The Romeo Club Read online

  Then I saw him in some rosebushes, with a baby doll. Good grief. “Jimbo, come here boy,” I said.

  He glanced up, then grabbed the toy in his mouth and trotted over. I ripped the doll from him, when I heard a little girl yelling from her stoop.

  “That’s my doll. Give it back. Daddy, she took my doll.” The kid cried.

  A moment later, a man rushed outside. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Wait, no, I didn’t take it. Our neighbor’s dog got loose and got a hold of it. We were trying to get it back.”

  “You’re nothing but a bunch of bullies.” He shook his fist at us.

  I handed the dirty toy to the girl and she ran back inside, crying.

  “Stay away from our house, you hear?”

  “Damn, you’re really getting a reputation around here,” Kenadi said.

  I snorted. “Great.”

  Jimbo glanced up at me and whimpered. He looked so sad as he put his tail between his legs. Nice. Now he was making me feel bad, too.

  “C’mon boy. Let’s get you home.” When I arrived at the house, Mr. Foster was just pulling in.

  “Thanks, Delyla. Sorry for the trouble. He’s been getting into lots of trouble as of late.”

  I pretended not to notice Mr. Foster’s red-rimmed eyes, or the defeated slouch in his shoulders. Had he been crying?

  “No problem,” I said.

  Jimbo followed Mr. Foster inside, leaving me and Ken standing on the lawn.

  ***

  At last, Kenadi and I headed out of town toward the mall. “So, what’s going on?” she said.

  I sucked in a deep breath. “Trey and I kissed last night.”

  The car swerved as she turned to face me. “What? Oh. My. God.”

  Tears welled in my eyes. “I know. I never meant for this to happen.” I went on to explain the kiss practicing session. “Now, I’m so confused. I mean, I’ve never felt like this before. Not with Rex. Not with any of the guys I’ve dated. I don’t know, it’s like when I’m with him, I can be myself. And I have so much fun.”

  “What are you gonna do?”

  My gaze shifted to my hands. “I have to break up with Rex. It’s the right thing to do. I mean, I just don’t feel that way about him.”

  “And what about Trey?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know that either. He’s supposed to have another date with Portia. And we haven’t really talked since it happened. Besides, maybe it didn’t mean anything to him.”

  “But he kissed you back. Not some brush of the lips kiss, we’re talking full on tongue, clutching you tight romance crap.”

  “Well, how am I supposed to bring it up?”

  “Can you talk to Drake, see if he’d do some intel gathering for you?”

  “Hell to the no. If he found out we kissed, he’d flip.” I shook my head. “Besides, my brother is too wrapped up in Chloe right now. I barely see him.”

  Kenadi turned into the mall parking lot. “All right. Why don’t we play it by ear and see how school goes tomorrow? Perhaps he’ll let something slip. Something to let you know what your next step should be.”

  “Okay,” I said. A few minutes later, we headed into the mall. Kenadi led me straight to “my” prom dress, which still hung in the window display. My vision blurred as tears threatened to spill over again. Will I even need this now? Once I break up with Rex, I might not have anyone to go with.

  “I know what’ll make you feel better.” Kenadi caught my arm and led me into the store. “You’re gonna get your dress today.”

  “But I still have one more week before I’ll have enough money.”

  “I’m going to spot you the difference. You can pay me back next week. Trust me, you need a pick me up and if this dress can’t do it, nothing can.”

  “But what if I don’t have a date?”

  She glanced at me. “You will. Even if I have to set you up with Deandre.”

  My eyes widened. “Your brother? He’s a freshman.”

  She shrugged. “So. Either way, I promise you won’t go alone.”

  As we paid for the dress, I knew things were going to get complicated. I only hoped I could handle whatever came my way.

  Chapter 21

  When I got to school, I made a beeline for my locker where the Nerd Herd stood in wait. Trey waved, then went back to talking with Kevin about a new computer game he got. He acted like nothing happened between us. My gaze shifted down the hall, where Portia had just come in the door.

