The Dating Tutor
Authors: Melissa Frost
Evernight Teen
Copyright© 2013
Melissa Frost
ISBN:
978-1-77130-560-0
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Marie Medina
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this book to my mother. She's supported my writing from grade school up.
Melissa Frost
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
Ellie Harper paced the length of Noble High’s hockey rink and nervously chewed a fingernail. She was so caught up in her own worries that when two players slammed into the glass in front of her, she jumped with a surprised yip.
She tried not to look too closely at the face pressed against the glass as her nose scrunched in sympathy. It was the person behind the unfortunate individual, the one doling out the hit, that she wanted to speak to.
“Ellie!” Her next door neighbor, Alec, gave her an impish grin and waved. He didn’t seem bothered by the fact that he was smashing a fellow teammate’s nose into an unforgiving surface.
She offered a few frantic hand gestures she hoped Alec took as a need to speak to him. Then she mouthed her condolences to the boy whose face was being smushed and retreated to the stands.
Her continued pacing did little but annoy the handful of girls who’d come to watch the practice. On close to her three-dozenth pass in front of them, one of the girls snapped a command for her to sit down.
Ellie lifted a hand to offer an apology when her foot caught on the corner of a bleacher seat. She stumbled and lost her balance.
The only thing that saved her was the hand that reached out to steady her shoulder. “Whoa there,” said the unmistakable voice of her best friend in the entire world.
“Alec.” She breathed a sigh of relief as she gripped his forearm for a moment so she could regain her balance.
He grinned down at her from his height of six-foot-two as he ran a towel through his sweaty hair. “You’re such a spaz.”
Ellie opened her mouth to protest when one of the girls called out. “Hi, Alec!”
Not to be outdone, the girl’s friend threw in a greeting of her own. “Hi, Alec!”
He gave the girls a distracted wave that was received with giggles. “Hey, Alyssa. Shannon.”
Ellie watched the exchange with a mix of disbelief and awe. Sometimes it was still hard to believe the boy next door had become the star hockey player that made girls drool and giggle shamelessly. It was hard to see him through their eyes.
She didn’t see the ‘rugged jock’ that made girls swoon. She saw the second grade boy who’d thrown a frog in her lap during an afternoon tea party with her grandmother and made her shriek like a banshee. She saw the boy who’d been climbing through her bedroom window since he was eight every time his father drank too much.
She wasn’t the only one oblivious to his new super cool status. Alec barely glanced at the flock of girls who suddenly seemed to follow him everywhere he went. He’d always had an easy time finding dates for the weekend, but recently girls were throwing themselves at his feet in an embarrassingly desperate manner.
“So what’s with the frantic, duck-like waving?” Alec asked, waving his arms in a mocking fashion.
“I’m having a crisis.”
He stared blankly, his hand absently toweling away a trickle of sweat that dripped down his forehead.
“A girl problem,” she elaborated.
Alec lifted his equipment bag up from the floor where he must have dropped it to grab her elbow. “Why are you skulking around the rink like a stalker? Don’t you have any
girl
friends to ask for advice?”
“You know I don’t,” she griped. “Besides, you know more about girls than anyone I know.”
He arched a brow.
“Well, you date enough.”
He shrugged a shoulder in non-committal admittance. “What is it you need my help with?”
Ellie twirled a strand of white-blonde hair around a finger and glanced nervously at the members of the bimbo squad who were still ogling Alec. “Not here.”
Swinging his bag over his shoulder, Alec nodded, his dark eyes going serious. “I’ll walk you home.”
* * * *
Ellie reached the end of her room and spun a tight circle. She was pacing. Again. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d paced this much. She was slowly losing her mind.
“You’re making me sick,” Alec commented from his spot on the bed. He was sitting with his knees spread apart and his elbows resting casually on top of them. He was the picture of cool while she was freaking out. “Can’t you just tell me already?”
On her next pass, she came to a halt in front of him. “Jake Phillips asked me out.”
Alec stared at her for a moment in silence. Then he burst into raucous laughter. He threw back his head, his dark, shaggy hair falling away from his face.
“Shut up! It’s not funny!”
“Oh, Ellie,” he drawled. “It’s hilarious.” Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her down onto the bed with him.
She gave a yelp of surprise as she collapsed half on top of him. “Alec!” Her voice came out a squeak of accusation, which only made him laugh harder. She struggled out of his grip and managed to get to her side next to him on the bed. “I’m serious. I need your help.”
