“You better go in,” Brennan said, gruffly. He didn’t have to elaborate, because I could tell by the look on his face that he was trying to do the right thing.
“Goodnight, B-man.” I nodded.
“Goodnight, Rubylocks.”
Comments:
bellaroo: I love nicknames. I think they’re fun and cute. One day when we were riding in his car, I called my guy Mario, short for Mario Andretti, and he loved it. I could see that it really turned him on. That is until he was pulled over for speeding and was asked if he was carrying a concealed weapon in his pants. LOL.
countrygirl: You’re right, giving him a nickname did bring us closer together. I call him Cowboy (he’s the prefect definition) and he calls me Daisy (on account of the Daisy Dukes I always wear that he’s so fond of).
BLOG #7
Step Seven: Pretend to be Interested in Someone Else
I’m glad that you are still reading my blog and following my excellent advice.
When you’ve been hanging out for a couple of weeks, and he still hasn’t asked you to the prom, no matter how great things are between the two of you, it’s time to move on to step seven.
Step seven is plain and simple – pretend to be interested in someone else. I know it may seem drastic, but some guys just need that extra push. Remember you’re not really interested in someone else, you’re just making it seem like you are. When he sees the potential threat of someone else entering the picture, it will only take him moments to realize what’s been right in front of him all along.
You can do this in a variety of ways. A subtle way would be to weave another boy’s name into a conversation. You could talk about how this other boy got a 100% on the Chemistry test your teacher just passed back, so you were thinking of asking him to help you study. The next thing you know, your guy will suddenly offer to help you because he wouldn’t want anyone else moving in on his territory. If you want something a little more obvious, you could flirt (just a little) with someone else in front of your guy. That will definitely get his attention. There are other ways too to pretend to be interested in someone else, put some thought into it, and then choose the one that’s right for you.
“It can’t believe he hasn’t asked you yet?” said Rachel one afternoon when she came over to hang out after school.
“I know, right? We’ve spent every weekend together since our first date, way back in at the end of February.”
“Don’t I know,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes. She had been complaining lately that we hadn’t been to the mall on a Saturday afternoon in a long time.
I ignored her comment and continued to voice my own frustrations. “I mean, we’ve gone out to eat, we’ve been to the movies, we went to an exhibit at the art gallery, we’ve played video games at my house, and we’ve even babysat his brothers and sister together,” I said, ticking off each item on one of my freshly painted fingernails. “And still nothing.” I flopped onto my bed. “When we’re together, he acts likes he’s into me. I don’t know what to think any more.” I covered my eyes with the back of my hand.
Rachel raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think he’s into you? Tell me, tell me, and I’ll be the judge.”
I remained silent, while I thought about how to describe why I thought Brennan truly cared for me, without giving away too much. Even though Rachel was my BFF, whom I tell everything, there were some things that I wanted to keep just between Brennan and I. Finally I said, “Well, he’s a perfect gentleman. He always opens the door for me, and insists on paying every time we go out. He even goes out of his way to surprise me with little gifts. Just last Saturday, he showed up with a bouquet of red roses, and said it was because they reminded him of me.” I pointed at my red hair.
“How romantic.” Rachel pretended to swoon. “What else have you got?”
“Well,” I paused, not sure how it was going to sound once I said it out loud. “When we’re together, I can hear his heart beating even over my own, and mine pounds so loud I’m afraid that it’s going to burst right out of my chest. It must mean something.”
“Yeah, that he’s a hormonal teenage boy,” she laughed. “Just kidding,” she said, growing serious. “It does sound like he’s into you.”
“Then if he obviously likes me and all, why hasn’t he asked me to the PROM?” I sobbed.
“Maybe he just needs more time,” Rachel shrugged.
“More time?” I sat up. “I’m running out of time. Prom is in one month. ONE MONTH. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this – but I have to move on to the next step.”
“Really? You’re going to pretend to like somebody else? Who?” Rachel shifted uncomfortably. “Don’t you think that’s going a little too far? What if this step backfires on you, and then you lose him for good?” She said, voicing all of my real fears out loud.
I took a deep breath. Sounding more confident than I necessarily felt, I replied, “Have I been wrong yet? I mean look at the luck you’ve been having, following my 10 step program.”
Rachel smiled. Since I’d told her about the 10 step program a few weeks ago, she’d been following it. She had her sights set on Kyle, a cute and shy Asian guy whom she had been crushing on for years, and things were falling perfectly into place. Rachel and Kyle had been friends for the past four years. They enjoyed working on school projects together and they were both members of the debate team. Until now, Rachel had been too nervous to tell him that she wanted to be more than friends, because she was worried that he would turn her down, and then their friendship would be uncomfortable. However, things were changing. She was already on step three, Flirting 101, and from the playful banter I witnessed yesterday when he unexpectedly joined us at our lunch table, I would say everything was going just fine.
“I know, but it sounds so harsh.” She winced.
“I’ll be careful, I promise.”
