Before The Boys Say No Part 13

"How come I didn't notice that?" he drawled, wiping his boot on the carpet.

You know when you're so grossed out by something that you feel the gagging reflex starting to come on? Yeah, well that pretty much describes what happened. I felt my tongue stick out of my mouth and I started making choking noises. I wanted to toss my breakfast right then and there.

I held my breath and moved to the back of the room. I don't care what Jared thought about that. I did hear him start laughing. Soon enough, the other kids in the cla.s.s started sniffing the air. The ripe smell of manure was pungent. Mr. Robarb ordered Jared outside to wipe off his boots, but it was too late. The smell had settled into the carpet. No way was it leaving anytime soon.

We got dismissed from cla.s.s thirty minutes early because no one could concentrate. I was headed to the library to hide out for lunch when I heard Brody calling my name. I waited for him to catch up to me.

"What are you doing out of cla.s.s?" he asked me, trying to balance himself on the crutches.

"We had a smelly situation," I said dryly. He laughed even though he had no clue what I was talking about.

"So, I think I'm gonna be able to work more at the restaurant now that my ankle's broke," he said.

"You don't have to be at practice?"

"Nope," he replied, his teeth flashing in the cold air.

"Dean will be happy to have the help. Italian food is always popular in cold weather."

"Cool," he said. We fell silent, looking awkwardly around.

"Well, I'm gonna head to the library to work on debate," I said suddenly.

"Yeah, sure. I need to get back to cla.s.s anyway. Glad to see you stopped wearing those contacts."

I had to laugh. Brody wasn't being mean when he said that. "Time to get back to just being me."

"That's good," he said earnestly. "Oh, hey. You going with that runner to Winter Formal?"

"I'm not going," I told him. "I want to concentrate on a big debate tournament coming up."

"I bet he's disappointed."

I shrugged and motioned in the direction of the library. "Gotta run, but I'll see you at the restaurant."

"Bye," he said and started hobbling back to his cla.s.s.

I made my way to the second floor of the library and sank on the floor in between two rows of archeology books. The odds of any kids looking for books in that category were probably non-existent. I leaned my head on the wall and closed my eyes. Why did finding a date have to be so complicated?

I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, there was a loud clicking of heels on the other side of one of the rows of books. I peeked through the books to see the librarian's black shoes. I looked at the time and gasped. I had slept through the remaining school day. It was after four o'clock and I was supposed to meet Johanna at the track.

I rubbed at the pain I felt in my stiff neck. I stood up, feeling a sudden cramp in my calf. Payback for running three miles the day before. Funny how my body was just now starting to feel the effects of pushing myself on the track.

By the time I reached Johanna in the bleachers, I was limping. Of course, she had to sit up high in the bleachers, which made my climb to her even more excruciating.

"What happened?" Johanna exclaimed when I flopped down on the bench below her.

"Running," I replied.

"Keep it up, Bea. It's all going to pay off in the end."

I turned around to face her. "No, it isn't, Johanna. Michael is asking someone else to the Winter Formal."

Her face registered shock. "What? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. He asked me advice on which girl he should ask."

"I don't get it. You were getting so close--"

"Your formula doesn't work," I said flatly.

She swallowed and got a hard look on her face. "The formula does work, Bea. You just didn't meet all the criteria for Michael."

"Are you crazy? I ran my b.u.t.t of for that date."

"Think back to when you did your research. Michael likes skinny girls. If you could have put down the pizza and picked up a forkful of salad, you might have gotten him to ask you."

"Great. You're calling me fat."

"You're bigger than Michael likes, Bea. You know that. You screwed up my diagram by not fitting every criteria for him to ask you out."

"Big girl strikes out again," I said in a low voice, turning my back on Johanna with crossed arms.

"Look," she said softly, "I know you're disappointed, Bea. So am I. But we both have to admit there was a flaw in the calculations. We just have to find you a guy who will like more of your type."

