Page 31 of The Promposal

“Out on the football field. I must have dropped it while I was helping out the squad for tryouts.”

She looked at it with so much love I considered asking if they needed some time alone with it. “I’m glad. Although it’s dead, right? I guess you can charge it when we get home.”

Ella raised one eyebrow. She reached into her purse and pulled out a charger.

“You have a charger with you even though you didn’t know where your phone was?” I asked, incredulous.

“Duh.” She rolled her eyes at me like I did when somebody said they’d forgotten to eat that day. I forgot things all the time. Where I put my keys. The capital of Delaware. How much money my dad had said I was allowed to spend at the art supply store. But not once have I ever done something so dumb as forget to eat.

The mounted flat-screen in our hallway turned on. It was used for announcements and the student broadcast news, which aired once a week during first period. I turned, wondering what was going on.

A very famous Irish action star who’d made a movie about his teen daughter being kidnapped appeared on-screen. Gasps and whispered conversation exploded up and down the hallway as everybody watched and waited to hear what he would say.

“Rita, Aaron wants you to know that he doesn’t have a lot of money. But what he does have is a very special set of skills, skills that include dancing, making conversation, and opening the door for you. Skills that will make your prom night a dream come true. If you say yes to prom now, this will be the end of it. Aaron won’t look for you. He won’t pursue you. But if you say no, I will look for you. I will find you, and I will convince you to say yes to prom.”

While the famous actor part was cool, the rest of it had me shaking my head. “I don’t know if threatening a girl is the best way to get her to go.”

“I thought it was sweet and romantic,” Ella said. “It probably got her heart racing.”

“Yeah. Out of fear.”

Because my attention was still turned toward the TV screen near the windows, I spotted Jake heading toward the parking lot. So much for practice. “Ella! Jake’s leaving. We have to go now!”

I slammed my locker door shut and pulled her along behind me. I kept checking on Jake’s progress, and I saw that he got stopped by one of his friends, a tall football player guy named Deacon. Perfect. This would give us the time we needed to get into our car first so we could follow him.

“What are you doing?” my sister protested, but I didn’t let go of her arm. “We can’t just leave school.”

“It’s called ditching, Ella. You should try it sometime. Like right now. Come on, hurry!”

“What if we get caught?”

I kicked open the swinging outer doors using my foot. “I’m the student body president. I’ll issue us pardons. Move your tiny little legs!”

We ran all the way to the car, and my breathing like an asthmatic elephant made me remember how out of shape I was. I decided to drive, given that if Ella had her way she’d just take us right back to school.

And probably turn us both in.

“He could be going home,” Ella said as I pulled out of the school’s driveway and parked on the street.

“Then we’ll sit out in front of his house and see who else shows up.”

“Are you sure you want to find out?” she asked, using our car’s charger to breathe life back into her cell. “Ignorance can be bliss. Sort of. It at least lets you delay the inevitable.”

I shook my head. “I want to know. I have to. Like when you got tested a few months ago for the BRCA2 gene. You wanted to know one way or the other.” Ella’s mom had carried the gene, and Ella wanted to know if she had the same risk. We’d all been so relieved when it came back negative.

“Are you seriously comparing your delusions about Jake with me trying to find out whether I was going to live or die from cancer?”

“No! Of course not.” Yes, of course I was. This Jake thing felt very life and death to me. But I knew how shallow and pathetic that would make me sound so I stayed quiet up until I heard the roar of Jake’s sports car. I hissed, “Get down!”

She reluctantly complied and might have even muttered some things under her breath, which was very unlike her. “He’s going to notice you eventually, Miss Purple Hair.”

“No way. I got this. I’ve seen plenty of cop shows, and I know all about how to tail someone.”

Jake turned left while I had anticipated he’d turn right. Which meant that my car was pointed in the wrong direction. Taking the name of various deities in vain, I executed a quick U-turn so that I could follow him, making the tires squeal.

“Tell me again how this is not being a stalker?” Ella demanded, clinging to her side of the car as she was thrown against the door.

“It’s not stalking if you really love the person.”

---