Super Awkward (24 page)

“
Basically, you get your picture taken on a posh camera – we could use yours, right Bella?” I shrugged my shoulders in a ‘guess so' way, careful not to look at Luke and give away any reminders that might jog his memory about the thing only he knew. “And like Mikey said, we'd all hold up slogans and signs. Then the picture goes straight on to a projector and is beamed up so everyone can see it – really huge, on wall.”

Oh yeah! Maybe my idea was genius after all.

I joined back in.

“The big wall above the piano would be perfect! We could make the whole thing look like a real page in a yearbook? A one-night-only yearbook! A nightbook?!”

Mr Lutas mulled it over.

“It sounds an
interrresting
idea. But do you think you have the time . . . and skill, to make it work?” Motivational teacher strikes again.

“Totally!” Tegan had a point to prove. I knew how her mind worked – if she could make our idea better than Mr Lutas could have hoped, then maybe, just maybe, he'd let us go to prom after all. She carried on. “It's PERFECT. Luke – you know how to make ramps and stuff, so maybe you could use all your woodwork skills to make, like, a giant real-life frame for people to
step
into and pose in?”

Wow. Talking to Luke – she really was pulling out all the stops. Even he looked surprised.

“I g-guess I could?” He seemed reluctant, but didn't want to say ‘no' in front of a teacher. Shame he didn't, though, as the last thing I wanted was for him to get in Mr Lutas's good books. If there were blank pages to be taken, it was going to be us that got them.

Tegan wasn't finished. “Cool – maybe you could make the signs to hold up too? We'd just need big bits of wood, covered in whiteboard paint for people to write on. They'd need to be big enough to read and able to be wiped clean and re-used through the night. They could have cool handles, or be on sticks . . . or be in speech bubble shapes, or have decoration round the edge to make them look a bit nicer?” She paused for breath. “Sound doable?”

Luke looked a bit overwhelmed, but shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘why not?'. But Tegan had enough momentum for us all.

“Bella, you're on point with your photography, so could you work out what other props we need to make the photos look good – maybe lots of funny cut-out shapes to hold up?” I nodded. She glared at me. I
nodded
more enthusiastically.

“Deffosoundsamazing. Like, er, big cardboard moustaches, and tiny hats, and er, tufts of nasal hair. . .”

She smiled, not really listening.

“Great, I can do all the fabric stuff, make banners and things – I've probably got some bits I can borrow from Tailor Swiftly, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind lending out a machine – and Rachel can help with any drawing and painting stuff . . . and Mikey can help out with whatever needs doing?” She looked triumphant. “Sound like a plan?”

Mikey gave a double thumbs up.

“Count me in. I'm a dab hand with some scissors, and, er, needle machines?” The fact he didn't know they were called sewing machines suggested he wasn't, but he really would do anything to hang out with Tegan. If only he knew I'd accidentally got him a whole army of fans after last night's
PSSSST
.

WHEN MY FRIEND, MJ, NEEDED HELP LOGGING

INTO HIS SCHOOL FOLDER HE WAS V RELUCTANT

TO ADMIT HIS PASSWORD. MAYBE COS IT WAS

‘DUMBLEDOREISMYKING'. APAZ THE HARRY

POTTER BOOKS MADE HIM BLUB SO HARD HIS

DAD BANNED THEM FROM THEIR HOUSE.

**
SHAME HE CAN'T GET A LOVE POTION FOR HIS

REAL-LIFE HERMIONE – TEE.**

It'd been my most commented on post yet – if heart eyed emojis count as comments. But all he wanted was for Tegan to like him IRL. And she was still caught up ploting for prom.

“Well in that case, if we'rrre all agreed –” Mr Lutas looked round the group; we murmured various degrees of enthusiasm – “let's spend the rest of this session looking at what we have and coming up with some designs. AND RRREMEMBER –” he hit the table, making us all jump – “whatever we do must be kept secret from your classmates. We don't want to let them down by spoiling their surrrprise.”

Rachel flicked her hair over her shoulder. I recognized this move from her mum – it meant she was about to ask for something.

“You can trust us, Mr Lutas. We'll all going to work reeeally hard because you're totally right, it is something everyone looks forward to.”

