“Oh—um—it’s nothing, just something Hannah said.”
Jack slaps my shoulder. “Dude, you can’t say something like that, and then not tell me.”
I scrub a hand down my face. “This stays between you and me.”
“Always.”
I glance up the stairs to make sure no one is around. “Your mom had Hannah go on birth control. Hannah said she was insistent on it. Now I understand why.”
Jack’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline, and he sits on the sofa beside me. I don’t know how to gauge his reaction. “You’re always careful, right?”
“Yeah, we always use a condom, even though she’s on birth control. I love Hannah.” I laugh. “Your sister would surprise you.”
“I have no doubt—but you and Clark fornicating is the last thing I ever want to think about.” Jack shudders.
“You’re being dramatic, dude, and you’re the one who had to know. Come on, let’s go over to Ty’s. Your mom gave me an idea on how to ask the girls to homecoming.”
“So, what do you think?” I ask the guys when I’m done presenting my idea.
“And we have to do this tomorrow?” Cam asks.
“Yes, it’s short notice, but it’s only….” I glance at my watch. “3 o’clock. We have plenty of time.”
“How are we going to make the shirts?” Ty asks.
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far. We can buy some printable iron on paper, type something up on my laptop, print it out, and iron it on. Easy Peasy.” I snap my fingers. “If that doesn’t work, we can take a black sharpie and write on the shirts. Girls know we have no craft skills. They’ll think it’s adorable.”
“I text Beckett. He said Piper and two other cheerleaders can help us choreograph a short dance at five. I just need to tell him where we want to meet,” Jack says.
Tyler shakes his head. “We’re never gonna get the shirts bought and made before 5.”
“We can make them after we learn the dance. It’s not like we’re learning how to do a kick line. It’s thirty seconds of being funny. Look, I know it’s last minute, and I’m screwing up all our plans. I’ll do something on my own. I’ll borrow Beckett’s karaoke machine, stand on a table in the middle of the lunchroom, and ask Hannah to the dance. You guys can keep your plans for Friday.”
“No. We do this together. What if we skip the shirt idea and just do the dance and give the girls flowers?” Jack suggests.
I nod. “I’m good with that.”
“But I like the shirt idea.” Ty pouts. “But we are under a time crunch, and I want to do this together too.”
“I knew this would happen,” Cam mutters. “I just knew it.”
“Uh—are you okay, buddy?” Ty asks, patting Cameron’s back.
Cam lets out a long sigh. “My mom can help us.” He grabs his phone and stands up.
“That’s great, Cam, but how?” Jack asks.
“She can make our shirts. She makes shirts using vinyl. I’m not exactly sure how she does it, but she has an entire room in the basement dedicated to it. We just have to tell her what we want the shirts to say, and she’ll do the rest.” He looks at Jack. “Tell Beck and the cheerleaders to meet at my house.”
“I can run to the store and grab the shirts,” I say, standing up.
“No need. She has hundreds of shirts. She’ll have enough for us and the girls.”
“Yes.” I rub Cam’s shoulders. “You’re the best.”
He points a finger at all of us. “She likes to talk, and she gets overly involved. Don’t be surprised if she shows up at the school tomorrow to videotape it or do crazy things like that. You’ve all been warned.”
“It’s worth it if we don’t have to make those shirts,” Ty says as we file out the door.
