Page 20 of Better Than the Movies
Wes leaned closer to her and said, “Ash, did we do a little pregaming before the party?”
Ashgiggled and nodded. “At Benny’s—his mom was gone.”
“I see. How about some water?” Wes grabbed her a bottle from the cooler of ice by the keg and gave her a nice smile that I realized he’d never given to me. Not once. I only received mocking grins, sarcastic smirks, and eyebrow quirks from my neighbor. “Well, I do love me some limo, so I’ll have to think about prom.”
Michael turned around. “Whenisprom?”
Everything stopped for me as Wes took the beer Michael had poured for Ashley and set it aside. She didn’t even notice. Wes said, “In two weeks.”
It was total slo-mo.Innnn. Twwooooo. Weeeeeeks.
Michael said to Wes, “It’s so bizarre, switching schools two months before graduation. Senior prom is supposed to be this really big deal, but I don’t even know any girls here yet except for Laney.”
You know me! Take me, my beautiful Michael, not the evil and vapid Laney!I’d have to explain the change in plans to Joss, but I could make her understand if my dream boy stepped up.
Michael gestured to Wes and me and asked, “Are y’all going?”
“Us?”My voice came out high-pitched, and I waved a hand wildly between me and Wes while making an exaggerated face, grateful Ashley had disappeared into the crowd. “Wes and I? Oh my God, no. Are you kidding me?”
“Yeah.” Wes shook his head and did the slashing motionwith his hand. “We arenotgoing anywhere together. Trust me. I wouldn’t go to the gas station with this one.”
“Well, I wouldn’t invite you to the gas station, so you can just shut your big mouth,” I said around a smile, following it up with a big old fake arm punch. “Believe me.”
Michael looked at us like we were funny. “Oh. I thought I heard you were a thing.”
“Yeah, well, you heard wrong,” I said, horrified as I realized that I was the one who’d started the rumor. About myself.
God. And how freaking fastwasgossipy Ash? Honestly, I’d have been impressed if I hadn’t been so worried about her ruining everything.
“Way off base, dude.” Wes tousled my hair and said, “No Little Liz for me.”
I slapped his hand. “Nope.”
“Oh.” Michael did a slow nod of consideration and then looked at me. “Two weeks, huh?”
Twwooooo. Weeeeeeeeks. Huuuuuuuuh?
Goose bumps prickled up my arms as Sheeran floated back into my head.
“So tell me what’s happened since I moved.” Michael was apparently done thinking Wes and I were a thing and also finished making me light-headed by speaking the word “prom” in my presence. “Do y’all still hang out? How about the twins and Jocelyn?”
Wes and I looked at each other before I took over, mainly because I didn’t want him to say something embarrassing orunpleasant about me. “Wes and I see each other long enough to fight over the parking spot in front of our houses, but that’s pretty much it. And Joss is actually my best friend now, which even I find hard to believe.”
He smiled at that, and he had the kind of smile that made you feel like you’d done something right. A million happy nerve endings were buzzing inside my body, and I wanted to bask in that smile and make it never go away.
Ashley reappeared and said something to Wes, making him turn his back to us to talk to her, which was fine with me, because it left Michael and me in one-on-one conversation. I said, “The twins, on the other hand, now attend Horizon High. They got sent to the alternative school after they landed in juvie for stealing a car.”
“What?” Michael’s mouth dropped open but his eyes were still smiling. “Their mom was super religious, wasn’t she?”
“Yep.” I took a sip of the warm beer and did my best not to gag. “She still teaches classes on Catholicism every Wednesday night at St. Patrick’s, but she has to wear a scarlet letter on her denim jumper.”
“Scandalous.” He leaned his head closer. “This is wild—I still can’t believe it’s you. Little Liz, all grown-up.”
“I know. And who would’ve thought Michael from down the block would return?” My cheeks were warm as I also leaned closer so he could hear me over the party noise. My heart was pounding as I went over the words—as I had been for the past few hours—over and over again in my head. The clock was ticking, so I neededto jump in with both feet. I said, “I don’t know if you knew it, but when we were little, I had the biggest crush on you.”
His lips slid into a dashing grin. “Well, I’ll be honest. I kind of—”
I don’t know if Michael finished his sentence or not, because just as I was having a tiny pleasure aneurysm at the next sentence’s possibilities, I heard a noise. Like, the kind of gurgle a garden hose makes when you turn it on but the water hasn’t quite made it out of the tube yet. I glanced in the direction of the sound, and Ashley opened her mouth wide and spewed chunky brown vomit all over my front, from my neck to my dress to my bare, exposed kneecaps.
