Romeo & What's Her Name

by Shani Petroff

  “It didn’t look like nothing. It looked like you didn’t learn your lines. Emily, are you in trouble at school? Talk to me.”

  “I don’t want to talk,” I said, my voice getting louder, but she just kept looking at me. “Fine. You want to know? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything. I wasn’t even supposed to be on that stage. I didn’t want to do it. But I did. And I made a fool of myself. But then Wes … Wes…” I was yelling now. “I thought he liked me … but he didn’t … he chose…” I couldn’t finish. Everything from the past few weeks, the play, Amanda’s insults, Wes going to the dance with Amanda all hit me at once, and I broke down into sobs.

  “Okay, okay,” my mom said, her voice low. She put her arm around me and squeezed. “It will be all right.”

  “No, it won’t.”

  She gave me a hug and let me cry into her shoulder. “Trust me,” she said after a few minutes. “You’ll get through this. If this guy can’t see how truly amazing you are, you don’t need him. Emily, you are special. You have so much heart. You’re smart and you’re strong and you have your dad’s knack for finding the positive in everything. I’ve always admired that about you.”

  I wanted her to be right, but she wasn’t. “There’s no positive in this.”

  “You’ll find it.”

  “I’m not so sure about that.” She kissed the top of my head, and I got an idea that would definitely cheer me up. “If you got me a car…”

  She reached into the drawer. “Nice try,” she said, and handed me a spoon. “But I’ll be here for you, always, and for tonight I won’t even give you a hard time about eating in your bedroom.”

  While I would have preferred the car, I was going to take what I could get. I went to my room, dumped my food stash on the desk next to my bed, and pulled out my laptop. It was time for some binge watching and eating. The dance didn’t start until eight, so I had a good hour and a half until my friends started blowing up my phone, asking me where I was. But they’d understand why I didn’t show. I wanted them to have fun with their dates and not worry about me.

  I was only half an hour into my first show when my bedroom door burst open. “Mom!”

  Only, it wasn’t my mom. It was Jill and Kayla. “Huh?!! What are you doing here and dressed like that? I mean, you guys look beautiful, but you shouldn’t be here.” They really did look great. Jill was wearing an emerald-green slip dress that made her eyes pop, and her hair was curled and swept into an intentionally messy side bun. She truly looked stunning. Kayla too. Her hair was in a boho halo braid that made her look like a Renaissance princess, and she was wearing an aqua dress that rested just above her knees and had these incredible lace bell sleeves. It looked as if it was made for her, and then I realized it probably was. “Did you design that?”

  “Yep,” she said. “Sewed it myself, too.”

  “Wow,” I said. “You’re both breathtaking. Seriously.”

  “You can fan-girl all you want later, Cinderella, but right now Jill and I have our fairy godmother work cut out for us.”

  “What?” I said again. “No. You guys need to go. The dance is at eight. You have more important things to do.”

  “No, we don’t,” Jill said.

  Kayla dropped her bag on my floor. “We’re all ready for the dance. That leaves an hour to work on you.”

  “Guys, I really don’t want to go.”

  “You promised us you’d be there,” Jill said.

  “I only said that because you wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

  Kayla took a seat in my desk chair. “Look, we knew you were going to flake on us. But there was no way we were going to let you sit here and sulk and feel sorry for yourself while we were at the dance. So we came here to make sure you got your butt over there.”

  “And worst-case scenario,” Jill added, sitting on the edge of my bed, “we’ll just drag you there. You’re not getting out of this.”

  “Guys, I appreciate everything you’re trying to do. I really do. But I just want to be alone. I promise you, it’s better this way. I’m going to be crappy company.”

  “So what else is new?” Kayla said.

  “Very funny,” I shot back. “Please, just forget about me for one night.”

  Jill put her no-nonsense voice to use. “You know that’s not going to happen. We can either spend an hour convincing you to go with us—which you eventually will. Or we can save time, you can just agree to it now, and you can start to get ready.”

  “Jill!”

