The Perfect Prom Date (9 page)

     
“Hi, Brennan. Come in,” I said shyly, opening the door wider and motioning with my other hand for him to enter. I was a ball of nerves. This was the first time EVER that I had invited a boy over to my house. And Brennan wasn’t just any boy – he was THE boy.

     
“Hey,” he smiled, instantly brightening the entryway.
 

     
I stood there awkwardly for a minute, unsure of what to do next. I still had a hard time believing that Brennan was here. He reached out and took my hand. I looked down and smiled. There was something so right about it that I knew I had nothing to fear. Everything was going to turn out fine.
 

     
“The pizza just got here, and my mom made a big salad to go with it. Let’s go eat.
 
I’m starving,” I said, leading Brennan into the kitchen. I let go of his hand to grab two plates out of the cupboard. I handed him one, “Help yourself.”

     
“What do you want to drink?” I peered into the refrigerator, “We have milk, diet coke, root beer, and water.”

     
“What are you going to have?” He asked me.
 

     
“I’m having root beer, of course.”

     
“Me too then,” he chuckled.
 

     
I grabbed two root beers and handed him one. Then I filled my plate with pizza and salad. “It’s nice out tonight, let’s go eat outside on the back porch. My parents are out there, and I want to introduce you.”
 

     
“Lead the way.” Brennan nodded and followed me outside, easily balancing his plate and soda.

     
“Mom, Dad, this is Brennan. Brennan, this is my mom,” I said pointing to the dark haired woman with green eyes, “and this is my dad,” I said gesturing to the other end of the table. “As you can see, I obviously inherited my bright red hair from him.”
 

     
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” my dad teased.

     
“Don’t even get me started,” I sighed, sitting down.
 

     
Brennan set his plate down next to mine, and then shook hands with my parents, “Nice to meet you both.”

     
We talked with my parents, as we ate. Brennan told them all about baseball and his plans for college. My mom smiled a lot, while my dad simply nodded his head. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought my parents liked him.
 

     
“I know Ellie is getting ready to meet some friends. Josie, are you two still planning on staying in and renting a movie tonight?” my mom asked, finishing the last bite of her pizza.

     
“Yeah,” I said, suddenly feeling tense. Was my mom actually going to suggest that Brennan and I go with Ellie to the party?

     
“That’s what I thought,” she smiled. “I just wanted to let you know that you and Brennan can watch one down in the basement. Dad and I are calling dibs on the family room TV.”

     
I always knew that my mom was pretty cool, but I wasn’t so sure about my dad. I thought for sure he’d object, but he didn’t. I guess Brennan had really impressed him with his plan to major in aerospace engineering.
 

     
“Thanks,” I said hardly believing my good fortune. I was going to be spending the evening with MY GORGEOUS GUY, hanging out watching a movie down in the basement, and my parents approved!
 

     
“Come on, Sean, let’s leave this two to finish their pizza.” My mom pushed back from the table and stacked my dad’s empty plate along with hers.
 

     
My dad took his time, but followed her back into the house.
 

      
“They seem cool,” Brennan said, when the door closed behind them
 

     
“Yeah, they’re alright,” I agreed. I was lucky to have such understanding parents.

     
A few minutes later, we finished eating and were on our way to the basement. Suddenly, Ellie appeared wearing tight jeans and a skimpy top. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw us, scowling. “What’s going on, sis?” she asked, accusingly.
 

     
“Nothing. We’re staying in tonight.”

     
“Well, that’s nothing new for you,” Ellie said snidely, “but what is Brennan doing here?” She looked him up and down, and I felt my anger rise. I wanted to slap her across the face for checking out MY GUY right in front of me.
Who does she think she is?
 

     
“Brennan is here to see me.” My eyes flashed angrily.
 

     
“Oh, that’s right, you’re tutoring him in math, I forgot.” Ellie refused to believe that a hot guy like Brennan would willingly choose to hang out with me.
 

     
“Not tonight,” said Brennan, casually. “No books.”
 
He lifted up his hands to demonstrate that they were empty.

     
Ellie frowned and her forehead wrinkled.
 

     
I smiled broadly, not hiding my happiness. “Brennan and I are going to watch a movie down in the basement.”

     
“WHAT? This is wrong on so many levels,” Ellie complained.
 
Her voice rose with every word, “Mom and dad never let me hang out down there with a boy.”

     
“I wonder why?” I rolled my eyes.
 

     
“What I wonder,” Ellie put her hands on her hips for emphasis, “is why Brennan is here with a loser like you?”

     
“Fuck you, Ellie.” I took a step closer to her. This time I really was going to hit her.
 

     
“Are you going to show Brennan your temper?” she asked in a patronizing voice, watching me closely. “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” She turned to Brennan, “Redheads are known for their bad tempers. You could do so much better.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and stuck out her chest.
 

     
Brennan put his arm around me and pulled me to him. “I like redheads, temper and all.” He leaned closer to Ellie and whispered, “I actually think it’s kind of hot.

     
Now it was Ellie’s turn to be angry. Only Ellie didn’t show her temper, she just got even. The smug look on her face made my stomach queasy. “Here’s an idea, you should ask Josie to show you her binder -”

     
“Ellie,” my dad interrupted, coming out of his office with his keys, “aren’t you late enough already. Wasn’t I supposed to drop you off at Kathy’s over an hour ago?” I sighed with relief. My dad had good timing.
 

     
Even though I knew this thing with Ellie wasn’t finished, I put it out of my mind for now. I ignored her and grabbed Brennan’s hand, “Come on, I’ll show you around downstairs.”

