The Romeo Club Page 8

  He chuckled. “Well, at least I’ve never heard her say something crazy to me.”

  “And now, you’ve jinxed yourself.”

  Trey went over to his closet. “So, what should I wear tonight?”

  I traipsed over to his drawers and pulled some shirts and jeans out. My teeth grazed my bottom lip as I held up several possible outfits. Finally, I decided on a vintage T-shirt and a pair of faded jeans.

  “These will be perfect. Since you’re only getting together to watch TV, you want to go casual.”

  He took the clothes from me. “I’ll go change in the bathroom.”

  While he was gone, I studied the video game posters on his wall. Then wandered over to his bookshelf. He had Sci-Fi paperbacks, along with several fantasy novels. I smiled when I saw a picture of him with me and Drake. It’d been taken in front of his tree house when they were in sixth grade and I was in fifth. Next to that was a photo of the three of us at a book signing in Lansing two years ago.

  “So, what do you think?” Trey said from behind me.

  I spun to face him. My breath caught in my throat. The T-shirt was tight against his chest and made his shoulders broader. “Y-you look great. Maybe we can tousle your hair a little. Do you have some gel?”

  “Yeah. Let me go grab it.” A second later he returned holding a purple tube of hair product. He handed it to me.

  I squeezed some of the sticky goo into my palm then set the container down. My hands trembled as I reached up to mess up his hair. I swallowed hard. Topaz eyes met mine. He has no idea how hot he is. Unfortunately, I noticed. I ran my fingers through his locks, trying hard to ignore how fast my heart pattered. When I finished, I took a step back to admire my work.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “What?”

  “Your hair, what do you think of it?”

  He glanced in the mirror. “I hardly recognize myself.”

  “It’s perfect. Portia will be head over heels in love with you by week’s end,” I teased.

  “Let’s hope so. Now, I just need to figure out what to talk about.”

  “The dance show. And don’t forget, I told you she’s a vegan. Maybe ask her some questions about that. I’m sure you can get her to do most of the talking.”

  “Okay, I’ll try. Hopefully I don’t screw this up.” He gave a nervous laugh then grabbed his wallet from his nightstand. “Since I have some time to kill, you wanna go get some ice cream? My treat.”

  “Are you kidding? Of course. Lesson number two. Women love ice cream. Well, I guess not all women, but most of us do.”

  We left his room and cut through the kitchen to the side door. “Going so soon?” his mom said. “I thought you had a project to do?”

  “We’re meeting up with Kevin and C.C. to go over a few notes,” Trey said. “And, don’t forget, I’ve got a date tonight.”

  Mrs. Garrett glanced up from her cookie making. “You and Delyla?”

  “No. Remember, I told you about Portia. I’m going to her house tonight.”

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t remember. Maybe your dad and I should meet her parents before you go. For all we know she could be some harlot, trying to seduce you. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the new clothes and hairstyles. She’s changing you.”

  I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Portia’s nice, Mrs. Garrett.”

  She wiped her hands on a towel. “Oh, I know, I’m being overprotective. But I worry about you, Trey. I don’t want you to get anyone pregnant. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you.”

  He rubbed a hand across his face, his jaw muscles twitching. “Mom, this is my first date. I don’t plan on jumping her bones. Geez. Now, I’ve got to go or we’re going to miss meeting up with Kev and C.C.”

  Trey grabbed hold of my arm and practically dragged me from his house.

  When we reached the sidewalk, I burst out laughing. “Oh. My. God. I swear I thought my parents were the only ones who said crazy crap. But that was epic.”

  “Glad you find it funny.”

  I bumped him with my shoulder. “Your face is still red.”

  He wrapped an arm around me and messed up my hair. “Keep laughing and I’ll have to beat you up.”

  “Oh, I’m so scared.” My gaze shifted ahead as we walked toward Bogarty’s Ice Cream Shop. As we past Trey’s house, I spotted Jimbo in old Mr. Lancaster’s yard going through the trash. When the dog noticed us, he picked something up from the ground and ran toward us.

