Andrea and the 5-Day Challenge Read online

  I’d spouted off my last and final argument. Well, the best defense is a good offense. “Tell me why you want me to ask him out so much? You’re beginning to make me wonder if you have an ulterior motive or something.” I dumped my lunch in the trash, and then folded my arms while trying to look my most cross.

  Her expression turned incredulous. “Me?” She pressed the fingers of her left hand into her chest. “What motive could I have except hoping my best friend would have a fun time?”

  “Call me old-fashioned, but why should I pull a Sadie Hawkins on him, and why Luke, of all people?”

  “He’s new, and he might not be sure about asking anyone out. So, it’s only kind and charitable for you to ask him.” Hmm, she’d obviously given this a lot of thought.

  Which had me worried. “It’s my duty. Is that what you’re trying to say?”

  “Exactly.” Her fair head nodded, but there was something unusual in her expression, which made me wonder. What was going on in that genius brain? She eyed me.

  For a split second I actually considered her demented idea. The insanity didn’t last long. “Amy, how can you even suggest…I mean, after…” I glanced around the cafeteria to double-check that there were no eavesdroppers. “After the…incident,” I whispered.

  “Andi, that was like, a lifetime ago.” She rolled her head in a dismissive gesture as if it hadn’t only been five miserable months before. “It’s time to let it go.”

  “Let it go? You do remember…”

  “Remember how Jeff Sandburg used you just to get his girlfriend back and when he did, he dropped you and took Kasey Tucker to the Junior/Senior Prom? Uh, yeah. I think I’d remember your worst freak-out ever.”

  “Exactly my point.” Finally, she began to make sense.

  “But Luke’s different. You know him. You like him.”

  “Not like that.”

  She ignored me and kept going. “It’s time to get over the incident,” she emphasized the last word with air quotes, “and move on. Are you planning to remain cloistered at home with your piano until you graduate or something?” She had a point. Darn her.

  Jeff may have humiliated me, but thank goodness, he’d transferred to the science magnet school this year. Never trust a scientist.

  “So, you think Luke might actually go with me to homecoming?” What was I saying? This was crazy talk. Amy had me back to actually considering her lunacy.

  “Why wouldn’t he?” Amy shrugged. “You guys are friends. Most of our friends are just going together as a big group, anyway. What have you got to lose?”

  My dignity, self-worth, etcetera. Even if I got permission to go, I could never ask Luke. How embarrassing would it be, especially if he said no? awthorne

  “Why don’t you ask him if you’re so concerned?”

  “Because, my dear friend, Andrea, needs to have some fun. Besides, someone already asked me.” She smiled with a proud glint in her amber-hued eyes, her shoulders rising in tandem with her grin.

  “Somebody…what?” I couldn’t believe it. Why hadn’t she told me? “Who?”

  Before she had a chance to answer, I heard my name called out. I pivoted, but I was totally unprepared to see Luke coming right up beside me. My face grew warm again. Oh, please, if only my skin wouldn’t turn all blotchy like it usually did when I blushed.

  “Uh, hi Luke.” I couldn’t say any more. If I opened my mouth, it would come out in gibberish, I was sure. Lord God in Heaven, if You’re listening, and I know You always are, please, please, don’t let him have overheard what we were talking about. When was that spaceship getting here, anyway? I’d settle for an invisibility cloak, too, just as long as I could disappear.

  “Hi.” Luke smiled.

  Why now did his smile make my heart do cartwheels? I’d seen him smile dozens of times, maybe even a hundred, and my heart had never done that before. OK, that’s not completely true. There had been a couple occasions when my pulse tripped upwards, but I just needed some more vitamins or something.

  “I was wondering if we could go over that new proof from yesterday. I’m not sure I have it yet.”

  Geometry? He wanted to talk about Geometry.

  My heart fell. I don’t know why I thought it would be anything else. I mentally slapped myself in the head. Of course. The Geometry quiz today.

  “Well, I gotta go,” announced Amy with a conspiratorial smile as she adjusted her glasses and walked off.

  I turned to Luke. “You know, Geometry isn’t my strong subject.”