"It's too late for Winter Formal," I said.

"Yes," she agreed. "But if you do exactly what I tell you, we can get you a date for prom. That's like five months away."

I nodded my head, feeling a little sick. Johanna sighed in the silence. She didn't know what to say to me. We both watched the runners on the track for several minutes before she finally rose.

"I'm meeting Bradley in fifteen," she said in a low voice. "We'll talk later, okay?"

I stood up. "I need to go, too. Call me later."

I slowly followed her down the bleachers, wincing at each step. She was already out of sight by the time I made it to the bottom. A couple of runners waved to me as I pa.s.sed. I tried to smile but it was an effort.

Now that I had all my time back to myself, I needed to refocus my efforts on debate. Especially since our big tournament was on the weekend. I still hadn't found that crucial piece of evidence that I needed to defend my case. I was sure my case had already been pa.s.sed around to the other schools. Everyone was out for me. Maybe it was time for me to write a whole new case. No one would expect that from me this late in the season. Now I just needed to go over the strategy with Jared so he wouldn't act dumb in the middle of a round.

I knew I would find him in the metal building after school. He was working on a project for Sue Nelly to give to her at Winter Formal. I had no idea what it was. I really didn't care. I didn't like the smell in the building and had avoided it at all costs.

I plugged my nose and walked down the long hall, peeking through windows of the cla.s.srooms till I found his familiar skinny frame pounding away on a piece of wood in one. I had just opened the door when I heard a cat whistle behind me. I whirled to see an Aggie strolling down the hall, his eyes boldly looking me up and down. He winked when he caught my eye.

I was so embarra.s.sed that I opened the door to Jared's room and slipped in, closing it firmly behind me. I definitely wasn't used to guys whistling at me. And that guy was actually kind of cute.

"Beatrice? What are you doing here?"

I turned to face Jared, my face still red. "Hey, Jared. Uh, I was just checking on you. Do you have time to go over debate?"

"Not really," he said slowly. "Come and see what I'm making Sue Nelly."

I crossed over to him. There were a couple of other guys in the cla.s.sroom, but they barely looked up when I pa.s.sed by. Jared proudly held up an object. At first, it looked like a doll's bed. I looked at it closer. It definitely was a doll's bed.

"What is it?" I asked. I didn't want to hurt his feelings and tell him what I thought it looked like.

"It's a homemade doll's bed," he said with a big smile.

I squinted my eyes and lightly shook my head. "Does Sue want a doll's bed?"

"What girl doesn't?" he asked with wide eyes.

"Um, maybe a girl who's seventeen years old?" I suggested with a roll of my eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said in a loud voice. "Are you trying to say you don't think Sue Nelly will like this after I spent all that time on it?"

"Jared, why? Why did you think any girl would like that--unless she's in elementary school and plays with dolls?"

"My mom collects dolls. She thought it was a really good idea."

"Then give it to your mom," I said bluntly. "Trust me, give Sue a necklace or flowers. No doll bed."

"I don't know, Beatrice. I think you've got it all wrong. I mean, you have to admit, you're different from other girls."

"Cool it, farm boy," I said in a hard voice. "I'm not that different from other girls."

"We'll just agree to disagree," he said quietly. He carefully placed the bed back on the table.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," I told him. I could see his adam's apple working overtime in his throat. He was trying not to cry.

"I should be used to it by now," he said, clearing his throat.

I started to argue with him, but the door opened. Wouldn't you know it? It was the cute Aggie who had whistled at me in the hall. His eyes bore right into me and he made his way to us. I wasn't sure how to react. I mean, Jared was still fighting back tears.

"Hey, Jared. This your girlfriend?" he asked when he got close. I mean, close. Like he actually pressed against my arm slightly.

"No way," I responded before Jared had the chance. The words just flew out of my mouth. Jared looked at me with hurt feelings.

