Crashing Prom (excerpt)

Prologue

This is the first 2 chapters of Crashing Prom. The full length novel is available at the following retailers:

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Prologue

Josh Evans was my ideal prom date. He was standing about ten feet away from me at his locker. It was now or never. There was only a month left until prom and if I didn't ask him now, he'd ask someone else first. I suppose it was also possible that some other brave girl might ask him too. I had to do this now especially since I was pretty sure that there was no way that Josh was going to ask me to the prom. At least, I didn't think so. I really wasn't on his radar. Sure, we had one class together, English, but the only time we ever actually talked was when we were put into a group together to work on a project.

The last time we were in a group together was a month ago for the Shakespeare section. We were reading Romeo and Juliet. The group picked Josh for Romeo, but I wasn't the lucky Juliet. That coveted role fell to Kerri Penn. I was totally jealous at first, but it turned out that she was a great actress. She really pulled the scene off unlike Josh, who turned out to be terrible. We got our B grade because of Kerri. Josh seriously couldn't act at all. It sounded like he was reading from the book for the first time even though he'd memorized his lines. Still, even Josh was a better actor than the other guy in our group, Ben Turner. I ended up helping direct the scene with Kate Yearly. I preferred staying offstage. Attention centered on me like that freaked me out. Still, it would have been perfect being Josh's Juliet. I would have gladly braved the stage for him. 

I suppose that was still a missed opportunity for me. I could have spent time talking to Josh during that project, but I didn't. The problem was that I wasn't great at flirting. Other girls could flip their hair, giggle, and smile, but on me it came off as totally awkward and fake. I was the smart girl, at least in English, and my nose was always in a book instead of talking to the cute guy. In this case, I spent the whole time working on the directing instead of flirting. I doubt Josh even noticed me as a girl. I hated that about myself. I wanted to be better at the girly stuff, but I just wasn't. I felt weird and guys just didn't seem to look at me like that.

Sure, I wasn't popular, but I wasn't unpopular either. I was somewhere in the middle. I had plenty of friends, but no boyfriend. Still, all of my friends already had their prom dates. I was stuck going stag if I didn't find a date, although if that happened I was pretty sure that I'd rather not go at all. All of my friends didn't understand why I hadn't found a date yet. Prom was a month away. I thought I had time. I had only just realized that my time was running out if I wanted to go with my ideal prom date.

I watched Josh from my locker where I'd been watching him since the beginning of the year. I wasn't watching him in a creepy way. I just thought he was gorgeous and he was nice eye candy to spy on from my locker. It was ridiculous, but it totally made my day to just see him even if it was from afar.

I'd known him since we were in grade school, but somewhere within the last year, Josh had gotten super hot. He had brown hair that was a little long, really awesome blue eyes, and a body that had gotten really toned and tan since he'd joined the track team. I so wanted him to ask me out. The problem was that Josh hadn't asked me out and prom was in a month, so if I wanted to go with him...

I looked at the clock on the wall that signaled the time to get to class for the students. There was about five minutes before the first bell rang and it was now or never. My mom was threatening to ask one of her friend's sons to go with me to the prom. There was no way I was taking him to my prom. He creeped me out. I wasn't against tattoos or anything, but he had four and dyed jet black hair. He played in a metal band and from what I could tell we were very different.  I had seen him like twice since high school started and only in passing. That was enough for me to get the general gist on Turner. I doubted we'd have much in common if we ever did talk.  It would sort of be like beauty and the beast going to prom. Plus, it would be a pity date. I'd rather not go to prom at all if I was on a pity date.

I took a deep breath and shut my locker door. I just had to ask Josh. He would make every prom dream I had come true if he went with me. I had this fantasy where he picked me up in a limo. He had a really cool corsage for me, of course. I had an amazing dress and my hair and makeup were perfect. It was like a scene from a really romantic movie. Then we went to the prom, had an amazing time dancing, and spent the wee hours of the morning after that on an after prom party ship cruising Lake Michigan. There was also a lot of making out in between, of course.

I looked at Josh. He still hadn't noticed me watching him. That was good, though. I was trying to psych myself up to go forward with this date. I was going on my sister Claire's advice. She was a pro at asking the guy of your dreams on a date. Heck, it had worked for her. She was now married to a guy she had asked out first.

I hesitated, though, after shutting my locker. What if I asked Josh and he said no? He could have already asked someone. Or what if he just did not want to go with me?

I had to ask him. If I didn't ask him, I wouldn't be going to the prom. There was literally nobody else that I wanted to go with to the prom. Who else would be worth asking? I had classes with tons of guys, but it would be the same exact situation. I'd have to ask them and they would probably say no. I couldn't handle more than one rejection. Plus, I didn't care about those guys. I liked Josh. I wanted to go to the prom with him. 

I took a step forward. I couldn't breathe. I felt sweaty. I tried to calm down. I couldn't have all of the makeup and prep work I'd done on my hair go to waste. I had even worn my favorite shirt and a skirt instead of my usual jeans. I hoped my outfit was lucky. I tried to breathe and took a few more steps forward. I was only a few feet away from Josh. He was looking for something in his locker. I had to do this. It was now or never.

"Josh?" I asked. I didn't know how I actually got the words out. I hoped I was intelligible.

Josh turned to look at me, "Oh, hey Avery. What's up?"

I felt a thrill at Josh saying my name. I knew he knew it from English class, but still. It was cool hearing him say it. I hoped I could replay this moment later in my head.

Oh. I had to answer him. What was I going to say? I had rehearsed this. "Uh..."

Josh smiled, "Uh, what?"

My face turned red. I had to do this. "Uh, what are you doing for prom?"

Ah! No! I was supposed to ask him to prom, not hint at it! Josh stared at me. Uh-oh. Did he know what I was about to say? I felt my legs start to shake. They were betraying me. My hands started shaking too. This was not good. He couldn't tell, could he? I felt like I was going to throw up.

"I'm going to ask Becca Ritter," Josh said. "What about you?"

I froze. Becca Ritter? The world stopped. What was I going to say to that? Becca Ritter was in my math class. She had pretty auburn curly hair and seemed like a really nice girl. Still, I hated her for a second. Josh wanted to go to the prom with her and that really hurt. I tried to think past the pain shooting through my chest. Should I still ask him? Was it worth the humiliation?

"Oh, uh, I'm not going," I said managing to smile even though my heart was bursting into pieces. "See you in English."

Josh said something as I walked away, but I didn't hear him. I was mortified. I'd never take a chance again. I had to get real. Like Josh would have ever agreed to take me to the prom if I had asked him, you know? He was popular and so out of my league. I didn't care. Not really. It wasn't worth it. Prom was just a stupid high school dance anyway. It didn't matter if I went or not and I was so not going.