  “I know.” He knew? His answer surprised me.

  I stood staring at him for a second. His brown eyes looked a little sparkly as he grinned at me. I must have been seeing things. Yeah, I definitely needed some extra vitamin A.

  “If I had to guess, I’d say history is your best subject.” Luke still smiled, in fact, I think it grew.

  How did he know my favorite subject? “Uh, yeah, it is. How…”

  He raised his expansive shoulders slightly. “I can tell by the way you speak up in class.”

  Class. Oh, yes, because we also had U. S. History together. I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t that much of a coward. I could stand here and look into his eyes…no, I couldn’t. They were somehow more fascinating than ever. I lifted my view to the doorway. “You know, I need to get to my locker and pick up my books for next period.”

  “OK, me, too.”

  So, I’m walking with Luke Ryan. He is suddenly very interesting to me and seems to know more about me than I do about him. Something is definitely wrong with this picture. Had I somehow walked through Alice’s looking glass without noticing, because this was unquestionably a wonderland.

  2

  I definitely hadn’t intended to start afternoon classes this way. My hand shook as I lifted it to draw a long line down the center of a piece of notebook paper. How ridiculous am I that I can’t even draw a straight line with Luke sitting across from me. The knowledge that at this very minute his chocolate brown eyes were fixed solely on me completely unnerved me. I could kill Amy right now. She’d infected my brain with convoluted thoughts about Luke Ryan. About homecoming.

  Focus. Right. The proof. I drew a horizontal line through the vertical one.

  Luke and I were in our Geometry classroom with only ten minutes left before the bell rang to end lunch. Mr. Carter sat at his desk busily recording grades into the computer.

  I set up the proof from a homework problem. Step one. What went under step one again? Oh, yeah, that’s right. “Well, let’s fill in the givens.” I glanced up at Luke.

  The sunlight from the immense window behind him framed his face. He had long dark eyelashes which made his eyes look sort of golden in the rays of the sun.

  Unconsciously, I held my breath and forgot what I was going to say next.

  Luke pointed at the triangle. “Segments AB and CB are congruent.” He lifted his gaze. “Right?”

  I forced myself to breathe. Get a grip. It’s just Luke, I reminded myself. The same guy I’d been talking to and studying with for two months—ever since I dropped my books right in front of him in the hall, and he was the only one to stop and help me pick them up.

  I blew out a wisp of air. “Yes, they are congruent.” For a second, I almost forgot the meaning of congruent.

  Mr. Carter walked passed us. “Be back in a minute. Got to pick up your quizzes in the office.”

  Great! Take your time on that.

  Luke and I continued on with each step attempting to prove that Segment BE was an angle bisector.

  After coming to the conclusion that the negation was false, Luke shut his geometry book and slipped it off the desk. “Thanks, Andrea. I think I’ve got it now. Maybe I won’t bomb this quiz like the last one.”

  “Glad to help.”

  He set his book back on the desk instead of heading for his seat in row four, seat two (yes, we have assigned seats in Geometry—how lame is that?). Then he leaned back in his seat and smiled. No, frowned. Well,
maybe it started as a smile, and then dropped into a frown.

  Oh, if only I could read his mind. He overheard Amy and me at lunch; I just knew it. I willed my face to remain neutral and hoped I wasn’t as flushed as I felt.

  “I, uh,” he let out a sort of laugh and smoothed the back of his hand over his forehead. Then he sat up straighter in his seat. “I see you’re full of school spirit today.”

  “Huh.” What was he going on about? “School spirit?”

  “You know the Caribbean Day theme. I don’t see a palm tree or coconut anywhere on you. We missed the luau activities at lunch, too.”

  “Oh, that.” A snort escaped me. “Trust me, we didn’t miss anything but Dion Washington and Mike McCutcheon making fools out of themselves in front of their audience.”

  He crossed his arms and laughed. “You crack me up, Andrea.”

  I cracked him up? That’s me—stand-up comedian. Not! “Well, at least I’m good for a laugh. It would be sad to go through life without any skills.”

  He chuckled, and then leaned over the desk between us. “So, you planning to dress up for Superhero Day tomorrow?”

