The Romeo Club

I pushed through the crowds of people as I made my way into school. My ballet flats slid across the scuffed tiles as I adjusted my backpack, which weighed like five tons. With all the homework they handed out in my AP classes, it’d be a miracle if I maintained my 4.0 average. But if I wanted to keep from taking final exams, I had to make sure my grades didn’t fall. This was one of the few school policies I liked. If you got A’s all four marking periods in your classes then you didn’t take the exams.

Wanting to get my science paper handed in early, I headed straight for Mr. Braxon’s room. I came up short when I noticed Rex leaning against his desk. With a groan, I pressed myself against one of the blue lockers.

“Hey, Mr. B,” he said. “I wondered if you might assign me to tutor Delyla Denson instead of C.C., Kevin, and Trey.”

Oh crap. I’m so dead. This whole lying thing was way over my head—and obviously I wasn’t very good at it.

“Delyla Denson? She doesn’t need a tutor. Her grades are fine,” Mr. Braxon said.

Why the heck is he checking up on me?

Not wanting to get caught eavesdropping, I hurried past the door and down the hall. I needed a new excuse and fast. When I got to my locker, which was located right next to Drake’s, I saw the Nerd Herd hanging out.

“Okay guys, I’m in deep shit here. If Rex asks why we’re hanging out, tell him I joined the Science Club with you guys and I’m helping you with projects.”

“And why should we do that?” C.C. smoothed down one of his new T-shirts.

“It’s either that or I tell him about The Romeo Club. Your choice.”

“We’ll tell him whatever you ask us to,” Kevin said, slugging C.C. in the chest. “Don’t ruin this for us you dick.”

He held his hands up. “I was teasing. Can’t any of you ever take a joke?”

“No,” we all said in unison.

As a crowd of girls walked past, I saw several of them turn to give the Nerd Herd a second glance. Project makeover, an official success. Now, I just needed to make sure that the right girls took notice.

I glanced down the hall and saw Portia opening her locker. Perfect. I nudged Trey, whose locker happened to be near hers. “You know, now would be a good time to go talk to her. She’s alone and she’s got her locker open.”

“Um, and why do I care if she’s getting into her locker?” He frowned.

“Her dance posters are hanging up. Act like you’re getting your books out and notice them. Then you can be like “Oh, you like dance too.” See, perfect conversation starter and it will open it up for you to bring up the new dance show episodes we watched.”

“Wait, he watches Celebrity Dance Off?” C.C. interrupted, a smirk appearing on his freckled face.

“Yes,” Trey said. His face turned a nice shade of strawberry.

“Since when?”

“Since he’s trying to get a date,” I said.

C.C. opened his mouth to ask another question and I pinched his arm.

“Ow, why does everyone keep beating on me today?” He rubbed the spot I’d squeezed.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s because you won’t shut your mouth.” My gaze rested on him.

He grinned. “That’s okay. I love it when girls are rough.”

Seriously, he was such a pig. “And again with the mouth.”

Trey took a deep breath. “Okay, I can do this.”

“Yep. And I’ll be right here if you need me.” I slid my backpack off and leaned against the wall.

“All right, here goes nothing.” He sauntered down the hall, stopped at his locker, then grabbed his books out for first hour. He leaned closer to Portia and said something.

Damn, I wished I was closer. But whatever he’d said made her smile, and I saw her point to various pictures hanging up in her locker. Oh. My. God. She was buying it.

Just then, in the middle of watching my work of perfection, Rex stepped in front of me. His lips turned down in a frown, his arms crossed his chest. “We need to talk.”

Uh-oh. This wouldn’t be good. I gave him a forced smile, but my stomach knotted. We’d been together for several months and had never had a fight. Hell, I’d never fought with any guy I dated.

“Sure. What’s up?” I tried to pretend like I didn’t know what this was about.

He led me a few feet away from the guys and said, “You lied to me, Del. I know you’re not getting tutored. Hell, you’re getting better grades than me right now.” He glanced down the hallway. “So, my question is what the heck is going on? Do you not want to hang out with me anymore or something?”

My pulse roared in my ears. “No. That’s not it. I promise. Okay, here’s the thing—I-I joined the Science Club.”

His mouth fell open. “What?”

“I was embarrassed—I mean, Science Club is normally reserved for nerds.” I nodded in the direction of the Nerd Herd. Although, deep down I was just as big of a dork as they were—I just hid it better.

Rex let out a long breath, took a step toward me, and pulled me into his arms. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that. I thought maybe you’d found some other guy or something. Next time, just tell me the truth, okay?”