Page 24 of The Wrong Prom Date

The uneasy feeling in my stomach magnified at Mr. Randall’s words. “You want me to partner with Liam?” I asked. Not only did I want to avoid spending any more time with Liam than was necessary, but Ihadto do well on this assignment, and I needed a partner I could work with, not someone who would probably avoid the work at all costs.

“Yes,” Mr. Randall said. “Now, as I explained yesterday, you will each be required to write a section of a biography on your partner. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what section of their life you would like to focus on. You have today’s lesson to start planning your assignments.”

My face felt drained of blood, and I was really struggling not to argue with the teacher. I hadn’t been worried about this assignment when he’d explained it yesterday because I’d assumed I’d be partnered with Evan. The thought of divulging parts of my life to Liam made me sick to my stomach. I didn’t want to write about his life either. This project was going to be a nightmare.

Mr. Randall passed us both a sheet with the assignment on it. “Feel free to go to the library or find a spot outside the classroom to discuss your plan.” His voice sounded so final, like he knew I wanted nothing more than to argue with him about this.

“I guess we better get started,” Liam said.

I slowly turned to face him, and from the expression on his face, I could see he was just as unhappy about the pairing as I was. All I could hope was that he wasn’t about to make me fail.

10

Liam

This assignment had to be some kind of joke. Did the teacher really expect me to tell a girl who hated me all about my life for a school project? I never revealed anything personal to journalists, and I wasn’t inclined to change my stance on my private life now. I had no idea how I could avoid this though. Zeke hadn’t had any luck getting me out of the drama production, so I didn’t like my chances on being excused from English.

It wouldn’t be so bad if these grades didn’t matter, but since they counted toward my GPA, I couldn’t allow them to slide. I was really missing my regular tutors right now. They never would have given me with this kind of assignment. Partner work wasn’t an option when I was their only student.

I followed Teagan from the classroom, and she made a beeline for the large double doors that led outside. She pushed them open with a surprising amount of force, and we emerged onto large grass area that stretched between the building and the sporting fields. It seemed like she was on a mission as she stormed away from the building. Her hair whipped around in the breeze, and she held her books tightly to her chest as she walked purposefully toward a table that sat under the shade of a large tree. She came to a stop when she reached it and slid onto the bench, allowing her books to drop from her hands and slap onto the wooden tabletop. She hadn’t looked at me once since we’d left the classroom, and her hard movements easily betrayed every bit of her frustration.

I wasn’t surprised by how she was acting. Every time we encountered one another, I somehow seemed to anger her. It might have been somewhat deserved today though. I’d purposely given a poor performance in drama, after all.

The way she’d spoken to me on the street the day before had really gotten under my skin. I’d gone home and read through the whole script and genuinely spotted a few ways to tweak it and make it more engaging. I’d actually intended to make an effort during the read-through as well today, but I changed my mind after seeing the way Teagan had fumed at the script changes and schedule requests I’d made. I thought she wanted me to show some commitment to the play, but clearly, I couldn’t win with this girl. It might have been a bit petty and juvenile, and definitely wasn’t my proudest moment, but I got a whole lot of satisfaction from doing a bad job at reading lines and seeing it get to her so much. It was really bad luck that I was now her partner in English and had to deal with the fallout. I would have much preferred to simply avoid her until our next rehearsal.

She finally glanced up at me when I hesitated at the edge of the table, not certain I wanted to sit anywhere near her.

“I don’t want to be your partner either,” she said. “But will you please sit down so we can get this over and done with?”

I was more concerned with the project itself rather than the fact she was my partner. Though I wasn’t crazy about that part either. I blew out a breath and sat across from her. There was no getting out of this, so I might as well get it finished and be done with it as quickly as possible.

“So, a biography, huh?” I said.

She started frowning as she nodded. “We’ll probably have to get together after school so we can interview each other.”

I blanched as she mentioned the interview. I hated interviews more than anything. I was much better at withholding information than divulging it. I’d committed myself to experiencing school life though, and this was a part of it.

“Do you know what period of my life you want to focus on so I can prepare for your questions?” she continued.

“Oh.” I glanced down at the worksheet and picked the first option listed. “Birth, early childhood, and family,” I said.

She shook her head. “No, that doesn’t work for me.”

“I don’t think you get to decide what works for you,” I replied.

“Well, if you want me to answer any of your questions, you’ll focus on something else.” Her face was like stone and completely devoid of expression. It was clear this was something she didn’t want to talk about so I decided to give in and pick a different topic.

“Fine. I’ll ask you about career plans and hopes for the future.” It seemed like a safe enough option.

She nodded. “And I’ll focus on your successes and failures.”

“Not sure you’ll find too many failures.” I gave her a half-smile, but she didn’t laugh at my joke. From what I knew about Teagan, she probably thought I was being conceited.

“Whatever,” she grumbled. “So, we’ll work on our questions tonight and get together tomorrow to interview each other. Does that work for you?”

“Fine by me. I can come to your place after school.”

Her body seemed to freeze up at my suggestion. “You can’t come to my house.”

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