“It’ll stop ’em from having sex there in the gym, at any rate.” He shoved a stack of bowls onto the shelf in the corner. “But not many people actually dance with their dates. I mean, like I said, half the school goes stag anyway. The girls mostly dance together in one big pack, and the guys hang out and bullshit. I mean, it’ll be the usual cliques, you know? The cowboys in one corner; the Mormons in another; the Grove pricks hanging out in the parking lot, getting high; and all the burnouts sneaking out the back door for a smoke.”
“So why do you want to go at all?”
Logan turned toward him, leaning his thigh against the long metal sink. “Because we’re seniors, man. This is it! Our last homecoming. Our last prom! This is the kind of shit we’ll be reminiscing about when we’re forty, rotting away in the nursing home.”
Cody laughed, finally plunging his hands into the blissfully warm water. “I think you have to be a lot older than forty to get into one of those places.”
“Whatever. You gonna come make a damn memory with me, or are you gonna sit on your stinking couch watching Spenser: For Hire?”
Cody sighed as he grabbed a sponge off the sideboard. He wasn’t used to having anybody ask him to do anything. He certainly wasn’t used to being coerced into school dances. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why’re you so determined to be my friend when you know the rest of the town hates me?”
Logan shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe ’cause you’re not an asshole, and there’s nobody else to talk to while I’m at work, and Jamie Simpson won’t give me the time of day. Is that enough of a reason for you?”
Cody smiled, despite himself. “I guess.” He felt around in the water, searching for the silverware at the bottom as he debated. He’d taken a chance once before, with Nate. Even now he couldn’t quite say if it had been worth it or not. “Do you think . . .” He stopped, considering his words while scrubbing a fork that was already plenty clean.
“Spit it out. Do I think what? Do I think you’re an idiot? Yes. Do I think you need a haircut? Yes. Do I think—”
“Do you think you could take me to Rock Springs on Saturday? Before the dance, I mean.”
“Sure. What for?”
“I need to get a coat.”
“Don’t you have a Sears catalog?”
Cody made himself say the words. “I can’t afford one of those. But there’s a secondhand store in Rock Springs—”
“No way, man.”
Cody winced. He’d hoped Logan wouldn’t laugh, but he hadn’t been expecting such a blatant refusal. “Okay. Sorry I asked.”
“No, I mean, no way do you need to go to that stupid store. Who knows where that shit comes from. I have at least eight coats in my closet that don’t fit me. Half of them ain’t even been worn yet. My grandma sends them all the time, but she keeps forgetting I’m not still twelve. I’ll bring you one of them, and then you can save your money for something cool.”
Cody glanced over at him. Not a bit of mockery in his eyes. Not a bit of pity, either. Just a matter-of-fact assessment of the situation. “I don’t mind paying—”
“Don’t be stupid. So, are we going or not?”
“To Rock Springs?”
“No! To homecoming.”
Cody shook his head, wondering how he’d ever gotten into such a ridiculous conversation. “Maybe.” He chewed his lip, debating. “Am I supposed to dress up or something?” Because if that was the case, he was screwed.
“Just wear your best jeans and a clean shirt.”
“You sure that’s good enough?”
“Which one of us has been to more school dances?”
“Fine.”
“Then I’ll pick you up at seven thirty.”
Cody turned back to his work, smiling down at the soapy water. “Whatever.” But as hard as he tried to act like he didn’t care, he did. He was filled with something that might almost have been happiness. “Just so you know, I don’t put out on the first date.”
“Good. Then there’s no reason to buy you a corsage.”
And just like that, Cody had a not-quite date for the dance.
If Nate thought he’d been miserable after his sexual encounter with Cody, it was nothing to how he felt after failing to feel anything with Christine.
He was different. He knew that now, without any doubt. After his mother’s betrayal, and his failed phone call to Cody, he’d locked himself in his room and debated simply climbing into his car and driving home to Austin.