"She's right about that. There's no way I would ever go out with her," Jared said. He wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"I'm d.i.c.kie," the guy said, giving me a flirting look with his dark eyes.

I wasn't sure how to take d.i.c.kie. And what kind of name was that? I could imagine introducing him to my parents. "This is d.i.c.kie, my date." It didn't roll off the tongue right. Besides, up close, d.i.c.kie was about an inch shorter than me.

"Beatrice," I told him, shifting slightly so we weren't touching.

d.i.c.kie grinned. "Beatrice? What kind of name is that for such a pretty girl? You should be called Lilly or Rose--"

"How about dandelion?" Jared offered. "She's really more of a weed than a flower."

I reached out and punched Jared in the arm. Hard enough to make him cringe away from me. d.i.c.kie seemed to like that. He started laughing and grabbed my arm, feeling my muscles--or lack of muscles, I should say.

"You've got more fight to you than a pitt bull attacking a little old lady," he said with a whistle.

What? How was I supposed to respond to something like that? Jared started laughing and nodding his head. I decided it must be Aggie language. They seemed to have their own language anyway.

d.i.c.kie let my arm drop and grabbed my hand. "Strong fingers, too. You should sign up for wood working next semester."

"I tried to get her to sign up, but--"

"I'm actually thinking about it," I said with a pointed look at Jared. He was clueless and confused, but he read my look well enough to not challenge me.

d.i.c.kie stared into my eyes, his hand still holding mine. My palm started to feel sweaty so I pulled it away from him. He smiled and looked right at my lips like he could kiss me right then and there. I wasn't used to guys being so bold. d.i.c.kie made me nervous. But Johanna said I needed to find someone who liked my type. There was no doubt that d.i.c.kie seemed to like my type.

"So, are you going to Winter Formal?" I asked with a small nervous giggle.

"I'm traveling to Nebraska to show my cow, Chast.i.ty," he drawled.

I blinked, trying to understand what he'd just said. "Show your cow?"

"Yeah. Chast.i.ty's won the last four shows. She's a beauty, ain't she, Jared?"

Jared nodded emphatically. I smiled politely, clueless to what this cow showing was. It didn't matter anyway. d.i.c.kie wasn't going to be around for Winter Formal. My chances of going were trampled under his worn cowboy boots.

"I would've stolen you away from your date if I'd gone," he warned, throwing me a wink.

I smiled and decided it was time to leave before I messed anything up with my big fat mouth. I had a good chance of getting a date to senior prom if I played my cards right with d.i.c.kie. Sure, he was very flirtatious and spoke with that odd Aggie drawl, but he was the cutest prospect that had shown an interest in me all year.

I walked out of the room and heard d.i.c.kie give a low whistle. I'd really have to get used to his behavior, but it was actually a great feeling to have a guy flirt with me like that. I felt a whole lot better leaving that metal building.

That nice feeling would have lasted me all night at work if the first person I saw had not been Lanie. She was talking to Brody by the register when I stepped through the door. I tried to scurry to the back, but her hateful eyes caught mine.

"Don't you have anything better to do than hang around this restaurant?" Lanie asked in a snotty voice.

"She works here," Brody defended me. "Besides, her parents own the restaurant."

"Explains why she eats all the time," Lanie said, looking pointedly at my hips.

I ignored her and went into the kitchen, too embarra.s.sed to even look at Brody. But he followed right behind me.

"Don't listen to Lanie, Bea," he said softly. "She's just so--I don't know. I don't get it."

"I'm fine," I said cheerfully, forcing a bright smile to my lips. "I stopped listening a long time ago."

"She's waiting on me," he said with a sigh. "She's my ride home."

Well, duh. She was his girlfriend; she'd better drive him around. I slapped at his arm to let him know I was fine. He smiled so sweetly that my heart melted. Like b.u.t.ter. No guy made me feel all warm and tingly the way Brody did. Why couldn't a guy like him want a girl like me?

"See ya," I said lightly and moved away from him toward the grill.