  “We’re serious, Em. I will stand Seth up over this. You want to be responsible for that?”

  I really didn’t. “Even if I wanted to go,” I said. “I can’t. I’m a mess. I don’t have anything to wear to a semiformal.” Instead of a fun, cool, low-maintenance night out, Amanda’s brainstorm was that we all needed to wear uncomfortable clothing and shoes and pretend we were way fancier than we really were. We already had homecoming and prom (well, for the upperclassmen, anyway). How many fancy dances did we need? “I know I said I was going to wear that powder-blue lacy thing from my cousin’s bat mitzvah, but the truth is, that hasn’t fit in about a year. Ben & Jerry saw to that.”

  “Well, lucky for you,” Kayla said, “one of your very best friends in the whole wide world is an awesome dress designer and has you covered.” I hated to admit it, but I was starting to get a little excited as Kayla pulled out a dress from her bag. Her stuff was always amazing.

  “Here you go,” she said. “A Kayla Nunez original.”

  “Wow!” It was a sleeveless rose-colored gown with a draped asymmetrical peplum at the waist. And while it was long, the bottom was a wrap skirt with a slit at the front. I couldn’t believe I was going to get to wear this dress.

  “Kayla, that’s incredible,” Jill said.

  “Thank you very much. What are you waiting for?” she asked me. “Put it on.”

  I held the dress for a minute, feeling the delicate cloth between my fingers, then decided what the hell. I saw Wes and Amanda every day at school—who cared if they were at the dance? I couldn’t let them ruin my night.

  I tried it on, but they wouldn’t let me look at myself just yet. They wanted me to see only the final version, probably so I wouldn’t be all critical and question their every move. Jill was on hair. She twisted it into a bun at the nape of my neck and pulled out a few tendrils to frame my face while Kayla tried to give me some kind of smoky-eye look. The last time I tried that, I looked like a raccoon, but Kayla was better at that kind of thing than I was, so I tried to have a little faith.

  Then they put a hammered silver necklace around my neck. It was thick and textured, and as Kayla put it, “a statement piece to go with the dress—adds to the open neckline.” Then they completed the look with delicate ruby earrings. They were fakes, but you couldn’t really tell, at least I couldn’t.

  “Okay,” Kayla said. “All set.”

  When they finally pulled out a mirror and let me look at myself, I was taken aback. I looked good. I mean, I still looked like me, but a fancier, much more put-together version. And the dress, it left me at a loss for words. It gave me just the right amount of cleavage and made my waist look great.

  “You look perfect,” Jill said.

  I kind of did, if I did say so myself. I spun around to get a better look.

  “Ewww,” Kayla said.

  “What?”

  “Your feet. You don’t wear a gown and socks. I know you must own at least one nice pair of shoes.”

  I rummaged through my closet and found a cute pair of ballet slippers (I wasn’t big on heels) and held them up for Kayla’s approval.

  She gave it.

  “Then it looks like it’s time to go,” Jill said.

  “Wait.” I had something I had to say first. “This week has been awful, but you guys were there for me the whole time. You’re…” My eyes started to well up.

  “Don’t cry,” Kayla ordered, but I saw her eyes get dewy as well. “It took me forever to get
your makeup just right.”

  “It’s just, you two are the best. Thank you.”

  “Okay, you guys are going to make me cry, too,” Jill said, and started wiping at the corners of her eyes.

  I tried to compose myself. “No tears. We look too good,” I said with a laugh. “But just know I love you both. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Seriously.”

  “Me too,” Jill said, and grabbed us both in a hug.

  “Me three,” Kayla said, “but we need to get out of here now, before I have to redo all our makeup. So enough with this mushy stuff. Let’s go dance!”

  She ushered us out of my room and downstairs. My mom let out a whistle when she saw us. “Gorgeous, ladies. So I guess you’re feeling better, Em?” she asked.

  I nodded.

  “I knew you would.” She came over and gave me a kiss on my cheek, careful not to mess up Kayla’s kick-ass contouring work. “Have fun tonight.”