  “What’s he got?” I asked.

  Jimbo darted in front of us and dropped a magazine at our feet. Curious, I bent down and picked it up. My cheeks grew hotter than a summer bonfire. Great, he’d picked up a porno mag. On the front cover was a lady showing everything and then some.

  “Oh God, I’ll never be able to look Mr. Lancaster in the eye again. The guy’s like eighty.”

  Trey’s face turned a nice shade of scarlet, which I’m sure matched mine. “Um—maybe we should … ”

  “Hey, where are you guys going?” Mom came out of nowhere. She smiled at us until her gaze drifted to what I held in my hands. Her eyes bulged.

  Oh crap.

  “Delyla Denson!”

  “Whoa, it’s not what you thing. Jimbo took it out of Mr. Lancaster’s trash,” I said.

  She stood, hands on her hips. “Just like he stole my bra and your dad’s underwear. Your stories are getting out of control. So, tell me, are you into something weird?”

  “Ms. Denson,” Trey started.

  “Maybe I better make you a doctor appointment to get you on the pill.”

  “Mom!” Holy hell balls, she’s crazy. “This isn’t mine.”

  “Have you two been sneaking off together with these kinds of magazines? You know these people and what they do and show, aren’t realistic.”

  For the love of God. Please let the ground just open and swallow me up.

  Trey chuckled. “No. This isn’t ours.” He pointed to the ripped trash bag in Mr. Lancaster’s driveway. “Jimbo really got it from there.”

  Mom finally saw the mess scattered across the lawn and driveway. “Oh. So this really isn’t yours?”

  “No,” we said in unison.

  She snatched the magazine from me. “I’m sorry. Why don’t I just take this and you two can be on your way.” She rolled it up in her hand and walked back to our house.

  “I sure hope she’s gonna throw that away.” Trey nudged me.

  “Ew, did you have to say that? You’re giving me horrible images.”

  He laughed. “I think we’re even on the parent front today.”

  “Yeah. Do you think they get together to plan out embarrassing conversations to have with their kids?”

  “At this point, I’d say anything is possible.”

  A few minutes later we arrived at Bogarty’s. We went inside and found Kevin working the counter.

  “Hey,” he said. “I thought you had a date tonight?”

  “I do. But I wanted to treat Del out for helping me.” Trey took some cash from his pocket. “Can we get two chocolate vanilla swirl ice creams?”

  Warmth spread through my chest. He remembered my favorite flavor. How is it he knew more about me than my boyfriend?

  “Coming right up.” Kevin took his money then gave him the change. He waved me closer to the counter then leaned forward. “Melanie’s working tonight.” He nodded to a petite girl making milkshakes. She had black hair with a shock of electric blue highlights. Her ears had numerous piercings, and she wore dark eyeliner. She had the whole rocker chick thing going on.

  “She’s pretty,” I said. And to say I was surprised was an understatement. She didn’t seem like his type, but then again, who was I to judge.

  He grinned. “Yeah. She is.” He handed us our ice cream. “I’ll see you guys later.”

  I licked the side of my cone to keep the chocolate from dripping. Trey and I sat down in
a corner booth and devoured our food. When I finished, I wiped my mouth with a napkin. My eyes shifted to the window. No way. Did he have GPS attached to me or something?

  I shot to my feet. “Crap.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Rex is here with his friends. I told him I was having a Science Club meeting today.”

  Trey followed my gaze. “They’re coming in.”

  We rushed toward the counter. Maybe there was a back way out. “Kevin. We need to hide.”

  “What?”

  “Rex.” I nodded over my shoulder. “Please, Kev. There’s gotta be a back way out.”

  “I can’t let you go through the kitchen. I’ll get fired.” He glanced behind him.

  “Ah, I’m so dead.”

  “Wait, I have an idea. Hey, Melanie can you watch the register for a second?”

  She looked up. “Sure. But hurry.”

  “Thanks.” He came around the counter. “Quick, follow me.” He led us down a narrow hall toward the bathrooms. But before we got there, he opened a door and pulled out two costumes.

