Page 29 of Bad For A Weekend

I toss my napkin at her. “You’re too much.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. He couldn’t handle all this.” She throws me a wink, then turns serious. “You aren’t getting too close to him, right?”

“What do you mean? Of course not. Like you said, he’s nice to look at. That’s all.”

“I’m glad to hear it because, honey, you know he can’t go there with you.”

“Duh.” I stand. “It’s not like that.”

“Okay.” She nods and returns to her salad.

After one last glance at the pool house, I go inside to call my friends and plan a vacation.

As I look around at racks upon racks of dresses and suits brought to the house by a stylist, I wonder how I got from not wanting anything to do with prom to this. Oh, that’s right. Ziggy. He talked me into this chaos like he always does.

“Come on, Bay. It’s prom,” Ziggy pleads.

I stare down at the zucchini bread Brandy made for an after-school snack. “You can go without me.”

“No, I can’t. We’re a package deal.”

“What’s going on?” Brandy asks as she mills around in the kitchen.

Ziggy gets up from the table and sits on a stool in front of the island. “Finn asked Baylor to prom, and she told him no.”

“How come, Bay?” she asks.

I join Ziggy at the island, thankful to not have crutches anymore since the doctor cleared me yesterday, and glare at Ziggy for dragging her into this. “For one, it doesn’t feel safe. For another, I’ll have to bring Owen.”

That’s mostly the truth, but the fact is, ever since the pool incident, my attraction to Owen has only gotten stronger, and going to prom with Finn feels all wrong and mildly embarrassing.

“Owen won’t stop you from having fun with your friends, and he’ll watch over you,” Brandy says. She’s already suspicious of my interest in the man; this will surely send up even more red flags.

“I know. I guess after everything that’s happened, prom has lost its appeal.”

“Oh, honey.” Brandy wraps an arm around me. “Don’t let this stop you from living your life. That’s why your dad hired Owen, so you wouldn’t have to give up the things that are important to you.”

“Please go to prom.” Ziggy takes on prayer hands. “I’d hate to turn Ian down. That boy has been lusting after me all year.”

“Liar, you’ve been wishing he’d ask you since we were freshmen.”

“So, is that a yes?” He mouths the word “please” over and over.

There’s really no getting out of this. If I don’t go, Dad will assume it’s because I’m scared and freak out more, Ziggy will end up staying home with me, all the while resenting me for it, and Brandy will assume it’s because I have a crush on my hot bodyguard.

“Fine. I’ll go.”

“Yay!” Ziggy grabs my phone from the table and thrusts it in my direction. “Text Finn and tell him the good news.”

Finn is a cool kid and cute in a California surfer-boyish way. Before I was taken, I was even interested in him and hoped he’d ask me. So why does it feel like I’m betraying my heart by typing this text? Do I really think the better option would be to take a man in his early thirties? That’s literally insane, so I shoot off the text I don’t want to send.

“There. Done.”

“Do you know what this means?” Brandy asks.

“Shopping,” Ziggy and I say in unison.

I shake myself free from the memory and get back to finding the perfect dress.

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