The Improbability of Forever (Kismet #2) ✓

3. Prom?

Three

Prom?

It was an altogether uneventful Monday afternoon. I spent a few hours halfheartedly helping Mom clean out the kitchen cabinets and another few hours working on homework even more lazily. By about seven o'clock I'd given up on all hopes of being productive and was lying on my bed, flicking through TV channels.

Just as I'd found a nice sitcom to kill brain cells with, my cell phone rang. Groaning, I rolled over and saw Julia's name on the caller ID.

"What's up?" I asked, fluffing up my pillow and settling back down amongst my sheets.

I could tell Julia was grinning even though we were only on the phone together. "Guess what?" she exclaimed, her voice going up a notch. When I remained silent, she pressed, "Go on, guess!"

The sitcom went on commercial break and I started flipping through channels again, settling on a renovation show on HGTV. "You got an A on your chem quiz?"

"No, silly." Julia sighed dramatically. "I mean I did, but that's not why I called."

The couple onscreen was arguing about what kind of countertops would look best in the kitchen. I was secretly siding with the wife, who supported granite, when Julia squealed, "Andrew's asking someone from our grade to prom!"

My stomach dropped, which I didn't think was the reaction Julia was going for.

"Naturally, it's incredibly impractical," she continued, talking so fast that if I hadn't been used to her blabbering I wouldn't have understood her at all. "I mean, none of the sophomores have picked out prom dresses—other than me, of course—and the prom's only two weeks away."

"Wait, you bought a prom dress?"

Julia huffed into the phone. "I wish. I'm having someone hold it for me at the store." When I didn't immediately start celebrating with her, she said, "I wonder who it'll be."

"Wow, I have no idea," I grumbled.

"I really hope it'll be me. Do you think I have a chance?"

One of the most difficult things about being Julia's best friend was that, although she was the most no-nonsense person I knew, she had a soft side. This soft side was particularly pronounced when boys were involved, but treading lightly had alas been a task I had never mastered. "Honestly, I don't think so," I said, my tongue flapping again without my permission. "You guys haven't spoken in how long again? Plus, he's the one who broke up with you."

I could practically feel Julia frowning on the other end of the line. While she contemplated explanations for his actions, I turned back to the TV. The onscreen couple had decided on granite countertops and was now arguing about a budget problem that had arisen while I'd been preoccupied.

"But it might be me, right?" she pressed.

"Yeah, sure." There was another commercial break, so I switched back to the sitcom only to see that it was just ending. "It could be anyone."

Satisfied, she left me alone with my television to contemplate. I knew the odds of Andrew Summers asking me to prom were high, especially since he had confirmed that the girl was in my grade and had also confirmed that he still had a crush on me. The question was, what would I do about it? For old time's sake, it would be great to go to prom with him. Freshman year Quinn would have given up everything except her puppy to get an invitation to prom from him. But now my life was more complicated: I was dating Cody, and I doubted Julia would give her blessing.