Page 94 of Better Than the Movies
I turned my head and followed her finger to a car that was parked in the center of the concourse. It was a black Grand Cherokee, and the fact that it was parked there was unusual, but that wasn’t what made it a focal point.
No, what made it unusual was that the entire driver’s side of the car was covered with white boxes, boxes that each had a black letter on them, and there was a big, orange square framing them all.
The side of the car was a huge Boggle board.
A Boggle board that had diagonal letters in red spelling out the question “Prom?”
“Holy crap, Liz—get up there!” Bailey Wetzel was standing in the crowd, and she grinned at me and held out an arm. “Go!”
I was slow to absorb what was happening until I saw Michael. He was standing next to the car, smiling at me and holding a poster that saidWANNA PLAY BOGGLE WITH ME, LIZ?
It was a promposal.
Michael was asking me to prom.
I felt confused and disjointed as I smiled and everyone standing around started clapping. Michael was asking me to prom—in a romantic, thoughtful way—but I was in shock. It was totally what I’d wanted a week ago, but not anymore.
I slowly walked toward him, my legs rubbery as I approached.
I heard Joss say, “Let him down easy, Liz.”
I looked at Michael’s smiling face.What the hell?I couldn’t think of any way to make this make sense. Every single encounter I’d had with Michael had basically ended in disaster—vomit, bloody nose, Laney talk—so why was this even happening?
The irony, right?
Having so many people watching me made me feel hot and itchy. Uncomfortable. When I reached his side, I had no idea what to say. He looked handsome and warm and like everything I’d daydreamed about since kindergarten.
And nothing like Wes.
I could finally see him—us—clearly, and now that I could, I didn’t want “the one” to be Michael anymore.
“This is incredible,” I said, looking at the Boggle car. He’d covered shoeboxes with white paper and affixed them to the side tomake the board, which was a task that would’ve taken a ton of time. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“I’ve known you long enough, Liz, to know that you’d need a big gesture pr—”
“What about Laney?” I interrupted. I was whispering so no one else could hear me, hoping I could save both of us some public humiliation.
He did a little shrug thing and said around a smile, “I really took to heart what you said in the music room. Just like you, I want the possibility of something more. So… why not you? Why not us?”
I felt my mouth drop open, and I quickly slammed it shut. But comeon—seriously? Someone actually listened to my terrible ideas for once? I could just kick myself for rambling about Wes without actually naming a name.
It’s like I’d never seen a rom-com before or something. Talk about your comedy of errors.
I glanced into the crowd and—oh no—there was Wes. We locked eyes as he stood next to the building, watching me with an unreadable expression. I swallowed and stared intently at his face, the face that had been kissing mine the last time I’d seen him.
I silently begged those brown eyes to give me an answer.
Or for him to give me a smile.
Give me something, Bennett. Please.
But he turned his head and looked away from me.
Before that punch to the gut could even register, I watchedAlex sidle up beside him. She smiled and grabbed his arm, pulling him down closer so she could talk into his ear.
I could barely breathe as I stared at them while everyone in the courtyard looked at me. My silence was getting awkward, and I was very aware of it. Slowly people began cheering and clapping, but I could only hear my heart beating in my ears. Amidst everything, I kept my eyes on Wes. He lifted his hands, put two fingers in his mouth, and whistled loudly. And then he dropped his right arm across Alex’s shoulders and gave me a thumbs-up.
Rejection, bitter and hot, washed over me. The other night—the kiss, everything—was a blip. Wes didn’t feel about me the way I felt about him. This was how it was supposed to end.
