Before The Boys Say No Part 19

I felt my heart sink. Brody was really interested in someone else. What girl wouldn't jump at the chance to go out with him?

"I'm happy to hear that you're not dating that girl," Dad told him. "You're too good for someone like her."

'And don't worry, honey," Mom piped in, "I'm sure the girl you're really interested in will come around. Just give it some time.

Brody shifted uncomfortably. He gave a half grin and shrugged. "I don't think so. She just wants to be friends."

"Friends is a good start," Mom encouraged.

Let's just say I was starting to get super uncomfortable myself. I mean, who did my parents thing they were? Love doctors? I cleared my throat and motioned with my head for my mom to move to the door. She got the hint.

"I'll get your sweater cleaned and back to you next week," I told Brody.

"No hurry," he said.

"I'll tell you what I think," Uncle Ernie said suddenly, startling all of us because he was always so quiet.

"What's that?" Dad asked.

"I think Bea and this young man should date."

I couldn't believe my uncle had said that out loud. I wanted to grab his words and cram them back in his mouth. The damage had already been done. Mom and Dad just shook their heads as if that wasn't a possibility. I couldn't even look at Brody to see his reaction.

"Don't be silly," Mom said. "Brody's almost family. It'd be like Bea dating her brother."

"All right," I said loudly. "Let's go."

I turned right around and walked out the door. I walked straight to the van and took my seat in the back. It was several minutes before Dad led Mom and Uncle Ernie out. I don't know what they had talked to Brody about, but they all had silly grins on their faces.

Dad started whistling when he backed out of the driveway. He caught my eye in the mirror and gave me a broad smile. His smile disappeared quickly, though, when all of a sudden we felt a b.u.mp. Dad had backed into something when he had looked at me.

He parked the van and jumped out to look. One of the animal shaped bushes that lines the long driveway had been demolished by our van. Dad scratched his head as he examined the damage.

Uncle Erne crawled out of the van and looked at the bush. "Those leaves will grow back good as new," he said rea.s.suringly. "Let's go. No one will ever notice."

"I should probably let someone know," Dad said.

I climbed out with Mom to look. Some of the branches had broken off the bush. I felt my heart sink. Brody's parents didn't seem to be the warm and forgiving type. But then again, they did have a lot of money, so maybe a demolished bush wouldn't affect them too bad.

"Bea, go back inside and tell Brody," Dad ordered.

"No," I refused. "You ran over it, Dad. You go tell Brody."

"Beatrice," Mom said in her low voice, "do as your father tells you."

I threw up my hands. "I can't believe this. I don't want to tell Brody. It would probably be better to come from an adult, anyway."

"Go," Dad ordered firmly.

With a sigh, I huffed away. This had pretty much been one of the worst days of my life. I knocked on the kitchen door, but there was no answer. I knocked louder. Nothing. I opened it just wide enough to stick my head through. No one was in the kitchen.

I turned around to see my parents and Uncle Ernie watching me. Dad waved at me to go on inside. I gritted my teeth and entered the kitchen. I was afraid I would have to face Brody's parents again. Suddenly, Brody appeared in the kitchen. I gave a small shriek of surprise.

"I thought I heard someone in here," he said, looking just as surprised as me.

"Brody, I have some bad news," I blurted out. "Dad just backed into one of your bushes. It doesn't look good."

"Oh," Brody said. "That's all right. I'll just tell the gardner."

"Really? I mean, we'll pay for it, of course."

Brody shook his head. "No. It's really okay. There are so many of the bushes that I don't think anyone would notice anyway."

I took a deep breath as an awkward silence fell between us. "Look," I said, "I want to apologize for my family. I mean, you've been around them long enough. You know the crazy things they say about me dating. And trying to give you advice? What can I say? They're Italian."

Brody laughed. "They actually gave me some good advice."

"They did?" I couldn't believe that.

"Yeah. Your Mom helped me realize that I wasn't being very clear about asking a girl out."

"She did? I mean, that's great."

