Page 77 of Something Rad
“Shouldn’t we make a fashionably late entrance?” I suggest.
Robbie’s lips press together. “Cooper, Iplannedfor us to make a fashionably late entrance. And then it took over twenty minutes to convince you to get in my car. Now we are justlate.”
I blow out a deep breath, letting Robbie’s arm go.
“Can we go in now?” he asks, grabbing the door handle again.
“No.”
“Cooper–”
“Ground rules!” I blurt.
Robbie blinks at me. “What?”
“Ground rules,” I repeat. “We still haven’t talked about our ground rules yet. For us. Forthis.” I motion my finger between us. “We need to.”
“Right now?”
“If I’m about to walk into that lion’s den, then yes,” I confirm.
“Lion’s den?” Robbie repeats, raising his brows. “Cooper, it’s our Back to School Dance. You know, it’s safe in there. Some might even call itfun.”
I stare blankly at him, not willing to budge. When he realizes I’m not going to let it go, he takes his hand off the door handle, running it down his face instead.
“We might have gotten away with one day at school together,” I say, “but this is a whole different ball game. That was a practice run. A fun little show. But this…us going in there together…that makes it real.”
“It was already real.”
My shoulders tense.
“Cooper,” Robbie adds, shaking his head. “We were all anyone was talking about at school yesterday.Youwere all they were talking about.”
“Gee, good to know. That really makes me want to run into that dance now,” I deadpan.
“I’m just saying, we seem to have this down. I don’t see the need to complicate it.”
“Ground rulespreventus from complicating this,” I counter. “We might have gotten through one day, but we need to be on the same page to make this believable for a full month. We need to set expectations and limitations.”
Robbie’s eyes search my face, only a hint of irritation within them. “Alright, Cooper. Why don’t you start us off then.”
“Oh…I…” I look away, my teeth going into my bottom lip as I realize I haven’t really thought this through. “Well, it’s probably best to start with our goals, right?”
“We know those already,” he reminds me.
“Right, okay.”
Robbie breathes an exasperated laugh, taking over. “Okay. We’re doing this for the next month. Until class elections when you win student body president.”
My stomach flips at the easy confidence in his statement, but then something occurs to me. “What about you?” I ask.
“Whataboutme?” Robbie asks.
“Well, we’re setting my goal as the deadline on this whole thing. What about you? What if you don’t achieve what you’re going for by that date?”
I don’t know why I don’t elaborate. I know what he’s going for, but I keep it vague. I don’t say it. I don’t sayhername.
Robbie’s mouth pulls into a smirk, and he lets out a chuckle. “Don’t worry about me, Cooper.”
