After class, Lilly met me at my locker. She was chewing a big fat wad of pink gum and blowing dangerously large bubbles with it. One wrong move and I’d be helping her pick gum out of her eyebrows. “So,” she asked, sucking the bubble back into her mouth, then chomping loudly. “Did you have any luck finding your last volunteer?”
“Why, yes, I did. I had to sucker him into it, though, and he thinks it’s only temporary until I can get someone to replace him. But I have a plan to convince him to stick it out.”
Lilly’s eyes got wide and excited. “So who is it?”
“Do you know Andy Walker?”
Her face fell slightly as the new bubble she’d blown popped. “Hmmm, name rings a bell, but I can’t picture his face. Is he cute?”
“Very cute. He sits next to me in art class. He’s an amazing artist.”
“Ooh, an artist. That sounds sexy and mysterious.” Lilly grinned.
“That’s the reaction I’m hoping to get from all the other girls.”
“You’ll have to point him out to me tomorrow. He’s a senior, so he must have our lunch. Who does he hang out with?”
“You know,” I mused, “I have no answer for that question, which is weird because I know practically everyone. I’ve had a few art classes with him before, but never sat by him until this year. We talk a lot, but I really don’t know him all that well. He’s kind of quiet, so I have a feeling he blends into the background.”
Lilly appraised me approvingly. “I’m proud of you, Ivy.”
“For what?” I asked.
“For taking my advice and thinking outside the box. Some variety at the auction will be a good thing, I think.”
“Lilly, I sure hope you’re right.”
The next morning, I headed into school a little early so I could pick up my approved list before homeroom. I walked into the front office, but the secretary wasn’t there so I let myself past the desk and headed down the hall toward Principal Anderson’s office. His light was on and his door was ajar, so I knocked.
“Come in,” he called out, and I pushed the door open a little wider. He looked up from his desk and smiled at me. “Well, hello, Ivy. I’m guessing you’re here for this?” He held up the piece of paper I’d given him yesterday with my list of names. He adjusted the glasses on his face before taking one more long look, then scribbled his signature on the bottom. I sighed in relief.
“The list looks good. Everyone’s approved. Make sure you get anyone under eighteen to have a parental consent form signed and that all twenty kids sign the participation agreement. All the paperwork needs to be turned back in to me by Friday afternoon.” He handed me the list along with a stack of forms.
“No problem,” I assured him. “I do have a question, though. One of my volunteers said he might have to back out. If that happens, can I replace him with someone else?”
“I’m sorry, Ivy. I already submitted this list to the school board for their final approval. And you know they have a scrutinizing eye on us ever since that first year the auction was run.” He frowned at me. “The list is final, so no changes can be made. If one of your volunteers can’t make it, you’ll just have to auction off one less date.”
“Oh, ok. I understand.” My face fell. I hoped Andy didn’t end up backing out.
“Cheer up, kiddo.” He smiled at me, changing the subject. “I heard there was going to be a dinner this year as well. Excellent idea. You and Robert make a great team.” His smile was genuine and complimentary. I didn’t have the heart to burst his bubble, so I nodded in agreement.
“Thank you, sir.” I waved good-bye and walked out the door before he could catch me gagging on my own words. I left the front office and headed for the student government room, grumbling under my breath the whole way. When I arrived, Rob pounced on me.
“Do you have the list? I hope you actually got it in on time.”
“What the heck, Rob? Have you already forgotten our deal? I thought you were supposed to show a little faith in me.”
“Sorry,” he replied, even though it was obvious he wasn’t sorry at all. “Can I see it?”
I handed over the list that I’d been holding captive until it was approved. Nobody had seen it except for Lilly and me. He scanned the female names, running a finger down the side.
“Excellent choices. I know a few guys who’ll pay good money to score a date with Tricia Miles.” Rob’s nod was approving as he moved over to the male volunteer list, his own name sitting at the top. The appreciative nod continued until he came across the last name.
“You got Andy Walker to volunteer as an auction date?” His voice was shocked, to say the least. He looked up at me in disbelief.
“Yeah, you got a problem with that?” I challenged.