Brody came closer to me and looked into my eyes. "I don't know how to say this."

"What?"

"I've been wanting to go out with you for a long time, Bea. You probably think of me as just a friend, but do you think you would consider it?"

Pull me up from the floor because I think I just melted all over it. I blinked hard, trying to let his words sink in. Had Brody really asked me out? I mean, I'm not one of those skinny little girls like guys want.

"Are you serious?" I asked. I could hear the crack in my voice.

His face was very serious. "I've wanted to go out with you for a long time. I really wanted to ask you to Homecoming, but you acted like you weren't interested. My parents pressured me into taking Lanie. Living next to her has really complicated things for me. My parents have pressured me to date her, kids at school think we're dating. But we're not."

"You've never gone out with her?"

"I can hardly stand to be around her," he said with a shake of his head. "She's been great to give me rides and all, but she knows I don't want to date her."

"But that time she came into the restaurant and you chased after her--"

He laughed. "I didn't chase after her. She had gotten really angry with me for telling her I didn't want her. She's just not my type."

"She isn't?" I asked softly.

He shook his head and looked at me with those amazing blue eyes. "You're my type, Bea. I've tried to tell you, but you're so--I don't know the word."

"Overbearing?" I offered.

"I wouldn't call you overbearing. You're sa.s.sy and you speak your mind. I really like that about you."

"I really thought you were dating Lanie," I said. "I mean, I can't believe you're interested in me."

"I've liked you for a long time. I thought you knew that and just didn't want to go out with me. I wanted to take you to Winter Formal, but you always seemed to come up with some excuse. I had pretty much thought you were off limits until I talked with your parents. For some reason, they think I should just come out and tell you how I feel."

I could barely hear for the pounding in my ears. This ultra cute guy was telling me he liked me. I mean, I've always thought I needed to get rid of my big b.u.t.t; I've been self-conscious of my big b.o.o.bs, my big fat mouth. I felt like I was in a dream. Brody seemed to take my silence as rejection.

"Sorry, Bea," he said quietly. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I mean, if you just want to be friends, I'm totally cool with that."

Was he kidding? All this time, he had no idea how much I liked him? All this time, I had no idea how he felt about me? I smiled up at him, feeling tingly all over.

"I'd love to go out with you, Brody." My voice was barely above a whisper.

His eyes searched my face for a minute, then he broke out in a big smile. He crossed over to me and took my hand. I felt a surge of excitement run up my spine. Slowly, so slowly, he lowered his face and I felt his lips softly connect with mine. My first kiss. Seriously. I had never been kissed before. I had just moved closer into his embrace when the kitchen door flung open and we heard a screech. Brody's mother was standing in the door, staring at us with a shocked expression. I broke away from Brody and stepped back, my heart fluttering.

"What is going on in here?" she demanded.

"Calm down, Mom," Brody said over her loud breathing. She looked like she was going to have a heart attack the way she clutched her chest.

"Is this why you brought her family in here to cater? So that she could make moves on you?"

"For you information, I made the first move," Brody said cooly.

"What about Lanie and--"

"For the hundredth time, Mom, there is no Lanie. I will not date her. Ever."

She looked me up and down with a distraught face. "You would choose this girl over Lanie?"

"Absolutely," Brodie responded quickly.

"But Lanie's perfect for you--"

"Lanie is perfect for you," Brody said firmly. "Bea is the one for me." He looked over at me and gave me a smile.

"Honey, leave Brody alone," Jim said from behind her. He must have heard enough to know what was going on.

Brody gave his father a grateful look as he stepped in the room to usher her out. But his Mom wasn't going lightly.

"Jim, you don't understand what's going on," she said with a whining voice.

"I heard enough," he relied. "I can see why Brody is interested in Bea. She's a beautiful girl."

Jim gave me a wink and literally pushed his wife out of the kitchen and closed the door with a snap.

"Your mom doesn't seem too happy," I said uncertainly.