  And the thing was, I was pretty sure I would.

  Because while I might not have had any luck when it came to guys, when it came to friends, I definitely took home the top prize.

  25

  “Ready to make your entrance, Cinderella?” Kayla asked when we got to the dance.

  It was already after eight, so the dance was well under way. There was a pretty good chance that everyone who was going to be there was already inside. Including Amanda and Wes. I took a deep breath. I could do this.

  “Yeah, I think I am.”

  Jill opened the door and gestured for me to enter. “After you.”

  I stepped inside. The room actually looked kind of nice. It was just the cafeteria, but it was transformed. The tables were pushed to the walls. White tablecloths with black napkins and cups covered them, and they were filled with snacks. And it looked as if Amanda (well, technically me, since I had to pick them up for her) had bought out a balloon factory. There were white and black balloons everywhere. In an arc over the deejay, flying above the tables, and tons of loose ones floating around the ground. I picked one up, and Kayla bopped it out of my hands. “It’s covering your dress. Cleavage like yours should be seen.”

  “Nice,” I said. I grabbed another balloon and threw it at her. She hit it back, and Jill jumped in to continue the volley. If I could have stayed tucked away by the entrance with them all night just hitting balloons, I’d definitely be able to survive the evening, but I knew that wasn’t possible.

  Seth immediately spotted Jill and came right over. “There you are,” he said, his face breaking into a giant grin. He really liked her. You could almost feel how much. “You look really pretty.”

  “Thanks,” she said, her voice low. She was positively glowing. “You look good, too.”

  He couldn’t stop smiling at her. I swear they were the most adorable couple ever. He must have realized we were all watching them, because he nodded at us in greeting. “Hi.”

  “Hey,” I said back.

  It got quiet. The uncomfortable kind. And I was the reason. Seth obviously wanted to ask Jill to dance, but he wasn’t going to. Not with me there. Jill undoubtedly filled him in on what was going on, and he was a nice guy. He wasn’t going to try to get her to pawn me off on someone else, so he could have her to himself. Not that she would. She was too good a friend. So it was up to me.

  “I thought you promised to teach Seth how to dance?” I asked.

  “I will later,” she said.

  “That’s not good enough. You better get out there now. This is a perfect dance song.”

  Jill looked torn over whether to stay or go.

  “Come with us?” Seth asked.

  “Yes,” Kayla answered for us both, and she grabbed my arm and led our little group to the center of the dance floor. A fast song was playing, and they all started dancing, while I scanned the room for you know who. But there was no sign of Amanda or Wes. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. I didn’t want to see them, but I had a superactive imagination, and the thought of them kissing in some empty classroom bothered me even more than the idea of seeing them dancing together.

  “You know you have to actually move your body to dance?” Jace informed me as he joined our group and gave Kayla a quick kiss hello. Then they each grabbed one of my arms and started waving them up and down as if I were a marionette.

  “I get it,” I said, and actually began to dance. Like, really dance. Like, forget-my-problems-and-lose-them-to-the-beat dance. The deejay played four fast songs before he broke it up with a slow one. I was actually a little out of breath by that point.

  “I’m going to go grab a drink,” I told everyone. “I’ll be right back.” I didn’t give them time to stop me, I just took off. They shouldn’t have to quit dancing and sit out all the slow songs because I didn’t have a date. I could fend for myself. I was self-sufficient. I had other friends at this school. I didn’t need a babysitter. At least that’s what I was trying to tell myself.

  As I walked over to the refreshment stand, I caught a few people staring at me. I smoothed out my dress. Were they looking because they thought I looked good? Or because I was the girl who made a fool of herself on Shakespeare in the Heights Night? I’d probably never find out (not that I really wanted to know), so I decided to just take it as a compliment even if it wasn’t.

  The song was taking forever to end. I poured myself a cup of punch as slowly as I possibly could and started to nurse it. Maybe by the time I was finished, another fast song would start up.

