Page 37 of Ask No Questions

"Did you tell people that we're dating?"

He looked surprised for a second but played it off. "I may have mentioned our date to a few of the guys, why?"

I was really trying to remain calm, so I counted to three before replying. One-two-three. "I wasn't aware that it was a serious date, or that we're together now." Well, there was no way I could hold back the sarcasm. Oh well! I tried.

He got defensive, as if he was the innocent one in this. "I never said that. I just told them we went out. I can't control what other people think, but I didn't make it seem like it was a big deal."

I didn’t want to fight with him. He was the first friend I made at the school, and I didn’t want to lose him already. "All right, I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. Just friends, right?"

He laughed like it was the first time a girl said that to him. "Of course. I have enough other girls giving me drama. I like us just being friends."

"Good, because I need your help."

He signed dramatically as if I was such an inconvenience. "What now?"

"I want to ask Luke Keller to the formal, but I don't know if he already has a date or someone he's interested in." I waited for his reaction, and he seemed unfazed.

"As far as I know, he's single, but I'll ask around for you."

I smiled and leaned over to hug him. "Thanks, Mike."

He hugged me back awkwardly with the desks between us. "You'll owe me, though."

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

The girls were on top of things. Mckayla sent out a text during second period to have us meet at her car after class. When I got there, the other three were crowded around her trunk.

"Hey, guys."

They turned from what they were doing, creating a human shield from whatever was in the trunk. They saw it was me and turned back. Mckayla started picking something up.

"I put everything in black bags so people wouldn't see what we're doing. Can you each grab one then we need to hurry back to the science hall where his locker is."

We followed her instructions and went the back way around the school to avoid as many people as possible. I felt like we were secret agents as we dodged people seeing us and covering the bags whenever we needed to.

Mckayla led the way to Sean's locker. Talia looked around to make sure nobody was around before dropping her bag. "How do you know this is his locker, and how are you planning on getting in?"

"You guys seriously underestimate the power of being an office aide." She pulled out a piece of paper and flashed it at us. "His locker number and combo!"

"Isn't that a violation of privacy? I'm pretty sure you broke like ten school rules and at least two laws."

"Oh, please. Those ladies love me, they actually helped me. Let’s hurry and finish this before third period ends."

"How are we going to explain missing class?"

"I had the ladies excuse all of us.” She turned and saw us eyeing each other. “Don't worry, I've taken care of everything."

She started spinning the dial and put in the combo before turning to us again. "Talia, you go to the end of the hall and keep watch. Distract anyone coming down here and turn them around if you can. Alexis, start opening the bags and don't let any of the balloons get away. Aubrey, start stuffing them in."

She opened his locker, and we started our assignments with the efficiency of trained military personnel.

Mckayla really had thought of everything. She printed out Sean's schedule, so we figured out when he was most likely to come back to his locker. We got lucky and didn’t have to wait very long since he came by between third and fourth period. We hid down the hall and mixed in with the crowd rushing to their classes. Sean came down the hall and stopped at his locker.

I laughed at his reaction when he opened it. He jumped back as balloons flew out with notes attached to their stings. A few people around him helped gather them together so he could organize them. We had numbered the balloons so he could read the message in order without taking too much time.

I couldn't help but watch his face as he read Mckayla's invitation to the formal. His smile slowly spread until he was beaming. This was her cue. Mckayla pushed past us and moved toward him. She stood behind him and tapped his shoulder. He jumped again and laughed as he turned. He froze when he saw Mckayla, seemingly shocked that it was her asking him. He recovered quickly and smiled at her, nodding. Mckayla jumped up and down then hugged him. I couldn't tell who was happier, but the moment was precious.

After school, I headed over to the Dance Academy for my first ballet class with Cassie. I wanted to get there early to change and begin stretching and warming up since it would be my first time with the other girls and the instructor. Dancing every day at school was one thing but dancing with trained girls again was nerve-racking.