Before the Boys Say No Read online

  I really wanted to go to the bathroom to take the contacts out, but I was meeting Johanna for lunch so she could see them. Plus, they were so hard getting in and I was going back to the track after school. I would have to say something to Michael.

  Johanna had a surprised look on her face when she saw me. “They’re so--blue,” she said.

  “I keep getting weird looks,” I complained. “Do they look bad?”

  “Well, not bad, just--”

  “I’m taking them out,” I said decisively. “Brody said they look freaky.”

  Johanna grimaced. “They do look a little freaky, but who knows, Michael may like them.”

  “Are you kidding, Johanna? I know they look weird. I’ll take them back to the optometrist and see if he will exchange them.”

  “But today’s supposed to be the big day when you talk to Michael,” she said with a pout.

  “I could, but I’d be leaving an impression of an alien embedded in his mind,” I told her. “I’m taking them out right now. I’ll be right back.”

  “I grabbed my backpack and scurried to the bathroom. It was full of girls using the mirror. I locked myself in a stall. I thought I’d be able to get them out without looking. Very carefully, I poked my finger in my eye, fishing for the first contact. Only it folded inside my eye. Tears were streaming down my cheek as my dirty finger dug into my eye to get it out. With success came pain. I felt like I had scratched my eye.

  The second one was easier, but the damage had already been done. I sat on the toilet until my eyes stopped leaking. I dreaded going out to look in the mirror. When the noise had ceased in the bathroom, I was pretty sure the coast was clear.

  The face that looked back at me in the mirror was totally jacked up. My eyes were so red that I was even afraid to look at me. I turned on the faucet and started splashing water over my face. I felt a weird stinging in the eye I’d had the most trouble with.

  Lunch period was almost over by the time I felt comfortable to go back out. Poor Johanna had been forced to wait for me the whole time. I hoped Lanie and her friends hadn’t been too mean to her.

  I didn’t need to worry. By the time I crossed back to the lunch tables, Johanna was surrounded by the popular girls and laughing. What a traitor! Lanie was just trying to mess my life up. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of me seeing them so I turned back around and went to wait for my next class.

  I couldn’t even remember finishing my classes. Johanna really bothered me. She was ready to blow off our friendship at the first opportunity to try to make herself look more popular. I was sure it was part of her formula to get a date with Bradley.

  I changed into my running clothes with even less enthusiasm. I’d remembered to bring three sports bras with me to run the track. I did some half hearted stretches before I took off on a slow jog. The track was busier than it had been the day before. A couple of runners came close to me, forcing me over. At one point, I had to run off the track to make way for a group of sprinters that took every lane.

  I limped off the track after finishing my mile. Johanna waved to me from the bleachers. Reluctantly, I made my way to her.

  “Why didn’t you come back at lunch?” she asked when I plopped down beside her.

  “I did. You were surrounded by Lanie and her friends.”

  “They were actually nice to me without you around,” she quipped. “They could be useful in my quest to get a date with Bradley.”

  Just what I thought. I looked at her with hard eyes. “You know how much Lanie hates me, Johanna. Why would you do that?”

  She looked surprised. “It’s all part of the formula, Bea. I don’t really like those girls, if you want to know the truth. They have no substance, you know?’

  She searched my face with a worried expression. I smiled to let her know I forgave her. We had to do what was necessary to get our dates for Winter Formal.

  “Michael’s not even out here today,” I said with a sigh. “I ran for nothing.”

  “I’m telling you, you have to talk to him away from the track. My research shows that guys don’t like to be bothered in the middle of their game--you know, what they’re concentrating on.”

  “I guess. I’ll figure it out.”

  “Don’t wait too long,” she said. “Each day you miss talking to him throws my formula off. You have to try to talk with him tomorrow to stay on track.”

  “I need to go, Johanna. I’ve got a debate tournament this weekend and I’m supposed to meet Jared at the library in an hour.”

