Ella's Twisted Senior Year(50)
Toby joins us as we walk out into the parking lot. “Poe, you ready for those extra drills?” he says, sounding exactly as if he had rehearsed our lie fifty times before saying it. “Man, it’s gonna suck.”
“Tell me about it,” I mutter.
Ella points toward the school behind us. “Toby, you don’t have to take me home. I can just wait around until you’re done.”
“No can do,” he says. “I wouldn’t cause that kind of suffering on my best friend’s girl.”
“Yeah, we have no idea how long it’ll take,” I say. “Toby doesn’t mind.”
“I don’t mind,” he says with a smile.
She doesn’t look like she agrees with the extra trip, but I don’t think she suspects me of being a liar.
We drop her off at my house and I’m surprised to see both Ella’s mom and her dad talking in the driveway. Those two are never off work at the same time.
After executing the perfect lie for my perfect girlfriend, Toby drives me to the Galleria.
“So tell me again what you’re doing, Poe?”
“I’m buying her the dress she wants to surprise her.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Toby scowls when a Taylor Swift song starts playing on the radio and changes the station. “Aren’t girls like hella picky about that stuff?”
“Ella’s not. She knows the dress she wants so I’m getting it for her.”
Toby shakes his head like he can’t believe how weird I am right now. “Well aren’t you just the extra romantic guy.”
I find Dress Fantasy and feel even more awkward than I’d imagined I would when I walk into the frilly store. There are dresses and mannequins everywhere and mannequins wearing dresses, and even real women wearing them, too. Because it’s so close to prom, a ton of teenage girls are in here picking out dresses. To say that Toby and I stand out would be an understatement.
All of the store clerks ignore us as we walk around, probably assuming we’ve been dragged here by one of the girls. I’m able to find the dress in the store and after showing Ella’s picture to the clerk, she guesses what size dress she’ll need. I’m feeling like the greatest guy in the world when we leave the mall. So what if I look like a weirdo carrying a big ass garment bag.
I already have a prom-worthy tux, thanks to my mom getting me one when there was a sale at Men’s Warehouse. Toby and I make another stop and split the cost of a limo to surprise the girls. I’m pretty sure they’re thinking we’ll be driving our own trucks.
I’ve never cared much for prom or all of the crap that goes into it, but now that I’ve got Ella’s dream dress in my arms, all of the other stuff starts falling into place and for the first time in my life, I am getting excited for the night. Ella will feel like a princess and I’ll get to be the man on her arm. Not too shabby.
*
Ella makes a gagging sound as we climb into Toby’s truck on Monday morning. “God, Toby what do you do in here to make it smell so awful?”
Toby’s ten-year-old Mazda has never been a poster car for cleanliness, but even I have to admit that this morning the usual locker room stench seems a little more rancid.
He rolls down the windows as he pulls out of my driveway. “Accidentally left some Chinese food back there overnight. Not a good idea.”
“Oh gag,” Ella says. She holds her backpack tightly in her lap and looks around the floor of the backseat.
“Don’t worry, it’s gone,” Toby says with a laugh. He turns down the radio. “So how are the shirt sales?”
I turn around and share a look with Ella. She grins. “They’re insane. We’ve sold more of our crazy ex-girlfriend shirt than any other shirt in my store. I guess people really like donating to animals.”
“Or they really hate Kennedy,” Ella says with a snort.
This past weekend was a blast. Ella and I hung out at home mostly and we even cooked dinner for the family on Sunday night. My life with Ella is low key and fun and I love it this way. No more being dragged to lame-ass parties with a girl who wants to flirt with other guys and call me out when she thinks I’ve been looking at another girl. Life with Ella is fun. It means something.
Although the last forty-eight hours were also hell because I’d kept quiet about the whole dress thing. Toby thinks I should tell her sooner rather than later so she doesn’t go buy it herself, especially since prom is this coming Saturday, only five days away.
Although I agree with him, I could never find the right time to bring it up this weekend. Okay, maybe I’m just a chicken. Part of me is really afraid she’ll think I’m weird or maybe even get mad at me for buying the dress instead of letting her get it. But I really hope she thinks it’s romantic. I don’t exactly have a lot of experience in the romance department and I’m trying the best I can here.
Just thinking about it makes me reach back and grab her hand. All last week while we got rides with Toby, I’d offered to let her sit in the front while I’d sit in the back, but she always says she doesn’t mind. That’s romantic, right? I think so.
“Damn,” Toby says as he drives into the school parking lot. “Maybe your girl should take over the T-shirt business. She sells them better than you do.”
“I hope not,” I say, giving her a wink. “I’m counting on this job to be my career one day.”