The Romeo Club

I bumped him with my shoulder. “Your face is still red.”

He wrapped an arm around me and messed up my hair. “Keep laughing and I’ll have to beat you up.”

“Oh, I’m so scared.” My gaze shifted ahead as we walked toward Bogarty’s Ice Cream Shop. As we past Trey’s house, I spotted Jimbo in old Mr. Lancaster’s yard going through the trash. When the dog noticed us, he picked something up from the ground and ran toward us.

“What’s he got?” I asked.

Jimbo darted in front of us and dropped a magazine at our feet. Curious, I bent down and picked it up. My cheeks grew hotter than a summer bonfire. Great, he’d picked up a porno mag. On the front cover was a lady showing everything and then some.

“Oh God, I’ll never be able to look Mr. Lancaster in the eye again. The guy’s like eighty.”

Trey’s face turned a nice shade of scarlet, which I’m sure matched mine. “Um—maybe we should … ”

“Hey, where are you guys going?” Mom came out of nowhere. She smiled at us until her gaze drifted to what I held in my hands. Her eyes bulged.

Oh crap.

“Delyla Denson!”

“Whoa, it’s not what you thing. Jimbo took it out of Mr. Lancaster’s trash,” I said.

She stood, hands on her hips. “Just like he stole my bra and your dad’s underwear. Your stories are getting out of control. So, tell me, are you into something weird?”

“Ms. Denson,” Trey started.

“Maybe I better make you a doctor appointment to get you on the pill.”

“Mom!” Holy hell balls, she’s crazy. “This isn’t mine.”

“Have you two been sneaking off together with these kinds of magazines? You know these people and what they do and show, aren’t realistic.”

For the love of God. Please let the ground just open and swallow me up.

Trey chuckled. “No. This isn’t ours.” He pointed to the ripped trash bag in Mr. Lancaster’s driveway. “Jimbo really got it from there.”

Mom finally saw the mess scattered across the lawn and driveway. “Oh. So this really isn’t yours?”

“No,” we said in unison.

She snatched the magazine from me. “I’m sorry. Why don’t I just take this and you two can be on your way.” She rolled it up in her hand and walked back to our house.

“I sure hope she’s gonna throw that away.” Trey nudged me.

“Ew, did you have to say that? You’re giving me horrible images.”

He laughed. “I think we’re even on the parent front today.”

“Yeah. Do you think they get together to plan out embarrassing conversations to have with their kids?”

“At this point, I’d say anything is possible.”

A few minutes later we arrived at Bogarty’s. We went inside and found Kevin working the counter.

“Hey,” he said. “I thought you had a date tonight?”

“I do. But I wanted to treat Del out for helping me.” Trey took some cash from his pocket. “Can we get two chocolate vanilla swirl ice creams?”

Warmth spread through my chest. He remembered my favorite flavor. How is it he knew more about me than my boyfriend?

“Coming right up.” Kevin took his money then gave him the change. He waved me closer to the counter then leaned forward. “Melanie’s working tonight.” He nodded to a petite girl making milkshakes. She had black hair with a shock of electric blue highlights. Her ears had numerous piercings, and she wore dark eyeliner. She had the whole rocker chick thing going on.

“She’s pretty,” I said. And to say I was surprised was an understatement. She didn’t seem like his type, but then again, who was I to judge.

He grinned. “Yeah. She is.” He handed us our ice cream. “I’ll see you guys later.”

I licked the side of my cone to keep the chocolate from dripping. Trey and I sat down in a corner booth and devoured our food. When I finished, I wiped my mouth with a napkin. My eyes shifted to the window. No way. Did he have GPS attached to me or something?

I shot to my feet. “Crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Rex is here with his friends. I told him I was having a Science Club meeting today.”

Trey followed my gaze. “They’re coming in.”

We rushed toward the counter. Maybe there was a back way out. “Kevin. We need to hide.”

“What?”

“Rex.” I nodded over my shoulder. “Please, Kev. There’s gotta be a back way out.”

“I can’t let you go through the kitchen. I’ll get fired.” He glanced behind him.

“Ah, I’m so dead.”

“Wait, I have an idea. Hey, Melanie can you watch the register for a second?”

She looked up. “Sure. But hurry.”

“Thanks.” He came around the counter. “Quick, follow me.” He led us down a narrow hall toward the bathrooms. But before we got there, he opened a door and pulled out two costumes.

“Oh brother. I’m not gonna like this, am I?” Trey took a giant ice cream cone costume from him.

“Nope. In fact, you’ll probably hate it. But it’s the only thing I got.” He handed me a Poppy the Popsicle costume.

I groaned. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”

“Hurry up, he’s coming in.” Kevin shoved the giant popsicle over my head.