Page 37 of The Wrong Prom Date

I was trying not to smile as I turned to the fridge and took out two bottles of water for the girls.

“So, are you both enjoying the party?” I asked, as I turned back and passed them each a bottle.

Teagan took the bottle but didn’t move to open it. She simply crossed her arms over her chest like she didn’t want to respond. Hayley was more than happy to start gushing though.

“This has to be the best party I’ve ever been to,” she said. “I mean, you haveactualwaiters handing out food, and you’ve got the biggest pool I’ve ever seen out back. People will definitely be in it before long.”

“Is this the best party you’ve ever been to, Teagan?” I asked.

Her lips formed a hard line, and I could tell that complimenting my party for real was the last thing she wanted.

“Teags, he asked you a question,” Hayley said. Her eyes were bugging out of her head like she couldn’t believe Teagan would be so rude. I realized I hadn’t seen Teagan ever put a foot out of line in front of other people before, so it probably made sense that her friend would be shocked.

“It’s a great party,” Teagan finally said though it looked like she was lying through her teeth. “We should probably get back to the others.” She didn’t wait for Hayley as she turned and walked from the room. She couldn’t get out of the kitchen quickly enough, and Hayley was frowning as she watched her go.

“Why is Teagan mad at you? What did you do?” Hayley asked, focusing her laser eyes on me. I got the distinct impression that she assumed I had done something very wrong.

“She’s not mad.” I scoffed. “I didn’t do anything.”

“No, I’m pretty sure she is. Teagan is one of the nicest people at Lincoln. I’ve never seen her be mean to a spider, let alone a person. Seriously, what did you do?”

“I literally have no idea,” I replied. Except that was a lie. The school play clearly meant everything to Teagan, and she still wasn’t convinced I was taking it seriously. It was why we’d gotten off on the wrong foot to begin with and was probably the reason why we were still at odds now. It also didn’t help that she wasn’t afraid to call me on my bullshit, and there was something I quite enjoyed about ruffling Little Miss Perfect’s feathers.

“Well, you’ve clearly done something wrong, so you should probably make it right ASAP.” Hayley let out a long breath as she shook her head at me. “Anyway, thanks for the water and the party.” She strode off without another word and left me standing there, stunned.

People never told me I’d messed up to my face. Unless, of course, I was speaking with my mother. It was a strange feeling to be scolded, and I found myself unsettled by it. I didn’t want Teagan to hate me. In fact, she was the first girl I’d come across at Lincoln who wasn’t totally blinded by my fame when she looked at me. She’d seen past the Hollywood glamour from day one and didn’t like what she saw.

I pushed a hand through my hair, scowling at the door as these uncomfortable thoughts ran through my brain. I’d been acting like a self-entitled dick around Teagan, so I didn’t blame her for the way she felt about me. If Teagan was going to hate me though, she at least needed to know the real me before she made up her mind.

“Dude, you need to have some of the jungle juice,” Tanner said, as he entered the kitchen and caught me scowling.

I immediately calmed my expression. “I do?”

He laughed. “You look way too sober for this party.”

He was probably right. My mother would certainly disapprove. She didn’t expect me to drink, but I was sure to get criticized if I didn’t at least look a little tipsy.

“I guess I better have a drink then,” I said.

Tanner grinned before he proceeded to ladle the jungle juice out of the punch bowl on the kitchen counter and poured it into a red plastic cup. The liquid was almost the same color as the bright red plastic, and it looked completely unappealing.

I took a sip when he passed it to me and grimaced. “Just how much sugar is in this?”

“Just enough so you can’t taste the copious amounts of alcohol,” Tanner replied.

“My trainer is going to kill me,” I said.

Tanner chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t think Coach will be too pleased with me either. Maybe it can be our little secret?”

I laughed. “I’m down with that.”

I took another sip of the drink and shuddered as it went down. My diet had almost no sugar in it, so I couldn’t handle anything this sweet. I didn’t want to be rude though, so I knocked back the rest of the drink quickly.

“Another?” Tanner asked.

I quickly shook my head. “No, I think I’ll stick to beer.”

“Probably a wise decision.”

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