“Alex seems really nice.”
“He is. He’s one of those guys that everyone loves, but being popular isn’t really important to him. Vanessa was all over him at the party. It pissed me off. We aren’t going out or anything. Yet. But I think we might. I was kinda mad he left with you and Cush, but at least it got him out of her claws.”
I think about Vanessa’s targeted approach toward Alex, and it hits me why she’s so focused on him. It’s not because he’ll be one of the hottest seniors next year. It’s because he doesn’t care about being popular.
And that makes him a very big threat.
Vanessa values popularity above everything else, and you can’t control a person that doesn’t care. If Alex really is that kind of guy, the only way she could control him is to date him.
Is that why she’s been trying so hard to control me lately? Because all of a sudden I decided I didn’t care.
Is Cush right? Is she afraid the spotlight will follow me, and she’ll be left in the dark?
“I don’t think he’s interested in Vanessa,” I tell Alicia.
“I hope he’s not,” she says. “Personally, I was glad the party was over early. I thought it was kinda lame. Her parents practically stood watch, and we had to sneak into her room to drink. It seemed so seventh grade.”
“Cush and I might be having a party soon. A very small party. Like only ten, maybe twelve people. You two want to come?”
“Enough to fill your own table?” Alicia guesses.
I tilt my head and shrug my shoulders. “No comment.”
“Let me give you my number,” Mandy says.
“So, if you should happen to get a text about a party, please don’t mention it to anyone. Just show up. There are certain people we don’t want to hear about it.”
“I thought you, Vanessa, and RiAnne were like bffs—what happened?”
“She offered to sleep with Sander on prom night.”
The girls’ eyes get huge. “Oh my gosh, what did you do?”
“Sander told her no flat out, but I was standing behind her listening to it all.”
“I saw you and Cush are going out now.”
“Yeah, he asked me last night. I can’t believe he’s playing so well. He didn’t get much sleep.”
“So what are you doing tonight?”
“I don’t know. He says he wants to surprise me. Would only tell me to wear a pretty dress.”
“And some sexy lingerie?” Alicia surmises.
Cush scores a goal, so I stand up and cheer. He catches my eye, makes a gun with his finger, kisses the tip of it, then shoots the kiss at me.”
“Oh my gosh, did you just see that? Was that not the cutest thing ever? I’m totally tweeting about it.” Alicia says.
I smile to myself when I realize that Cush has been following my scripts in his own way. What he did was similar to having the basketball player blow me a kiss after he won the game.
I don’t care how silly I might look. I blow him a kiss back.
Alicia wraps her arms around herself. “I wish a boy would do something adorable like that for me. Alex doesn’t seem to want to admit we’re even dating.” She sighs. “I thought when you and Sander broke up that there wouldn’t be another perfect couple. You and Cush are even cuter together. How did you get a guy like Cush to ask you out? He never dates anyone.”
“I don’t know. We’ve been good friends for a while. He says he’s always liked me, had a crush on me or something. Says he’s been waiting for me.”
“That’s so romantic,” Mandy says flatly, in a tone that reminds me of how Vanessa sounds when she’s not the center of attention.
Alicia shows me her tweet. Cush and Keatyn are so cute. He scored a goal and shot her a kiss. Cutest thing EVAH! #Truelove
I smell like a princess.
9pm
After the game, I tried to pry a few details out of Cush with kisses, but he kept giving me the same line over and over.
No matter where I kissed him.
All he’d say is, Wear a dress and tell your parents you won’t be home until tomorrow. I want to wear something sexy, but I lied when I said I had it all planned out. I have a lot of pretty bras and matching underwear, and some silky little nighties that I sometimes sleep in, but mostly I wear tank tops and boy shorts to bed.
Not what I had in mind.
I bought two sexy things to wear for my attempts to seduce Sander: the little black nightie that he ignored me in and a pale pink corset style bra with a matching thong and garter that I shoved to the back of my drawer after the fail. Do I want to look sweet and silky and risk wearing the nightie I got rejected in, or do I want to look more sexy?