Devon Delaney Should Totally Know Better (20 page)

Half an hour later, we’re all in Lexi’s mom’s Hummer,
heading over to the dance. I’m sitting in the back, next to Mel, and we’re having a whispered conversation, because Mel has a big scandal going on.

Apparently, her mom, still stuck on the whole idea of her going to private school, but not being so happy with the whole Corbin thing, decided to call the school and ask some questions. And when she found out that there was no Corbin enrolled at St. Mary’s (I knew we should have used Ethan!), she confronted Mel about it. Mel tried to deny it, but finally she broke down and told her the truth. Mel is very good at keeping secrets, but she is not a very good liar.

“You told her that Corbin was a decoy?” I exclaim.

“Yes,” she says. She plays with the silver ring that’s around her middle finger. “I told her that I didn’t want to go to private school, and that I had to resort to drastic measures.”

“And what did she say about that?”

“She said that since I pulled a stunt like this, it just proved that I need to go to private school even more than she thought.” Mel sighs. “So it looks like I’m going.”

“What?!” I shriek. “Mel, no!” I can’t lose my boyfriend and my best friend all in one week.

“There’s nothing I can do,” Mel says. “I tried, and she found out, and now it’s over.” She looks down at
her hands sadly. “We can still hang out after school. And on weekends.” I’m getting choked up, and so is Mel, and I can tell if we keep talking about it, we’re probably both going to start crying.

“We’ll think of something,” I say, and squeeze her hand reassuringly as Lexi’s mom pulls up in front of the school.

The gym is decorated all in black and white, with balloons and streamers lazily crisscrossing their way across the ceiling. There’s a huge table set up in the back, with cookies and punch, along with pizza and pieces of cake. Music is blaring out of enormous speakers that are set up on the stage, and there’s a booth in the back where people who don’t want to dance can play Rock Band on PlayStation.

I’m not really that hungry, but I
am
a little thirsty, so I head over to the table in the back to get a cup of punch, and Mel follows me. Hopefully I don’t spill it on myself. I don’t have the best record with red beverages—one time I spilled a whole pitcher of cherry Kool-Aid all over my new white sneakers.

There’s a fast song playing, and Lexi immediately grabs Jared’s hand and pulls him onto the dance floor. I lost sight of Luke once we got into the gym, so I have no idea where he is. I did hope he would ask me
to dance, but maybe later. I mean, he wouldn’t have agreed to talk to me later if he wasn’t at least a little bit interested in staying together, right?

Mel plucks a cupcake off the platter and takes a big bite. “Wow, these are good.”

I pour myself a drink, making sure to fill my paper cup up only halfway. Even so, some punch threatens to slosh out of the cup and onto my hand. “But, um, Mel, why aren’t you over there with Dylan?” Dylan’s leaning against the wall on the side of the gym, talking to some kid I don’t recognize.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen Mel talk to Dylan once tonight. At Lexi’s house, Dylan was mostly talking to Luke, and in the car, Mel decided to sit with me. Is Mel just being nice because she knows I’m at the dance by myself?

“Mel,” I say, “you don’t have to babysit me, I’m totally fine.” It’s true. I am actually kind of fine. I don’t mind hanging out by the food table. I’ll be able to keep an eye on Luke, which is fab.

“I don’t mind,” Mel says breezily. She gulps down some punch. “I like hanging out with you. Besides, there’s no way I’d leave you all alone.” Hmmm. Something in her tone doesn’t sound like she’s doing this just to be friendly. I set my punch down on the
table.

“Mel,” I say. “Something in your tone doesn’t sound like you’re hanging out with me just to be friendly.”

“What do you mean?” But a guilty look crosses her face. Mel really is a bad liar.

“What’s the deal?”

“What deal?”

“The reason you and Dylan aren’t talking at all? Did you have a fight or something?” Must be something going around. Everyone’s fighting. Me and Luke, Dylan and Mel . . . at least Lexi and Jared are okay. I watch them go sliding by on the dance floor, dancing to a slow song. Lexi’s head is on his shoulder, and she has her eyes closed.

“Bathroom conference,” I say to Mel, and before she can protest, I’ve grabbed her hand and am dragging her to the bathroom in the corner of the gym. Once we’re in there, I check every stall to make sure no one is listening. Eww. These bathrooms really could use a good cleaning. I mean, there’s toilet paper all over the floor.