  Only, no such luck. It was another romantic ballad. I should have known. Amanda warned me the night was geared toward couples. And she would know. She was in charge; she probably made the set list herself.

  As I poured myself another drink, someone behind me cleared his throat.

  I turned around to see Wes’s brother, Neal, staring at me.

  He bowed and put out one hand, “Excuse-eth moi, my lady. But may-eth I have this dance?”

  Was this really happening?

  I knew he wasn’t trying to be rude with the Shakespeare-speak. He was trying to be cute, but it just came off as awkward. I couldn’t say yes to Neal. I’d look like a fool out on the dance floor with him. I was four years older, considerably taller, and already had that stupid GroupIt incident hanging over my head. Yet I didn’t really want to turn him down, either. Okay, I did, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Especially not after I overheard that conversation. And Wes had told me Neal was having a hard time fitting in, and a dance like this had to be superhard for him. But he was here anyway and taking a risk by asking me to dance.

  Wait? He didn’t really think I liked him, did he?

  I studied his face. I couldn’t tell, but at least he didn’t bring up my tagging myself in his picture.

  I could just say no. I was asking for more mocking by dancing with him to a slow song. But he was Wes’s brother. And it was just one dance.

  I didn’t know what to do. Say no? Wait for a fast song? Pretend Kayla and Jill were waiting for me? It turned out I didn’t have to do any of that, my delayed response was answer enough.

  Neal smiled sadly. “It’s okay,” he said. “I get it.”

  He turned away.

  “Neal, wait,” I called after him. I put out my hand. “I’d be happy to dance with you.”

  “Really?” he asked.

  I nodded, and his face lit up.

  “Thanks,” he said, and took my hand.

  I figured, why not? I knew how bad rejection hurt. And he wasn’t asking me to be his girlfriend or to kiss him or to run away to Boston. It was just a dance. Besides, after all I’d been through the past few weeks, there really wasn’t anything that could embarrass me anymore. Let people make fun of me if they wanted to. I didn’t care. Besides, this wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. I was dancing with my friend’s (or whatever he was) brother. My night might have been a bust, but maybe I could help make someone else’s a little better.

  I put my hands on his shoulders, and he wrapped his arms around my w
aist, but I made sure there was a good six or so inches between us. With our height difference and the dress pushing my chest up, Neal was virtually eye level with my cleavage. I probably should have thought about that before I said yes.

  Even though he kept his eyes on mine, it was still a pretty uncomfortable two minutes for me, but I made sure to keep a smile on the whole time. When the song finally ended, he gave me a sheepish grin. “Thanks again,” he said. “You’re the only girl who said yes all night.” I got the feeling his rejections had been in the double digits.

  I squeezed his arm. “It will get easier. Right now you’re the youngest, but there’ll be a new class next year. And I bet you could still go to the middle school dances if you wanted. Then you’d be around people your age, but you’d be the mysterious high school guy who got to get out of two years of school.”

  He laughed. “Maybe I’ll give that a try. Thanks again.”

  As we were standing there, Wes came up and slapped his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Hey,” he said, and Neal nodded at him.

  “Mom texted me,” Wes told him. “She’s outside. She said you weren’t answering. Now I can see why.”

  “Oh, I better go. See you later, Wes. Thanks again, Emily.” He waved and left me and Wes standing there.

  “So you and my brother, huh? First the picture, now the dance?”

  “It’s not like that. You know the whole GroupIt thing was an accident. I didn’t mean to—”

  “I know. I’m kidding,” he said. “I appreciate what you did. I heard what you said to him. It meant a lot. To him, and to me.”

  Stop it, Wes. You can’t say things like that. It doesn’t help me get over you.

  “It wasn’t a big deal.”

  “Yeah, it was. I was supposed to give him a ride home tonight, but he called our mom to pick him up early because he was having a horrible time. You made his night.”

  I didn’t know what to say, or where to look, or what to think. “I’m glad I could help.”

  Wes’s eyes roamed over my dress, and I felt all my muscles tighten at once. Was he checking me out?

  “You look good. Really good. You always do, though.”