I click End Call before he can mansplain another second. I type Sean’s number, pressing Send before I can change my mind. My heart is pumping hard but slows down as I finish my backward alphabet while waiting for him or his voicemail to pick up. I get to GF … ED and he answers.
Instead of “hello” he gives a long drawn out “yooooo.” His voice is so cute and I stifle a nervous laugh.
“Hey Sean, it’s Bree. Hughes.”
“Bree, can I tell you something?”
“Um suuuure?”
“I have you programmed into my phone and I don’t know any other Brees. You can use your first name. We’re cool like that.”
“Oh okay, got it.”
“Funny you called, I was going to call you in a little bit.”
My adrenaline is instantly leveled up. “You were?” I ask.
“Yes, is that okay? Or are you only allowed to call me?”
I flip the phone away from my mouth so he can’t hear my long anxious exhale. I fan myself to keep the blood vessels beneath my face from flooding.
“Well, I called first so I win. I guess you owe me some sort of prize. I’ll need to collect it by the end of the week. Anyway …”
“Sure, we’ll see about that prize. So, what’s up with Prom Court? Jane told me after school that you’re taking Kallie’s spot because she doesn’t want to be with Molly. What’s up with that?”
“Kallie’s spot? No, actually I guess I’m taking Maisey’s spot. Funny how fast rumors get twisted.”
“Oh, that’s kind of a bummer. I was pretty jazzed to see Molly get dethroned by the Morgan-ador.”
“Yeah, me too, but I feel bad for her, she knew it was a joke.” I want to go into everything that happened today but don’t want to push it. I’m talking to someone way out of my social league here. I don’t need to remind him.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. That sucks.”
“I know, right? So, what do I have to do? It says there’s just one meeting and the pep rally. That’s it? For some reason, I thought it’d be more than that.”
“Nope, that’s it. There’s a meeting next Tuesday after school. I guess Prom Committee has a couple ideas that we have to yay or nay. Everyone knows it doesn’t matter though, they’re just going to do what they want. So, who cares? I don’t even have a date yet. I gotta get on it—I’d sort of told Jane I’d go with her as friends but then she backed out because of some other guy. Don’t you think it’s pretty sad to be on Prom Court and not have a date?”
I think it’s pretty sad that Jane’s turning down Sean Mills. Naturally, this would be the part where I admit I don’t have a date yet either. Awk-weird.
“Well, you have time, it’s like two months away. If you get desperate you can always ask a cousin. I don’t have a date yet either so that’s probably what I’ll do.”
He laughs. “Oh okay, so you don’t know who you’re going with. That’s cool.”
He says it like it actually is a cool thing. As if it’s by choice. I get another awkward don’t-know-what-to-say-after-that feeling, so I change the subject to avoid more weirdness.
“So, next Tuesday after school. Guess I’ll see you there.”
“Sure, sounds good.” He hangs up. One of these days I hope to tell him I hate that. I say good-bye to the air, then give my pillow a hug and whisper, “Sean Mills doesn’t have a date.” And then a little bit louder, “Woo-hoo!”
EIGHT
It’s Wednesday after school. Less than a week till the Prom meeting, which means six days until Kallie and I are forced to interact since she’s not budging on this silent treatment thing. It sucks. I want to be excited with her about being on court together. I want to ask her if she’s inviting her parents to the pep rally. I want to be able to ask for boy advice—as long as she’s not trying to pawn me off on a random friend of Todd’s. At lunch, I almost spilled everything to Sam and Kendall, the girls I sit with, but it didn’t feel right. They’d probably tell me I’m was out of my mind to think Sean would go for me anyways. Sam and Kendall are the kind of girls that talk about the really popular guys and girls as if they’re the cast of an E! reality show. They hate worship them, and it’s kind of uncomfortable. So instead of entertaining them with my first world guy problems, I listened to their dress shopping plans for the weekend. Sam’s single because our school doesn’t have enough out-lesbians or bi-girls to pick from, and Kendall just broke up with her boyfriend so they’re putting a whole group thing together. It’s something they’re trying to make cool by calling it “Prom: Parties of One.” I’m all for them debunking any stigmas about going solo, but I told them I’m holding out for a date.
****