  “Hey, listen, I’ll catch you later,” Trey said. He patted my arm on the way by. “Thanks for your help this weekend. I owe you.”

  Owed me? Okay, that wasn’t quite what I expected him to say. But maybe he didn’t want to bring things up with the guys around.

  C.C. leaned against the locker beside mine. “Soooo, do you want to hear about my weekend?”

  I spun the combination on my locker. “Um—am I gonna regret asking about it?”

  He snorted. “No.”

  “Fine. Spill.” My door swung open, almost hitting him.

  “Damn, are you trying to take my head off?”

  “Not at the moment. Why, do you want me to?” I smiled.

  He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I wanted to thank you for the advice and the dancing lessons. Liza and I got together late yesterday to practice. And well, we sorta kissed.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Oh, yeah.” He puffed out his chest in a manly pose. “I didn’t even strain my groin.”

  “Okay. I’m stopping you right there.”

  “But I didn’t even get to the good stuff.”

  “Nope. No details.” I held my hand up. “I’m glad everything worked out for you.”

  “Aren’t you even curious to know that it was an opened mouth kiss?” He waggled his eyebrows at me.

  Kevin glanced at me and said, “You’ve created a monster. A pervy, sick, monster who is only gonna get worse.”

  “Yeah, I’m starting to regret this whole helping him out thing,” I said.

  C.C. grinned. “Fine, I’ll fill you in later. In case you need any pointers.”

  He and Kevin walked down the corridor, leaving me to fetch my books. When I had everything for first hour, I glanced down the hall to find Trey and Portia holding hands, their heads bent together in quiet conversation. A pang shot through me. I hated seeing them together. They didn’t fit. Not the way he and I did. But would he ever notice me in that light?

  I sighed. Right now, I knew they were the least of my worries. I still had to talk to Rex. And I wasn’t looking forward to it. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. He’d been good to me. Maybe it should be enough. But deep down, I knew it wasn’t.

  ***

  Rex drove me home after practice. For once, I was quiet. His fingers wrapped around mine as we pulled into my driveway. When he parked and cut the engine, I wrenched my hand away and placed it in my lap. A lump formed in my throat. Take a deep breath. You can’t string him along. It isn’t fair to him or you. This is for the best.

  I picked at my cuticle, then turned to face him. “Rex, I-I think we should break up.”

  His head shot up, a startled look on his face. “What? Del, you’re not serious.”

  “Yes, I am. It’s not you. Really. It’s-it’s me.”

  “Where is this coming from? We’ve been going out for close to nine months. Things have been good between us.”

  “I know—but you want to date this jock-like girl, who’s popular and sits with you at lunch and goes to your house to watch you play football. But I’m more than that. I mean, you don’t even know me.”

  “Of course I know you.” He reached across the middle console and touched my cheek.

  Tears blurred my vision then rolled down my face. “No, you don’t. Did you know that I’m like this super nerd who spends hours playing video games?”

  “No,” he said.

  “Did you know that
I’m an honor student and also a member of the National Honor Society?”

  “No.”

  “Do you have any idea what my favorite color is or who my favorite band is? Or hell, even what I plan to do after high school?”

  “No—but you haven’t given me the chance to know these things. Shit, I thought you liked talking about sports and doing things with the guys.”

  I gave him a half-hearted smile. “That’s the thing, we’ve been together nine months and you don’t know me.”

  He released my face and sat back against his door, stunned. “We don’t have to end this. We can start over. Get to know one another.”

  “That sounds nice, but I think maybe you know as well as I do this isn’t gonna work. In a few months you’ll be headed off to Michigan State, not to mention, you deserve to find someone who’s perfect for you.” I grabbed a hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Rex, you’re a nice guy. But you’re not for me. And someday, I hope you’ll forgive me.”

  With that, I let go of him, reached for my bag, and hopped out of his jeep. I ran to the porch and watched as he pulled away. My shoulders trembled as a new wave of tears trailed down my cheeks.

