PRIDE & PRINCESSES: A Pride and Prejudice (type) of teen story (Sunrise High #1)

Dating and Rating (chapter eighteen)

Chapter 18

Dating and Rating

    We had never seen such previously non-studious girls open a guide to algebra, let alone a guide to dating. Suddenly they dispersed, armed with a list of personal targets and one defective (in my opinion) dating guide to source and memorize in the hope that greater knowledge could also lead to an embarrassment of riches for one very smart girl.

    In the weeks that followed, Mouche and I and the Princesses conspired to date all the guys on the list. We consolidated pages of notes about those dates, and the Princesses were compelled to write “truthful stuff” (including updates and asides at the end of each chapter).   Some of their ideas really needed to be shared and could only be more helpful than not. We modified our ideas to form, as well as the Boy Rating Diary, a box of “items useful in New York,” which we called our “treasure chest.” We also decided to form an online site for teenage girls that could well open us up to litigation (according to Mouche); but in the interests of free-speech would become known as the anonymous “buyer beware site” – how and what to avoid dating pre, post and during teen world – using our Sunrise High pre-men as prototypes. This final version of the jointly authored diary would be titled, “The Boy-Rating Blog.”

    If we were in love with any of the boys this expose might be a conflict of interest, as presumably none of them would ever want to speak to us again, but currently we were not concerned with love.

    It was no secret that although I was yet to date Mark, he seemed to like Mouche. Jet seemed suddenly a little interested in me when Mouche all but ignored him and the Princesses were “otherwise engaged” writing bragaholic messages about all the guys on the list.

    After a few days, the Princesses were making fools of themselves all over town and we had to amend the “kiss on the first date rule” because some of the Princesses were overly enthusiastic. We decided to intervene, call another meeting, and reveal the truth about rule one.

    Teegan said, “What?”

    Mouche said, “look, the truth is, we didn’t expect you to take that one seriously. Of course you shouldn’t  be all over these guys the first time you go out. It’s like introductory dating for pity’s sake. Hey, for all we care, don’t sleep with them until you’re  married – it might teach them a lesson.”

   “Yes, think how powerful women would be if they all kept their legs crossed until then,” Brooke added, taking the concept to its righteous extreme.

   “A lesson?” Freya said in awe and wonder.

   “Yes,” I repeated. “A lesson in who holds the power. If we all agree to not sleep with them, then they all have to do some serious wooing and smarten up their act!”

    I say this like an English teacher and later Mouche commended me on my possible mooting and oratory skills.

   “I couldn’t  have said it better myself,” Mouche added. Meanwhile Jet was glancing longingly at her during rehearsal, but she  seemed to be avoiding him again.

    “November meeting is adjourned until after the play,” Freya noted.

    “All in favour say I.”

    We all said “I”.

    We re-convened to Teegan’s  family Lake House where everyone started discussing possible junior prom outfits. After the extra cupcakes had been stored in cake tins and a location for treasure finalized (a spare locker would be used until items could be transferred to our actual ‘treasure chest’), Mouche and I made ourselves scarce.