But as annoying as Mr Lutas was, he wasn't stupid.

“Let me stop you right there, Ms Waters. Remember, it's not
me
that caused you to be missing out.”

Thwarted.

But Rachel wasn't giving up that quickly. She'd had years of practice of being a one-girl-own-way-getter-er. She could boldly go where no normal person could.

“I know. It was us. And we're really sorry. But maybe, do you think if we work really hard, maybe even put in extra hours, that maybe there
might
be a way of us getting any points to help us go to prom after all?”

We all held our breath.

“Well, Ms Waters, why don't we see? If you all work
rrreally
hard, as you so eloquently put it, then it wouldn't be out of the question, but I guess only time will tell.”

Wow. Rachel had managed the unthinkable?! I mentally high-fived her.

“Thank you, Mr Lutas – I'm sure we all will, won't we?”

We nodded, all on-board, even Luke. For the first time this term, we'd found something we agreed on, and got to work.

Despite the total tragedy of making decorations for a prom I currently wasn't going to, as I sketched and cut out and constructed props, I started to enjoy it. Before I knew it, time was up. Time goes fast when you're fashioning stick-on ear hair from paintbrush bristles.

The
mood lifted by our progess, and prom-ising news, we packed away quickly. Mr Lutas surveyed what we'd achieved. Even he looked a bit happier.

“I have to say, you have done well today. It is
verrrry
ambitious, but many hands make light work, and in Friday's session we'll be getting some extra help from one of the sixth formers.”

ARGH! Way to end on a bombshell. Promshell.
PLEASE
don't let him mean Zac? Zac and Luke and me together was a recipe for disaster – worse than my mum's Parsnip Surprise. I shot Tegan and Rachel a look of distress. Tegan calmly mouthed ‘don't worry'.

I took a deep breath and tried to stop a mental freak-out. There was no reason Mr Lutas would choose a student he'd only just met. I
had
to be rational. Especially as there was no way we could dig for more deets in front of Luke.

But I couldn't offload any panic on the others, as Tegan had to run straight to gym and Rachel's mum was waiting outside to take her to a private self-portrait class for the two of them. I waved my goodbyes from the art room and swung by my locker to get my games kit.

School feels so eerie when the lights aren't on. Like it shouldn't really exist when there aren't people forced
to
be there. My phone lit up the corridor as a message came through.

Hi sis. All OK? Mum's out so I've got tea on.

You back late? X

Result. Clearly the detention letter hadn't arrived yet or Jo would be digging for deets. Phew.

Thx for checking up on me (not). I'm doing

volunteer stuff for prom. Back in 30 x

I wondered if other people had to juggle one and a half mums? Not fair. I grabbed my kit out of my locker and went to stuff it into my school bag. But as I bent over, my locker slammed shut with a bang that bounced off the walls.

“Thought I'd see you here.”

It was Luke.

“Haven't you got something better to do than follow me around? Like getting a life?” I instantly regretted snapping.

“I've got
loads
on, but checking up on you is always a number one priority.”

I trusted Luke about as far as I could throw him
(
which I knew was only twenty-two centimetres because we'd once tried). I picked up my bag to get away. But he grabbed at the strap, pulling me back.

“Shame your ‘boyf' wasn't there today. Was looking forward to comparing notes.”

I wanted to crawl into my locker and slam the door in his face. But Luke had hold of me and I couldn't get away. I had to answer. It was now or never.

I collected up every bit of courage I could find and looked him straight in the eye. Because as scary as it was, I knew what I had to do. If Luke
did
confront Zac, I'd wave goodbye to any hope of ever sorting things out with him. And Zac would wave ciao to his Italian trip.

I
had
to remember that what Zac thinks of me matters a gazillion times more than whatever Luke does. But it still wasn't going to be any fun giving Luke the ammunition he was so desperate for.

“First things first, Luke, let go of my bag.” He didn't move. “Let. Go. Now.”

He dropped his hand to his side, startled by the firmness in my voice.

“Right, this is how it is.” I swallowed. I couldn't believe what I was about to do. “You were right. I made the whole thing up. The holiday romance. The
prom
date. The snog. Well, semi-snog. Trying to make everyone believe it by pretending it was all about that sixth former... Even Rach.” Luke's eyes were so wide he looked like he'd been stretched. I ignored the grin spreading underneath them.

