The Romeo Club

“Yep,” I said. Should I be worried that he didn’t even say hi first? Great, I had the feeling I’d be dissecting every conversation from here on out.

“Gotta give me the details so I can brag about my girl to everyone. Did you score?”

I laughed. “Yeah, I got three goals. Ken had one. We whomped Cedar.”

“That’s my girl. Listen, I gotta go. I’ll give you a celebratory kiss tomorrow.”

Kenadi popped a bite of granola bar in her mouth. “So, what’d he want?”

“To talk about my game.”

She snorted. “That’s it?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

She shook her head, but didn’t say anything else. Gah, I blamed Trey for making me question my relationship. Hell, I’d been perfectly happy and okay with mine and Rex’s conversations before he’d mentioned it.

I bent down to put my cell away, when it blared to life once more. For a moment, I thought maybe Rex decided to call back, but when I saw the number, I groaned. C.C.

“Hello?”

“Delyla, it’s C.C. I wondered if you could maybe tell me what outfit to wear to school tomorrow?”

“Go with a pair of your new jeans and that green polo shirt.”

“What shoes?”

“Your tennis shoes.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want my feet to look too big. On second thought, you know what they say about big feet,” he said.

“Ew, I think I just threw up in my mouth. Again.”

He chuckled. “Ah, you think I’m funny. Admit it.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. So, is that all you needed?”

“I decided to try out for the play at school. I’ve been in Drama Club for a while, but never had the guts to go out for one of the leads.”

“Imagine that, you, a drama queen.” I rolled my eyes. “So why did you decide to do it now?”

“Liza’s going out for the female lead. So-so I, you know, thought maybe now would be a good time. D-do you think you might help me rehearse some lines on Sunday too?”

I smiled. It was crazy how nervous he got when he talked about Liza. “Sure.”

“I owe you one,” he said.

“And I’m keeping track of how many times you tell me that.”

“Listen, I have to go. My mom’s hollering for me to take the trash out.”

Geez, the things I did for these guys.

Chapter 12

Steam billowed into the locker room from the showers as girls got dressed and changed out of their gym uniforms. The mixture of sweat, perfume, and body spray nauseated me. All I wanted to do was get some fresh air. However, it was probably better than the stench that came from the boys’ locker room. Sweat. Butt. Cologne. Farts. Yeah, it could definitely be worse.

I hopped up and down, trying to get into my skinny jeans. Today definitely wasn’t the day to wear these things. It was like trying to squeeze a watermelon into a straw. Once, I got them on, I put on a pair of flip-flops and adjusted my T-shirt.

“Oh. My. God, you guys,” Portia said. “Trey Garrett is so adorable.”

“Yes, we know. You’ve only told us like thirty times today,” her BFF Jasmine said.

Portia giggled. “It’s just, he’s been talking to me a lot this week. And it’s kind of cool. I mean, he likes a lot of the same shows I do. Get this, he even watches Celebrity Dance Off.”

“Are you sure he’s not gay?” Jasmine puckered her lips as she dowsed them with gloss.

Portia rolled her eyes. “He’s not. Besides, you’re jealous because Bart hates anything dance related.”

I grinned. This was perfect. The Romeo Club worked. Portia noticed Trey. I so couldn’t wait to tell him. But, as I listened to Portia change the subject to the dance routine she planned to do at her next beauty pageant, I wondered for the zillionth time what he saw in her.

With a sigh, I shoved my uniform into my locker and walked into the hall. I wanted to catch Trey before our next class. Even if I didn’t approve of his choice of girls, I still couldn’t wait to tell him what I’d overheard.

People hurried down the hall toward their next classes, pushing and shoving to get through the crowd. Up ahead, I spotted Trey. He smiled when he saw me and called out, “Hey, I need to talk to you.”

“Me too,” I said.

He pushed his way through the masses. Over his shoulder, I noticed Rex who waved for me to come over. I held up my hand to let him know in a minute. When I did that, he also started toward me. Crap, why was he being so dang clingy lately?

Trey reached me first. “Do me a favor,” I said.

“Yeah?”

“Duck and run.” But before we could, I saw Bart catch Rex first. Thank God. As the two of them talked, Rex kept looking in my direction. “Follow me.” I yanked on Trey’s arm.

“What are we doing?”

“Trying to lose my boyfriend.”

Trey peeked over his shoulder. “Just stay low then.”

With a smile, I stared back at where Rex had been standing to find him deep in conversation with Bart. After a second, the two of them began moving in our direction. Damn. I spotted the janitor closet and grabbed Trey’s sleeve.

“Quick, hide in here.”

We rushed into the closet and the door shut behind us. Darkness enveloped us. My leg brushed against his. My heart leapt into my throat. Whoa. Settle down girl. This is Trey.

“Okay, what are we doing in here?”