“Not a clue.”
“No worries. We’ll figure it out. We have some time to find a date, but we should probably step up our game, ya know?” She shimmies her hips while sitting on the picnic bench. “We need to attract a couple of hot guys and we’re not gonna manage that with our current personalities, if you know what I mean.”
“You’re such a dork,” I say, tossing back a handful of Cheerios.
“And so are you, which is exactly why we need to sex up our image, lady.” April pumps her fists excitedly. A dark feeling settles over me as I realize that dress shopping really isn’t a good idea right now. With everything that’s happened, asking my parents to buy me a prom dress would be asking a little too much of them.
But there’s no way I can tell April that now, and ruin her sparkly-eyed prom daydreams. Maybe I should channel all of the energy I’ve spent thinking about Ethan and use it to find a job instead.
Chapter 15
The final bell on Friday is like a siren song that I could write poems about. And that’s saying a lot because, despite my poetic last name, I don’t have a creative literary bone in my body. But an entire week has passed since Ella and I got our feelings out in the open and now we’re in a fun routine where we ride to and from school together, but don’t see much of each other outside of that. A few days ago, Ella and I watched Netflix with Dakota in the living room and although we didn’t talk much, it was the start of what I’d call a real friendship. There’s no more animosity toward each other, no more hurt feelings. Now we’re just getting to a place where we can make up for lost time.
I make my way through the locker room, stopping when my phone goes off. Frustration makes me want to hurl my phone straight into the cinderblock walls. Kennedy is calling.
I don’t know why she thinks I’ll answer her call when I’ve spent the last five days ignoring every single text and call she’s sent my way. That doesn’t stop her from joining us at the lunch table and trying to find me in the hallways between classes. I take a different route nearly every day just to throw her off my scent. But now it’s the end of seventh period and there’s no getting away from her. Which is why I press my back against the lockers and wait it out a bit. Ella is cool with this strategy.
We both want to avoid a Kennedy conflict, so we just hang out in our last period until five minutes after the bell, then slip off to the parking lot. Kennedy is already gone by then, or she’s staying after for cheer. Whatever the case, it’s worked like a charm for five whole days.
But in a world without magic, I guess the charm is bound to wear off at some point. Kennedy steps right in front of me the moment I walk out of the locker room. She’s in her cheerleader uniform, looking all peppy from the mini pompoms on her shoes to the giant bow in her ponytail. The only thing not emanating school spirit is the scowl on her face.
“You can’t just ignore me, Ethan.”
“Really? Because I thought I was doing a pretty good job.”
She puts her hands on her hips and her perfect posture plus uniform makes her look in desperate need of a pair of pompoms. “Why are you being so mean to me?”
I flinch. Mean isn’t exactly what I’m going for here, but after learning Kennedy’s true nature, I just don’t want to be friends. Is that so bad? “I’m sorry you think I’m being mean, but I’m trying to keep my distance. We’re not dating anymore so I don’t see why we need to text and talk all the time.”
“Because we’re royalty in this school,” she says. I don’t even know what to say to that.
Coach Tamara saves me from the ex-girlfriend interrogation by calling Kennedy’s name. “Practice began five minutes ago,” she says, pointing to her bare wrist as if there was a watch there.
“One second,” Kennedy tells her before turning to me. “I’m not going to lose you as a prom
“No worries. We’ll figure it out. We have some time to find a date, but we should probably step up our game, ya know?” She shimmies her hips while sitting on the picnic bench. “We need to attract a couple of hot guys and we’re not gonna manage that with our current personalities, if you know what I mean.”
“You’re such a dork,” I say, tossing back a handful of Cheerios.
“And so are you, which is exactly why we need to sex up our image, lady.” April pumps her fists excitedly. A dark feeling settles over me as I realize that dress shopping really isn’t a good idea right now. With everything that’s happened, asking my parents to buy me a prom dress would be asking a little too much of them.
But there’s no way I can tell April that now, and ruin her sparkly-eyed prom daydreams. Maybe I should channel all of the energy I’ve spent thinking about Ethan and use it to find a job instead.
Chapter 15
The final bell on Friday is like a siren song that I could write poems about. And that’s saying a lot because, despite my poetic last name, I don’t have a creative literary bone in my body. But an entire week has passed since Ella and I got our feelings out in the open and now we’re in a fun routine where we ride to and from school together, but don’t see much of each other outside of that. A few days ago, Ella and I watched Netflix with Dakota in the living room and although we didn’t talk much, it was the start of what I’d call a real friendship. There’s no more animosity toward each other, no more hurt feelings. Now we’re just getting to a place where we can make up for lost time.
I make my way through the locker room, stopping when my phone goes off. Frustration makes me want to hurl my phone straight into the cinderblock walls. Kennedy is calling.
I don’t know why she thinks I’ll answer her call when I’ve spent the last five days ignoring every single text and call she’s sent my way. That doesn’t stop her from joining us at the lunch table and trying to find me in the hallways between classes. I take a different route nearly every day just to throw her off my scent. But now it’s the end of seventh period and there’s no getting away from her. Which is why I press my back against the lockers and wait it out a bit. Ella is cool with this strategy.
We both want to avoid a Kennedy conflict, so we just hang out in our last period until five minutes after the bell, then slip off to the parking lot. Kennedy is already gone by then, or she’s staying after for cheer. Whatever the case, it’s worked like a charm for five whole days.
But in a world without magic, I guess the charm is bound to wear off at some point. Kennedy steps right in front of me the moment I walk out of the locker room. She’s in her cheerleader uniform, looking all peppy from the mini pompoms on her shoes to the giant bow in her ponytail. The only thing not emanating school spirit is the scowl on her face.
“You can’t just ignore me, Ethan.”
“Really? Because I thought I was doing a pretty good job.”
She puts her hands on her hips and her perfect posture plus uniform makes her look in desperate need of a pair of pompoms. “Why are you being so mean to me?”
I flinch. Mean isn’t exactly what I’m going for here, but after learning Kennedy’s true nature, I just don’t want to be friends. Is that so bad? “I’m sorry you think I’m being mean, but I’m trying to keep my distance. We’re not dating anymore so I don’t see why we need to text and talk all the time.”
“Because we’re royalty in this school,” she says. I don’t even know what to say to that.
Coach Tamara saves me from the ex-girlfriend interrogation by calling Kennedy’s name. “Practice began five minutes ago,” she says, pointing to her bare wrist as if there was a watch there.
“One second,” Kennedy tells her before turning to me. “I’m not going to lose you as a prom
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