“Now,” I say, emerging from the last stall and kicking a piece of toilet paper off my shoe. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mel
bites her lip, which is a telltale sign that she’s hiding something.

“You’re biting your lip,” I tell her.

“No, I’m not,” she says, still biting.

“Yes, you are. Now tell.”

“Well, I just . . . I don’t know what to say to him.”

“What do you mean you don’t know what to say to him?” I frown. “Don’t you guys talk all the time in radio?” I catch a look at myself over Mel’s shoulder in the full-length mirror on the wall of the bathroom. It’s a shame that this night is such a disaster and I’m here by myself, because my dress really is super cute. I purse my lips and smooth down my hair.

“Well, yeah, but that’s different. We have . . . I don’t know, like we’re doing things that necessitate us talking.” I give her a skeptical look, and she rushes on. “Like if I want to talk to him about a story idea I have! Or if I want to ask him advice on how to run the board, that kind of thing!”

“Then why can’t you talk to him about radio now?” I ask. I move past her to the mirror, then reach into my bag and pull out my lip gloss. I reline my lips and then blot, smiling into the mirror to make sure I don’t have any on my teeth.

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure he wants to talk about radio at the dance,” Mel says. Hmm. Good point. I mean, the whole point of the dance is to do something kind of romantic. You don’t want to be reminded of school.

“But it’s at least as a way to start a conversation,” I offer. I hold out my lip gloss, and Mel takes it, stepping in front of the mirror to put it on.

“What’s going on in here?” Lexi asks, walking into the bathroom. “I have been looking for you two all over the place.”

“You have?” I ask.

“Yes.” Lexi takes out a small curling iron from her purse, and plugs it into the outlet on the wall. “I need a touch-up,” she explains. “Anyway,” she goes on. “I don’t think it’s right that you two are basically ignoring your dates. I mean, Luke’s been in the Rock Band booth all night, and Dylan’s been stuck talking to that boring kid from our science class.” Her eyebrows knit together in concentration. “What’s his name? Brutus?”

“Brandon.” Brandon’s Lexi’s lab partner. She really should pay better attention in class.

She picks up the curling iron and starts to curl the bottom of her hair.

“And Luke’s not my date,” I say. “So I could care less if he’s in the Rock Band booth.” Not exactly true, but whatever.

“And if Dylan wants to talk to me so bad, he knows where to find me,” Mel says.

“In the girls’ bathroom?” Lexi looks skeptical.

Mel shrugs.

“Girls!” Lexi says. “I’m serious! I don’t like all this hiding from boys. If you want something done, go out there and do it!”

I’m not sure exactly what she’s talking about, getting things done. I mean, I
do
want to talk to Luke, but that’s really not supposed to be happening until later. Still, I get the point of what she’s trying to say. But I try to pretend that she’s just referring to Mel, even though I’m just as guilty.

“She’s right,” I say to Mel. “You should go out there and talk to him.”

“What about you?” Mel challenges. “You should be out there talking to Luke.”

“Wellll,” I say. “That’s different.” I try to sound breezy, like I don’t care that Luke is in the Rock Band booth, while I’m in here hiding from him. I reach into my bag and pull out my eye shadow, scooting in next to Lexi and brushing some over my eyelid. “I mean,
Luke isn’t talking to me, so . . .” I shrug, as if the whole thing is out of my hands.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to talk about your relationship after the dance?” Lexi asks. She’s winding up the cord of her curling iron and putting it back into her bag.

“How did you know about that?” I ask.

“Jared told me.” She shrugs, like it’s not earth-shattering news that she’s just delivered.

“How did Jared know?” I ask.

“Because Luke told him.”

“He did?” I drop the eye shadow brush and it bounces off the counter and into the sink. Eww. I reach in and fish it out, then drop it into the garbage. No way I’m using that again.

“Yeah.” Lexi shrugs again.

“Well, what did he say exactly?” This information is very important. Maybe he told Jared something that he’s planning on doing. Like breaking up with me. Or maybe he said he’s going to forgive me. Or maybe . . .

“He said ‘Luke said him and Devon are going to be talking after the dance.’”

“That’s it?” And Lexi didn’t think she should pump him for information? What is wrong with her? “What is wrong with you?” I demand. “Why didn’t you pump
him for information?”

“I dunno,” Lexi says. “I figured it was your business.” This, from someone who’s planning on broadcasting an advice show every day at school.

