The Pretty One(76)

As Simon walks away, Drew heads straight toward me. I know I should get off the dance floor and run as far and fast as I can in the opposite direction, but I still can’t move.

“Megan,” he says quietly, stopping in front of me.

We stand still, just looking at each other, while couples continue to dance around us. My heart is clanging against my chest and my breathing is ragged and irregular. “You look beautiful,” he says finally.

“Hah!” I say sarcastically.

He takes a step back. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well…” I need to say something that will really put him in his place. “Well…you should!” Not exactly what I was hoping for.

“I should what?”

I shake my head in disgust and raise my hands, as if surrendering. “Why are you talking to me, anyway? Go be with your date.” I spin on my heel, walking away from him.

“What date?” he calls out. “I don’t have a date.”

Everything stops. “Isn’t Lucy here with you?”

“With me? She was supposed to come with Marybeth. There’s a whole bunch of us meeting here as a group.”

I feel a rush of relief, but after that passes, I close my eyes and for a moment I think I’m going to bawl like a baby.

“You thought I brought Lucy to the festival?” he asks, like this is the dumbest thing he’s ever heard.

I really think I’m going to die right here and now, just fall flat on my face in the middle of the fall festival and croak.

“We need to talk.” Drew gently takes my arm and steers me off the dance floor. He lets go of my arm and I keep my eyes firmly on him as I follow him through the crowd and out of the gym. We walk down the hall, toward the auditorium. We walk past the front door and all the excited, dressed-up couples who are still arriving and head directly down toward the opposite end of the hall, where the auditorium and production studio are located. I keep my eyes on the floor, not making eye contact with anyone. I can’t talk. Nor can I think or even feel. I’m totally, absolutely numb.

Drew reaches the end of the hall and turns into the dark, unlit window-lined hall that leads to the auditorium. He stops outside the auditorium door and turns to face me. “Is that why you’re here with Simon? Because you thought I liked Lucy?”

“No. Yes. It’s complicated.”

“Try me.”

Even though it’s dark and the only light is coming from the main hall, his eyes still sparkle. I glance away and take a step backward, so that I’m standing up against the wall. “Lucy likes you.”

Drew breathes in deep. He takes a minute to collect his thoughts. “I…I have never been interested in Lucy. And I never will be.”

“She told me you asked her to the fall festival.”

“What?” Drew’s eyes open wide. He shakes his head in disbelief. “If I said or did anything to give her that impression, well, then I’m very, very sorry.”

I think about my sister and how she misled me on purpose. It hurts so bad, but at the same time, I’m so relieved that Drew isn’t interested in her, I feel so light, like I’m floating.

He steps toward me and touches my chin with his index finger, lifting it up toward him. “I like you, Megan. In fact, all I can think about is you.”

I touch my hand to his cheek. He likes me. Me.

Drew takes my hand and kisses it. And then he leans toward me, lightly pressing his lips against mine. We kiss long and slow, as if there is no one else in the world but us.

And then I hear it. A little gasp from whoever is now at the end of the hall, spying on us. I jump away from Drew and turn toward the main hall, half expecting to see my sister. But it’s not Lucy. It’s Annie Carmichael, the biggest mouth in the school. Before I can say anything (not that I would have anyway) she turns and hurries away.

“Oh, great,” I say under my breath. “The whole school’s going to know in the next fifteen minutes.” By the time it finished making the rounds, I have no doubt Annie will have (supposedly) discovered us completely naked and doing the mambo jambo.

This was not good. Not good at all. True, my sister had lied to me; true, she deserved to be tossed into a dungeon and hung by her fingernails, but I still couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit protective of her. She needed to be told the truth, but by me.

I hurry toward the main hallway and arrive just in time to see Annie push past Simon.

“Megan?” Simon calls out to me. He’s standing at the other end of the hall, two glasses of punch in his hands. I feel as though someone has kicked me in the stomach the minute I see him.

Simon looks from me to Drew.

“Do you want me to stay?” Drew asks, half under his breath.

“No,” I say, still looking at Simon. He’s walking toward me now, trying not to spill the punch.

“I’m sorry,” Drew whispers, as if he was to blame for my present situation. Even though Drew nods in Simon’s direction as they pass each other, Simon doesn’t acknowledge him.

“What’s the deal with Annie?” Simon asks, handing me a glass of punch as he watches Drew go back into the auditorium.

“She went tearing into the gym like she was being chased by Bigfoot.”