“Absolutely,” Mom says. “You pick your colors and I’ll make it for you. Free of charge.”
“Oh no, I’m happy to pay.”
Mom shakes her head. “Homecoming king gets a free mum. It’s tradition.”
Zane gives her a sheepish grin. “I don’t know if I’ll be king. I’m pretty new to the school.”
Mom chuckles. “Trust me, you will. And Zara will be your queen. I’ll make you matching mums. It’ll be so cute!”
How did I think it would be less embarrassing with Jackie away at school? My mom is just as capable of embarrassing me as anyone else. “Okay, just wanted to show him the factory. We’re gonna go now.” I reach out for Zane’s hand to tug him away, but the moment my hand touches his, I get all nervous and warm.
I pull him out of the office and then promptly let go.
“Aww,” Zane says with a fake pout. “I liked that.”
“Liked what?” I say. “Watching my mom make mums?”
“No.” He lightly bumps into me with his shoulder. “The holding your hand part.”
I roll my eyes and turn so he can’t see my flushed cheeks. “Let’s go outside. If my dad finds out you’re in here, he’ll want to talk to you about football for hours.”
Zane chuckles as we make our way back outside and onto my porch. “I don’t mind talking football for hours, but I definitely would rather be here with you, not talking about football.”
He sits on the bench on our porch and I sit next to him. “What do you want to talk about?” I ask.
“Well… what about that date?”
“You still want to date me? After knowing about my family’s weird homecoming queen tradition and my mom’s obsessive mum making?”
He reaches out and brushes the hair from my face. It’s such a soft, quick gesture, but it sends my insides into a crazed frenzy. “None of that matters. When I’m with you, it feels like I’m with a friend. You’re not someone who is just being nice to me in the hopes of cashing in on my football status.”
“Definitely not,” I say.
He grins. “Plus, we’re apparently going to be homecoming king and queen. I feel like that’s reason enough to go on a date. So what do you say?”
My heart races with the way he’s watching me. “I’ll go on a date with you,” I say.
His head dips toward me. “I can’t wait.”
I glance around. It’s still daylight outside. I know if I have to plan a date and then get dressed for it, I’ll be so nervous I might chicken out. I swallow. “How about right now?”
Nine
Zane
“Now?”I look around. “It’s a Monday.”
Zara shrugs. “My curfew is eleven on school days. What’s yours?”
I shrug. “My parents don’t really care. But then again, I’m never out too late.”
She’s still wearing the clothes she wore to school, and I’m in my lazy workout clothes. They’re clean, because I showered in the locker room, but they’re nothing date-worthy. Aren’t dates supposed to be some huge ordeal? Andrea would take hours getting ready for a date and then she’d still make me wait another half hour at her house before she was finally dolled up enough to go out in public.
But you know what? That was just Andrea. That’s not some universal rule for dating. I could go on a date anywhere at any time with anyone. Even now, on a school night, in my lazy workout clothes, with a beautiful girl who lives next door to me.
“Never mind,” Zara says, shaking her head. “It was a dumb idea.”
I must have taken too long to reply. “No!” I reach out and grab her hand. “I like it. Let’s do it. You and me, date night right now.”
