Read Online Prince Charming by Sara Celi - Free Book Online Page B

IDK
    Josh: I asked Allison out. She said she’d meet us at the Levee for a movie.
    Me: You asked Allison out??
    Josh: Yeah. Don’t bug me about it.
    Me: Wow. Good call on that
    Josh: Ugh. U coming to the movie or not?
    Me: Which movie?
    Josh: Beautiful Creatures
    Me: Doesn’t look good.
    Josh: Come on, help me out. It’s Allison. Invited Nathan and Mark, too. Group thing.
    I laughed. Ever since Allison surprised Josh with that box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day, he’d struggled with asking her out. He kept trying out options on us at lunch, desperate to sound cool and noncommittal all at once. All three of us just told him to man up and ask her out.
    Looked like he’d finally taken our advice.
    Me: Fine. What time?
    Josh: 7:30. Movie starts at 8.
    Me: Meet u there?
    Josh: Yep
    I put the phone down and turned back to the array of spoons in front of me. David had inherited so many of them from his grandmother, who he’d said traveled the world in her fifties and sixties, and collected the spoons because they didn’t take up much space in her luggage. He had ones from China, Holland, England and Canada. Some had pearls, and rhinestones, and other decor. A few looked ancient. I liked to make up stories about where they came from as I polished each one. It helped to break up the tedium, but not the resentment.

    “S top shifting your weight. Just stop. She’ll think something is off,” I told Josh, who looked like he might vomit at any second as we waited outside the movie theater credit card kiosk later that night.
    “Yeah, you look weird,” Mark added, the only other person in our group. Nathan canceled about two hours before, saying he had the stomach flu.
    “Well, I am kinda nervous,” Josh replied. He’d dressed for this “date” in a pair of dark jeans and a gray sweater with a half-zip, but before he picked it out he’d sent me about six Snapchat photos with different outfits, something he’d never ever done before. For once, his shoes had no trace of mud on them. He’d even slicked his hair back, and covered himself in some kind of strong smelling cologne.
    “Don’t blame you. Allison makes me nervous,” Mark muttered.
    I laughed. Allison Nichols made a lot people nervous. Whippet thin and petite, she dressed in thrift store chic and liked to stare at people with eyes layered in black kohl. One time, I’d caught her walking through the hallway, pulling down student council election posters and putting them in the trash. When I asked her about it, she glared at me, and hadn’t given me an answer.
    “One time I saw her eating raw eggs for lunch in the cafeteria,” Mark said.
    “Really?” I said with a skeptical look. I’d heard plenty of gossip over the years about Allison, but that sounded extreme, even for her. “That’s not healthy.”
    Mark held up his hands. “True story. I saw it last year, with my own eyes.”
    “Scary.”
    “Shut up, Geoff,” Josh said, throwing me a glare. “You too, Mark. She just acts like that so people will leave her the fuck alone. She likes that people make up stuff about her. And you know how people at Heritage are.”
    Oh, I knew. We all knew.
    “I see how it is,” I replied. “Now that she likes you, you defend her.”
    “Yeah, that’s how it is.”
    Mark popped his chin. “Here she comes.”
    We all turned to face her as she walked up the parking garage steps to the lobby of The Levee. She wore a scowl on her face, black boots, red jeans, and a long gray sweater as she walked through the wide complex rimmed with restaurants, bars, and boutiques that never seemed to stay open for longer than six months. Allison looked pissed and satisfied all at once, and a long pink streak running through the hair on top of her head topped off the look. I wondered how that would go over with the teachers on Monday morning.
    “Thanks for inviting me,” she said to Josh once she reached him. She smelled like incense. “Really wanted to see this