“What other stuff?” he asked, still leaning against the locker.
“Um,” I said, fumbling. Was he really still talking to me? “I read and listen to music a lot. Try to avoid my mom.”
“Yeah,” he said with a chuckle. “Cool. So I should get your number.”
“What?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Your number. You know, digits? So I can call or text you. I guess I can just come over if I need to talk to you, but it might be nice to have another means of communication since I’m taking you to the dance.”
I blinked in surprise. He could not be serious. “You’re what?”
“Taking you to the dance,” he said. “You did just agree to go with me, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but… I didn’t think you were serious.”
“Well, yeah,” he said. “I wouldn’t have said it otherwise.”
“Oh. Okay, yeah.” My heart raced. I gave him my phone number and he typed it into his phone, then gave me his. I was amazed my fingers didn’t shake as I entered him into my contacts.
It hit me as I stared at his name on my phone screen that I had nothing to wear to a formal dance, and certainly no money to buy a dress. My mom wouldn’t cough up the cash for something like that. Money for weed, or the pills and blow she thought I didn’t know about, sure. But for me? Not a chance.
God, it was so disappointing. But better to do this now than have to cancel on him later. “You know, I actually don’t know if I can go. I mean, I want to. But the dance is in a couple weeks, and it might be hard for me to find a dress on such short notice.”
“Oh,” he said, his face dropping. “That sucks.” He raised his eyebrows and started typing on his phone again. “You know what? My sister Olivia has a few dresses. She’s about your size, and it’s not like she’s going to wear them again. I’m sure she’ll let you borrow one.”
I found myself almost speechless again. “I… are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m texting her right now,” he said, still typing. “Since you live next door, you can just come over sometime and pick one. Shouldn’t be a big deal.”
“Wow, that’s really nice. Thank you.”
“Sure. Hey, I have to get to practice.” He smiled again, complete with a little nibble of his bottom lip. “See you later.”
I watched him walk away, his athletic shoulders pulling against his shirt, his cute butt filling out his jeans so well. I felt like I was living someone’s teenage dream in a YA novel. Did the weird quiet girl just get asked out by one of the hottest guys at school? The one Queen Mean herself had set her sights on?
It seemed it had actually happened.
Resisting the urge to clutch a book to my chest, lean back against the lockers, and gaze dreamily up at the ceiling, I adjusted my bag again. With a deep breath, I headed toward the exit, my head spinning.
But for the first time in months, I was smiling.