"Half that," Toby says, exhaling. "It"s not that big of a deal."
"Seems like a big deal," she says, pushing the subject. I"m not sure if he wants to talk about it though because he"s kind of shifting in his seat and staring at this ketchup like it"s suddenly very important.
He lifts one shoulder. "I take photographs. I mean, I wouldn"t call myself a photographer because that"s kind of arrogant, but I like photos of beautiful things. I really don"t know how it happened, but a lot of people follow me. I"ve had my photos in two magazines."
We talk some more about his Instagram and photography hobby and he seems to loosen up and lose whatever nervousness or sick feeling he had earlier. Bennet still acts like he"s annoyed to have a fourth person sit with us at lunch, but after a while he joins in with some of the conversation. And eventually, some of Bennet"s words aren"t full of sarcasm, either. That"s progress I can get behind. I hope he"ll finally realize that Toby is pretty nice and he seems cool, even though he"s totally on a different level than we are on the scale of high school popularity.
Toby doesn"t wait for the seventh period bell to ring before he looks over at me. Nope, this time he walks right up to me when he gets to homeroom. I"d arrived here early and taken my seat so I could text Ashlyn before Mr. Robertson starts in on his lecture. The rules about cell phones are pretty lenient here, and most teachers don"t mind unless you"re texting and walking at the same time, so I"d high tailed it to cla.s.s so I could text her while safely sitting down.
I"m waiting for her reply when Toby"s citrusy delicious scent floats by me. I look him and see him standing by my desk, close enough to reach out and touch. "Ready for another fascinating lecture in homeroom?" he says in flawless sarcasm.
I can"t help but smile up at him. "Kill me."
He laughs. "Can I text you instead?" he says, motioning toward my phone.
"Sounds good."
The bell rings soon after and Toby goes back to his seat. Mr. Robertson keeps a strict seating chart so we couldn"t sit together even if we wanted. And I"m pretty sure we both want to. It"s totally not my imagination that Toby is into me. I mean why else would he talk to me and hang out with me and take me out for ice cream?
My heart flutters again. My phone lights up with a text.
Toby: How about a murder suicide type thing?
Me: Huh?
Toby: To put us both out of our misery from Mr. Robertson"s lectures... lol Me: HA! Don"t tempt me.
Toby: I guess the better option would be to run away screaming and have ourselves committed for being insane.
Me: And it wouldn"t even be a lie because he"s making us insane with these stupid lectures!
Our conversation goes on like this and the entire half hour of cla.s.s flies by. I"m sad when it"s time to head to my athletics cla.s.s, but Ashlyn always says to leave a guy hanging and wanting more from you, not to give him too much of your time. Apparently, that"s advice straight from her mother and it also works on girls if that"s who you happen to be attracted to. Mystery is supposed to keep a person guessing, making them want to reach out to you so they can get to know you better. It"s because of this advice that I put my phone away and grab my things and start heading out of the cla.s.sroom without waiting for Toby.
Luckily, he catches up to me. "Can I give you a ride home today?"
He says it all casual like his very nearness to me isn"t slowly sending me into shock. I know I"m making this goofy grin, but I nod stupidly and tell him yes.
He beams and the expression makes his whole beautiful face even more attractive. "Cool, I"ll see you after school."
Athletics cla.s.s takes for-freaking-ever. Finally, it"s over and I rush out of the locker room and crash into Ashlyn.
"Riding home with lover boy again?" she asks, b.u.mping into me with her shoulder.
"How"d you know?"
She wrinkles her nose. "Because you doused yourself in perfume before walking out of here."
I frown. "Is it that obvious?"
"Nah, I"m just messing with you."
I exhale slowly because now I"m all nervous to see Toby again. I"m really starting to like this guy.
He meets me at the doors to the parking lot, and I almost think he might hold my hand. It kind of feels like he wants to, but he doesn"t. He just walks close to me, keeping in step with me, and he"s got that nervous vibe to him again.
We hardly talk at all on the drive home, and it"s so weird I think I might throw up. When he turns onto Fourth Street, Toby slows down and looks at me. "Can you close your eyes?"
"What?"
He bites on his bottom lip. "Just...please?"
"Ohhh-kay," I say slowly, but I close my eyes anyway.
We roll to a stop a short while later and Toby touches my arm. "Just wait here and I"ll come get you."
I hear his door open and close and then my pa.s.senger door opens. "Take my hand but don"t open your eyes yet," he says.
I reach out and Toby"s hand finds mine. He pulls me out of the car and walks me up crunchy gravel that feels like our driveway. "Okay," he says, squeezing my hand just before letting go. "You can look."
I am suddenly very nervous. My eyes slowly open and the first thing I see is my house, looking normal. Then, I notice the rose petals.
All over the front yard. Beautiful red rose petals spell out the word: PROM?
My jaw falls open.
"I can explain," Toby says quickly. "I talked to Ashlyn and she said you"d rather not have some stupid promposal at school where it"ll embarra.s.s you. She said I should do it privately."
My mouth is still open. I can"t believe what I"m seeing. Toby continues, "But I wanted to do something special for you, so I chose to do it at your house. Ashlyn helped and your mom said it was okay."
"You talked to my mom?" I say, my voice high like a mouse.
He nods. "Um, there"s more."
It"s only now that I realize he"s holding a white cake box behind his back. He brings it around and opens the lid, holding it toward me. Inside are eight gourmet cupcakes, each with pink frosting and little sparkles that look like glitter.
In white icing, with one word elegantly piped on each cupcake, it says: Lana, will you go to prom with me?
"Yes," I say, looking up at him. "I will."
His smile grows twice as big. "Yeah?"