“Nope, no problem.” He recovered quickly. “Just surprised, that’s all. This type of event isn’t really his thing. What did you do, hold a gun to his head?” Rob smirked.
“No, I asked nicely.” Ok, that was an understatement, but I wouldn’t give Rob the satisfaction of knowing I had to beg. “By the way, how do you two know each other? I’ve known you for a while now. We dated for almost a whole school year, and I’ve never once seen you talk to him. Andy said you two knew each other but didn’t elaborate beyond that.”
Rob shrugged his shoulders. “Our parents were friends. We used to play together when we were little. But when we got to Franklin, we stopped hanging out so much. He wanted something completely different out of his high school experience than I did. The friendship fizzled out.”
His story sounded suspect, and I bet that if I dug a little deeper, I’d find out there was more to it than Rob was admitting. But that would entail me talking to him longer than necessary, so I snagged the paper back out of his hands and headed for my seat.
“Don’t forget to have all the consent forms turned in by Friday,” he called out as I walked away. My head snapped back at him, and if eyes could shoot lasers, Rob Emerson would’ve been burned alive.
“If you boss me around one more time, so help me…”
“Sorry, sorry.” He held up his hands in surrender. “Won’t happen again.”
“You better believe it won’t happen again,” I fumed under my breath.
I sat down, and Lilly slid into the seat next to me. Having witnessed the exchange, she joined me in silent support by shooting him angry glares of her own. Rob headed to where Sophia was standing and pulled up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist. She turned around and planted one on him that’d make most people blush. Gross. I don’t know why they had to do that in here. I tried voicing my complaint to Lilly, but she was practically drooling over the display of affection.
“You might want to wipe the slobber off your face before the meeting starts.” I poked her in the side, shaking my head.
“I know he’s kind of a prick, but he’s still super fine. Plus, you’ve told me more than once that the boy’s a good kisser. As a teenage girl, I assert my right to lust over a boy I dislike just because he’s hot. Besides, it’s not like I’d try to get together with him. As your ex, he’s off limits.”
“Girlfriend, if you want him and you can catch him, you can have him.” I laughed.
“Really?”
“He’s all yours, Lilly.”
She smiled dreamily as she propped her head on her hand and continued swooning. Sophia caught her staring, but Lilly didn’t back down. Instead, she wiggled her fingers at Sophia as if to say hi, and sent her a long wink. Sophia’s face soured, and she stomped to her chair. Man, I loved my best friend.
By the time lunch rolled around, I thought Lilly was going to die of curiosity. We stood in the food line, and I watched the door as students filed into the cafeteria. I grabbed a salad and a piece of thin crust veggie pizza along with a water. Lilly skipped the real food altogether and went straight for the dessert rack. She grabbed a cookie, a brownie, two suckers, and a chocolate milk.
“I don’t know how you eat so much junk and stay so s
kinny,” I said in frustration. “If I ate like that, I’d be the size of a house.”
Lilly looked at her lunch selection and shrugged. “The sugar gives me more energy, which boosts my metabolism?” Her answer came out more like a question.
“You know that’s ridiculous reasoning, right?”
“Well, that’s my theory, and I’m sticking to it,” she quipped as she unwrapped her brownie and took a giant bite. She moaned as if it were the best thing she’d ever tasted, and her eyes rolled in the back of her head. “Mmm, so yummy. Is this what kissing Rob tastes like?”
“Hardly.” I scoffed. He tasted like peppermint gum, but I didn’t think that detail would help deter her, so I left it out. I headed toward the lunch tables and stopped short of one, to survey the room. After scanning the sea of faces, I saw Andy sitting at a table across the cafeteria. Next to Jake Hill, of all people. Jake was Sophia’s non-evil twin. He was a decent guy, which was saying a lot, considering he hung out with Rob and Sophia a lot. I wondered why Andy was sitting with him?
I tapped Lilly on the shoulder, stealing her from her moment with the brownie. “That’s Andy over there, sitting next to Jake Hill.” I pointed in their direction. She squinted for a better look, but as usual, Andy’s ball cap and glasses were obscuring the view of his face.