     
Moments later I heard the front door slam.
 

     
“My parents had it finished off a couple of years ago.” I led Brennan through the various rooms while commenting, “This is the game room. As you can see, we have a pool table, a ping pong table, and a sitting area with a TV for the Wii.”

     
Brennan walked by the pool table and ran his hand across it.
 
“Do you ever play?”

     
“Sometimes. And to be fair, I should warn you that I’m pretty good.”

     
He didn’t comment, but smiled.
 

     
“Over here is the exercise room.” I led him down the short hall and opened the first door on the right. “My dad put this in to make my mom happy. She’s really the only one who uses it.” I continued down the hall, “This is a powder room. And finally for my favorite room of all,” I opened the last door and turned on the lights, “the movie theater room. Complete with popcorn machine.” I pointed to the corner.
 

     
“Sweet.” He nodded his head in approval. “I’m glad we decided to hang here.”

     
“What do you want to do first?” I asked. “Do you want to play a game?”

     
“Sure.” We went back into the main room. “What’s your favorite?”

     
“No, not again,” I shook my head. “I asked you first. You can’t answer my question with one of your own.” I put my hands on my hips. “What do you want to do?” I asked in a firm voice.

     
“You know, you’re cute when you get angry.”
 

     
I drew my eyebrows together.
 

     
“Okay, okay.” He looked around, “Pool.” His eyes turned brighter and he smirked. “I want to see if you’re as good at pool as you said.”
 

     
I laughed. “You’re on.” I couldn’t resist a challenge. I had been playing pool with my grandfather since I was little. I grabbed the triangle and racked the balls. “Ready?” I watched as he chalked his cue stick. “You can break.”

     
“Well, thank you.” Brennan bent down and lined up his shot. I couldn’t help but admire his backside. His jeans fit him perfectly. He glanced over his shoulder at me, and I quickly pretended to be fixing my shirt. I didn’t want him to know that I was totally checking him out. He smiled and then sunk two striped balls.
 

     
“Lucky shot,” I said, hoping it was true.

     
“Maybe,” he winked, sinking another.

     
I quickly discovered that I wasn’t the only one good at pool. It didn’t take long before we each only had one ball left, plus the eight ball.
 

     
It was my shot. I had to maneuver around until I was practically leaning across the table. I could feel Brennan’s eyes on me, making me feel self-conscious about sticking my butt out so far and my chest was almost touching the table. I sunk the cue ball into the pocket, “Shoot,” I said, blushing.
How am I supposed to make a shot when an incredibly hot guy is staring at me?
 

     
Brennan chuckled.
 

     
“It’s your fault, you know,” I pouted. I hated losing.
 

     
“How is it my fault that you can’t concentrate when I’m watching?” He sank the last striped ball, followed by the eight ball, winning the game.

     
“It doesn’t count because you cheated,” I teased. I hung my cue stick back on the rack and shook his hand, “Good game.”

     
He smiled and lingered over my hand before letting go. My pulse quickened. “Let’s play something else. You pick. And I promise,” he crossed his heart with his right hand, “not to distract you.”

     
I laughed, reveling in how fun it was to be with Brennan, each of us flirting in our own ways.
 

     
I skipped over to the sitting area, “How about Wii? It’s been forever since I played.” I thought video games would be a safe choice because they didn’t require a lot of concentration to play.

     
“Sure. What games do you have?”
 

     
I bent down and opened the drawer to where we kept them and began reading the titles, “Just Dance 3, Just Dance Summer Party, Big Brain Academy, Dancing with the Stars, Smarty Pants, Wii fit, Wii play, or Guitar Hero.

     
“What, not a single Mario game?” He put his hand over his heart and pretended to be wounded. “No Mario Cart or Super Mario Brothers?”

     
I shook my head no.
 

     
“My brothers are never going to believe it when I tell them. Mario Cart is like a religion to them.”
 

     
I laughed. I could easily picture Brennan and his three brothers sitting around playing Mario. “Ellie and I only have girlie games.” I shrugged my shoulders.

     
“That’s okay,” Brennan said once the shock wore off.
 
“Believe it or not, but I’ve played Just Dance 3, and won.”

     
“That’s probably because you played your sister, and she’s like what – four years old?”

     
He laughed and threw his hands up in surrender, “Yup.”

     
I laughed too. “So do you want to play to see if you can beat someone your own age?”

     
“Absolutely.”
 

     
It didn’t take long to realize that Brennan wasn’t kidding when he said he was good at Just Dance 3. He was coordinated and had rhythm. He was one of the people who was good at everything. We continued to laugh, taking turns picking cheesy songs and mimicking the movements on the screen. Finally, an hour later, we collapsed on the sofa, exhausted and thirsty.
 

     
“Phew, that was a workout.” I lifted my long hair off of the back of my neck and pulled it into a ponytail, in an attempt to cool down. It wouldn’t be cool to have Brennan see me sweat.

     
“You aren’t kidding,” he agreed.

     
“I’m going to grab us a Gatorade.” I walked over to the mini-refrigerator and returned with two bottles. “Would you rather have blue,” I asked extending one hand, “or purple?” I extended the other.
   

     
“Blue.”

     
I handed it to him. “Ah, to match your eyes.” I couldn’t help but notice his eyes were a similar color.

     
“No, I just think it tastes better.”
 

     
I blushed.
Shit!
I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. I needed a quick recovery, so I said the first thing that popped into my head, “Have you ever played ‘Would You Rather…?’” I hadn’t planned on moving on to step six tonight, but there was no reason not to, and this current crisis demanded it. It would be the perfect distraction from what I had said just seconds ago.