Only instead of feeling as if I could dive into his gaze, I feel as if I'm about to melt under it. My heartbeat staggers.
«Yeah,» I say, unable to keep my gaze from drifting toward his lips. «I guess I kinda did.»
«We make a good team,» Adam says. His own gaze, I can't help noticing, isn't straying far from my mouth, either. «Wouldn't you say? I mean, especially in light of the coming apocalyptic event? When Drake's dad finds out what we did tonight?»
I can't help gasping a little at that.
«That's right,» I cry. «Oh, Adam! He's not just going to come after me. He's going to come after you, too!»
«You know,» Adam says. And now his gaze has drifted from my mouth, and downward. «I really do like that dress. It goes great with bowling shoes.»
«Adam,» I say. «This is serious! Dracula could be getting ready to descend upon Manhattan at any moment, and we're wasting time bowling! We've got to start getting ready! We need to prepare a counterattack. We need to-«
«Mary,» Adam says. «Dracula can wait.»
«But-«
«Mary,» Adam says. «Shut up.» And I do. Because I'm too busy kissing him back to do anything else.
Besides, he's right. Dracula can wait.
The Corsage
Lauren Myracle
Readers, beware! The following story was inspired by «The Monkey's Paw,» first published in 1902 by W. W. Jacobs, which scared the dickens out of me when I was a teenager. Be careful what you wish for, indeed!
-LAUREN MYRACLE
Outside, the wind whipped around Madame Zanzibar's house, making a loose rain-pipe thump against the siding. The sky was dark, though it was only four o'clock. But within the garishly decorated waiting room, three table lamps shone brightly, each draped with a jewel-toned scarf. Ruby hues lit Yun Sun's round face, while bluish-purple hues gave Will the mottled look of someone freshly dead.
«You look like you've risen from the grave,» I told him.
«Frankie,» Yun Sun scolded. She did a head jerk toward Madame Z's closed office, worried, I suppose, that she might hear and be offended. A red plastic monkey hung from the office doorknob, indicating that Madame Z was with a client. We were up next.
Will made his eyes go vacant. «I am a pod person,» he moaned. He stretched his arms out toward us. «Please to give me all your hearts and livers.»
«Oh no! The pod person has taken over our beloved Will!» I clutched Yun Sun's arm. «Quick, give him your hearts and livers, so he'll leave mine alone!»
Yun Sun shook free. «Not amused,» she said in a tone both singsongy and threatening. «And if you're not nice to me, I will leave.»
«Stop being such a pooter,» I said.
«I will take my thunder thighs and I will march right out of here. Just watch.»
Yun Sun was on a my-legs-are-too-fat kick, just because her superslinky prom dress needed a little letting out. At least she had a prom dress. And a for-sure chance to wear it.
«Bleh,» I said. Her grouchiness was endangering our plan, which was the whole reason we were here. The night of the prom was getting dangerously close, and I was not going to be the sad shell of a girl who sat home alone while everyone else went crazy with glitter dust and danced ironically in spectacular three-inch heels. I refused, especially since I knew in my heart of hearts that Will wanted to ask me. He just needed a little encouragement.
I lowered my voice, all the while smiling at Will like la la la, just girl talk, nothing important! «It was both of our idea to do this, Yun Sun. Remember?»
«No, Frankie, it was your idea,» she said. And she did not keep her voice down. «I've already got my date, even though he's going to be squished to death by my thighs. You're the one hoping for a last-minute miracle.»
«Yun Sun!» I glanced at Will, who turned red. Bad Yun Sun, throwing it out in the open like that. Bad, bad, naughty girl!
«Ow!» she yelped. Because I'd whacked her.
«I am very mad at you,» I said.
«Enough with the coyness. You do want him to ask you, don't you?»
«Ow!»
«Um, you guys?» Will said. He was doing that adorable thing he did when he was nervous, when his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Although, huh. That was kind of an icky image. It made me think of bobbing for apples, which was only one step away from bobbing for Adam's apples.