Before the Boys Say No Page 12

  I squeezed through the tables, trying to look skinnier than I was. “Hey, Michael,” I said with a smile, trying to ignore the looks from other runners at the table.

  “You want to talk some more about running over lunch?” he offered, scooting over to make room for me.

  My heart started racing. All I had to do was make it to the other side of the table without making myself look like an idiot. Someone stuck out a running shoe--large and blue to be precise--and I felt myself falling forward. My chin hit the edge of the table and I bit my tongue as I tumbled to the ground. So much for looking graceful. My head felt like it had been jolted and my chin started throbbing. I blinked hard to stop the tears from coming as I raised myself clumsily to my feet.

  “Are you okay?” Michael asked with concern.

  The guy wearing the large blue running shoes burst out laughing. “Sorry about that. I didn’t think you’d really trip. Man, you took a dive! I wish I would’ve had my camera.”

  I took what little dignity I had left and limped over to Michael and plopped down. Normally, I would have laid into the guy, but with a date for Winter Formal at risk, I bit my tongue. Again. I felt the taste of blood in my mouth and reminded myself that all the sacrifices I made would be worth it at the end.

  I had no idea what Michael talked about at lunch. I do remember him looking at my slice of pizza I had brought and talking about eating healthier for performance. I can only assume he was talking about the rabbit food on his plate with a bowl of beans beside it. I can’t eat beans. Not unless I’m going to be on a deserted island all the next day. My stomach doesn’t like them and disposes of them in a--let’s just say the smell isn’t worth the effort.

  By the time Michael got on the subject of running shoes, all the runners at the table were piping in with their own advice. I nodded my head like I was interested, but it only made my headache worsen.

  I actually felt happy to leave the land of happy trail runners and tree huggers when the bell rang. Someone said I should put ice on my chin so I gingerly touched it and wished I was still blissfully unaware of the large bump that had formed from my fall.

  I went to the school nurse for an excuse to go home. She was pretty cool about it. If it hadn’t been for my chin, I think she would have denied me permission. But soon enough, I was in my Beetle and speeding home to recover. Tomorrow was a new day. That would mean running on the track. I wanted to eat another slice of pizza instead.

  CHAPTER 10

  Four weeks till Winter Formal. According to Johanna's calculations, Michael should be asking me this week. I felt nervous around him, waiting for the question to pop. I had spent all my time preparing for this--sitting beside him in class, at lunch, and meeting him on the track for running pointers. I had progressed to running two miles and Michael encouraged me all the way, calling me his protege.

  Johanna and Bradley had started seeing each other the day she had talked with him. They were inseparable. Even she was surprised at how well her formula had worked. He hadn’t asked her to Winter Formal yet, but it was only a matter of time.

  The day arrived that I felt sure Michael was going to ask me. I wore my black yoga pants with the pink stripes on the sides. It was really cold outside, but I suffered it to wear the matching jacket in an effort to look cute. I pulled my hair up in the high ponytail like the other runners--girls anyway--wore.

  Today, I was going to push myself. Two and a half miles was my goal. I made sure Michael arrived before I started my run. He waved to me when he got to the track and watched me as he stretched with a couple of other runners.

  I started off faster than I should have. In my attempt to impress him, my lungs started burning after just half a mile. I slowed down, glancing at him to see if he had noticed. He was still watching me but I couldn’t make out his expression. I wanted to flop on the ground and gasp for air by the time I had run a mile. Thankfully, Michael had started jogging with his friends. I took advantage of him being in front of me and walked while he couldn’t see me.

  It helped me catch my breath, but as soon as he rounded the corner of the track, I started jogging again. He ran past me and yelled some encouraging words to me. I stopped to walk for the few seconds he was in front of me. He was fast and increasing his pace, so my walk breaks were becoming shorter and shorter with each round.

  After two miles, I couldn’t run any longer. I stopped on the side of the track and started stretching like I had watched other runners do. Soon, Michael’s legs came pounding around the track.