“I can’t really see what he looks like.” Lilly frowned. “I guess we’ll have to go over and get a better look.” Before I could stop her, she took off in the direction of the boys’ table. Crap, I hoped she didn’t say anything embarrassing. She usually did, so I took off after her, trailing closely behind.
Lilly rolled up to the table and plopped her junk-food rations down in front of her before taking a seat. Both boys looked up at her with blank faces, confused about why she was intruding on their lunch. “What’s up, pretty people?” she asked casually.
“Uh, hey, Lillian, what’s going on?” Jake stammered.
“Not much. How about yourself?” She smiled and patted the seat next to her, inviting me to sit, but she didn’t turn her head or pull her eyes from Jake’s. I sighed and sat down, smiling at the boys.
“Hey, guys. It’d appear that we’re eating lunch with you today, if that’s ok?” I looked at Andy when I asked, remembering how he didn’t like crowds. I wondered if four people was considered a crowd to him.
“Fine by me,” Jake said, then winked at Lilly. Her eyes got big, then narrowed for a moment before returning to normal. It’d been a while since I’d spent time with Jake, and I forgot what an insufferable flirt he was. Lilly popped the last bite of brownie in her mouth, took a swig of chocolate milk, and started opening the cookie. Andy gawked at her. After breaking off a big portion of the giant cookie and shoving that down her throat, she realized that we were all gawking now.
“What?” she asked. “A girl’s got to eat a balanced lunch, right?”
Jake shook his head, then busted up laughing. “You know what, Atkins? I like your style.”
Lilly grinned at the compliment, inclining her head toward Andy. “You going to introduce me to your friend, or what?” she asked Jake.
“Lillian Atkins, this is my friend, Andy Walker. Andy, this is Lillian.”
“Nice to meet you, Andy. And you can call me Lilly. Most people do.”
Andy smiled politely. “Nice to meet you, too.” The table was silent for a beat too long, so Andy followed his greeting with a question. “What brings you to our side of the cafeteria today?”
“Well,” she started, “Ivy here was telling me about this year’s auction list, and I thought we’d come over to get an early look at the merchandise. I’m trying to decide if a date with either of you is worth my hard-earned pennies.”
Jake snorted. “I know I’m worth all the pennies you’ve got.” He threw his thumb in Andy’s direction. “Andy’s worth all your pennies, too, but I’m pretty sure he’s not for sale.”
“On the contrary.” she grinned wickedly at Jake, no doubt excited to be outing Andy’s secret, “I’ve seen the list of eligible dates, and you, my friend, are both on it.” Lilly pointed between the two of them.
Jake’s jaw dropped more than should be humanly possible, and his eyes got wide. He turned to Andy, grinning like a fool. “Tell me she’s not lying, dude? Please tell me she’s not lying.” It’s a weird way to describe a guy, but Jake looked absolutely giddy. Andy’s only admission was a smile.
“Holy crap, bro!” Jake slapped Andy on the back. “Who on earth roped you into volunteering for the auction?”
Andy’s eyes wandered toward mine, they locked, and I gave him an apologetic expression. Jake noticed the exchange and whispered to the table. “No freaking way.” He shook his head in disbelief before addressing me. “Congratulations, Nixon. You’ve managed the impossible. I’m not sure how, but I’m impressed.”
“Oh, trust me,” I answered. “It involved lots of begging, on my knees, mind you, in front of the whole art class. I’m pretty sure he agreed just to shut me up.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s right,” Andy finally spoke up.
Jake was still unreasonably excited. “You know what this means, Andy? We can totally plan a double date. We get auctioned off as a package deal. Then if our dates are weird or totally crazy, we can run interference for each other.”
“Hang on a second, Mr. So Excited it’s Creepy.” Andy threw his hands up in warning. “I told Ivy she could put my name on the list until she could find a replacement, so she could meet her quota. I have no intention of actually being auctioned off to a room full of people.”
Jake’s face fell. It was pretty adorable. He’d been genuinely excited that Andy was going to participate in the auction. He looked heartbroken. I couldn’t stand to see a grown boy so sad. I had some bad news to break. I guessed now was as good a time as any.
