My patience reaches its limit when I feel him watching me pick up trash.
“Can you stop?”
“What?” he asks, as ifI’mthe one acting weird.
“Quit staring.”
Seph makes a face at me. “Feel mo naman.” He brushes it off while sneaking yet another glance.
I groan and resume keeping him out of my sightandmind.
Then he says, “I thought about calling you yesterday.”
Hearing this makes my heart thump in my chest, and I tell myself to quit it. This boy isn’t worth all that. Holding hands with Seph never happened, remember?
Still, I ask, “Yeah? What about?”
“How we deserved a prize over Mercury Retrograde.”
“Right?Right?” Him bringing it up gets me going. “Did you see how their singer was mumbling through the lyrics?”
“No one in the audience was singing along during their set!”
“And they performed a Beatles song,” I say. “If you can’t getpeople to sing along with you during a Beatles song, then that’s ayouproblem.”
The sides of his eyes crinkle when he grins. “You were this worked up over not getting the solo toThe Little Mermaidtoo.”
“‘Part of Your World’ isAriel’ssong,” I state the fact yet again. “It doesn’t make sense that Direk Myka gave it to the other mermaids just because the parents wanted to see their kids sing.”
“So you enjoyed performing again, huh?”
Seph smiles with his whole face, and honestly, it’s getting annoying. Like, people aren’t supposed to look cute when they’re super smiley! Having his eyes crinkle and his nose scrunched up that much must give him premature wrinkles.
“Did you hear that whoever won BOB would perform at the Saint Agnes prom?” Seph then asks.
I scoff. “Glad that’s not us then.”
The dread sets in when I remember my promise to Kayla. “How long do you think I have to stay? If I leave prom after five minutes, would Kayla notice?”
“Is this before or after your bikini beatboxing performance?”
He’s still laughing when I kick the back of his leg.
“It won’t be that bad.” His foot bumps the side of mine. “Come on. You should at least get some of the food.”
“Fine,” I relent. “Ten minutes then.”
We’re interrupted when my alarm for school goes off. As I’m grabbing my backpack, I hear Seph ask, “Want me to go with you?
“You said that the school would allow Kayla and Dani to go together if they were in a group,” he adds. “Maybe it’d be more convincing if you were four people.”
I pause, still processing his words.
“Are you asking me tomyprom?”
“No,” he says immediately. “I mean, I’m just offering… In case you wanted someone else there while Kayla and Dani have their moment.”
“I don’t mind being on my own,” I tell him.