“Have you decided who you will pretend to be interested in? And don’t even say, Simon Taylor,” she shook her finger. “I know he asked you to the prom months ago, but that would just be cruel to get his hopes up. Plus, there is no way that Brennan would believe you’d prefer to hang out with Simon, over him. I mean, let’s get real,” Rachel said.
“No,” I shook my head. “I’m not going to pretend to be interested in Simon. I’m still trying to figure out who and how.” I chewed on my lip. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“My suggestion is to skip this step. Definitely skip it.
“I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can.”
“No, this is going to work. I know it. I just have to think of someone. I don’t really have to be interested in this person, I just have to play it right so that Brennan thinks I am.” I turned up my i-pod speakers; one of my favorite songs was playing. When the song was over, I turned it back down.
“I’ve got it!” I shouted, jumping off the bed. I filled Rachel in on my seemingly brilliant plan.
“It just might work. If you time it right. But for the record – I still think this step is a bad idea. I just hope tomorrow I won’t be saying, ‘I told you so.’”
“Trust me. You won’t.”
***
I was entering the cafeteria, when I said a quick hello to Noah, a good-looking guy on the swim team, whom I was friendly with. It was nothing major, Noah wouldn’t think it was strange, but hopefully it would be just enough to plant a seed in Brennan’s mind.
I stood in line for my lunch, and then joined Rachel at our usual table. Brennan and I didn’t sit together at lunch, because we decided that it was more important to sit with our friends, like we’d been doing all year. I waved at him, just like always, and sat down. He waved back, and then returned to joking around with his friends.
“So, did Brennan see me say hi to Noah?” I asked Rachel in a rush, wanting to have this conversation before the rest of our friends showed up. They didn’t know about my 10 step plan.
“He saw,” she shrugged.
“What does that mean?�
� I felt sick to my stomach because I wasn’t so sure that this was the best idea I’d ever had. The smell of the green hotdog that they were calling lunch, only added to my discomfort. I pushed my lunch away, knowing there was no way I could eat it.
“It means that he saw you.” Rachel took a bite out of her sandwich, while I waited for her to continue, “but I didn’t get a good read on his reaction.”
“Why not?”
“He looked the same as he always does. I couldn’t tell if he was upset or not.”
“Oh,” I paused to think. “Well, I only said ‘hi’, so technically he’s not supposed to freak out or anything. If he did – that could indicate a totally different problem.” I had my doubts, as to whether or not that this plan of mine was going to work.
“So now what?”
“I wait to see if Brennan brings it up. If he does, then that’s it.”
“And if he doesn’t? Because there is a very good chance he won’t,” Rachel reminded me.
“I know,” I frowned. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I won’t have to go there.”
Anna, Julia, and Katie, joined us. It was time to change the subject. “Where is Kyle? I thought he might be joining us for lunch today?” I looked toward the lunch line. There were still a lot of kids waiting to get their lunch.
“He’s not coming. He’s busy editing an article for the school newspaper. The deadline is today after school. He’ll be here tomorrow,” Rachel beamed. She was truly the happiest I’d ever seen her and we’d been friends for a long time. “He’s so sweet. Even though he isn’t eating lunch with us today, he walked me to the cafeteria and said he was going to miss me.”
“Ah,” I said, putting my hand over my heart.
“That’s so cute,” agreed Mary.
Anna, Julia, and Katie began discussing an upcoming concert the three of them were going to. Rachel quietly whispered to me, “I’m still on step three, and I hope I won’t need steps four through eight, no offense. I don’t know if I have the heart to go through with them. I want to skip right ahead to step nine, where he asks me to the prom.”
“Did I hear you say, ‘prom’,” asked Katie.
I nodded.
“Did I tell you guys that Spencer asked me if I wanted to go with him?”
“What did you say?”
“I told him, I’d be happy to. What about you? Any luck yet?”
Rachel smiled. “I don’t want to jinx myself, but I thought Kyle was going to ask me on the way here. Earlier we passed a poster advertising the prom, and he said real quietly how he’d never been to one. I could see that he was struggling to ask me, but before he had the chance Peter came running up to him and told him he had to hurry because they were all waiting for him in the newspaper office.”
“Wow, Rachel. That’s awesome. It does sound like he was about to ask you,” agreed Katie.
“Damn that Peter, he’s always interrupting.” Rachel banged her fist on the table. “I get that they’re best friends like we are,” she pointed back and forth between her and I, “but sometimes, I get the feeling that Peter doesn’t like me much, and he wishes that I would just disappear.”
“Well that’s too bad for him. He’ll just have to grow up, and learn to share, because it sounds like things are going great between the two of you, ” I declared, siding with my best friend.
We all giggled.
Suddenly, I scowled, looking over at Brennan’s table. “What is she doing?” I asked through clenched teeth. The girls turned around to see what I had been referring to. Tracey was sitting in the empty chair recently vacated by one of Brennan’s friends, and she was stroking his arm. My face burned. I wanted to go over there and see what was going on.
“Looks like she’s moving in on your man,” commented Julia.
“You’re not helping.” My frown deepened.
“Sorry.”
“She keeps flirting with him. First, she asked him to drive her to pick up her car, then she called him to ask for help on a homework question, and now this. I can’t take it.”
