Page 62 of The Wrong Prom Date

“Ew,” Hayley said, scrunching up her nose. “I’d much prefer to imagine him on holiday.”

“Wouldn’t we all,” Evan agreed.

The conversation had only just gotten started, but I didn’t feel like speculating on Liam right now. “What’s everyone got planned this weekend?” I asked, hoping the question would cause all talk of Liam to drop.

“I’m getting dragged to my brother’s hockey match,” Madi said, with a long sigh.

“Don’t pretend you’re not excited to watch him play, Mads. You’re almost as obsessed with hockey as he is,” Hayley said.

“It’s no fun watching from the sidelines though,” Madi replied. “Andthis oneis stealing my boyfriend on Saturday, so I’ll be stuck with my parents all day.” She nodded in Evan’s direction.

“You’re hanging out with Cole?” I asked Evan.

He smiled and nodded. “Turns out he’s just as obsessed withZombieKillersas I am, and the new game comes out on Saturday.”

“Better him than me,” I said, pushing down a shudder. Evan had tried to get me into playing the older version of the game with him a couple of years back, but I was absolutely useless at video games. Plus, zombies freaked me out, so I’d spent half the time squealing whenever one appeared on screen.

“I didn’t know you and Cole hung out,” Hayley said to Evan.

He shrugged. “I guess I’ve decided he isn’t the dumb jock stereotype after all.”

Madi rolled her eyes but smiled. I think she liked that Cole got along with her friends. None of us had ever really liked her ex-boyfriend Jake. He completely monopolized her time, treated Madi badly, and acted like we didn’t exist. Cole was a genuinely nice guy, which was definitely a change for the better.

“What about you, Hayley?” I asked. “What are you up to this weekend?”

Her face fell at the question. “Laurie has us all going to her place for a cheer bonding sleepover. I mean, don’t we bond enough at the three training sessions we have to go to every week? It’s going to be torture.”

We all nodded sympathetically. I could think of nothing worse than being dragged along to a bonding session by Laurie. I didn’t have much to do with her, but she was notorious for being mean to anyone who got in her way.

“What about you, Teagan?” Madi asked.

“Babysitting for me,” I said. It was my standard answer most weeks. I babysat almost every Saturday and spent my Sundays on homework. It was rare I had a weekend when I wasn’t working. One day, things would be different and I’d have more of a life, but until then, I needed as much cash as I could squirrel away.

As I looked around at my friends, I found myself wishing I could spend just a day in their lives. I would do anything for a family who wanted to spend time together, and it felt far too rare that I got a free afternoon to just hang out with my friends. I’d even take a torturous weekend with a bitchy cheerleader if it meant I didn’t have to worry about my mom.

“You alright, Teags?” Evan asked, having caught my small moment of self-pity as I stared into space. I quickly shook the expression off and gave him a smile.

“I’m fine.”

For once though, I could see that my best friend wasn’t convinced by my act.

* * *

Liam didn’t turnup at school for the whole day. In drama, we had to work on the scenes that didn’t include him, and it seemed like the whole school was gossiping about where he might be.

I kept checking my phone, hoping he might message me, but the screen remained disappointingly blank. I could send him a message first, of course, but I didn’t have the confidence to go through with it. We’d shared a kiss last night, but that didn’t give me the right to know where he was at all hours of the day. I didn’t want to come across as needy, but as Evan drove me home after school, I finally gave up and decided to send Liam a text.

We missed you at school today, I wrote. I waited several moments to see if he’d respond before putting my phone away in my bag so I wouldn’t go crazy watching it and waiting for his reply.

“Is something up with you?” Evan asked as he pulled the car out of the parking lot. “You were so happy at the start of the day but seemed out of sorts at lunch and in drama. Were you missingLiam?” He said the name in a singsong voice.

“Of course not,” I quickly replied. “I was just distracted and thinking about the play. You know how I get.”

Evan chuckled like he could see right through me. “If you say so.”

He dropped me off at home, and I stopped in front of the doorway, steeling myself for a moment before I entered the house. For some reason, I felt nervous. Good things just didn’t happen to me, and Liam definitely counted as something good. It felt like the universe was setting me up for a fall somehow. Like I was about to be the butt of some hilarious joke and the punch line was on the way.

I wasn’t so pessimistic at the start of the day, but since Liam failed to show up at school, I’d begun to allow some doubts to slowly creep in. I’d even started to wonder if kissing me was part of the reason Liam hadn’t come to school.

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