“You’re Monica?” he asked, his voice cracking like a thirteen-year-old.
She nodded and gave a sly grin. “I sure am. Is that for me?”
Aaron looked at the corsage in his hands as if he didn’t know how it had gotten there. “Uh, yeah.”
Her corsage was one meant to be pinned to the dress, meaning the only place to attach it was directly above her breast. His fingers fumbled with the pin, obviously struggling to keep his mind out of the gutter and on the task at hand. The combination of his terror and arousal was making my hands tremble. Monica seemed to be enjoying his discomfort a little too much for my tastes.
“Let me do that before you stab yourself,” I said, stepping forward to take the pin out of his hand. Aaron looked relieved.
I stood in front of Monica uneasily while she grinned down at me. She had to be at least five foot ten and in her heels, she towered over me. Her feeling of superiority made my jaw clench. The differences between us were glaringly obvious, and I didn’t appreciate having to look up to speak to her.
“Here you go,” I said, securing the flower to her dress.
“Thanks,” she replied, refocusing on my brother. I knew I’d been dismissed.
I stepped back to my place beside Bryan again, needing to get some distance from Monica’s vibes of over confidence. Seeing me, she obviously didn’t feel any need to worry. It made me wonder if she truly was over Bryan or if she just didn’t see me as competition.
I didn’t have to wait long to find out the answer. When Monica turned her gaze on Bryan, I was struck by a heady combination of desire, jealousy and yes —a little bit of love. Not that her face betrayed any of this. Monica’s lips curled into a cool smile. Her passion made me feel like vomiting.
“So, Bryan,” she said, “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
A ripple of tension rolled off of him. “Oh, yeah. This is Cady. Cady, this is my friend, Monica.”
“Nice to meet you,” I choked out, hoping my plastic grin didn’t look too unnatural. Monica surveyed me and that annoying confidence came raging back. My belly tightened with humiliation.
“Well, should we go?” She said it like a question, but we all sort of knew it was a command. Monica slipped a silk jacket on, and we all followed her out of the house like lemmings. Bryan’s mom waved to us from the door as we pulled out of the drive.
Neither Bryan nor I said much on the way to the Italian restaurant where he had reserved a table for us. Monica prattled on in the back seat, asking my brother questions like she was interested in him, but I knew it was for show. I can’t explain it really, but I could feel her trying to make Bryan jealous. She would be looking Aaron in the eyes and smiling at him as he spoke, but the waves of her emotions were rolling toward Bryan. It was the first time I realized I could actually sense the direction of the vibrations, adding a whole new level of insight for me. As far as I could tell, Bryan didn’t seem to be reacting to her. He held my hand, stroking his guitar calloused thumb in slow circles on the back of my hand, and watched the road.
At the restaurant, we followed the hostess to a table in the back corner of the room. Bryan gave me a reassuring grin as he held my chair out for me. I took a deep breath to clear the tension in my chest. Bryan likes me, I told myself. I have nothing to worry about.#p#分页标题#e#
The restaurant was busy, about half of the customers being other kids going out before Homecoming. It was a popular date option for students because the atmosphere was elegant, but the prices weren’t too high. Bryan waved at a couple of guys from the jazz band, and Aaron excused himself for a minute to go talk to Trent, who was there with some sophomore girl.
Monica was seated directly in front of me. I already knew what I wanted to order, but I scanned the menu anyway to keep from watching her. Monica didn’t bother opening hers. The weight of her stare was making me itch.
“So, Cady,” she said, her tone dripping with friendliness, “Bryan hasn’t told me anything about you. What’s your story?”
I wasn’t sure what to say. My mind was completely blank, and I’m sure it showed on my face. Luckily, Bryan rescued me.
“Cady is the first friend I made when school started,” he explained. “We have a class together, but she never noticed me. For days, I stared at the back of her head and wanted to talk to her, but then I literally ran into her in the library. Not my smoothest move, but she didn’t hold it against me.”
My heart warmed at his admission that he was interested in me even before we officially met. Maybe I really didn’t have anything to worry about with Monica.