He crossed back to me and took both my hands in his. I felt his soft lips plant a kiss on them. "She'll come around."

"I don't know. She really seems to like Lanie."

"Well, I happen to really like you. And prom is in a month. And I would kick myself if I didn't ask you."

"So, are you asking?"

Brody laughed. "That's right. I need to be more specific. Will you go to senior prom with me?"

I wanted to squeal. I giggled instead. "Yes. I would love to, Brody."

He smiled and hugged me close to him. I placed my hand on his chest and could feel his heart beating just as fast as mine. This felt like a dream. Brody had just asked me to senior prom. My first date.

I just didn't know what a fiasco it would create.

CHAPTER 14.

Everything in my big Italian family is larger than life. Especially when it comes to me. And my first real date. Can I just say that I thought shopping for a prom dress would be fun? I mean, isn't it supposed to be fun? Ever since Mom found out I was going to the prom with Brody, she and Marge have dragged me out every weekend to find the perfect dress.

I only have two weeks to get one. Frankly, I'm getting worried. Nothing seems to fit me just right. Marge picked up Mom and me early to take us to the big city to find a dress. I have to admire their determination. I have a certain trust in Marge's taste after the whole pink shoes incident.

Shop after shop brought disappointing results. Either my b.o.o.bs were too big or the dress hugged my hips too tightly or it was the wrong color, the wrong length. Nothing was working out. I even sensed Marge and Mom getting frustrated. We called it a day and went back home empty handed.

Johanna had offered to go with me several times, but Mom wouldn't hear it. This was her first chance to shop with me for a dress and she was adamant that it was going to be a family affair. Marge is kind of family by default.

"Let me help," Johanna begged at lunch on Monday. "I know I can help you find a dress."

Johanna was probably more shocked than me at Brody asking me out. It had been a crazy month and now that prom was in two weeks, she was feeling the pressure for me. She still couldn't figure out how I had gotten Brody interested in me. I tried to explain that he liked me for me, but she said that didn't calculate properly into her formula. No guy liked a girl just for who she was. I stopped trying to argue with her logic. Anyway, her formula seemed to be working for her. She had started seeing Steven, another Honor Society student. He was a junior but they seemed to really hit it off. I tried to tell her it was because they already had so much in common, but she just looked at me like I was clueless. So here we were discussing prom dresses because Steven had just asked her to the special event.

"Can you believe it?" Johanna asked suddenly. "Who would have thought that we'd have dates to the prom? And with such cute guys?"

I giggled and leaned back in my chair to look at the kids in the lunch courtyard. Everything just seemed so much sweeter now that Brody and I had hooked up. We spent as much time together as possible. I was expecting him to meet me for lunch, and just as I had the thought, I saw him across the courtyard. Walking with none other than Lanie.

Lanie had a fit when she found out Brody and I were together. I know because I witnessed it. She confronted him right in front of me the week we were back in school. Everyone found out pretty quick because Brody took every opportunity to hold my hand or wrap his arm around my shoulders. Lanie was so jealous that she started screaming at him right before lunch.

I had just gotten out of debate cla.s.s and heard her asking him how he could date someone like me. Brody lost his cool and told her I was the best thing that ever happened to him. He walked away from her when she started yelling insults about me. Then he saw me and determinedly walked straight for me and planted a hard kiss on my mouth. I was shocked he would do that in public. So was Lanie. It shut her up and I hadn't really seen much of her since.

So, imagine my surprise to see Brody walking with her. And straight for my table. Johanna groaned under her breath. She still hadn't forgiven Lanie and Bradley. I never knew what had happened between them, but I never saw Lanie with Bradley again.

Brody plopped down beside me and reached over to kiss my neck. Lanie's eyes flashed with jealousy, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she faked a smile and looked right at me.

"h.e.l.lo, Beatrice," she said with a flick of her hair. "I was just talking to Brody about you running for prom queen. I'm on the prom committee, as you probably know, and I'm taking nominations."

"No, thank you," I said with forced politeness.