The Romeo Club

I put my arms in, while he tugged it down. He then put big rubber shoes on me. I attempted to adjust the top so I could see out the eyeholes. Next to me, I saw Trey and giggled. His head looked like a giant vanilla swirl ice cream. The cone part came down to his ankles so he had to waddle while he walked.

Kevin, shut the closet. “Just go out in the lobby area and dance around or something. When he leaves, you can get out of here.”

“You owe me big,” Trey said from beside me.

Just then a group of elementary kids saw us. “Look it’s Poppy the Popsicle and Icy the Ice Cream.”

In that moment, I wanted to die. Kids screeched at our legs. I hopped around in circles, giving them high fives. I attempted a booty shake dance and nearly toppled over, right into Rex’s lap.

“Hey, Rex. Looks like Poppy has a thing for track stars.” Bart laughed and slapped his back. “If you want to dance with the popsicle, I won’t tell Delyla.”

Rex grinned, grabbed my giant rubber hands and twirled me around. “Hey, can I get my picture taken with you?”

Holy balls. This wasn’t good. “Sure,” I said in a high-pitched Minnie Mouse type voice. He held up his phone and leaned in close. Wow, this would be one for the memory books.

“I think the popsicle is melting at your touch,” Bart said. “Maybe you should go for the ice cream cone instead.”

If he made one more popsicle comment, I was gonna shove my stick somewhere where the sun didn’t shine. Behind me, I heard Trey mutter something about a jackass.

At last, Kevin called them up to the counter for their order.

“See you, Poppy.” Rex patted my back.

“Yeah, see you,” I said in the same high-pitched voice from before.

When they left, Trey and I raced to take the costumes off.

“Remind me never to come to the ice cream shop with you again,” Trey said. “I swear, if one more kid hit me in the crotch, I was gonna shove them in a trash can.”

“At least you didn’t have to deal with my boyfriend.” I laughed.

“Yeah, there’s that. But I think I’m ready to go now.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. Goodbye ice cream, hello world.

Chapter 15

Kenadi and I sat at a table in the back of the library, away from everyone else. “So yeah, then my mom takes the magazine. I swear between that and the whole ice cream shop thing, I wanted to die.”

She laughed. “Still can’t believe Rex didn’t realize it was you in the costume.”

“I’m glad he didn’t figure it out. I never thought it’d be so hard to juggle everything. Rex is getting frustrated because I’m busy, but I have to help the guys or I won’t earn money for my dress. Not to mention, soccer and school.”

“You’ll get it handled. Besides, Rex doesn’t own you and needs to realize you have outside interests other than watching him play sports. Or him in general.”

“I know. But I still feel bad. I don’t like lying.”

“Yeah, but you know what Rex and his friends would do to the Nerd Herd’s reputations if they caught wind of this? Don’t get me wrong, your boyfriend is super nice and good to you, but he can be a total dick to other people.”

Ken had a point, which again made me wonder why I was with someone like that. The thing was a lot of it stemmed from his friends. He went along with it though, which in my book didn’t make him any better. At least, when I was around, he kept the snide comments and crap to a minimum. According to Bart, his best friend, I’d changed Rex and he wasn’t as fun anymore.

“I know. Trust me. I talked to him about it,” I said.

“Speaking of Rex.” Kenadi nodded across the way to where he’d walked in. “Listen, I’ll catch you later. Good luck with TRC today.”

Rex scanned the room until he saw us. He sauntered between the shelves and tables. When he reached me, he plopped down beside me and scooted his chair closer. “You never came into the cafeteria to eat.”

“Sorry. I had to get this stupid Lit paper finished. I only had a few paragraphs left,” I said.

“I thought it wasn’t due until next week?” His fingers entwined with mine.

“It’s not, but I’m not sure how much time I’ll have over the weekend to work on it. You know me. I’d rather have it done ahead of time.”

He smiled, bringing my hand to his lips. “So, my parents are having this fundraiser dinner in a week and I wondered if you could go? It’ll be a formal thing so you’ll have to dress up.”

“Oh, my gosh, I’d love to go. I have this super cute black dress I can wear.”

His eyes blazed with something between want and excitement. “And I can’t wait to see you in it.”

I glanced around then leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “See, I told you we’d be able to spend time together soon.”

He stared at our hands. “So, I stopped at your house yesterday after my track meet. Your mom said you were out with Trey Garrett.”

Oh crap. “We had Science Club stuff, which I told you about.”

“I know. I’m just being paranoid. But I hate that you’re spending so much time with those dip shits. I miss hanging out with you.”