by Kieran Scott
“Jake—”
There it was. That same tone she’d had outside the church. Like I was pitiful and she was about to let me down easy. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t hear that right now. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth.
“Will you go to the prom with me?” I asked.
The moment of silence that followed was the longest moment of my life. The crickets chirped outside. Something surfaced in the lake, then went under again, leaving ripples that went on forever, making the paper lanterns bounce and sway.
“I thought you had a date for the prom already,” she said.
I blinked. “What? No. Who?”
She lifted her shoulders, looking out the window. “I don’t know. Some sophomore? That’s what I heard.”
“Yeah, well, don’t believe everything you hear,” I said. I cleared my throat. Pressed my right hand against my thigh. “Do you have a date already?”
I held my breath until it felt like my lungs would burst.
“No,” she said slowly. She looked down at her hands, picking at her painted nails. She almost never had painted nails. “I wasn’t planning on going.”
“So go with me.” I turned in my seat. “Come on. Remember last summer? We used to talk about it all the time. How we’d make up for last year this year?”
Last year I’d screwed up by asking someone my friends wanted me to ask, and Ally had gone with Marshall Moss. It had been one of the most pointless nights of my life. And torturous, watching her flirt and dance with that dude like he was the only guy there.
“Come on, Ally. Just say yes.” I pleaded. “I’ll make everything up to you, I swear.”
Ally’s hands dropped into her lap and she sighed. That sigh took the air right out of me. She was going to say no. This was it. This was where she let me down easy. This was the real end.
Then she looked up at me and bit her lip. “Can I think about it?”
Think about it? Was she kidding? Like this wasn’t torture enough, now she was going to drag it out? My neck burned. Here I was, basically begging her, and that was her response?
But then I looked into her face and instantly cooled off. Of course she wanted to think about it. I was her asshole ex-boyfriend. What did I think I’d done to deserve a quick “yes”? Stage one scene from one stupid old movie, which wasn’t even my idea? Not enough. Clearly there was more work to be done.
“Sure,” I said, my heart heavy. How was I going to fix this? What was I going to do? “Yeah. Just … let me know.”
ally
My birthday. This was my eighteenth birthday. Was I doing something fabulous, like hanging out at a day spa with Shannen, Chloe, and Faith or hitting a few clubs in the city? No. Was I doing something quaintly low-key, like having dinner out with Annie and David and my parents and laughing while the waiters sung their off-key version of happy birthday? No. Was I sitting on the couch in the living room, watching Cake Boss with Quinn while she texted with Hammond and waiting for my dad to show up to take me out for a $9.99 special at Chili’s?
Yes. Yes I was.
I shifted in my seat and let out a sigh. My father was fifteen minutes late and hadn’t called. I wondered if he was going to stand me up. That would just be the icing on the cake. Pun very much intended.
“I wonder what Mom and Dad are doing right now,” Quinn mused, checking her watch before absently shoving a piece of popcorn into her mouth.
She’d started doing that lately. Calling my mom “Mom.” It was just weird.
“Probably sipping wine, watching the sunset over the beach, being totally, disgustingly, in love,” I said flatly.
They had called earlier that day to wish me a happy birthday and tell me they were bringing me back a killer surprise when they got home. But I didn’t even care about presents. I just missed my mom. I’d kept her on the line for way too long, talking about nothing, just because I didn’t want to hang up.
“Wow. Someone forgot to take her happy pills this morning,” Quinn said, nudging my leg with her socked foot. “Maybe if you’d’ve talked your dad into taking you somewhere cooler than Chili’s—”
“Hey, my dad’s not made of money like some people,” I shot back.
Quinn raised her hands in surrender. “Sorry. Sheesh. Cheer up already. It’s your birthday.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I replied, sinking into the couch.
“You never know, you know,” Quinn said. She set the popcorn aside, grabbed the remote, and turned off the TV abruptly. “Maybe something unexpectedly fabulous will happen.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “I think you take too many happy pills.”
She was opening her mouth to retort when the doorbell rang. I grabbed my bag as I jumped off the couch. “See ya!”
“Have fun!” she shouted after me.
I ran through the kitchen, down the hall, and through the foyer, psyched to finally be getting out of the house. But when I flung the door open, it wasn’t my dad standing there. It was three people in ski masks. Shannen, Chloe, and Faith. I could tell by the hair sticking out around their necks. Behind them, Faith’s car idled in the driveway.
“What’re you guys—”
“No talking!” Shannen said, pitching her voice superlow. Then Chloe and Faith yanked a pillowcase over my head and led me toward the car.
“You guys. What’re you doing? My dad’s gonna be here any minute to take me to—”
“I said, shut up!” Shannen barked. “This is a kidnapping.”
I sighed as someone ducked me into the backseat of the car. “But my dad—”
“Shut up or you won’t get your present,” Faith ordered as a couple of car doors slammed.