Anna added, “I would keep a good eye on her. Ever since she broke up with Ryan, she’s been on a mission to find a new date to the prom. She already had her dress and everything.” Great! I have no choice, but to go forward with step seven.
The bell rang, and I left my friends to meet up with Brennan. Thankfully, Tracy went the other direction.
“Hey,” he said, smiling.
“Hi.” He was so handsome I almost forgot to be mad. Almost. “What did Tracy want?” I asked, jealously filling my voice. “She was all over you.”
“She invited me to a party she’s having at her house on Saturday night.”
“She what?” I yelled. The students in front of us turned around to stare.
He stopped and spun me around to face him. Gently he touched my face, “I told her I wasn’t interested. I reminded her that I already have a girlfriend. You.” He stroked my jaw, staring at me with his deep blue eyes. “I only want you.” He lightly brushed his lips against mine.
***
Having already decided to through with my plan, I put it into action on Wednesday, right before the last period of the day. Noah was at his locker and Brennan would pass by soon on his way to Economics. “Hey, Noah,” I said casually, as I approached.
“Oh, hi, Josie.” He smiled. It was a nice smile, not as nice as Brennan’s, but still I was sure it was capable of winning a girl’s heart.
“I was wondering if I could ask you a favor?” I shifted my books from one arm to the other.
“Sure, what’s up?” He shut his locker.
“Are you, by any chance, going to practice tonight?”
“Do I ever miss a practice?” I smiled. Like me, Noah was one of the most dedicated swimmers on the team. “Why do you need a ride?” He asked, guessing correctly. We carpooled together from time to time.
“Yeah. Do you mind? My mom needs her car tonight because she has a meeting, and my dad is out of town.”
“Sure. No problem. Pick you up at 6:40.”
“Thanks. I’ll be ready.”
“Okay, see you then.” Noah headed off to class.
I turned around, and Brennan was leaning against the wall not two feet away, waiting. He was frowning slightly.
“Hi, Brennan,” I said, acting like nothing was wrong.
“I gotta go, or I’ll be late.” He walked off, leaving me alone in the hallway. It was the response I was looking for, but it didn’t make me feel good. I sure hope this doesn’t backfire on me.
After practice I ran up to my room and closed the door. I needed to talk to Brennan. We hadn’t spoken since he saw me talking to Noah. I hadn’t really done anything wrong, and I had complete faith in my 10 step program, but I still felt nervous. “Hi, Brennan,” I said into the phone.
“Hey, what’s up?” He sounded almost normal, but I could hear a little uncertainty in his voice.
“Nothing. I just got home from practice, so I wanted to give you a call.” I stretched out on my bed.
He paused. “How was it?”
“Exhausting and exhilarating all at once.”
“I bet.” His answer seemed short and lacking. He didn’t sound as interested in talking to me as he usually did.
I wanted to ask him if everything was okay, but I held back waiting for him to broach the subject. I continued on as if I hadn’t noticed anything strange between us. “We had to swim IMs. It’s hard, but at the same time I love it.”
He paused briefly, and then sighed. I could picture him running his hand through his hair. I’d noticed he did that when he had something on his mind. He took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to think I’m a stalker, or anything, or that I follow you around, but my mom sent me over to school to pick up Will from soccer practice, and I didn’t see your mom’s car. At first, I was worried that something was wrong with you because I know you never miss a practice. Then as I was pulling out, I caught a glimpse of you in my rearview mir
ror. You were walking with Noah.” He sounded confused.
My heart stopped. Step seven really works. He thinks I’m interested in Noah. He’ll ask me to prom now, for sure. I just have to play this right. Forcing my voice to sound normal, I responded, “My mom needed her car, so I asked him for a ride.”
“Are you trying to get back at me for Tracy? I told you I’m not interested in her that way.”
“It had nothing to do with Tracy.” I had actually forgotten about her. “Noah and I used to carpool all the time before we got our drivers’ licenses. He lives just down the street from me.”
“I would’ve been happy to drive you home from practice, if you had asked me.” He didn’t sound upset or angry, just sad that I hadn’t thought to ask him. “As a matter of fact, there is something important I want to ask you,” he said, sounding like himself once again.
OMG – He is going to ask me to the PROM. Suddenly, I was overcome with excitement.
“Ouch,” I said, as I crashed hard onto the floor almost dropping the phone.
“Are you okay? What just happened?”
“I’m fine,” I said, standing up and rubbing my backside. “I rolled off my bed, that’s all.” How embarrassing!
Brennan laughed, erasing all of the tension that had been between us.
I wanted to make things even better, “I would have asked you for a ride, but I didn’t want you to go out of your way when Noah drives right by my house. I’ll be sure to ask you though, the next time I need a ride. Hey,” I said, trying not to sound too eager, “what did you want to ask me?”
“I can’t ask you now, over the phone.”
“Why not?” I examined my nails to see which one was already chipping. I began biting it.
“Because it’s the kind of question that needs to be asked in person.”
The Perfect Prom Date Page 9
