Misfit Theater Company (Wattys Winner 2018)

16. Real Weird, Real Fast

"How about this," I whisper. "How about we go in there, we eat pizza, we watch some Netflix or something, and then at the end of the night, we say it's time for dessert and then you ask him?"

Just in case he says no, I think. But then again, Moth might go for it, or he might even like her too. He has done nothing but pleasantly surprise me tonight.

"Do you two need help in here?" Thatcher asks, appearing in the doorway between the dining room and kitchen. Moth joins him quickly after and sneaks in between Thatcher and the door frame.

"I've got to see these cupcakes," he says, coming toward us.

I place my hand over the box. "No. We're saving them for later."

He pouts.

Before I can tell him no a second time, Patti grabs the box from the counter, lifts it up and over my arm, and presents it to the boys. Thatcher comes closer to see the cupcakes too. I feel like time is moving in slow motion. I can't believe how nervous I am for Patti. I guess that means she and I are real friends. She opens the box.

Both of the boys' jaws drop, and then Moth breaks into laughter.

"Yo, Patti, you're kicking this night up a notch. No wonder you were late," he says.

She doesn't say anything, although her mouth opens like she wants to.

"Patti," I try to prompt her now that my plan is completely out the window, "did you want to ask someone something?"

"Yeah, wait, who are those for?" Moth asks.

Patti's mouth moves but no sounds come out. All the movement seems to do is redden her cheeks.

"Go ahead," I try to tell her.

She swallows hard, looks at Moth for an uncomfortably long amount of time, and then finally, her silence breaks when Moth chuckles and says, "Spit it out."

He didn't mean it to sound harsh or mean, I'm pretty sure nothing he ever says is meant to be harsh or mean, but I can tell Patti took it that way. The redness in her cheeks creep up to her eyes, and she blurts out, "Thatcher."

"What?" Thatcher and I both ask in unison.

"Oh wow, that's awesome," Moth says, oblivious.

"Yeah," Patti says, catching herself. "Yeah, they are for Thatcher. Will you go to Snow Ball with me, Thatcher? As friends?"

Now Thatcher's frozen, his jaw still dropped. He glances at me, but I turn away and act like I'm getting smaller plates for the cupcakes. I'm afraid if I let him see me right now, he'd be able to read the sadness and disappointment in my face as easily as he reads The Catcher in the Rye.

"Sure," he stutters. "As friends, yeah. It'll be fun."

I wish I could trust my face not to give myself away, so that I could tell in his expression if he's just being nice or if he really means it.

"I know," Patti says. "Why don't we go as a group? We can all dance together the whole night. That way we can all go as friends."

"The more crazy people we have, the more it'll catch on. I'm down," Moth says.

"That means you and Janie would technically be going together, but really, we would all be in a group once we were there, huh? Isn't that a good idea, Janie?" Patti asks me.

I can tell she's trying her best to salvage her situation with Moth, but she's just made my situation so much weirder. Go with Moth? I know I don't want Thatcher to be completely aware of my crush on him, but I also don't want him to think I'm interested in someone else. Still, what can I say now that wouldn't make all that super obvious?