and have fun.” And I had no immediate plans to make a fool of myself in front of our entire class.
Cheeks a deep shade of red, Flick let Asher pull her up and they walked hand-in-hand to the dance floor. Last year, she wouldn’t have looked twice at him or Cameron or my step-brother. But this year, she was different.
Maybe we both were.
I watched on as Asher danced circles—literal circles—around her, but she was laughing, her eyes sparkling with happiness. It didn’t take long before he had the entire dance floor eating out of the palm of his hand and right at the heart of their attention was my best friend, in her crowning moment.
My gaze wandered over to where I’d seen Cameron before. He was alone now, watching Asher and Flick, a strange expression on his face. Feeling brave, I got up and made my way over to him but as I almost reached him, a girl tackle hugged him and he held her affectionately, smiling down at her. The same smile he’d given me more than once. My stomach sank as I ducked into the shadows by the wall, pressing myself flat until the darkness swallowed me whole. What did I think? That I’d come here tonight, and Cameron would actually want to dance with me? To spend time with me? Stupid, stupid girl.
Swallowing my pride, I marched back to my table only to realize Flick was no longer dancing with Asher. I scanned the room when my purse vibrated.
Toby: what’s up?
Me: At Homecoming and it kind of sucks
Toby: You should come party with us... it’s not a football thing, I promise
Another party with Toby? Did I really want that? My fingers hovered over the reply button and then I was typing.
Me: Okay
I hit send before I could chicken out. I didn’t really want to go, but the last thing I wanted to do was stay here and watch Cameron and some girl dance and make out.
Just then, I caught a glimpse of Flick. I rushed over to her, narrowing my gaze when I saw her grim expression. “What happened?” I asked.
“N- Nothing.” She swiped at her makeup, smudging the streaks of mascara across her face.
“Flick, I know you’ve been crying.”
“Not here, okay?” She said, her eyes darting around me as if she was looking for something. Or someone. “Can we just go?”
“Toby texted me, inviting us to a part—”
“That sounds perfect.” She grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the door.
“Good,” I chuckled. “Because I kind of already said yes.”
I had another message off Toby saying he was in our neighborhood and would be about ten minutes.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked Flick again as she wrapped her arms around herself, refusing to meet my eyes. “Did Asher do something—”
“I’m fine, Hails. I promise.”
“I swear to God, if he hurt you, I’ll kill him.” His interest in my best friend was growing. The only problem was, I couldn’t figure out if it was all a big joke or if he actually liked her. Either way, Asher Bennet would eat her alive, something I had no intention of ever letting happen.
“It’s not Asher.”
“It’s not?”
“No.”
“But it is a guy?” Because my gut told me it was a guy. Something was going on with my best friend, I just didn’t know what.
Her eyes slowly slid to mine, and she pressed her lips together giving a little nod. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”
The fact she didn’t feel like she could talk to me stung. But I hadn’t exactly been upfront about Cameron either. So I offered her a warm smile, and said, “Okay, but when you’re ready, I’ll be here.”
“Thank you.” Flick sniffled. “Ugh, Homecoming sucks.”
“I could have told you that.”
“I just thought...” A heavy sigh escaped her lips. “I don’t know, maybe this whole list is stupid.”
Moving closer to her, I squeezed her hand. “It isn’t stupid. It’s brave. And I’m proud of you, Felicity Giles.”
“Yeah?” Her eyes lit up.
“Yeah. You could have stood by and let me trample all over your senior year and you didn’t.” The glare of headlights blinded us both and I threw up my arm to get a better look at the approaching car.
“It’s Toby, come on.” Flick grabbed my hand and tugged me toward it.
“Eager much?” I murmured and she threw me a scathing look over her shoulder.
“Homecoming might have sucked, but the night is still young, and I don’t plan on letting this dress go to waste.”
“You do