Deep breath, Bella. Push down the knotting in your stomach. Concentrate on what you have to do.

“I never had a photo – but you knew that. The poor new guy must have been so confused. Bad luck for him, having the same name?”

Luke rubbed his hands together.

“I knew it! I. KNEW. IT. It's what I said from day one. Blobfish and her dream world! I CAN'T WAIT to tell the others.”

My heart was beating faster than in the one netball match I'd played in. The reality of this being the main gossip at school tomorrow had smacked me in the face like a cold shower. Still, dragging me down was better than dragging Zac into this. Luke was so excited he'd clenched his fist into a ‘yes'.

“I
said
Fishy Balls could never get a guy like that. Well,
any
guy!”

“I got
you
, didn't I?”

Luke's smile vanished. I'd mentioned the Voldemort of chat. The subject that couldn't be named.

“
You were nothing but a way to make me and my mates laugh. Remember that.”

But neither of us
was
laughing. And maybe that's because there was something that never added up to me. If I
had
just been a joke to him, then why, when no one else was around, had I met his mum – and why had he stuck out an evening with mine?

But I didn't get chance to call him out. We both froze as we heard weird jingling behind us.
Eurgh
. Undeniable Mr Lutas and the jangle of the keys in his pocket he was always fiddling with. Without another word, Luke darted out of sight just as Mr Lutas came out of the geography room. Wonder what he'd been doing in there? Probably looking for Mrs Hitchman. I tried to compose myself, even though my heart was beating so hard it sounded like it had moved to my ears.

“Good work today, Ms Fisherrr.”

Wow. A complement from Mr Lutas. Had the paint fumes got to him? Lucky the lockers were beside me in case I fainted.

“I'm glad I caught you before you headed off.”

My heart sank.
Now
what had I done?

“It slipped my mind earlier, but after the
episode
in my arrrt room last week, I've been meaning to have a word with you.”

I
flinched at how mortified he sounded on my behalf. Nothing like a teacher finding
you
an embarrassment.

“I wanted to let you know that this teaching assignment is verrry important to the sixth formers' course, so please can you be. . .” He thought for a while. Probably looking for a teacherly way of saying something intellectual. “. . .
norrrmal
? Especially as Zac will be helping in next detention sessions.”

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES? If there was a lottery for losing money, I would totally win it. Now Zac was going to know that, on top of everything else, I was a condiment-squirting-detention-getting saddo. And we'd have to make awkward polite supervisor–student convo in front of everyone. BLEURGH. Although major phew that I'd put a stop to Luke's plan to have it out with him. Had I actually managed to do
something
right?!

But why, out of everyone, was it Zac that was helping? Before I could stop it, that exact question popped out of my mouth. Mr Lutas and I were equally caught off guard by my abruptness.

“Well, we need all the hands on deck we can find. And I guess that's part of the job being my s. . .” Mr Lutas stumbled over his last word, looking embarrassed
about
what he'd let slip.

Had I heard him right?

OH MY SWEET CHEESES. If only there was a way to UN-HEAR him.

Mum says, when we're stuck for words, that ‘the cat has got our tongue'. Right now, a herd of lions must have jumped into my mouth, chewed my tongue off, and pan-fried it up for Mary Berry.

I was so speechless, I wasn't sure I'd say anything again until my thirty-second birthday.

Did Mr Lutas just say ‘son'?

CHAPTER

TWENTY
-
TWO

Tegan reckons that if you sleep on something it will always be better in the morning (unless it's a crisp, in which case it would just make crumbs in your bed). But after two more sleeps, I still hadn't got my head anywhere near around Zac being the spawn of the world's worst teacher. Or that Mr Lutas had managed to talk someone into procreating with him. It was completely shuddersome. Last night I'd lost three hours' sleep worrying that in kissing Zac, by seven degrees of spit separation, I'd exchanged saliva with my teacher. It was all too much. When I see Zac in detention later, I'll have to check for signs he'd inherited the overproduction of nose-hair gene. Still, he'd probably still look fit with nose hedges.