  “Oh brother. I’m not gonna like this, am I?” Trey took a giant ice cream cone costume from him.

  “Nope. In fact, you’ll probably hate it. But it’s the only thing I got.” He handed me a Poppy the Popsicle costume.

  I groaned. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”

  “Hurry up, he’s coming in.” Kevin shoved the giant popsicle over my head.

  I put my arms in, while he tugged it down. He then put big rubber shoes on me. I attempted to adjust the top so I could see out the eyeholes. Next to me, I saw Trey and giggled. His head looked like a giant vanilla swirl ice cream. The cone part came down to his ankles so he had to waddle while he walked.

  Kevin, shut the closet. “Just go out in the lobby area and dance around or something. When he leaves, you can get out of here.”

  “You owe me big,” Trey said from beside me.

  Just then a group of elementary kids saw us. “Look it’s Poppy the Popsicle and Icy the Ice Cream.”

  In that moment, I wanted to die. Kids screeched at our legs. I hopped around in circles, giving them high fives. I attempted a booty shake dance and nearly toppled over, right into Rex’s lap.

  “Hey, Rex. Looks like Poppy has a thing for track stars.” Bart laughed and slapped his back. “If you want to dance with the popsicle, I won’t tell Delyla.”

  Rex grinned, grabbed my giant rubber hands and twirled me around. “Hey, can I get my picture taken with you?”

  Holy balls. This wasn’t good. “Sure,” I said in a high-pitched Minnie Mouse type voice. He held up his phone and leaned in close. Wow, this would be one for the memory books.

  “I think the popsicle is melting at your touch,” Bart said. “Maybe you should go for the ice cream cone instead.”

  If he made one more popsicle comment, I was gonna shove my stick somewhere where the sun didn’t shine. Behind me, I heard Trey mutter something about a jackass.

  At last, Kevin called them up to the counter for their order.

  “See you, Poppy.” Rex patted my back.

  “Yeah, see you,” I said in the same high-pitched voice from before.

  When they left, Trey and I raced to take the costumes off.

  “Remind me never to come to the ice cream shop with you again,” Trey said. “I swear, if one more kid hit me in the crotch, I was gonna shove them in a trash can.”

  “At least you didn’t have to deal with my boyfriend.” I laughed.

  “Yeah, there’s that. But I think I’m ready to go now.”

  He didn’t have to tell me twice. Goodbye ice cream, hello world.

  Chapter 15

  Kenadi and I sat at a table in the back of the library, away from everyone else. “So yeah, then my mom takes the magazine. I swear between that and the whole ice cream shop thing, I wanted to die.”

  She laughed. “Still can’t believe Rex didn’t realize it was you in the costume.”

  “I’m glad he didn’t figure it out. I never thought it’d be so hard to juggle everything. Rex is getting frustrated because I’m busy, but I have to help the guys or I won’t earn money for my dress. Not to mention, soccer and school.”

  “You’ll get it handled. Besides, Rex doesn’t own you and needs to realize you have outside interests other than watching him play sports. Or him in general.”

  “I know. But I still feel bad. I don’t like lying.”

  “Yeah, but you know what Rex and his friends would do to the Nerd Herd’s reputations if they caught wind of this? Don’t get me wrong, your boyfriend is super nice and good to you, but he can be a total dick to other people.”

  Ken had a point, which again made me wonder why I was with someone like that. The thing was a lot of it stemmed from his friends. He went along with it though, which in my book didn’t make him any better. At least, when I was around, he kept the snide comments and crap to a minimum. According to Bart, his best friend, I’d changed Rex and he wasn’t as fun anymore.

  “I know. Trust me. I talked to him about it,” I said.

  “Speaking of Rex.” Kenadi nodded across the way to where he’d walked in. “Listen, I’ll catch you later. Good luck with TRC today.”

  Rex scanned the room until he saw us. He sauntered between the shelves and tables. When he reached me, he plopped down beside me and scooted his chair closer. “You never came into the cafeteria to eat.”

  “Sorry. I had to get this stupid Lit paper finished. I only had a few paragraphs left,” I said.