“You know,” Mel says suddenly. “Lexi’s right.” Uh-oh. Mel has this tone in her voice, the same tone she had last year when they tried to tell Mazie Livingston that she couldn’t be on the boys wrestling team. Mel led this whole campaign with posters and everything.

“She is?” I say nervously, not sure what’s coming.

“Yes!” Mel throws up her hands. “This is ridiculous, sitting in the bathroom while everyone is out there having fun.”

“True,” I say.

“I need to get out there and have fun with my date. Who cares if it’s a little bit awkward? How am I going to know if we really like each other if I never even try to talk to him?” She’s pacing now, and her voice is kind of shrieky. Honestly, I’m a little scared of her. “Middle school dances are
supposed
to be awkward!” She grabs me by the shoulders. “Devon!”

“Yes?” I try.

“Are you with me?” She gives me a little shake.

“Um . . . I don’t really—”

“I said ARE. YOU. WITH. ME?”

“Yes!” I say suddenly. “I’m with you!” And I am. All I have to do is tell Luke the truth. He’s Luke! He’s nice! And maybe he’ll be a little mad and weirded out at first, but he did agree to talk to me later. And he even said himself that he wasn’t ignoring me because he wanted to break up. He just needed some time!

So as Mel heads out into the dance to find Dylan and attempt to strike up a conversation with him, I head out into the dance to pry Luke away from the Rock Band booth and tell him the truth about Greg/Ryan. And Lexi goes out to find Jared, probably so they can make out in a corner somewhere.

When I get to the Rock Band booth, a very rude kid informs me that there’s a line to play the game.

“Oh, I don’t want to play,” I say. “I just want to
know if you’ve seen Luke Nichols?”

“Never heard of him,” the kid says, waving his hand. The line to play isn’t really that long. It’s not even really a line, but more like a huddle of people waiting. And Luke’s not in it.

I head out of the booth and wander back over to the table. Maybe Luke’s in the bathroom or something. I pick up a cookie so that I have something to do with my hands, and let my eyes scan the crowd. I spot Mel over in a corner, standing by Dylan. They’re not really talking, but then he leans in and whispers something to her, and she laughs, tilting her head back and letting her hair fall down around her shoulders.

I see Lexi dancing with Jared again, her head against his shoulders. And then, as my eyes move across the dim room, I see Luke. The overhead light washes over him, and in that moment, I just have this feeling that everything’s going to be okay.

I put one foot forward, about to make my way through the throng of dancing kids to get to him. Until I realize what he’s doing.

Dancing. With Bailey Barelli.

For a second, I don’t move. His arms are
around her waist, and she’s talking to him, and he’s laughing about something, and before I can even think about what I’m doing, I’m pushing through the crowd and out of the gym. The lights overhead are making shadow patterns on the floor, and I’m looking down, concentrating on making my sparkly shoes move toward the door. I thought he wanted to talk later? I thought maybe there was a chance, that maybe he could forgive me, but now . . . I reach into my bag and pull out my cell phone.

I need to call my mom, I need her to pick me up, I need to get out of here.

I dial her number, but it goes right to her voice mail. Figures. She’s probably in the movie with Katie.

I call my dad at home, but I get the answering machine, so I hang up and dial his cell. “Devon?” my dad asks when he answers. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I say, trying to slow my beating heart. “Well, sort of. The thing is, I want to come home.” I sit down
on a bench on the sidewalk outside the gym.

“You want to come home?” he asks incredulously. I can’t blame him. I mean, I did beg and beg to be able to go to this dance.

“Yes,” I say.

“Right now?”

“Yes,” I say. “Right now please.”

“Why?” he asks.

“No reason,” I say, not really wanting to get into it. “It’s just that, um, my stomach is a little bit upset.” I stand up and move around a little bit. God, it’s cold out. I really should have listened to my mom when she said I should wear a coat. But honestly, who wants to wear a coat when your dress is this cute? Of course, if I’d known I’d be running out of the dance and forced to stand in the cold while waiting for my dad to come and get me, I would have reconsidered.

“Are you sure?” he says. “This isn’t going to be one of those things where I get there to pick you up and you decide you want to stay, is it? Because I’m kind of in the middle of something.” For the first time I realize there are voices in the background of wherever my dad is. It sounds like he’s at some kind of party or something.