Unexpected

Chapter 9.

*Photo creds to jk_091! She takes requests for cover design

"YOU WHAT?"

"Not so loud, Ariel," I winced.

"YOU SAID YES?"

"I guess I did."

...

...

...

"CHARITY."

"God, will you stop screaming in my ear?" Tucker whined in agreement. "You are scaring your dog. And probably the neighbors."

Ariel waved this away. "Can you tell me what the hell is going on between you two?"

I wish I knew the answer to that.

After acting like he wanted nothing to do with me for the past week, out of the blue, Brett had asked me to be his homecoming date. Maybe it was just so he wouldn't have to spend the evening with Vanessa, but didn't dragging me into this seem a little extreme?

"Why did you say yes?" Ariel asked.

"Well, we did make that bet..."

She glared at me, her expression telling me this was not going to cut it.

"I just want to know what it feels like to go to a dance like homecoming with a date, okay? You know, do it the chick-flick way. He even promised he'd get me a corsage and stuff to make up for the informal ask."

"Ahhh," Ariel sighed. "That is so sweet."

"You're one to talk." Dalton had loaded her mum with bright red ribbons and flowers, Ariel's favorite color. In Korean culture, white flowers were unlucky because they represented funerals, something the Kims were pretty serious about, and I noticed all the flowers in Ariel's mum were brightly colored. Whether she'd told him or he'd done his research, it was still a sweet detail.

"But are you going to ask him what's been up his ass all week?"

Truthfully, my mind had gone blank after Brett had asked me to homecoming. All I could see was the stupid image of me, finally getting to show up to the dance with a guy--and not just any guy, Brett Ashmore, the hottest guy in the junior class--at the fancy country club that hosted Eastwood's homecoming every year. Call me shallow, call me awful, but that image had blocked out every other thought in my mind. Was it really such a crime for a girl to dream of having the sort of homecoming that only existed in movie scenes? Even supposedly cynical, uptight girls like me wanted that experience once. I hadn't even stopped to consider why on earth Brett would ask me to homecoming, or how the fuck I was going to deal with Vanessa when she found out (rumor had it she'd turned down four guys because she was so certain she was going with Brett). Before I'd known what I was doing, I'd said, "Okay."

Brett's smirk had deepened. "Great. Text me your dress color later tonight, and I'll get you a fancy corsage to make up for the impromptu ask."

I could only nod.

"See you tomorrow, Blondie. We're going to beat Hillcrest's ass."

"I guess I'll ask him tomorrow, at the Mu Alpha Theta meet."

"Oh,that's right. You still have that."

I looked at Ariel. "Why do you sound so disappointed?"

"Well, now that you're going with such a hottie, I was hoping we could spend the whole day dress shopping tomorrow."

"Oh no. No way." Ariel's price range and my price range were light years apart. "I already have a dress to wear." A sweet little powder-blue frock that I'd worn last year for Easter, but no one had to know that. Thank god it was okay to wear short dresses to homecoming.