A Prom to Remember(28)

“You couldn’t know that,” Lizzie said, slamming her locker shut.

“Are you working tonight? Let’s hang out and celebrate your happiness. I have plans with Otis, but you should come along. Maybe he could offer a male perspective on Mystery Boy.”

“I am not working, and I would love to hang out with you and Otis, but why do I need a male perspective on Mystery Boy?”

“Well, you know, why is he still being so secretive? Who is he? That kind of stuff.”

“Sure.” Lizzie didn’t think she wanted to know who he was yet. She still kind of liked the anonymity, but that seemed like something Madison didn’t understand.

“Cool, I’ll pick you up at seven.”

??????*

As promised, Madison was outside Lizzie’s house at seven o’clock. Lizzie jogged to the back door of the car and got in.

Madison pulled away from the curb. “Do you guys want to go to the diner? I want home fries with cheese on them.”

“Um, why have I never gotten home fries with cheese on them? That sounds magical,” Lizzie said.

“It’s definitely magical.”

As they slid into the booth at the diner, Madison said, “I filled Otis in on the gist of what’s going down with you and Mystery Boy.”

“And what do you think?” Lizzie asked.

Otis put his menu down. “You really have no idea who this guy is?”

“None whatsoever.”

“What if he’s grotesque?” Otis asked.

“Do we even go to school with anyone who’s truly grotesque? Are we not all God’s creatures?” Madison asked.

“I’m serious. There’s that dude. You know that guy,” Otis said, snapping his fingers, trying to remember.

“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” Lizzie said.

“Well, okay. But what if you see Mystery Boy and you’re just not attracted to him?”

“I mean, I’ve still had a lot of fun talking to him all year. I still want to meet him; he doesn’t have to be the Hottest Hottie from Hotville.”

“I like that. Hottest Hottie from Hotville. I’m going to use that,” Otis said.

“I suppose I’ll allow it,” Lizzie said as the waitress came for their order.

After she walked away, Otis looked at Lizzie appraisingly.

“So, let’s take it back to basics. You have a secret admirer.”

“I wouldn’t call him a secret admirer; it’s more like a double-blind friendship.”

“Hmm, yes, so scientific, so specific,” Otis said, opening a packet of sugar and dumping it into his coffee. “And you really, really have no clue who it could be? Like you’ve gone through all the possibilities?”

“I haven’t gone through any of the possibilities,” Lizzie said. It was time to put her foot down. “I honestly like the romantic comedy aspect of it. I’ve gotten used to not knowing. And now I want to wait. It’s only a couple more weeks.”

“He’s never dropped any useful hints? Nothing?”

“I used to try to figure it out at the beginning. I even e-mailed the document to myself so I could take my time reading it. But I don’t want to do that anymore. I really, really don’t want to know.”

“OMG, let me read the document,” Otis exclaimed, stirring his coffee. “I’m sure I could figure it out.”

“You just said OMG,” Madison pointed out to Otis. “You’re practically turning into Luke these days.”

“He has a lot of influence on me,” Otis said.

Madison rolled her eyes and turned to Lizzie. “If he reads the document, then I definitely get to read the document.”

“Hell no. That’s my private business. And his private business. No one is reading the document,” Lizzie said, pointing at Otis.

Otis pouted.

Their food arrived, and everyone dug into their order.

After a few more minutes, it was obvious that Otis wasn’t going to let go of this topic anytime soon.

“Have you ever considered that it’s not double blind?” Otis asked.

“What do you mean?” Madison asked.

“Have you ever considered that he knows who you are, but you don’t know who he is?” he asked with an eyebrow raise.

Lizzie had definitely never considered that possibility.

“Oh my god,” she said. “What if he knows who I am but I don’t know who he is?”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Otis said.

“How have we never considered that possibility?” Madison asked.

“It never even struck me. Not once.” Lizzie shrugged and looked around the diner. “It’s like everyone is a suspect now. He could be following me.”

“He probably doesn’t know,” Madison said.

“But he might,” Otis said.

“He might,” Lizzie agreed.

Henry

In his head, Henry listed the things he should be doing. Writing his final paper for English, studying for the AP calc test, taking a jog, or texting Paisley. Instead he was lying facedown on his bed and pretending it wasn’t Sunday night, pretending that he didn’t have school in the morning.

He sort of wished he could text Cameron, but he’d actually deleted his number back in November at Paisley’s urging. Henry hadn’t thought much about how Cameron was feeling back then with his mom’s remarriage and all. He didn’t think about what Cameron was going through. It wasn’t because Henry was a bad friend; at least he didn’t think so. It was more that he didn’t know how to navigate the murky waters of whatever was going on with Cameron. And now his mom was pregnant?