  Breaking up with Rex was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. It tore me up to see the hurt in his eyes. To know I caused it. But I had to do the right thing. And I had feelings of my own that needed to be addressed or at least figured out.

  Chapter 22

  I didn’t even bother to go inside. Instead I headed straight for the backyard. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be. My junior year was supposed to be perfect. I dropped my bag on the ground and took out my soccer ball. Mud and grass stains covered my knees from practice earlier. And even though I was tired, I needed this.

  With the back of my hand, I wiped the moisture from my eyes. I dropped my ball at my feet and dribbled the length of my yard, dodging Mom’s rose bushes and the clothesline posts. I angled my foot and shot the ball into my net. Once I retrieved the ball, I ran to our deck then back again. Shot after shot rolled off my foot into the goal. My body burned with fatigue, my legs tired. But I didn’t stop. I needed to forget everything. Rex’s sad face. The pain in my chest when I saw Trey and Portia together. But most of all, I had to forget the kiss.

  “Geez, I’d hate to be the ball about now.” Trey sauntered into the yard. He watched as I sent the ball into the back of the net.

  He smiled. My legs turned to Jell-O beneath me and I gripped hold of the back post. Trey’s hair was still wet from what I assumed was a recent shower. Excitement raced through my veins. Had he come over to talk about the other night?

  “Yeah, I’m pretty bad ass.” I rolled my eyes.

  He chuckled. “What are you really doing out here?”

  I swiped a strand of hair from my face. “I figured I’d try to get some more practice time in before dark.”

  “Didn’t you just get home from soccer practice?”

  “Yes. But if I want to be good, I gotta put in the extra time.” More like, if I didn’t kick the ball around, I’d go up to my room and bawl my eyes out.

  “You’re more dedicated than I am, that’s for sure.” He leaned against the post opposite of mine. “So, I actually came over to see if you could help me with some more Portia stuff.”

  My chest tightened like someone took a pair of vice-grips to it. “Sure.”

  “We had our first kiss during lunch, which went better than I thought it would.”

  “That’s awesome.” If by awesome I meant terrible. God, I didn’t want to hear about it. But how could I tell him no? He was my friend.

  “And it wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for you.”

  “I’m sure it would’ve still happened.” I gave a forced laugh. Why can’t you see how much I like you? I don’t just go around kissing boys for no reason.

  He shoved his hands into his pockets. “The thing is I want to get her flowers. But I’m not sure what color or kind she might like.”

  What the hell? Here he kissed me the other night. I mean, it wasn’t some small peck either. It was a real kiss. Like the type you only saw in movies. And today he didn’t acknowledge any of it. Now he wanted me to help him “date” some other girl. Because he was practicing for the real thing and you’re not it.

  A part of me wanted to tell him to figure it out on his own. Irritation rolled off me like tsunami-sized waves. My fingers wrapped around the metal bar of the goal post.

  Don’t be like this. Trey doesn’t know how you feel. In fact, maybe you should tell him. No. Way. In. Hell. I can’t ruin our friendship. It’s not worth the risk.

  “I can help you. Why don’t you let me go in and get cleaned up then I’ll give you a call or something.”

  “You’re the best,” he said.

  He had no idea.

  After I picked up my stuff from the yard, I trudged inside and went up to my room. I flung my bag to the floor and it skidded across the hard wood, until it hit the side of my dresser, knocking a stuffed animal to the floor. My shoulder’s sagged with defeat as I plopped down at my desk.

  Javier Decorum’s poster stared at me from the wall. “What’re you looking at?” I said aloud. Too bad he wasn’t really here, then I could just kiss him and forget all about Trey. Not that Javier would give me the time of day, but a girl could dream.

  At last, I flipped open my notebook with Portia’s info in it. Her favorite color’s pink. Of course it is. She was all frills and lace and girly crap. According to Kenadi’s notes she also loved tulips and carnations.