I rolled my eyes under the pillowcase as the three of them started to whisper, but suddenly I couldn’t stop smiling. Whatever these three crazies had in mind, I was in. Maybe Quinn was right. Maybe something unexpectedly fabulous would happen.
ally
At first I tried to keep track of where the car was headed by counting turns, but it took about five minutes for me to get completely confused. I attempted a few questions, but Faith, Shannen, and Chloe just kept telling me to shut up, so I finally bagged it and just settled in for the ride. For a while they sang along to the stereo while I sat there and nodded my head to the beat. It felt like we were in the car forever. So long that I started to wonder if they really were taking me into the city to club-hop. If so, I was definitely not dressed appropriately.
Finally, the car skidded to a stop, tires squeaking. I was thrown forward, then back, and I felt my neck crack.
“Oops! Sorry!” Faith said, killing the engine. “Girls, get the prisoner.”
I waited for the door to open next to me and put my foot out onto asphalt. There was no street noise—no honking or voices or random music playing—so we were definitely not in the city. Two of my friends took my arms and steered me around. We walked up an incline and then made a right. Suddenly I could hear voices. Lots and lots of voices. And music being played from speakers that sounded like they were everywhere. Had they taken me to some kind of outdoor concert? And if so, were people disturbed by the sight of a girl with a bag over her head?
“Where the hell are we?” I whispered.
Then we stopped. Someone whipped the pillowcase off and a thousand voices shouted, “Surprise!”
I blinked in confusion, trying to focus. We were standing under one of the baskets on my basketball court. Well, Jake’s basketball court. We were in Jake’s backyard, which used to be my backyard. And pretty much every one of my friends from school was crowded onto the court under a big white tent. David’s band was set up in one corner, and a huge spread of food was placed along the opposite side of the court from the bleachers. Annie stood at the front of the crowd, her Flip camera trained on my stunned face. My dad broke out and came over to envelop me in a hug.
“Are you okay?” he asked me.
“Um, yeah,” I stammered out. “Just … shocked. You were in on this?”
I turned to look at Shannen. “You guys did this?”
“Nope,” Shannen said, shaking her head and knocking her fists together. “This one was all Jake. The whole thing was his idea.”
Just then, Jake emerged and tossed something at me. Something blue and silky and crumpled into a ball. I caught it against my chest and unfolded it in front of me. It was a basketball jersey with my number and the words BIRTHDAY GIRL printed on the back.
“Happy birthday,” he said, standing in front of me with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He’d gotten his hair cut, and he wore this light blue Lacoste polo that made him look like a model. So not fair, having an ex who looked like that. And I hadn’t even had a chance to get changed out of my distressed jeans and green-and-white-striped T-shirt.
“Um, wow. I—”
I didn’t know what else to do or say. I was so overwhelmed, there were no words.
“Did we miss it?”
“Mom?” I blurted.
I whirled around to find my semi-tan mother, and a super-tanned Gray, striding through the gate with Quinn right behind them. My mother’s shoulders drooped when she saw me.
“Oh! We missed it!” she pouted.
“You’re here!” I shouted.
I threw myself into her arms and she kissed the top of my head to a round of teasing “awww”s. I felt like a complete dork, hugging my mommy like I hadn’t seen her in years, but I couldn’t help it. She wasn’t supposed to be back for three more days. And besides, I had all this pent up Jake-related emotion inside of me and I had to hug it out somewhere.
“Happy birthday,” she said, cupping my face as she pulled away.
“Told you something fabulous could still happen,” Quinn chided me.
She sauntered over to the drinks table and joined Hammond and some of her friends. I couldn’t believe she’d actually managed to keep this a secret from me. I couldn’t believe any of them had.
My mother and Gray went over to say hi to my dad and Jake’s parents, and everyone else started to mill around. A bunch of people came up to tell me just how hilarious my face was when they’d whipped the pillowcase free, and the music started up again full-blast. The faces whirled by so quickly, accompanied by happy birthdays and hugs and kisses, but through it all I kept searching the crowd for Jake. Where had he gone? Was he upset I hadn’t said anything? Was he hiding out in his room or something?
But then, as I was hugging Marshall, I caught a glimpse of Jake over his shoulder. He was directing one of the waiters on where to set up the cake, like a true party planner. He must have felt me watching, because he looked over at me and our eyes locked. I stared at him for a good, long minute, my heart so full it was taking up my entire chest.
“Thank you,” I mouthed to him.
He smiled. If possible, he looked hotter in that moment than he ever had before. “Anytime.”
jake
When people began to leave, I started to get tense. I tried to keep an eye on Ally, but there was so much going on. The cake, the pictures, the dancing, the good-byes. I just wanted her to stay. If she left with her parents or one of her friends … I didn’t know what I was going to do. Honestly. I didn’t know.
But then I saw her dad hug her good-bye. And a while later her mom and Dr. Nathanson left with Quinn. Annie snagged a ride with Marshall, and David’s band started packing up. There was a scary second there when it looked like she was planning to hit the diner or something with Shannen, Chloe, and Faith, but they left without her too. Soon the court was almost empty. Ally stood near the gate with a couple of Norms, laughing about something, but her eyes kept trailing over to me. I pretended to help some of the worker guys clean up, but I didn’t even know what I was doing. Every inch of my skin tingled. It was like I was about to get on a rollercoaster, but I couldn’t see where it was going.
Please just let me get her alone. Please, God, just let me get her alone.