  “Quitting already?” he yelled at me.

  “Nope,” I shouted. “Just getting ready for mile three.”

  He raised his thumb in the air and ran past. I dreaded it, but I had to run some more. I ran my snail’s pace this time. I tried to walk anytime I thought Michael couldn’t see me. Pretty soon, I had gone three miles. My legs felt heavy. I knew I was going to pay for that run tomorrow. A date to Winter Formal would make it all worth it.

  I sat in the bleachers to wait for Michael. He always stopped to give me pointers. It wasn’t long before he was striding toward me, his shirt soaked with sweat.

  “New personal record,” he shouted excitedly. “Seven miles averaging just under six minutes a mile.”

  “Cool,” I said. I still didn’t understand all the excitement over running fast. But I pretended to be as giddy as he was.

  Michael leaned down to tighten his shoe. He raised up and looked out over the track, twisting his torso until his back cracked.

  “Wow, can you believe Winter Formal is less than a month away?” he asked quietly.

  This was the moment I had worked so hard for. I heard a giggle escape from my mouth. “I know. Isn’t it exciting?”

  “Who are you going with?” he asked, turning to face me.

  The question took me off guard. Maybe he was just fishing to find out if I already had a date. I shrugged my shoulders, looking at him expectantly.

  “I’m trying to decide if I should ask Gayle or Chloe. I mean, they’re both hot--”

  Blood rushed into my face and I couldn’t hear anything else he said. All these weeks of massive torture to try to get him to ask me out. All that endless boob bouncing to try to impress him by running. And those freaky blue contacts that I still had problems putting in my eyes each morning.

  He was still talking when I got up and walked away, well, more like limped away. I didn’t care what Michael Walters had to say any longer. I heard his voice trail off and he called my name. I just kept walking till I made it to my car and slid in. I couldn’t even cry. Truth is, I was sick of talking about running and eating and personal records that I didn’t understand or care about. It wouldn’t have lasted beyond Winter Formal for Michael and myself, even if he had asked me to go with him.

  I felt strangely calm when I got to the restaurant. I wasn’t even scheduled to work, but I needed a refuge. Aunt Roma gave me an odd look when I walked in, but she didn’t say a word. Dean didn’t realize I wasn’t scheduled and immediately started barking orders at me. I floated through the evening without even raising my voice to customers. It wasn’t until the next day that cold, hard reality came crashing into my world.

  I was one of the first to arrive at English class so I took my seat in the back to be away from everyone. Kids started eventually coming in, including Michael. He threw me a curious look, but didn’t say anything. He just took his regular seat with his friends. I don’t think he even noticed that my eyes were back to my normal color. No more crazy blue pieces of plastic to try to jab into the center of my eyes at five o’clock in the morning.

  Then Brody came into the classroom. Or should I say, he hobbled on crutches into the classroom. He had a cast on his foot. I didn’t even know he had been hurt. It must have happened at practice because they didn’t have a game. His friends and the girls seated around him started fawning all over him. I think it took a full twenty minutes before Ms. McEnroy was finally able to get the class’s attention.

 
As soon as English was over, I saw Lanie run into the room to help him. Brody laughed, trying to tell everyone to leave him alone. Somehow, that made him even cuter. I leaned over in my seat to pretend I was tying my shoe until Lanie led Brody out of the room.

  By the time I made it to debate class, news of Brody’s injury had circulated throughout the school. Poor Brody. He had broken his ankle during practice. No one knew how many games he would have to sit out. I was pretty much sick of hearing his name as I slid into the seat behind Jared. Not that I was sick of Brody, but really--should news of his broken ankle receive that much attention?

  Something smelled different in the debate room. I sniffed around, trying to figure it out. Then I hit Jared’s shoulder. He smelled like cow manure.

  “Jared, you smell like you took a walk in cow patties,” I whispered over his shoulder.