  I so can’t do this. But I agreed to help the guys. But that was before I knew I liked Trey. Gah. I grabbed my phone and dialed Ken’s number. She picked up on the second ring.

  “I’m sort of a mess right now,” I said. “I broke up with Rex this afternoon, then Trey has the balls to show up and ask if I’ll help him pick out flowers for Portia. I swear I’m gonna have a break down.” My voice cracked as I attempted to keep it together. “The thing is, I can’t tell Trey no. But it’s so hard to help him when I’ve got all these feelings.”

  “Well girl, I’ll tell you what I’d do in your situation,” Kenadi said.

  “I’m listening.” I leaned back in my chair and put my feet up on the corner of my bed.

  “Tell him how you feel.”

  “I can’t. If he doesn’t feel the same, then I’ll ruin everything.”

  “But what if he does?”

  “I can’t chance it.” I picked at the arm of my chair. There had to be something else I could do.

  “Then what are you gonna do?”

  “I-I … ” My feet slid to the floor. There was only one thing I could do. “Sabotage.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. I’m gonna sabotage them.”

  “Okay, you’re not serious.”

  “Oh, yes I am. I like Trey and as you said, he liked me enough to return the kiss. So I just need to get him to see how perfect we are for each other.”

  “And how’s sabotaging his dates with Portia gonna do that?”

  “I’ll give him some bad advice—she’ll ditch him in no time.”

  “Oh. My. God. You’re devious.” Kenadi’s gum snapped on the other end.

  “At this point, it’s better than me blurting out that I love him. I mean, Rex and I just broke up.”

  “Does Trey know about Rex?”

  “I didn’t exactly get a chance to tell him over the recount of his and Portia’s suck-face-a-thon.”

  “Geez, do I have to do everything?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, not that I think this is the best idea ever, but I’ll go along with it for you sake. One way or another you’re going to win Trey from the Dancing Queen.”

  I scooted my desk chair over to the window. Down below I saw Trey sitting on the hood of his truck talking on the phone.

  “Thank you, I owe you one. So what do I do about the flowers?”

>   Chapter 23

  When I finished talking to Kenadi, I took a quick shower then headed outside to where Trey sat perched on his truck.

  “Okay, I got the information on Portia. Her favorite flowers are roses. And it looks like her favorite color is black.”

  Please let him believe me.

  “What?” He scrunched his nose. “I can’t get her black roses—don’t they mean death or something?”

  I held my hands up in front of me. “I don’t know, I’m just telling you what her BFF Jasmine said.”

  He rubbed his neck and his T-shirt drifted up over his hips to reveal a flat stomach. I swallowed hard, tearing my eyes off of his abdomen.

  “I never took her for the Goth type.”

  “Yeah, well everyone has a secret side.” Mine was obviously relationship-ruiner.

  He slid from his spot on the truck to stand beside me. “Fine—I’ll get her a bouquet of black roses. Thanks for the info. I owe you.” He nudged me in the arm. “Listen, I gotta get inside. I’ll talk to you later.”

  I gave a forced smile. “Sure, anytime.”

  Operation sabotage was now underway.

  ***

  When I got to school the next day, the first two people I saw were Rex and Portia. They were in deep conversation near his first hour class. When he glanced up, I noticed how disheveled he was. His wore a wrinkled shirt, his hair was messy and not in the stylish good way. His bloodshot eyes met mine and he gave a small wave.

  I waved back. He seemed miserable, which made me feel even worse. Whispers of our break-up followed me down the hall as I made my way to my locker.

  “I heard she broke his heart,” Mary Cashell said.

  “Why would anyone break up with him? He’s so hot,” Carrie Fister added.

  “Maybe he cheated on her? I heard Tara Vaughn has been trying to get him to go out with her all year,” Samantha Dorr said.

  Great, now I’d have to spend the whole day explaining what happened with Rex. I so didn’t need this. Not on top of everything else.