealed. Charlie put his arms around her shoulders. “Is that a yes?” he whispered into her ear.
Lilly nodded her head.
***
Homecoming was two weeks away. That didn’t give Lilly much time, but it didn’t matter. She was just glad to be going. That meant she had to go dress shopping this Saturday. She went to the mall and wandered around, unsure of where to start. Where should she go? Should she choose jewelry first, then a dress? Right when she was about to give up and go to one of the department stores, she ran into Dana.
“Wow, Lilly. We meet here again. Are you starting to make the mall a habit?”
“No. I have to find a homecoming dress.”
“So you’re going with Charlie?” Dana asked. “You two make a cute couple.”
That was it. No comments about how weird Charlie was, only that they made a cute couple. Lilly couldn’t believe Dana knew about Charlie. Most of the people Dana hung out with didn’t know people like Lilly and Charlie even existed.
She convinced Lilly to steer clear of the department stores and try a boutique called Jasmine’s. Dana went with her, and together they found the perfect dress. The store even had a seamstress on hand for alterations.
***
While Lilly was out shopping, Charlie was making his own preparations for homecoming. Beth said Lilly was a great dancer. Charlie wasn’t too bad, but he thought he ought to practice. He went home and insta-searched Arthur Murray dance lessons on his computer. A holographic dancer named Dina materialized. “What kind of dance would you like to learn?” the friendly computer voice asked. After his dance lesson, he used his PCD to find out what exactly a mum was.
Charlie brought Lilly’s mum to school with him the Friday of homecoming. When he had gone to the florist shop to order it, the clerk had asked him what his price range was. He told her he didn’t care as long as it would make his girl happy. After the ordeal with Claire, he decided it would be better to do too much than too little. The florist was all too happy to comply, and before he knew it, he had spent sixty dollars on a triple-flower mum with stuffed animals, French horns, and long, flowing ribbons. Liliana’s name in glittery letters topped it off.
Lilly was shocked when she saw it. It was beautiful, but it was so heavy she had to attach it to her jacket, for fear it would pull her shirt halfway down her chest. The ribbons were so long, she almost tripped on them. When she was out of Charlie’s sight, she snipped a few inches off the bottom. It was the most spectacular mum in the school. Claire was positively green with envy. Dan had asked her to the dance, so she had a date, but the mum he bought her was smaller and simpler than the one she’d refused from Matt. Ian thought she was getting what she deserved.
***
Charlie couldn’t understand the whole Matt/Claire situation, and it kind of bothered him. He didn’t get this whole Earthan breaking-up ritual. According to Lilly, Matt and Claire had dated for a long time, but now, suddenly, it was over. Even stranger, they both had immediately found dates to the homecoming dance.
Charlie didn’t know about Jennifer, but he couldn’t understand why Claire was going with Dan. He overheard some of the trombone players say that Dan never asked girls out on his own. Instead he would take advantage of situations like this one. As one of the trombone players put it, “Dan can’t get his own date, so he takes everyone else’s rejects.”
The previous week, right before band practice, Dan had come up to Matt and said, “I hope it’s OK that I asked out Claire. No hard feelings.” To Charlie, it sounded more like he was trying to rub it in than smooth things over.
Matt was more calm than Charlie would have been. He told Dan, “You know, dude, whatever. Claire’s not my problem anymore. If you want to make her yours, be my guest.”
How could Matt suddenly stop caring about Claire? It was as if he turned off a switch, and their relationship was over. Claire, too. If she truly loved Matt as she professed, then why was she going with Dan? Where was the faithfulness?
Dan bothered Charlie for different reasons, and it wasn’t because of his personal history with him. Charlie heard his opinion about girls in general, and it wasn’t nice. Plus, he was a bully; he had a mean streak a mile wide and a really bad temper. Charlie was worried he might be dangerous.
“You have to warn Claire. Dan’s not a good guy,” Charlie told Lilly.
“You’re right,” she said. “Dan’s a creep. But there’s no talking Claire out of it. She’s not missing homecoming her senior year, even if she has to go with a total loser like Dan.”
***
On the night of the homecoming game, the band went out as usual for the half-time show. The principal announced the band beau and sweetheart. Of course it was Mark and Jill. Jill smiled graciously and accepted the ribbon. Mark acted like his typical bored self. Lilly glanced over and saw Claire glaring at Jill. Lilly caught up with her after the half-time show.
“Hey, you OK?” Lilly asked.
“Do I look OK? If Matt hadn’t broke up with me, we’d be band beau and sweetheart right now.”
“Oh c’mon, Claire. That’s why you’re mad? No one else had a chance. Mark and Jill have gone out forever, and they’re so sweet together, it could put you in a diabetic coma.”
Claire said nothing and stormed off the field.
***
It was third quarter, downtime for the band. Charlie was sitting in the stands with his head tilted to the side, staring off into space. He was concentrating on a conversation in the distance; he didn’t like what he heard.
“Yoo-hoo, Earth to Charlie,” Lilly said, waving her hand in front of his eyes. She sat down on the bleachers next to him.
He blinked and turned toward her. “Oh, Liliana. Wh
ere have you been? I’ve been waiting for you.” He handed her a Diet Coke.
“Thanks. I’ve been talking to Claire. She’s bummed that she didn’t win band sweetheart.”
“So she’s really upset she didn’t win?” Charlie asked, confused.
“Believe it or not, yeah. Her senior year isn’t going the way she expected. She still hasn’t accepted the fact that Matt broke up with her. I know she’s going to homecoming with Dan just so she has a date, and I’m sure Dan is going with her to rub it in Matt’s face.”
“Liliana, Claire’s your friend. You must tell her not to go out with Dan. His intentions—they aren’t good.”
Charlie didn’t need to warn Lilly. She’d never cared for Dan, and it wasn’t just his “any girl would be lucky to have me” attitude, although that was part of it. There was something cruel in his eyes as he stared you up and down. He seemed like the kind of guy to go home and kick his dog. “I don’t like him either; he gives me the creeps.” Lilly shivered. “I’ve already tried to tell her. But Claire’s hardheaded.” Lilly noticed something just then. “Charlie, I don’t know how you do it.”
“Do what?” Charlie asked.
The rest of us come back from half time with sticky hat hair. You take your hat off, and your hair is perfect. It’s like you don’t sweat or something.”
“Yeah, or something,” Charlie laughed nervously.
***
After the game they were standing near Lilly’s Jeep saying their good-byes. Charlie gave Lilly a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he told her and reluctantly pulled away.
Ian was already trying to hurry Lilly up so that they could go to Bennigan’s. Ian and Beth had surprised everyone a few days earlier by announcing that they were going to homecoming together. They made it clear that they were only going as friends, but Lilly thought there was more to it than that. Maybe relegating Ian to the backseat had not been such a bad idea after all.
***
Charlie walked in the house and was disappointed that his father was still up. He was hoping to avoid his parents tonight and go straight to bed. But no, Louis called him into the living room to talk.