  “When am I going to meet this elusive debate partner?” she asked as though I was hiding something from her.

  “Jared? You can meet him at the library if you want.”

  “Mm hmm,’ she murmured. “I bet he’s cute, Bea, and you’re holding out on me.”

  “Right,” I said sarcastically. “Stop by debate class any day and you can meet him for yourself.”

  “I still think you should give him a try,” Johanna said out of the blue. I had to rub my ears to make sure I’d heard her right.

  “Give Jared a try? After all the work I’ve done trying to get Michael interested?”

  “I’m getting worried, Bea. You keep making excuses not to talk to Michael. You’re going to miss your window of opportunity.”

  “I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” I promised.

  “But you need blue eyes.”

  “I’ll try it one more time tomorrow,” I told her. Getting a date really shouldn’t be this hard.

  So, it was with trembling hands that I awoke two hours early the next morning to put in contacts. The one that had bent had a slight tear in it. I started with that one. It took over an hour, but I got the contact in my eye. I felt pretty happy with my accomplishment even though the contact made my eye squint.

  The second one took just half an hour to put in my eye. I closed my eyes, letting the tears run down my cheeks. Finally, I opened my eyes and blinked really hard.I think the first contact shifted a little, but when I squinted to look in the mirror, it appeared to be where it was supposed to be.

  Dad saw me on my way out of the bathroom. We both just stopped and stared at each other. He finally shook his head and a look of disappointment came over his face.

  “Are you ashamed of your Italian roots?” he asked me.

  “Of course not, Daddy,” I said. “I’m doing an experiment with Johanna--”

  “Changing your eye color? Your hair color? What kind of experiment is that?”

  “I can’t explain, okay? You wouldn’t understand.”

  “I command you to go back into that bathroom and take those out,” he bellowed. Great. He was loud enough for Mom to open their bedroom door and poke her head out.

  “Daddy, stop,” I pleaded. “It took me two hours to get them in. It’s for a school project.”

  “What class makes you change your eye color?”

  “It’s actually Johanna’s project. She’s doing an experiment with formulas,” I said, trying hard not to tell lie. I always tried to be honest with my parents--just, with some things they didn’t need to know every detail. “I’m her guinea pig with something about changing eye color. It’s really an independent study she’s doing.”

  Well, at least it was true. I felt bad for making him think it was school related, but technically it was. It was just about dating boys at school. He looked at my mom, who shrugged.

  “It’s for school,” she said sleepily.

  “Maybe I overreacted a bit,” my dad said sheepishly. He leaned in and planted a kiss on my forehead and moved past me to close himself in the bathroom.

  “Have a good day at school,” Mom whispered.

  I smiled and blew her a kiss before letting myself out of the house. I felt relief wash over me in the car. At least I had jumped the hurdle of my parents. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide the contacts from them forever.

  I swung my car into the parking lot and walked into class. Ms. McEnroy was the only one there. She smiled as I
took my usual seat in the back. I guess she had forgotten about me being late yesterday.

  I suddenly had a thought. Michael sat across the room from me in the same seat every day. I picked up my backpack and moved over where I could sit next to him. That kind of screwed the other students up who sat around there. As they filed in, they were forced to take a different seat. I received several dirty looks, but no one challenged me.

  Then Michael walked in. My mouth suddenly felt dry and I felt my body tremble from nerves. I didn’t know how to flirt with guys. I figured the only way I was going to pull it off was to ask him questions about the one thing I knew he loved--running. I had a few minutes before class began. I seized my moment when he stretched out his feet in the aisle toward me.

  “Aren’t you Michael Walters?” I asked, forcing a smile to my lips. “The cross country runner?”

  He looked surprised at my question. “Yeah,” he said with a slight smile.

  “I just took up running myself and was wondering if you could give me some pointers.”

  “Sure,” he replied with a shrug. “What do you want to know?”

  I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I probably should have done some research on running so I could ask some intelligent questions. I was left to wing it.