  “I had to milk the cows this morning before school,” he said with a grin. He looked down at his boots. Sure enough, there was dried cow mature with bits of hay stuck to the bottom of one of them.

  “How come I didn’t notice that?” he drawled, wiping his boot on the carpet.

  You know when you’re so grossed out by something that you feel the gagging reflex starting to come on? Yeah, well that pretty much describes what happened. I felt my tongue stick out of my mouth and I started making choking noises. I wanted to toss my breakfast right then and there.

  I held my breath and moved to the back of the room. I don’t care what Jared thought about that. I did hear him start laughing. Soon enough, the other kids in the class started sniffing the air. The ripe smell of manure was pungent. Mr. Robarb ordered Jared outside to wipe off his boots, but it was too late. The smell had settled into the carpet. No way was it leaving anytime soon.

  We got dismissed from class thirty minutes early because no one could concentrate. I was headed to the library to hide out for lunch when I heard Brody calling my name. I waited for him to catch up to me.

  “What are you doing out of class?” he asked me, trying to balance himself on the crutches.

  “We had a smelly situation,” I said dryly. He laughed even though he had no clue what I was talking about.

  “So, I think I’m gonna be able to work more at the restaurant now that my ankle’s broke,” he said.

  “You don’t have to be at practice?”

  “Nope,” he replied, his teeth flashing in the cold air.

  “Dean will be happy to have the help. Italian food is always popular in cold weather.”

  “Cool,” he said. We fell silent, looking awkwardly around.

  “Well, I’m gonna head to the library to work on debate,” I said suddenly.

  “Yeah, sure. I need to get back to class anyway. Glad to see you stopped wearing those contacts.”

  I had to laugh. Brody wasn’t being mean when he said that. “Time to get back to just being me.”

  “That’s good,” he said earnestly. “Oh, hey. You going with that runner to Winter Formal?”

  “I’m not going,” I told him. “I want to concentrate on a big debate tournament coming up.”

  “I bet he’s disappointed.”

  I shrugged and motioned in the direction of the library. “Gotta run, but I’ll see you at the restaurant.”

  “Bye,” he said and started hobbling back to his class.

  I made my way to the second floor of the library and sank on the floor in between two rows of archeology books. The odds of any kids looking for books in that category were probably non-existent. I leaned my head on the wall and closed my eyes. Why did finding a date have to be so complicated?

  I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, there was a loud clicking of heels on the other side of one of the rows of books. I peeked through the books to see the librarian's black shoes. I looked at the time and gasped. I had slept through the remaining school day. It was after four o’clock and I was supposed to meet Johanna at the track.

  I rubbed at the pain I felt in my stiff neck. I stood up, feeling a sudden cramp in my calf. Payback for running three miles the day before. Funny how my body was just now starting to feel the effects of pushing myself on the track.

  By the time I reached Johanna in the bleachers, I was limping. Of course, she had to sit up high in the bleachers, which made my climb to her even more excruciating.

  “What happened?” Johanna exclaimed when I flopped down on the bench below her.

  “Running,” I replied.

  “Keep it up, Bea. It’s all going to pay off in the end.”

  I turned around to face her. “No, it isn’t, Johanna. Michael is asking someone else to the Winter Formal.”

  Her face registered shock. “What? Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. He asked me advice on which girl he should ask.”

  “I don’t get it. You were getting so close--”

  “Your formula doesn’t work,” I said flatly.

  She swallowed and got a hard look on her face. “The formula does work, Bea. You just didn’t meet all the criteria for Michael.”

  “Are you crazy? I ran my butt of for that date.”

  “Think back to when you did your research. Michael likes skinny girls. If you could have put down the pizza and picked up a forkful of salad, you might have gotten him to ask you.”

  “Great. You’re calling me fat.”

  “You’re bigger than Michael likes, Bea. You know that. You screwed up my diagram by not fitting every criteria for him to ask you out.”