Finally, I heard her say good-bye to her friends. She walked over to me slowly, her hands behind her back, crossing one foot over the other. It was a flirt walk. This was promising.
“Hey,” she said.
She must have been able to hear my heart pounding. It was obvious to the world. “Hey.”
She smiled and hugged herself, looking around at the tent, the decorations, the gift table. “And you thought my mom threw a serious party.”
I cracked a grin. “I’ll admit it. I had some help.”
“I figured,” she said. “But thank you. I can’t believe you did all this.”
“Really?” I said, stepping closer to her. “Can you really not believe I’d do this for you?”
My voice sounded throaty and my chest was warm with hope. Because I meant it. I’d do anything for her. She just had to believe it. She gazed up at me, searching my eyes, and I leaned in closer. My lips actually tingled. For a second, her eyelids went heavy, and I swore she was going to let me kiss her. Finally, finally, finally. But then, suddenly, she pulled away. I felt like I was going to die. Seriously. Right then and there.
She turned around and walked slowly away.
“Where’re you going?” I said.
“Just getting something.” She popped open the door of the shed that held all the sports equipment and came back with a basketball. “How about a little one-on-one? It could be your present to me.”
I smirked. “Oh, so the party and the jersey weren’t enough?”
She looked me in the eye and very, very sexily shook her head, her hair falling forward in front of her face. I swallowed hard.
“Okay,” I said, clapping my hands together. “I’m in.”
We decided to play to eleven. Ally took the ball out first, being the birthday girl and all. As I crouched in front of her, I realized that my goal for this game was just to not get humiliated. There was no way I could beat her. This had been proven before. And besides, I didn’t want to beat her. It was her birthday. And yeah, I was still hoping to get that kiss. Losing probably wouldn’t put her in a kissing mood.
“Ready?” she said, dribbling between us.
“Ready.”
Instead of cutting right or left, she came right at me. I backed up fast, almost tripping myself, but she still slammed her shoulder into mine. I felt myself blush as her body grazed past me. She took the ball to the hoop and hit an easy layup, then retrieved the ball and tossed it back to me.
“One–nothing,” she said, taking the defensive position.
I just watched her, tossing the ball from hand to hand. Had she made contact like that on purpose? Was she just messing with me? I decided to test it.
I took the ball just a few steps away from the midline, stopped moving, and lined up the shot. As the ball arced through the air, Ally jumped for it, and missed. When she came down, she tripped right against me. The ball swished through the hoop.
“One–one,” I said, my breath short, even though I’d barely moved.
She looked up at me with those big brown eyes, her chest pressed against mine. “Nice shot.”
Then she took her time moving away, her hand trailing across my pecs.
Yeah. She was definitely doing that on purpose. The rest of the game was pretty even, both scoringwise and flirtingwise. She took the ball up and I grabbed her hand, holding her back as she strained against me. She still made the shot, tossing the ball underhand at the hoop. I raced forward to try for a layup and she bent down to tackle me at the waist. By the time she got to eleven, we were both giggling like idiots and flushed from contact as much as the exercise.
“Nice game,” I said with a laugh, reaching out to slap her hand.
Her fingers slipped against mine. “Nice game.”
We both sat down on the bottom bleacher. Our knees were touching. I turned toward her, my shoulder grazing hers, and placed my hand on her back.
She didn’t move. I slipped it up slowly, trailing my fingers under her hair. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back into my hand. Her whole neck was exposed and I wanted to kiss it so badly I started to salivate. But I controlled myself.
The kissing, as much as I wanted it, was not the ultimate goal here. One step at a time.
“Hey,” I said.
She opened her eyes and looked at me.
“Go to the prom with me,” I said, holding my breath.
Ally slowly smiled. She bent forward, grabbed the ball, and stood up. My hand dropped down. What the hell was she doing now?
She dribbled the ball methodically to center court, lifted it, and hit a sick and perfect three. The ball bounced back toward her and she stopped it with her foot.
“Hit that shot, and I’ll go to the prom with you,” she said.
I rolled my eyes. Man, she was really toying with me tonight. I shoved myself up off the bench and lifted the hem of my shirt to quickly wipe my face.
“Here.”
I held my hands up for the ball. She popped it up with the toe of her sneaker, then tossed it at me. I adjusted the ball a few times, spinning it between my palms. My pulse was racing. I had to make this shot. I had to. My pride, my prom—hell, my chances with Ally—were on the line. I walked over to her. She inched away so I could stand right where she had been standing. I lifted the ball, bent my knees, said a silent prayer, and took the shot.
The ball crashed against the backboard with a loud rattle, and bounced off into the night. My heart sunk.
“Ouch,” Ally said, grimacing.
In that moment I honestly thought she was pure evil.
“Guess that’s that,” I said, irritated.
Then she jogged over, picked up the ball, and brought it back. She held it out to me.
“Did I not mention you get unlimited chances?” she said, arching one eyebrow.
It took a second for what she was saying to sink in, but when it did, I smiled. And suddenly I didn’t even care that she was toying with me. I had my answer. We were going to the prom. Ally Ryan was going to be my date. Ally Ryan was going to be mine again.
