Thanks to me, Angie was even more popular. She was suddenly a huge celebrity, at least at Kennedy High.
“Every time I try to regain my popularity, it goes horribly wrong,” I moaned to Monet. “Why is that?”
“I don’t know,” Monet replied. “Karma?”
Dev showed up as we were leaving for lunch and wanted to bum a ride.
“We’re hitting Taco Bell,” Monet said. “So if you want Wicked Jack’s, you’ll have to mooch a ride from someone else.”
Dev looked at me knowingly, but didn’t comment. “Taco Bell’s cool,” he said.
Monet and Scott went to order and Dev and I grabbed a table.
“Do you want to come over on Friday night?” Dev said.
“What about Beth?” I said. Was Dev asking me out? My heart rate accelerated, then slowed. Was it a pity date?
“She has a track meet out of town,” he said, sounding perplexed. “Besides, I don’t think she wants to watch us prep for the play.”
The play. Of course. He wasn’t asking me out. I didn’t examine why I didn’t feel more relieved.
“I thought we could watch 10 Things I Hate About You. It’s—”
“A modernization of The Taming of the Shrew,” I finished for him. “I’d love to.”
I didn’t tell him I’d seen it about ten times already.
“You’d love to what?” Monet asked. She set down her tray, which was piled high with burritos, tacos, and sodas.
I stared at the tray. “You do realize that there are only four of us eating, right?”
“Obviously, you’ve never seen Dev eat,” she said.
Dev stretched and patted his stomach. His shirt rode up, giving me a glimpse of firm, tanned skin.
I dragged my gaze away from him, only to find that Monet was watching me. “So, you’d love to what?” she asked again.
I blushed. I didn’t want my best friend to know what I had been thinking I would love to do a second ago.
“Uh, we’re going to watch a movie on Friday,” I said.
Monet slammed her soda down on the table.
“For the play,” I added weakly.
Her face cleared and I thought I was off the hook, but a second later, she said, “Dev, I forgot the hot sauce. Could you get some?”
She watched him leave, then said to Scott, “Can you refill my soda? I’m dying of thirst.”
After he left, she turned to me and said, “What are you up to, Sophie?”
I stared at her. “Nothing. It’s for the play,” I enunciated clearly. “Besides, it was Dev’s idea, not mine. So don’t think I’m trying to seduce your brother or something.”
“I don’t,” she said, “but I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately. He’s being suspiciously nice to you.”
“We are in the same play together. Besides, he has a girlfriend,” I stated. “And he’s not my type.”
She snorted. “He’s only gone out on a couple of dates with Beth. That hardly classifies her as his girlfriend. And besides, I always wondered about you two.”
“Wondered what?” But the guys were back, so we steered the conversation to more innocuous topics, like the upcoming test in Spanish.
The rest of the day, I thought about the conversation. What had Monet been about to say?
We didn’t have play practice, so I headed for the parking lot as soon as the bell rang. I was looking forward to a night curled up with a good book. One called An In-Depth Analysis of “The Taming of the Shrew.” Or something equally enthralling. I was looking for some help to shed light on Bianca.
I was almost to my car when I heard a honk. “Hey, sexy. What are you doing?”
I looked up and saw Pierce Hager. He was always on the prowl. I suppressed a sigh. “Hi, Pierce,” I said. “Just heading home.”
“Come out with me instead,” he said. “We’ll have a good time.”
I knew what his idea of a good time was and I wasn’t interested, even if he was the hottest guy in school. Which he wasn’t.
“I’ll pass,” I said.
“You shouldn’t be so picky,” he said. “You’re past your prime.”
“I’d have to be past my expiration date to go out with a jerk like you,” I said. “Now beat it.”
He gave me the finger and then tore off with a squeal of tires. A minute later, I heard loud clapping. Dev was leaning against his car two rows over.
“Want to run some lines?”
When I nodded, he smiled and opened the passenger door for me.
“What was that all about?” he said as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“Pierce was just—being Pierce,” I said.
“Do you get that a lot?”
“You mean guys hitting on me?”
“Dumb question,” he said. “Of course you get guys hitting on you when you look like that.”
“Why, Dev, I do believe you just paid me a compliment. Do you need to lie down or something?”
He chuckled, then sobered quickly. “I mean, he was kind of aggressive.”
I shrugged. “Since Connor dumped me, I’ve been getting that a lot more than I did before.”
“Let me know if someone gets out of line,” he said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I can take care of myself,” I said sharply, then added, “thanks, though.”
“Should we go to my house?” he said. “Monet’s at Scott’s.”
“Why don’t we go get a coffee somewhere?” I suggested. I could imagine Monet’s reaction if she came home and found me at her house alone with her brother.
“Coffee it is,” he said. A few minutes later, he pulled into a Starbucks parking lot.
The place was deserted, so I grabbed a table while Dev ordered the coffee. When he came back, we opened our scripts and got to work.
Two hours later, I noticed the time. “I’ve got to get home,” I said. “Mom will kill me if I miss dinner.”
He drove me back to the school parking lot and waited for my car to start. I gave him a wave to signify I was okay, but he stayed put.
“I’ll follow you home,” he said.
We lived in a safe neighborhood, but it didn’t hurt to be careful. I nodded.
As we pulled out of the parking lot, I noticed Olivia Kaplan’s car was still there and wondered what she was doing at the school at this time of the night.
I pulled into my driveway and gave Dev another wave.
“Don’t forget about tomorrow night,” he said before driving off.
Forget about it? I couldn’t wait.