Mismatched

Chapter Thirteen

Over the next two weeks, I fall back to my routine of lunches with Reed. He's funny and charismatic, conversations flow easily with him. He never brings up Axl to me but we always sit on the opposite side of the dining hall from him. Everyday after lunch, Axl is already sitting at our table in biology. His jaw locked and his hands clinched into fists, warding off any chance of friendly conversation.

Homecoming has arrived, as Bryony and most of the posters around school have reminded me. I promised her I would still go to the football game with her and Shale but I still have no intention of going to the dance on Saturday.

"Are you going?" Reed asks me as he points to one of the dozens of Homecoming posters around the dining hall.

"I'm going to the game tonight with Bryony." I reply simply as I peel a pepperoni off my pizza, popping it into my mouth.

"What about the dance, tomorrow?" He asks.

"Hadn't planned on it." I shrug. Not that I would object if Reed asked me to go with him. I am kind of secretly, maybe not so secretly, hoping he'd ask me. After all my complaining about the stupidity of the Homecoming dance, I would totally be a hypocrite and go if I was actually asked.

"No interest in going?" He asks. Oh man, he's going to make me admit it isn't he?

"Are you going? Got yourself a hot date?" I ask. He smiles, making his hazel eyes twinkle.

"Maybe. If she says, yes." He replies. He gently leans his upper body across the table, closer to me. "Dahl face, would you mind doing me a favor?" He asks.

"Sure, what's up?" I ask curiously.

"Since I'm on the team, I have to go to the dance. Would you mind coming tomorrow night to keep me company? It won't be so boring if you are there to talk to me." He asks. I hold back the urge to grimace with disappointment of being asked at the last minute to be there as his form of entertainment instead of a date. Maybe I'm being too sensitive. I force a smile and swallow down my disappointment, he didn't need to ask me at all.

"Sure. I think I could manage that."  I answer and he smiles.

"Great! I have to arrive early for a team thing, you want to just meet me there around 8?" He asks and I nod. He's not even going to pick me up, this just gets better and better.

~ ~ ~

Later that night, as we are freezing our asses off on the metal bleachers at the football game, I tell Bryony about my new plans. She squealed with excitement which caught Shale's attention but he only smiled at Bry and turned his focus back to the game, leaving us to our girl talk.

"It's not like I'm his date." I tell her, trying to curb her enthusiasm. "He invited me like a buddy. He wanted someone to talk to. He's not even going to pick me up, I'm meeting him there." Bryony just waves me off, dismissing my explanation.

"Doesn't matter." She tells me. Her eyes light up suddenly and she's almost vibrating with energy. "Dahlia! We can go shopping for your dress tomorrow! Can I do your makeup?"

"What's happening?" Shale asks, we've caught his attention again. Bryony jumps into an explanation and Shale gives me a small smile.
"Would you like us to keep you company when you're not keeping Reed company? That way you have someone to talk to if he's busy with the team." Shale offers and Bryony jumps with happiness.

"Oh! That's brilliant! Shale can take both of us so you don't have to drive yourself." Bry tells me. Honestly it sounds better than what I thought would happen so I nod and accept them as my escorts to the dance.