  “Well,” I said, clearing my throat, “I’m only at a mile right now--”

  “Oh, you want to know how to increase your mileage?”

  “Yes,” I breathed out with relief. “That’s exactly what I wanted to ask you.”

  Before he could answer, the bell rang. Brody slid into his seat just in the nick of time. He looked back to wave to me. I wasn’t in my seat. He looked around the classroom until he spotted me sitting by Michael.

  “Catch me after class,” Michael was saying. “We can talk then.”

  Brody raised his eyebrows and looked between us curiously. I gave him a discreet wave and turned my attention back to Ms. McEnroy.

  I knew class would be long. I half dreaded having to talk with Michael, but at least I had broken the ice. I waited until he had put his book in his backpack before I said anything to him.

  “If it’s not a good time right now--” I started, but he cut me off.

  “No, it’s great. I like to talk about running,” he said.

  I walked with him out of class, barely listening to his chatter about running when I caught Brody’s eye. He inclined his head toward Michael with a silent question if we were together. I shrugged and gave him a smile.

  I walked Michael to his class, nodding my head to the advice he dished out on running. Honestly, I had no idea what he was saying. I was just concentrating on not tripping over something or making a fool of myself in front of him.

  We stopped outside his next class. He looked me fully in the face for the first time. “Wow, you have nice eyes,” he said.

  “Oh, thanks,” I murmured, feeling like a fake.

  “Why don’t you meet me at the track after school? It’s a short run for me today.”

  “Umm, yeah, I was planning on being there. It’s just that, I’m only at a mile right now.”

  “That’s right,” he said, “I remember that now.”

  “Maybe I can wait for you after your run so you can talk with me some more?” I offered.

  “Yeah, that’d work out,” he said. “We could do that.”

  I headed off to my class, just barely making it on time. This dating thing seemed to be a time sucker, and I had only begun.

  By the time I made it to debate class, my mind was so worked up playing scenarios about meeting Michael after school that I snapped at Jared as soon as he sat down. I had to immediately apologize. I had not been attentive to debate as I had always been in the past. We had traveled to two other tournaments, and yeah, I won as usual, but my mind wasn’t all there.

  Mr. Robarb was preparing us for the next tournament which was happening in a couple of weeks. I could tell Jared was getting bored with the whole debate thing. He was obedient and read everything I put in front of him, but his mind was someplace else too. Even after I had taken him to the thrift store to help him pick out a suit. For the record, Jared chose to shop at the thrift store, not me. He picked out a suit that looked like one my Uncle Ernie wore in the seventies. I tried to put my foot down, but he refused to budge. He thought the suit was cool. Oh, we drew a few looks at the debate tournaments alright.

  I had decided to go out to shop for a new suit myself. I thought it would help me get back into the heart and soul of debate. Mom couldn’t believe I had dropped a suit size. She gave my arm an excited squeeze when we paid for a smaller sized gray suit. I admit when I’m wrong. There is a benefit to running--it’s making my butt smaller. Not much, but enough to give me a little more confidence.

  “You should take wood working with me next semester,” Jared said out of the blue.

  I looked up to see his grinning face turned around in his seat. My mind was focused on trying to work an argument around a piece of evidence that would destroy my debate proposition. I looked at him like he was crazy.

  “Seriously, Jared? Where, in my world, does wood working fit?”

  “It’s a good skill to know.”

  I rolled my eyes and lowered my head over the material in front of me. Jared tapped his pencil on top of my head. I was going to smack the skinny kid if he didn’t leave me alone.

  “I don’t want to know wood working, Jared. I don’t care about wood. Hammers and saws and anything sharp scares me. Wood working class would be my worst nightmare. Okay?”

  Jared’s face screwed up with disappointment. “I just thought it would be fun.”

  “No,” I said, “it wouldn’t be fun.”

  “Say, do you think Sue Nelly would go to Winter Formal with me?”