“My help?” Alec asked in disbelief. “What could you possibly need my help with?”
Ellie flushed and looked at her hands. It took her a moment to find the courage to lift her eyes to his. “I need you to teach me to be a girl.”
He arched a brow at this. “What do I know about being a girl?”
“More than me!” Sitting up, she curled her legs under herself and stared at him pleadingly. “You date. A lot. You know what girls are supposed to act like. You can coach me on how to be sexy.”
“Coach you on how to be sexy?” he repeated in disbelief. “Isn’t that a job for a fellow girl, not a dude?”
She smacked his arm. “I don’t have any girl friends I’m close enough to. As the best friend, it’s your job to help me. Come on!”
“What can I do, El?” His voice was puzzled. “I’m kind of at a loss here as to what you’re expecting of me.”
“I don’t know what I expect either,” she said with a little sigh. “Show me when to giggle and how to flirt and how to behave like a lady.”
“Ellie, honestly, I like you the way you are. Clumsy. Awkward. Cute.” He smiled affectionately at her and tapped a finger to her nose. “If Jake doesn’t, then he isn’t worth your time.”
She let her lip protrude in an exaggerated pout. Without his help, she’d be a hopeless mess, and they both knew it.
Heaving a sigh, he conceded. “Fine. If it means that much to you, I’ll do it.”
“Yay!” She dove at him with an impromptu hug. “You’re the best friend a girl could have!”
His response was a snort. “First lesson.” Reaching up from where he lounged on one elbow, he flicked the collar of her shirt. “Spaghetti stains aren’t exactly a turn on.”
In horror, she looked down at the red stain on her once pretty lavender shirt. “Aw, crap! When did that happen?” Sucking a finger into her mouth, she then rubbed at the splotch. Her attempt at salvaging the shirt only resulted in smearing the sauce and rubbing it in deeper.
“Ladies don’t say ‘Aw, crap’ either. At least not if they want a second date, they don’t.” Laughing, he fell back on the bed. “Boy do I have my work cut out for me.”
Chapter Two
Two days later, Ellie sat on her bed staring down at the text displayed across the screen of her cell phone. “Saturday,” she said numbly. “He wants to go out Saturday.”
Across the room, sitting backwards in her desk chair, Alec nodded. “Cool.”
“So Saturday it is.” She blew out a nervous breath, then lowered her head over her phone to begin typing out her reply.
“Like hell you’re going out with him Saturday! Put the phone down!”
At Alec’s hollered demand, she dropped the phone to the bed as if it had burned her and widened her green eyes in shock. “I’m not going out with him Saturday?”
“Of course not. That’s only a few days away. Saying yes to his first suggestion makes you look desperate. Tell him you have plans Saturday,” he instructed.
“But I don’t have plans.”
“You do now. You have a date with me.”
She gave a sputtering laugh at the ridiculousness of that statement. “A date with you?”
Alec nodded, his expression grim. “Yes. A date with me. We’re doing a practice run-through of your date with Jake. I’m going to pick apart every mistake you make.”
“Lucky me,” she said dryly as she lifted her phone. Typing a reply, she turned the display to show Alec her response. “Is this good?”
“Sorry. Can’t do Saturday. I have plans with Alec. Is next weekend good for you?” He read her text aloud, a frown of concentration on his face. He bobbed his head in approval. “Good. Now add a smiley face at the end.”
Doing as instructed, she arched a questioning brow. “Why? I’m not smiling.”
Alec rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Because it’s girly. Guys love that crap.”
Rolling her eyes in return, Ellie hit send. “There. Happy?”
He waved this off without even giving an answer. “Okay. I’ve got a real date tomorrow night, so I’d better help prepare you for our fake one tonight. Heaven only knows what you’ll do without a little bit of prep work. I’d like to avoid things starting off as a train wreck.” He motioned toward the closet. “What are you going to wear for me?”
Ellie gave a bark of laughter. “Wear for you?”
Alec nodded, his expression serious. “Yes. Show me what you’ll wear.”
She sighed but climbed to her feet and started toward her dresser. Halfway there, her phone chirped. Eagerly snatching it from her pocket, she read the message aloud. “How about next Saturday night?” She raised her brows at Alec for confirmation that this was okay.
On his nod, she typed.
Saturday is perfect. Can’t wait
. Then she let out a nervous breath. “I never realized so much…scheming was involved in a simple date.”