I cleared my throat loudly. “About that, I’m afraid I have some bad news.” Three pairs of eyes fixed on my face, and I tried to look disappointed. “I spoke with Principal Anderson this morning, and he said he already submitted the list to the school board, so there can’t be any changes.” I decided to keep a lid on the fact that Andy could back out until I could gauge exactly how mad he was.
“Yessss,” Jake hissed while pumping his fist. His excitement was palpable. Andy’s mouth hung slightly agape. He didn’t really look mad, more like stressed out. Jake must have known what Andy was thinking, because he spoke before Andy could. “Don’t freak out, man. It’ll be fun. I bet Ivy can make sure someone cool bids on you.” Jakes eyebrows shot to his hairline as he nodded his head at me, silently willing me to continue his reassurances.
“Oh, totally,” I agreed. “If it looks like some crazy cat lady is going to win your bid, I promise to outbid her.” I smiled at him, trying to provide some sort of comfort.
Andy sighed. “It’s not really the date that stresses me out as much as the auction itself.” He turned to Jake before continuing. “You know how I feel about being in the spotlight. I really hate it. I’m not going to wig out or hyperventilate or anything, I just…” Andy scrubbed his hand across his face before blowing out a huge breath. “I just really hate it.”
I couldn’t handle his expression, so I decided to put the offer on the table. “Principal Anderson said that if you wanted to back out, you could. If you do, I can’t replace you, so we’ll be a man down. But you can still back out if you really don’t want to do it.” I scrunched up my face and crossed my fingers under the table, silently willing him not to bail on me. He looked at me long and hard, and I started to worry.
“Being up on stage isn’t my only concern,” he said. “I don’t particularly want to look like a loser when nobody bids on me.” I opened my mouth, but he held up his hand to stop me, as if he already knew what I was going to say.”And before you go offering to buy me again, I don’t want your pity bid.”
“I’ll bid on you,” Lilly offered, then winked, making kissy faces and raising her eyebrows up and down dramatically. “And it won’t be a pity
bid, either. I’ll definitely be expecting some lip action at the end of the night.”
Jake had been drinking when Lilly said that, and he snorted a little bit, causing soda to suck back up his nose. He threw his napkin over his face, eyes watering, then launched into a coughing fit. I cracked up, quickly followed by both Lilly and Andy.
Jake finally composed himself. “Sure, go ahead, laugh it up. But if you’d had the visual I just did, you’d have reacted the same way.”
I don’t think he meant the comment to be insulting to Lilly, but to ease any potential embarrassment, I jumped to her defense. “What’s wrong, Jake? Worried that Andy has more game than you?”
Jake’s response surprised me. “Oh, I’m not worried. I know he does. But he chooses to use it so rarely.”
“Ok, guys, enough about my love life, and back to the matter at hand.” Andy quickly redirected the conversation. “If, and this is a big fat if, I decided to humor you and stay in the auction lineup, how do I make sure that I get purchased? It’s bad enough that I’ll be getting up in front of the whole school. I don’t want to look like a reject while doing it.”
I thought for a second before responding. “Andy, I really don’t think that you won’t get any offers. Like I told you earlier, you’re good-looking, fun, smart, and talented. You have lots of qualities that girls will find attractive. We just need to advertise you a little bit over the next few weeks. Make some girls notice you beforehand.” Andy looked horrified, and I grunted. I knew where his thoughts were wandering. Maybe we were developing a little bit of an ESP thing.
“Don’t freak out. I’m not talking about dragging you up and down the halls wearing a sandwich board. Or posting flyers with your picture on all the seniors’ lockers. Nothing crazy.” I saw a slight look of relief wash over his face, and I had to keep myself from laughing out loud. He was honestly worried that I’d literally advertise him. “I was thinking more like getting you out into a few social settings, like a party. I know you hate them, but they are a good place to be seen. How about a double date in some place where lots of other kids from school hang out?”
Perfectly You (The Perfect Series Book 2) Page 3