I nod eagerly as he sets the cupcakes on the roof of his car and then wraps me in a hug. He is tall and a little lanky, but it"s a good hug. He smells amazing and my toes are tingly and I can"t believe a guy likes me. A guy just asked me to prom.
Me, Lana Clarke. It"s like a freaking prom miracle.
Chapter 10.
18 days until prom On Fridays, the Book Attic closes at seven because Aunt Shawna has a book club meeting with her friends in the living room of the store once a week. It works out well for me because I always have my Friday nights free unlike the other people at my school who work in retail and are stuck there until ten p.m. most nights.
Bennet and Ashlyn pick me up after work. "It"s totally your turn," I tell Ashlyn when she climbs out of the pa.s.senger seat of Bennet"s Mustang.
"Fine," she says with a huff as she ducks into the tiny backseat.
I slide in the pa.s.senger seat and buckle my seatbelt. "What"s for dinner?"
Bennet shrugs. "I was thinking pizza?"
"Magic Mark"s?" I ask.
"Mmm," Ashlyn says, leaning forward between the seats so her head is level with ours. "Let"s get the cheese bread, too."
"Magic Mark"s Pizza it is," Bennet says as he pulls onto the highway.
Even though our town is small, it has a dozen pizza places, some chains and some are small family owned restaurants. Magic Mark"s is the best. Sometimes we go to Marco"s pizza because it"s the cheapest, but the c.r.a.ppy taste of their pizza doesn"t really make up for the cheap price.
We order a large pepperoni and cheese bread and take our usual table at the back of the restaurant. All the tables are bar style with tall stools, and there"s a little tray in the center of the table to hold the pizza.
"So we should talk about prom," Ashlyn says as soon as our pizza arrives. "Now that our suddenly very popular Lana has a date, we"ll have to coordinate when we meet you there. I don"t know about Bennet, but I can"t be at a prom if you aren"t there yet."
"Same," Bennet says. "Or we could just not go since Lana will be busy."
"I won"t be busy," I say, rolling my eyes as I peel off a pepperoni and eat it. "Toby will be fine with hanging out with you guys."
"Except for during the slow songs," Ashlyn says, nudging my shoulder and wiggling her eyebrows.
"Oh my G.o.d, shut up. It"s not like that."
Bennet looks up at me, a weird expression on his face. I glare at him. "It"s not! Toby is nice and all but he hasn"t made a move on me."
"I always thought he was gay," Bennet says.
"Why"s that?"
He shrugs. "The guy dresses really nice."
"Shut your face," Ashlyn says. There"s a thwack sound and Bennet grimaces, so I"m guessing she just kicked him under the table. "Don"t judge someone based on stereotypes."
Bennet holds up his hands. "You"re right. Maybe the guy is just really well dressed. But I don"t remember seeing him have a girlfriend, like ever. Do you?"
I consider it for a while. "I guess not," I say as I stare at my pizza. "But that doesn"t make him gay."
"Maybe he"s just ultra-picky and wanted to wait until the found the perfect girl," Ashlyn says. She winks at me. "He finally found her!"
"I would be careful if I were you," Bennet tells me. He meets my gaze and there"s a sincerity in his eyes, replacing his usual laid back or sarcastic self.
"There"s nothing to be careful about," I say casually. "Toby is nice."
"And now he"s your prom date." Bennet reaches for a piece of cheesy bread. "You do know what happens at prom, right? What guys expect?"
My heart races. I know what he"s talking about, but Toby can"t possibly be that type of guy. He hasn"t even held my hand yet, except when he was guiding me with my eyes closed, and that wasn"t even romantic, it was to make sure I didn"t trip and fall.
"I don"t think he"ll do anything inappropriate," I say after a while.
"If he does, just clock him in the jaw," Ashlyn says, making a punching movement with her fist. "Teach that gorgeous boy a lesson."
I laugh but Bennet doesn"t seem so convinced that Toby isn"t a threat. When Toby texts me a few minutes later asking what I"m up to, I get an idea. I tell him we"re getting pizza and that he should come up and hang out.
The conversation has finally drifted from my dating life to other topics by the time Toby arrives. I can smell him before I see him, as his cologne hits me just a few feet before he"s at our table.
"Hey guys," he says, his shiny white teeth glowing in the dim lighting. He looks as gorgeous as ever and I want to reach out and touch him, but I don"t because I"m not a weirdo. "Have room for one more?"
"I"m glad you could come," I say, nodding toward the empty chair between me and Bennet.
"Want some pizza?" Ashlyn offers.
He shakes his head. "Nah, I just ate, but thank you."
"He"s so polite!" Ashlyn says in what is supposed to be a whisper but it"s totally loud enough for the whole freaking planet to hear.
"So, prom," she says, her eyes lighting up. "What kind of plans do you two have?"
Toby looks at me and grins. "Well, I have a limo rented, so-"
"You what?" I don"t mean to interrupt him but I can"t believe what I just heard. "You rented a limo?"
"Yes." His smile is so d.a.m.n charming.
"For us?" I say.
He nods. "Who else would it be for? I figured we can go to dinner and then meet up at prom." He looks over at my friends. "You guys want to come with us? There"s room in the limo."
"No," Bennet says at the same time Ashlyn says, "Oh h.e.l.l yes."
She frowns at Bennet. His jaw is set, a little vein in his forehead popping out. "I have to go," he says, dropping some cash on the table to pay for his share of the bill. "I"m sure wonder boy can take ya"ll home."
"Bennet, what the h.e.l.l?" Ashlyn says, but he just storms off, leaving us sitting there awkwardly.
"I hope I didn"t insult him," Toby says.