“Sounds mysterious. Tell me about it tonight. What do you want to do?”
We do the whole “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” bit and in the end decide that I’ll just pick him up around seven and we’ll see what happens. After he hangs up, I hold the phone with a big nerdy smile on my face. My head falls onto my pillow and I yawn. “Sean Mills asking me out for two nights in a row … mmmmhmmmmmm,” I murmur.
ELEVEN
Breeeeeeeeeeeeee!” My mom’s yell echoes from downstairs.
My eyes dart to the clock on my wall. 6:44 p.m. Shit. Shit! I gotta go. I’m supposed to pick Sean up in fifteen minutes. I should’ve made some phone calls by now, too. I slide and hop off my bed, and am maybe a little relieved there’s no time for confrontational phone calls. I’ll call Kallie later and Dad too.
Mom yells again. “You want me to order pizza?” Her footsteps pound up the stairs.
“Sorry Mom!” I peek my head out the door. “Sean called. I’m picking him up in like five minutes.”
“Back-to-back Sean dates? Good for you. Sounds better than pizza. Have fun. Maybe I’ll call one of my girlfriends and get out too.”
“Just make sure you act like you don’t know me if we end up at the same bar,” I say.
I manage to put my hair back, brush my teeth, wash my face, and throw on some mascara in ten point five minutes. Good thing Sean lives so close. As I pull into his driveway, I slather on lip gloss, wondering if I should wait or knock on his door. Even though my heart rate most definitely picks up with each step, I decide to go to the door. I’m not trying to look like some creep sitting in the driveway in case his mom’s home. A petite woman, maybe in her late forties, with big brown hair and Sean’s blue eyes greets me.
“Hi, you must be … Bree? Right?” She smiles as I nod. “I’m Beth.”
“Yes, that’s me, nice to meet you.” I shake her extended hand.
Sean’s mom invites me into the house that opens right into the living room area. The house is small, the furniture and decor are modern and take up a lot of the space. It smells clean, like lemons and fresh laundry.
“Sean! Bree’s here,” she yells toward the hallway behind her. “He’ll be ready in a minute—probably changing again, you know how boys are,” she jokes. I laugh, imagining Sean trying on T-shirt after T-shirt.
“Sooooo, you’re the girl that Sean’s going to Prom with?”
Sean steps into the room as soon as she says it.
I stumble over my words as heat radiates beneath my cheekbones. My cheeks are constantly flushing, which is why I never wear blush. “Um, no, uh … um …”
“Mom, this is Bree. She’s on Prom Court with me.”
“But she’s the one you’re bringing as your date right?”
Sean stares past her at the oven. Maybe he’s thinking he wants to crawl in there. I know I am.
Beth’s eyes widen and she bites her lip. “Yes, that’s what I meant, the Prom Court. Right. It’s going to be so fun. I’ll never forget my own Senior Prom.”
“Well, we better go so we’re not late.” Sean escorts me back through the door I came in.
“Nice meeting you!” I say as the door closes.
Neither of us speak as we walk out to my car. I can’t think of anything good to change the subject with. My stomach turns at the idea of him accepting Jane’s invite to Prom. No way. Maybe he has another date already. I try to fight it, but that stupid “let down” feeling stirs around in my gut as I adjust my seat belt once in the car. My anxiousness is tiny little soda bubbles, starting from the bottom of my stomach and rising up, up, up.
My mouth stretches into the tiniest most uncomfortable smile. “Your mom seems nice—she’s cute,” I say.
“Yeah, she’s cute all right.” Sean answers as I pull out of the driveway. “And yeah, she’s just, um, weird. So, where’re we going? Whattaya wanna do?”
I have no choice but to let him off the hook. I can tell he’s embarrassed and doesn’t want to talk about it. Maybe he really is going with someone else. There’s Jane and a ton of other options he could’ve had in the last week or so. My mom’s right. I should’ve been the one to ask.
“Well,” I say, “I heard there’s a really good movie out right now, it’s about some lady trying to find her car in a parking ramp. I bet it’s amazing. Wanna see it?”
“Oh, I’ve seen it,” Sean says. “But the only good thing about it was my hot date.” The heat returns to my cheeks but I keep my eyes on the road as if he won’t notice.
“Aaaanyway, enough about your hot dates, are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you in the mood for a party? The beach? A concert? A carnival? A pony ride—what?”
He responds, “A pony ride? That could be interesting.”
I smile and smack his knee.
“Just kidding,” he says. “Actually horses and ponies and donkeys and anything else like a horse freaks me out. Long story. Let’s get something to eat. Azumi?”