  “Superhero Day? Are you kidding? That’s the last thing I’d spend my time on.” Liar! I totally had superhero comics under my bed, all the feature films of a certain caped crusader and even the DVDs of several animated series. Fanatic? Uh, yeah.

  “Not your thing, huh?’

  I was in the middle of coming up with a rousing response on why superheroes have tainted the American teenager when the partially ajar door to the classroom sprang the rest of the way open and banged into the wall.

  I jumped from my seat like we were in the middle of something…well, improper. Unfortunately, the one-piece desk did not allow a person to jump from the seat, and I banged the tabletop with my knobby knees and plunged my back into the chair backrest. I slid down into the seat—with throbbing knees and a scraped-up back. With that stupid move, there would probably even be bleeding involved.

  Worst of all (even worse than the bruise currently forming on my knee), it was Stephanie Ruiz who’d interrupted the interlude between Luke and me. Except that it wasn’t an interlude. It was business. Tutoring. It was not me being alone in a classroom with one of the cutest guys in school for a smooch-fest.

  From Stephanie’s expression, I wondered if she’d ever believe the truth.

  Luke easily rose from the desk without bumping any of his well-formed limbs. “Andrea, are you OK?”

  Swinging my legs away from the desk, I exited that contraption and hobbled to the window. Space between us was much needed, especially with the cheer co-captain and student council secretary in the room—she and her cheerleading skirt, displaying the burgundy and gold Aubrey Academy colors and her magnificently long legs. And when she does the splits, trust me, everyone is impressed.

  “I’m great. Just a little disagreement between the desk and me.”

  “I think it won,” Luke quipped.

  I turned back and couldn’t help smiling at him in response. “Yeah, I think so.” The warmth of his smile almost made me forget about my injuries.

  We both resumed our seats just as Stephanie approached us.

  “Hey, Luke.” Stephanie said a lot in those two words. It was like a greeting and an invitation wrapped up between her velvet-brown skin and almond-shaped eyes. Not surprising, as Stephanie was the type of girl who texted semi-inappropriate pictures of herself to boys. OK, that was only rumor but…eek! My mom says the only reason girls do that is because they’re insecure, but Stephanie Ruiz did not seem insecure, considering the way she stood there checking out Luke’s deep brown eyes.

  Since the last week of August, Stephanie had been going out with Dion Washington (the same Dion Washington who’d been flirting with Amy today at lunch), and they’d just broken up last week. Her presence before the bell for a class to which she is habitually late could only mean one thing. She thought Luke would make the perfect date for homecoming. It was either that, or she had definite personal space issues with how close she was standing to him.

  “Hi, Stephanie, ready for that quiz?” Luke addressed her in his kind and sincere tone.

  “Quiz? Oh, yeah, the Geometry quiz.” She set her hands on her hips in true cheerleader fashion. “Sure, I guess. Um, I was wondering…” She smiled, showing her lovely pearly white teeth.

  Here she goes. She would ask him, and he would say yes.

  Well, what did I care? Stephanie and Luke would make a cute couple with his bronzed California tan and her dark tones. Who was I to stand in the way of the greatest love match since Clark Kent and Lois Lane. I gripped the desk, bracing myself as if I were experiencing a plane crash, while trying to force a completely disinterested look on my face.

  Her smile lessened as she pushed her lips outward into a pout, trying to get him to notice and imagine what it would be like to kiss her, I’d bet.

  “I was wondering, Luke, if you’re planning to go to homecoming?”

  “Oh yeah, homecoming is this week.” His gaze drifted over to me for a split second, and then returned to Stephanie. “I’m not really sure, to be honest.”

  She rested her hands on his desk, going in for the kill. “Well, the homecoming Decorating Committee could sure use someone tall and strong like you on Friday.” Eek! Could she fawn over him more than that? What would she do next—purr?

  I’d had enough. Time to disappear. I stood, but Luke stealthily covered my hand, impeding my cowardly retreat. What was he doing? Didn’t he know that touching in public does not denote friendship or tutelageship? Whatever word best described our relationship. Relationship! We had no relationship.

