Date Me by Jillian Dodd Page A

awesome brother, but he can be a dick. All I ever wanted was to be like him." He sighs. "Part of why I got kicked out of school."
    "You need to tell me what happened."
    "I was told to never speak of it again," he says seriously.
    "By who?"
    "The dean."
    "Oh. So you can't tell me?"
    "Maybe some other time." He laughs. "It's a pretty epic story, really. I can't believe I'm sitting here saying all this. What the hell did you do to me?"
    "What I did to you?"
    "Yeah, I'm turning into Dawson. Pussy whipped but getting no pussy."
    I smile at him. "You like Ariela. She's going to be so excited tonight. I can't wait."
    "It was cool of you to ask her to go shopping with you. I'd like it if you were friends."
    "I know. That's why I asked. So you really think your brother is going to cheat on me? He's, um, not really in the same situation as you."
    Riley punches my shoulder. "He's whipped, all right."
    I nod my head. "I meant the other part."
    “Unfortunately, he’s been rubbing that part in. Not details. Just how hot you make him, that kind of thing. Although he’s not very excited about you may be doing the play. I heard you got called back to read with Jake and Logan."
    “I did. Jake and I have good chemistry on stage and Logan seems to kind of hate me, which, really, is perfect for the part. He’s going to pretend to like me just to screw things up for his brother. Getting a callback is exciting, but I still don’t know if I’ll get the part.”
     
    Winning runs in the family.
    History
     
    During history, our classroom is paged and I’m called to the office.
    Everyone in class goes, Ooooohhhh . Like I did something I’m about to get in trouble for.
    As I put my notebook into my bag, my mind starts to go crazy thinking about what I’ve possibly done wrong.
    I’ve never gotten in trouble at school.
    Except Aiden causing me to be late those two times.
    Do they know Dawson sneaks into my room? Do they know we party at Hawthorne House after curfew? Do they know I smoke at the Cave?
    I get to the office and say to the secretary, “I’m Keatyn Monroe. You called me out of class?”
    Peyton steps out from behind a cubicle. “Oh, that was me. I need your help on some of this after-party stuff. I didn’t think you would mind getting out of class.”
    I smile at the secretary, trying to assure her that I wasn’t the least bit nervous.
    Peyton loops her arm through mine and says loudly, “We’re going to my dorm so that we can make some phone calls in peace.”
    As we walk by the big trophy cases out front, she stops and points at some photos. “These are all the past Homecoming Kings and Queens. Isn’t that cool? I love looking at the dresses and hairstyles and how they’ve changed over the years.”
    I study the photos, going back to the early 40s. “They are very cool. I like this dress especially.” I point to the winner from four years ago. She’s wearing a gorgeous but simply cut pale pink gown. “Clarke?” I look at her closer. “Is she related to Whitney?”
    Peyton nods. “That’s her older sister, Winnie Clarke. Isn’t she gorgeous? She was captain of the dance team too.” She points at two other photos a couple years further back. “And these are her brothers.”
    “So winning runs in the family?”
    “Yeah. Part of why she acts like she’s entitled to win.”
    “I love her sister’s gown. Is Whitney’s that pretty?”
    Peyton laughs. “I guess that all depends on what you consider pretty. Come on. We better get going.”
     
    As soon as we walk out of the building, she says, “I lied. The event coordinator is handling most of the after-party stuff. I thought maybe we could go to my room and look at dresses online. The dress is a big part of the tradition. Did you notice how all the dresses were very subtle? Very classy?”
    “Yeah, and I read the flyer with all the rules regarding the dress.”
    “Everyone who was nominated is either a cheerleader or a dancer. We’ll change into our dresses