The Romeo Club

Technically, he had spent time with me yesterday, if I counted his dancing with Poppy the Popsicle. But no way in hell was I about to tell him that. Somehow I’d have to make more time for him soon or he might figure out what I’d really been up to. And, like Kenadi said, that would mean bad things for the Nerd Herd.

***

“Okay, so you’ll take a dab of gel then run it through your hair like this,” I said, showing Kevin the glob of goo on my palm then working it into his hair. I squeezed a little onto his fingers. “Here, now you try.”

His brow furrowed as he leaned closer to the bathroom mirror. “Like this?”

“Yep, now don’t be scared to mess it up some.”

Kevin followed my instructions and soon his hair stood up in messy, stylish tufts. “Sweet, this actually worked.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course. Did you ever doubt me?”

He laughed. “Well … ”

From down the hall, we heard the front door open, which meant Trey finally made it. The whole group was here now. I put away the gel and we headed downstairs to find everyone sprawled out.

“So, how did your date go?” I shot Trey a smile.

“It went okay. No huge mess-ups or anything. And,” he said, “I snagged another date with her tomorrow night.”

“What? You waited to tell me until now?” I squealed. “Where are you going?”

“To the movies. I figure that way we won’t have to talk a lot.”

“The movies, eh?” C.C. waggled his brows. “Are you gonna pretend to reach for the popcorn and grab something else?”

“More like he’s gonna probably French her face off.” Kevin chuckled, making kissy sounds on his hand.

I stared at the ceiling. “And you guys wonder why you’ve been single all this time.”

They laughed and continued to give Trey pointers on the things he could do on his first date. Some of which made me blush. After about ten minutes of it, I decided maybe I’d come back later when they settled their hormones some. “I think I’m gonna leave you guys to it for a while. Don’t forget, we have our TRC outing this upcoming weekend. We’ll be going over movie etiquette.” I hurried out of the room.

When I got to the stairs, C.C. caught me. “Delyla, um—I wanted to let you know that I’m in the spring play. I actually got the part.”

“That’s awesome. Congrats.” I patted his shoulder.

He ran a hand through his hair and focused on the floor. “The thing is Liza got the lead opposite of me. And we’re becoming friends. But I’m not sure how to get beyond being drama club buddies with her.”

“When’s your next practice?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Okay. So invite her out to pizza afterward or offer to help her with her lines. Since the two of you will be in a lot of the same scenes together, it’d make sense to have practice times outside of drama club.”

C.C. hit his head. “You’re a genius. Practicing lines with her is the perfect excuse to spend more time together.”

“Well, I don’t know about genius,” I teased.

“We owe you big time, I hope you know that. Not many girls would do what you’re doing for us.” He grinned then went back down to join the others.

In my room, I sat at my desk with my Trig book opened, trying to concentrate on my math problems. I couldn’t believe how well things were going for everyone. Trey already had another date with Portia planned. It didn’t seem possible. What could they have to talk about? Sure the Celebrity Dance Off, but how long could Trey play along with that?

But I had to admit, it was awesome seeing how excited the Nerd Herd was with their progress. They’d come a long way in a short time. So why did that bother me so much? Maybe because your own relationship isn’t as strong as you thought.

A knock sounded on my door and Drake slipped into my room. “Hey, I haven’t gotten to talk with you much lately. But I wanted to tell you that you’re doing a good thing for those guys.”

I set my pen down and smiled. “Thanks. It’s nice to see them so happy. I mean, even C.C. has been super excited about this—or rather Liza.”

He leaned against the wall, his eyes intent on me. “Then why don’t you seem happy?”

That was easy. Rex. I mean Rex was nice and hot, but it didn’t go beyond that. We didn’t have real conversations, as Trey pointed out. Our coupledom was epic amongst our fellow juniors and seniors because we’d lasted so long. And we were both so into sports and popular that it seemed like we made sense. But deep down, I wasn’t so sure. However, I didn’t want to get into this with Drake, especially since he wasn’t Rex’s biggest fan to start with.

“I’m fine. Just have loads of homework.”

Drake frowned and I knew he didn’t believe me, but he let it go. “That’s what you get for taking a bunch of AP classes.”

And helping a group of nerds de-nerdify.

Chapter 16

Rex threw the football to Bart, who rushed across the lush green grass of the Tallac’s estate. Flag football, my boyfriend’s idea of a date. Basically, he and his buddies played and all the girlfriends watched.