Page 61 of Going the Distance
I’d have to ask someoneelseto the dance. Or, actually, I could just go alone. I could do that.
I could also not go at all, but I’d been excited about the dance. I wasn’t about to let Noah ruin a night with my friends just because he’d rejected me and we’d broken up. My resolve hardened: I’dgoto that dance, and I’d make sure there were plenty of pictures on my Instagram from the night showingjust how muchfun I’d had.
Cam was busy complaining about how Lisa wanted him to get a tie to match her dress, but how she’d insisted it had to beperfect,an exact match. The theme was red and pink. It was supposed to be cute and flirty and full of romance. Not that the night was going to be very romantic for me anymore, but I was happy we’d gone with that theme. Simple, and more importantly for the school council budget: cheap.
“Speaking of Sadie Hawkins,” Lee said, “who’s everyone actually going with?”
“Cassidy Thomas,” Warren said. “She’s in my geography class. She left a note in my locker asking me to go. There were puns involved. I couldn’t say no.”
“She’s kind of cute,” Dixon said. “Big nose. Bad taste in guys, too, obviously.”
Warren laughed.
Olly piped up next, saying, “Kaitlin asked me. I think it’s just because she lives a block away from me so it’s easy to get home, but she’s nice.”
“Oh, yeah, she did tell me she’d asked you,” I said, recalling the school council meeting we’d had where a couple of the girls had been discussing their dates and the guys they wanted to ask.
“What about you?” Cam asked Dixon. “Someone’s asked you, right?”
Dixon, to my surprise, started blushing. “Um, actually, I…I asked someone.”
“But it’s Sadie Hawkins,” I said. “The girls ask the guys.”
“That’s…that’s kind of the thing,” he stammered, looking down at his plate of sweet-and-sour chicken and noodles. His cheeks went even redder. “I asked Danny, a couple of weeks ago.”
“Danny who? Dani Schrader?”
“No, Danny Brown. From the basketball team.”
Several seconds passed in silence as we all let that sinkin.
I could see the guys exchanging looks that said,Dixon’s going to the dance with a guy? What? Wait, how did none of us know about this? Did he think he couldn’t talk to us?
I hoped my face didn’t look like that, too, since Dixon glanced up at me then.
And I smiled and said, “The most important question here, Dixon, is what color ties are you two gonna be wearing? Please tell me you’re gonna match.”
He smiled back at me, obviously relieved, and said, “Red, I think.”
Then Cam pitched in, in a voice that sounded totally disbelieving, “Sorry, butDanny Brown?”
Dixon’s lips twitched. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, or any of you guys, but…I mean, just…it’s…Okay, and—”
“No, no,” Cam said, “I don’t give a shit if you’re bi or gay or whatever label you prefer, but my pointis,Dixon, that Danny Brown isnota fine piece of ass. You can do a lot better than that. You should’ve asked Joe Drake. He’s into guysandhe hasn’t got a date yet.”
Dixon snorted.
“It’s too late now,” Cam said, shaking his head and pressing his lips into a disapproving line.
“He’s a nice guy,” Dixon argued, but he was smiling. “He’s funny.”
“Hey,” Warren said, leaning over to shove Cam’s shoulder. “I don’t know why you’re laughing. God knows what Lisa sees in you—again, not a fine piece of ass,andyou’re not even funny. What’ve you got going for you?”
“I can do that trick where you tip a glass of water upside down without spilling it. The ladies love it, what can I say.”
“It’s true,” I joke, looking at Warren with a deadpan expression. I put a hand to my chest. “I think my heart just skipped a beat thinking about it.”
“How about you, Elle?” Dixon said then, still looking obviously relieved that none of us had made a big deal about him asking a guy to the dance. “Don’t try and change the subject. The dance is, like, two weeks away.”