  However, I forgot to question his actions any further when he looked at me.

  “What do you think, Andrea? Sounds like fun, right?”

  Fun? Was he out of his mind and oh, my gosh, why was he asking me?

  The bell rang at that moment, eclipsing whatever response I might have come up with spur of the moment.

  Students began filing inside followed by the re-entry of my wonderful Geometry teacher. I’d never been happier to see Mr. Carter and his mustache-adorned face.

  “Toodles.” Stephanie waved, and then stepped back to talk to one of her other friends. Had she really just said “toodles”? Why did she have to comprise every cliché attached to a cheerleader? (Alisha, who’d been a cheerleader for two years, seemed to be one of the exceptions to this phenomenon.)

  For once, I wished one of the long-legged starlets would engage me in a thoughtful discussion. Like why Nick Carraway is the point-of-view character in The Great Gatsby or if the medieval world really believed the earth to be flat before Columbus. I’d even settle for a discourse on who were the best current actors, since they all loved the latest movies.

  With Stephanie otherwise employed, Luke stood with his textbook. He slanted his head toward mine before moving to the front of the room. “Thanks again for the study help, Andrea. Hope you do great on the quiz.”

  “Yeah, you, too.” What else could I say, especially with those dark eyes sparkling like some kind of precious gem? The fluorescent lights were playing with my eyesight again.

  The second bell rang and Mr. Carter addressed the class while rubbing his hands together. “So, you all ready for that quiz?”

  I was ready for the loony bin, but bring it on. Bring it all on. I could take it.

  ~*~

  Amy and Angie were waiting for me when I emerged from class. They had mirror images of the same annoying smile on their faces. Was my life the only excitement they had going on in their pathetic existences? I had half a mind to just keep walking right by them. Like I could. They flanked me on each side as we moved among the herd of students in the hallway. We made it to Amy’s locker, and then the questions began to fly.

  “Where’s Luke?” Angie asked, folding hair behind her ear and revealing the many studs in her lobe.

  “How should I know? Why are you even…”

  “Come on,
Andrea, spill. What happened before Geometry?” Amy interrupted.

  “Nothing happened.” I leaned back into the lockers beside Amy’s. “We went over a proof, and then class started.”

  “And after class?” Angie’s voice filled with unsavory suggestion.

  “Angie!” My forehead wrinkled with consternation—at least I hoped it did. “I thought you gave up on men.”

  “No, Andrea, boys. Aubrey boys. But Luke hasn’t proven himself to be a total sleaze-ball. There may be hope for him yet.”

  “Luke’s great,” I replied. From the looks on their faces, that was totally the wrong response, especially as I sighed afterward. It seemed to make them salivate for more of me exposing my innermost heart and soul. “Uuh, you guys.” I covered my face with my books. “There isn’t anything going on, so forget it.”

  Amy lowered the books in front of me. “Trust me, you want to ask Luke.” She arched her sandy blonde eyebrows resolutely. What did she know?

  I frowned at her. “I believe we had a similar conversation this morning when you encouraged me to ask Luke Ryan to homecoming and my response hasn’t changed. It’s still…” And then I spied Luke coming up between Angie and Amy. Dear Lord! I was going to be sick. A buzzing erupted in my ears. “I’ve got to go now.”

  I pushed past them and darted through the crowd to the girl’s bathroom. I knew I had to be quick. Luke played sports so there existed a definite possibility he could catch me even with my freakishly long legs. I pushed through the door and leaned against the wall.

  Shoot! He’d heard everything. Everything—including the part where I’d contemplated asking him out. I could never talk to him ever again. It was over. Humiliation snaked down my back. I felt completely nauseous with my stomach churning my frustration over and over. Good thing I was already in the restroom. Well, I would just have to hide out for now because no way could I face Luke. Ever!

  Even if that meant I had to miss English, even if it meant I flunked The Scarlet Letter test, even if I got detention for ditching class—it would be worth it.

  Of course, Mom would never understand why I got detention for hiding out in the bathroom, or the F, for that matter. She’d want to know the whole embarrassing story, and I’d dealt with enough mortification for one day, thank you very much.