  “I thought it wasn’t due until next week?” His fingers entwined with mine.

  “It’s not, but I’m not sure how much time I’ll have over the weekend to work on it. You know me. I’d rather have it done ahead of time.”

  He smiled, bringing my hand to his lips. “So, my parents are having this fundraiser dinner in a week and I wondered if you could go? It’ll be a formal thing so you’ll have to dress up.”

  “Oh, my gosh, I’d love to go. I have this super cute black dress I can wear.”

  His eyes blazed with something between want and excitement. “And I can’t wait to see you in it.”

  I glanced around then leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “See, I told you we’d be able to spend time together soon.”

  He stared at our hands. “So, I stopped at your house yesterday after my track meet. Your mom said you were out with Trey Garrett.”

  Oh crap. “We had Science Club stuff, which I told you about.”

  “I know. I’m just being paranoid. But I hate that you’re spending so much time with those dip shits. I miss hanging out with you.”

  Technically, he had spent time with me yesterday, if I counted his dancing with Poppy the Popsicle. But no way in hell was I about to tell him that. Somehow I’d have to make more time for him soon or he might figure out what I’d really been up to. And, like Kenadi said, that would mean bad things for the Nerd Herd.

  ***

  “Okay, so you’ll take a dab of gel then run it through your hair like this,” I said, showing Kevin the glob of goo on my palm then working it into his hair. I squeezed a little onto his fingers. “Here, now you try.”

  His brow furrowed as he leaned closer to the bathroom mirror. “Like this?”

  “Yep, now don’t be scared to mess it up some.”

  Kevin followed my instructions and soon his hair stood up in messy, stylish tufts. “Sweet, this actually worked.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Of course. Did you ever doubt me?”

  He laughed. “Well … ”

  From down the hall, we heard the front door open, which meant Trey finally made it. The whole group was here now. I put away the gel and we headed downstairs to find everyone sprawled out.

  “So, how did your date go?” I shot Trey a smile.

  “It went okay. No huge mess-ups or anything. And,” he said, “I snagged another date
with her tomorrow night.”

  “What? You waited to tell me until now?” I squealed. “Where are you going?”

  “To the movies. I figure that way we won’t have to talk a lot.”

  “The movies, eh?” C.C. waggled his brows. “Are you gonna pretend to reach for the popcorn and grab something else?”

  “More like he’s gonna probably French her face off.” Kevin chuckled, making kissy sounds on his hand.

  I stared at the ceiling. “And you guys wonder why you’ve been single all this time.”

  They laughed and continued to give Trey pointers on the things he could do on his first date. Some of which made me blush. After about ten minutes of it, I decided maybe I’d come back later when they settled their hormones some. “I think I’m gonna leave you guys to it for a while. Don’t forget, we have our TRC outing this upcoming weekend. We’ll be going over movie etiquette.” I hurried out of the room.

  When I got to the stairs, C.C. caught me. “Delyla, um—I wanted to let you know that I’m in the spring play. I actually got the part.”

  “That’s awesome. Congrats.” I patted his shoulder.

  He ran a hand through his hair and focused on the floor. “The thing is Liza got the lead opposite of me. And we’re becoming friends. But I’m not sure how to get beyond being drama club buddies with her.”

  “When’s your next practice?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Okay. So invite her out to pizza afterward or offer to help her with her lines. Since the two of you will be in a lot of the same scenes together, it’d make sense to have practice times outside of drama club.”

  C.C. hit his head. “You’re a genius. Practicing lines with her is the perfect excuse to spend more time together.”

  “Well, I don’t know about genius,” I teased.

  “We owe you big time, I hope you know that. Not many girls would do what you’re doing for us.” He grinned then went back down to join the others.

  In my room, I sat at my desk with my Trig book opened, trying to concentrate on my math problems. I couldn’t believe how well things were going for everyone. Trey already had another date with Portia planned. It didn’t seem possible. What could they have to talk about? Sure the Celebrity Dance Off, but how long could Trey play along with that?