  “Big girl strikes out again,” I said in a low voice, turning my back on Johanna with crossed arms.

  “Look,” she said softly, “I know you’re disappointed, Bea. So am I. But we both have to admit there was a flaw in the calculations. We just have to find you a guy who will like more of your type.”

  “It’s too late for Winter Formal,” I said.

  “Yes,” she agreed. “But if you do exactly what I tell you, we can get you a date for prom. That’s like five months away.”

  I nodded my head, feeling a little sick. Johanna sighed in the silence. She didn’t know what to say to me. We both watched the runners on the track for several minutes before she finally rose.

  “I’m meeting Bradley in fifteen,” she said in a low voice. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

  I stood up. “I need to go, too. Call me later.”

  I slowly followed her down the bleachers, wincing at each step. She was already out of sight by the time I made it to the bottom. A couple of runners waved to me as I passed. I tried to smile but it was an effort.

  Now that I had all my time back to myself, I needed to refocus my efforts on debate. Especially since our big tournament was on the weekend. I still hadn’t found that crucial piece of evidence that I needed to defend my case. I was sure my case had already been passed around to the other schools. Everyone was out for me. Maybe it was time for me to write a whole new case. No one would expect that from me this late in the season. Now I just needed to go over the strategy with Jared so he wouldn’t act dumb in the middle of a round.

  I knew I would find him in the metal building after school. He was working on a project for Sue Nelly to give to her at Winter Formal. I had no idea what it was. I really didn’t care. I didn’t like the smell in the building and had avoided it at all costs.

  I plugged my nose and walked down the long hall, peeking through windows of the classrooms till I found his familiar skinny frame pounding away on a piece of wood in one. I had just opened the door when I heard a cat whistle behind me. I whirled to see an Aggie strolling down the hall, his eyes boldly looking me up and down. He winked when he caught my eye.

  I was so embarrassed that I opened the door to Jared’s room and slipped in, closing it firmly behind me. I definitely wasn’t used to guys whistling at me. And that guy was actually kind of cute.

  “Beatrice? What are you doing here?”

  I turned to face Jared, my face still red. “Hey, Jared. Uh, I was just checking on you. Do you
have time to go over debate?”

  “Not really,” he said slowly. “Come and see what I’m making Sue Nelly.”

  I crossed over to him. There were a couple of other guys in the classroom, but they barely looked up when I passed by. Jared proudly held up an object. At first, it looked like a doll’s bed. I looked at it closer. It definitely was a doll’s bed.

  “What is it?” I asked. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings and tell him what I thought it looked like.

  “It’s a homemade doll’s bed,” he said with a big smile.

  I squinted my eyes and lightly shook my head. “Does Sue want a doll’s bed?”

  “What girl doesn’t?” he asked with wide eyes.

  “Um, maybe a girl who’s seventeen years old?” I suggested with a roll of my eyes.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said in a loud voice. “Are you trying to say you don’t think Sue Nelly will like this after I spent all that time on it?”

  “Jared, why? Why did you think any girl would like that--unless she’s in elementary school and plays with dolls?”

  “My mom collects dolls. She thought it was a really good idea.”

  “Then give it to your mom,” I said bluntly. “Trust me, give Sue a necklace or flowers. No doll bed.”

  “I don’t know, Beatrice. I think you’ve got it all wrong. I mean, you have to admit, you’re different from other girls.”

  “Cool it, farm boy,” I said in a hard voice. “I’m not that different from other girls.”

  “We’ll just agree to disagree,” he said quietly. He carefully placed the bed back on the table.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” I told him. I could see his adam’s apple working overtime in his throat. He was trying not to cry.

  “I should be used to it by now,” he said, clearing his throat.

  I started to argue with him, but the door opened. Wouldn’t you know it? It was the cute Aggie who had whistled at me in the hall. His eyes bore right into me and he made his way to us. I wasn’t sure how to react. I mean, Jared was still fighting back tears.