  I blinked hard, trying to catch up with Jared’s scattered thoughts. “Sue Nelly?”

  “Yeah,” he whispered, looking behind me.

  I turned to look at Sue. She was a bit plain and quiet, but even she had laughed at Jared when everyone had first met him. Maybe she would be desperate enough for a date to Winter Formal that she would say yes to Jared.

  “Go for it,” I said.

  “Really? How do I go for it?”

  He was asking someone who had no experience in that area. Jared seemed to think I was some kind of expert in almost everything just because I was good at debate.

  “How do you normally ask a girl out?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” he mumbled, scratching at a pimple on his cheek. “Hey, you want to go out?”

  “There you go then,” I replied, wishing this conversation would be over quickly.

  “What if she says no?” he whispered fearfully.

  “What if she says yes?” I countered.

  “You’re so smart, Beatrice,” he said. “I’m going for it. I’m gonna ask her right after class.”

  By the time class was over, Jared was sweating so much I could smell his body odor from my seat. I was just about ready to lean over and whisper to him to put on some deodorant before asking Sue Nelly to the Winter Formal when she walked by. Jared jumped up from his seat, his eyes wildly looking around from nerves.

  “Hey, Sue,” he said loudly. He got the attention of everyone in the classroom. “Do you want to go to Winter Formal with me?”

  It’s kind of like a car crash going to happen, you know? It all seemed to be in slow motion and I wanted to reach out and save him from the assured humiliation of asking her in front of everyone, but I was too late. Didn’t he know he should wait to ask her in private so that he wouldn’t have to suffer the embarrassment of rejection? I grabbed my head in my hands and held my breath. Just get it over with, Sue. Put him out of his misery.

  “Sure, Jared,” she said with a little giggle.

  What? She said yes? To skinny, smelly Jared? I raised my head in shock and looked at her. Jared was in shock, too, and didn’t know what else to say. Sue’s face was flushed, but I could tell she was excited.

 
; “Great,” Jared stuttered. “You want to have lunch with me?”

  She nodded and they walked out of the classroom together. There were a few expected snickers when they left, but for the most part, everyone seemed fine with Jared asking Sue to the dance.

  I walked out of debate class and almost bumped into Brody. “Brody, hi.”

  “Hey, Bea. Thought I’d check on you.” That was weird and unexpected.

  “I’m fine,” I said slowly. “Are you okay?”

  Brody laughed. “Yeah. I just wanted to talk with you. Winter Formal’s coming up, and since I’ve never been to one before--”

  “Oh, you want to know what to expect?” I interrupted. “Well, the guys wear suits and the girls formal dresses. It’s usually held in the gym and decorated with snowflakes and winter stuff. Ask Lanie. She knows all about it.”

  “Well, that’s the thing--”

  “Brody!” Lanie’s voice called.

  My shoulders slumped. I was so sick of hearing her voice calling Brody’s name. Especially when I was talking with him. She’d get mad and figure out a way to get even. Couldn’t Brody see that he was making my life miserable by being nice to me?

  Brody knew the drill. He sighed and turned to face her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to her. Was it my imagination, or did Brody seem reluctant to follow her? He cast a look at me over his shoulder and winked.

  I hurried to the lunch table to meet up with Johanna. She would be proud of my courage in talking with Michael. I stopped in my tracks. I couldn’t believe it, but Bradley Jones was standing beside her, his eyes intently watching her as she talked. I lingered at the other end of the courtyard as they talked. I didn’t want to mess things up for her.

  Out of the blue, I caught sight of Lanie and Brody making their way to the table. Brodie never ate lunch with Lanie, so I was surprised to see him. They stopped at the table, talking with Bradley and Johanna for a few minutes before leaving.

  Bradley took a seat beside Johanna so I knew he was staying for lunch. I hated eating alone and was about to go hide out in the bathroom again when I heard my name called. By a guy. It was Michael Walters sitting just a couple of tables over. He waved to me when I made eye contact with him.