Only Fools

Chapter Nine

"Aspen Grayson...." he starts.

"That's me," I say just loudly enough for him to hear, making him smile.

"Would you do me the honor of being my date to the homecoming dance tomorrow?" he asks me. I glance behind him at Ivy who has a wide smile on her face, and then back at him who's well aware of what I just did. I put a smile on my face and place my hand over his, pulling the microphone towards me.

"Yes," I say joyfully, causing for our fellow students to erupt into a cheer. After handing me the roses, he pulls me into a hug.

"That was quite the performance," I whisper to him.

"You didn't know I could sing that well?" he questions with a chuckle.

"Oh, we both know that wasn't the performance I was talking about," I say as I glance over to my left to see Declan standing next to some of his teammates, a look of distaste clearly etched onto his face.

Dustin just shakes his head as he pulls away from the hug. Holding the microphone top down by his side, Dustin looks at me with an expression filled with concern.

"Are you sure you want to go to homecoming with me?" he checks.

"Sure, but what strings did Ivy pull to get you to do this?" I ask, nodding my head towards the girl standing behind him, smile wide on her face.

"She's convinced I'm always staring at you when you're at your locker,"

"And?"

"Declan's your locker neighbor,"

"That girl has some gaydar, doesn't she?"

"I'm pretty sure she has the opposite. She has an uncanny ability to make straight relationships where there are none,"

"Hey, if it wasn't for her, then we wouldn't be each other's' date to homecoming now would we?"

"Damnit, Ivy,"

I just shake my head at him as he turns away and walks back over to Ivy who pulls him in for a hug.

"Well, that was Ivy Charleston and Dustin McCob with a guest appearance from Miss Aspen Grayson," our vice principal says in an attempt to be quirky. I roll my eyes and finally turn to look at Tori and Naomi who had both been rather quiet during the whole ordeal. I notice Tori first as she's the one emphatically waving her hands at me with her thumbs up. A smile shines bright on her face and I make sure that I return it. Naomi, however, is just looking at me with a deadpanned stare. I give her a sheepish smile before turning back to watch the pep rally without truly paying any attention.

————

The screams are deafening at the sound of the final buzzer. I can barely hear my own among the rest. The football players rush off the field and before I know it, I'm suddenly lifted up off the ground from behind in some sort of backwards hug. I let out a surprised squeal before I start to laugh, figuring that it was probably Ivy. However, as I turn around, I come face to face with the jersey number that's painted on my cheek. I raise an eyebrow at Dustin as he pulls off his helmet.

"Don't you think your playing this up a little too much?" I ask him. He glances behind me before meeting my eyes again.

"I don't think so," he says with a mischievous smile. I quickly glance behind myself to see Declan quickly look away from us. Turning back to Dustin, a smirk makes its way onto my face.

"I see what's going on here,"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Besides, last time I checked, I didn't have your jersey number painted on my cheek,"