“With three girls?”
She smiled. “Exactly. If he turns it down, his own mother will make fun of him.”
I hesitated and looked across the classroom, where Liam was sitting with his two friends, Paul and Steve. The three of them were very similar: they played a lot of fantasy card games and didn’t really talk to girls. They all seemed nice. I thought about something and turned back to Shal.
“Don’t even say it,” Shal said, putting her juice box down.
“It makes sense.”
“What?” Mia asked, sounding alarmed.
“He might as well bring them,” I said.
Mia looked at me. “The other two boys?” she whispered.
“But they’re such losers,” Shal whined.
I narrowed my eyes and she sighed.
“Fine. But I call Paul.”
Mia sat back in her chair, eyes wide. “Tell me we’re not going on a triple date.”
—
It’s a lot easier to talk about asking a boy out than to actually do it. I kept finding excuses. Oh, he’s talking with Paul. Oh, recess is almost over. Oh, the wind is too loud, he won’t hear me. Before I knew it the last bell had gone, and we were exiting the class. I grabbed my books and started for my locker, ignoring Shal and Mia as they hurried behind me.
“You didn’t ask,” Shal said.
“I noticed,” I muttered.
“Well, you tried—” Mia started.
Shal grabbed my arm. “Do it.”
I shook my head. “It’s too late.”
She scowled. “Do it.”
I looked at her and then at Liam as he opened up his locker. My stomach was doing backflips again. I think facing the giant spider was easier.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m going. Wish me luck.”
I slowly walked toward him, clutching my books to my chest so hard that my knuckles were white. I could feel Shal and Mia watching. What was I going to say? Hey, will you go out with me? I mean us. I mean will you come to the movie? With Shal and Mia? And Steve and Paul? By the way, I think you’re awesome and can we sit next to each other? Oh yeah, that would work great. I reached his locker. Say something!
“Hey,” I said. Okay, good start. Very natural.
He turned and smiled. “Hey.”
I fidgeted for a second. “Not sure what you’re doing tonight, but Mia, Shal, and I are going to the movies. We’re gonna see Dinosaur Ninja or something ridiculous like that. They already have a pass, and I have that pass from the geography quiz, so I was gonna see if you wanted to come. You can bring Steve and Paul, too, if you want.”
He grinned. “It’s like a triple date.”
I felt myself blush immediately. “Ha, yeah, didn’t even think of that. Well, no big deal if you’re doing something or—”
“I’m in,” he said. “Can’t turn down a free movie. I’ll get the popcorn. And I’ll ask Steve and Paul too. We usually just play vids on Friday, so I’m sure they’re free.”
Did he just say yes? He said yes! Compose yourself. The job isn’t done yet.
“Great,” I said. “I think it’s on at 7:45. Meet you guys at 7:30?”
“Sounds good. See you then.”
I smiled, turned around, and slowly walked back to Mia and Shal, trying not to skip, bounce, jog, or do anything but walk naturally. They pretended to do something by my locker until I was right beside them, and then they both turned to me instantly.
“What did he say?” Shal asked, grabbing my arm.
I grinned. “We better go home and get ready. The three of us have dates tonight.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
We decided that a sleepover was the only possible way to deal with this new development. Actually, Shal did. I couldn’t see how I could sneak into the closet to get to Derwin without the girls noticing, but I had never had a sleepover before, and Shal was making some forceful arguments, so I decided to risk it and let myself be talked into it. For one, we all had to get ready together. I’m not sure why, but Shal insisted that was a necessity for triple dates. And we had to go back to the same house afterwards so we could discuss and analyze every single thing that had happened over the course of the evening. I just had to hope my closet didn’t rattle too early. And, besides, I was glad for the company.
I was also freaking out.
Mia was worse. She looked terrified. I’m not sure she’d ever even spoken to a boy before. She barely spoke to any girls. I had been hanging out with boys for the last month in Derwin, so I was at least slightly more prepared. Of course, those boys were also warriors from around the planet, so the conversation would probably be a bit different.
“Too curly?” Shal asked, turning to us from the mirror.
She’d curled her auburn hair into little ringlets that fell to her shoulders and highlighted her blue eyes. For a girl who had apparently not wanted to go on a triple date, she was putting a lot of effort in. She was wearing a new white top and faded blue jeans, and she’d been painstakingly applying makeup for the last hour and a half.
“Perfect,” I said.
I had gone a little simpler. Actually I was just wearing jeans and a graphic T-shirt—same as every other day. I had allowed Shal to curl my hair just a little, and I had put on some concealer, eye shadow, and blush. It didn’t look bad actually. I was just really happy Allison wasn’t here.
Mia sat beside me on the bed and stared into a little oval mirror. Her hair was up in a messy bun, which she never did, and she too was wearing makeup—another first. Along with a green shirt and yoga pants that Shal had made her buy, she looked really cute.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“No,” she said.
“You’ll be fine.”
“I’ve never even spoken to Steve,” she
