Lily watched the clock tick on the wall. She couldn't stay focused. She couldn't stop thinking about Ford and his reaction in the hall: his anger when that prick grabbed her butt, the way Ford stared at her in such an intense way, the way he touched her. The more she thought about it, the more it drove her crazy that she was thinking about it. Why did she care? Why was she even thinking about him? Why did her heart beat faster when she thought about his eyes on her and the way he grabbed her hand in his. Ford's behavior was infuriating. One minute he teased her, the next he barely looked her way or disappeared for days on end, and then he was defending her and risking getting suspended to save her pride. Yet he couldn't seem to wait to get rid of her. She couldn't make any sense of any of it.
"Miss Halliday?"
"What?" Lily said, suddenly realizing her Math teacher was speaking to her.
"I said, was there something you needed?" he inquired, seeming a bit irritated.
Lily looked around the room and realized everyone had left. She was so zoned out that she hadn't realized that the class had ended.
"Oh, no, sorry about that. Daydreaming I guess." She began to gather her things.
"Sorry I couldn't keep your attention more," he said, this time the irritation in his voice was clear.
"No, no, that's not it, I just..." she was embarrassed and didn't know how to finish that sentence. I was just daydreaming about my boyfriend's best friend, she thought and gave herself a mental palm to the forehead.
As if on cue, Grant appeared in the doorway.
"Hey babe, you in trouble or something?"
"Grant, no, I just, we should head out so we're not late for our next class," she fumbled awkwardly with her things. "See you tomorrow Mr. Mooney."
"Mmm hmm," he said with judgy eyes.
"You in trouble with the dress code again?" Grant asked as he slung his arm across Lily's shoulders and strutted down the hall.
"What, no, why do you say that?"
"Because Mooney kept you after class and because your skirt barely covers your ass," he laughed playfully and ran his fingers lightly over the bottom of her skirt just grazing the back of her thigh underneath. She shooed his hand away. People were staring, but then again, they always did when Lily and Grant walked down the hall. They were Oakley High's golden couple.
What was it with everyone and this skirt, she thought to herself. Maybe it was time to pass it on to Violet, not that she would ever wear something so risqué. The occasional scoop neck shirt was the extent of her trying to show off her body. And most times she had a sweatshirt to throw over it.
"No, I just was slow to leave class that's all." She wanted to change the subject. "What did coach want?"
"Oh, he just needs me to get in some more practices before the big homecoming game. There's some new plays he wants to go over with me and a few other things which means I can't go to the concert with you this Friday."
"What? No! I was really looking forward to that."
"I know babe. That's why I told Ford he should take my ticket."
"You what? Ford? Why?" Suddenly Lily felt hot. "He doesn't want to go with me," she continued, trying to find a way out. "Why not give the ticket to Violet?"
"We both know she won't go. That's not her thing."
He was right. Lily wouldn't be caught dead at a concert. She'd rather be studying or reading, but there had to be someone else, anyone else.
"Doesn't Ford need to be a practice too?"
"No, it's a quarterback thing. What's the big deal anyway?"
Lily pouted.
"Look, I know you and Ford don't always see eye to eye and that he's not exactly your favorite."
"It's not that," she interjected, feeling bad.
"It's cool. I get it. Girlfriends and guy friends don't always get along. But I think it will be good for the two of you. Maybe you'll actually find some things you like about one another."
That was precisely what Lily was worried about.
"But I..."
"It's already done. Ford agreed to take you."
"He did?"
Lily was shocked. Never in a million years did she think Ford would want to spend a night, just the two of them, hanging out. Maybe she had read him wrong.
"Reluctantly, but yeah."
Lily frowned. What was that supposed to mean? But hearing that snapped her back to reality. Ford agreed to take her to the concert as a favor to Grant, that was all. He didn't think about her as anything more than his best friend's annoying girlfriend. She couldn't believe she had spent even one second of today thinking about Ford Jameson as anything other than a pain in her ass. And she made a promise to herself, right then and there, that it would be the last time she would do something like that.
***
When Lily got home she plopped her books down on the floor and plopped her butt down on the bed, throwing her head back against the pillow and letting out a heavy sigh.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Violet inquired from the other side off the room.
"Jesus!" Lily said clutching her hand to her chest. "I didn't know you were in here. You're so damn quiet."
"Well you're not," Violet huffed. "What's the deal? Rough day falling asleep in class and making out with Grant?" she said sarcastically.
"Ha ha," Lily retorted.
"For real," Violet tried to change her tone. "Anything you need to talk about?"
"It's just..." Lily sat up on one arm and contemplated telling her sister her problem. Normally she would just deal with it herself, but for the first time, she actually felt the need to spill the beans. She was too much in her head and needed a second opinion.
"Grant was supposed to take me to the concert on Friday but he has practice and so he asked Ford to take me."
"So? Ford's a great guy. You guys will have fun."
"Ford's infruiating."
"He's actually really nice."
"How would you know?"
Lily had a hard time believing Ford had a friendly side to him.
"Well the two of us spend a decent amount of time together since dad insists on you dragging me around everywhere with you and Grant."
"Despite my insistence otherwise."
"Ditto," Violet retorted and they both let out a smile. It was the firs time in a long time that it felt like Lily and Violet were having a real conversation, even if it did include them taking some jabs at one another. That's what sisters do.
"Have you ever bothered to get to know him?" Violet asked.
"I don't need to get to know him. I know that he's snarky and sarcastic and that it seems like his favorite past time is giving me a hard time." Lily rolled her eyes and sat up on the edge of the tiny twin bed across from her sister.
"I've noticed that too." Violet responded. "I've also noticed other things, like that he watches you."
"Watches me? What? That's creepy." Although as she said the words, she found herself wanting to know more about what Violet was talking about.
"Yeah, are you really that oblivious?"
"Oblivious to what?"
"Omg Lily." It was Violet's turn to roll her eyes.
"Remember when Liam used to pull your pigtails in elementary school?"
"The boy from down the street?"
"Yeah. And then he made fun of your My Little Pony lunch box at recess and everyone laughed?"
"He was such a punk." Lily replied, remembering the boy who had made her life hell for the better part of a school year.
"But then he wound up asking you to the end of year dance and bought you flowers and it turned out that he liked you."
"Yeah Violet, I remember. What's the point?"
Again Violet rolled her eyes.
"The point is that when a boy is giving a girl a hard time it's usually their messed up way of flirting."
"What are you saying?" Lily asked trying to play dumb even though she was piecing together what her sister was implying, but it couldn't be true, could it?
Violet shook her head and laughed, placing the book she was reading back on the nightstand.
"I'm saying, have fun at the concert." Then she smiled, turned off her bedside light and climbed under the covers, rolling over and facing the wall away from her sister.
Lily sat in the darkness contemplating Violet's words. She began to replay her interactions with Ford over the last year, and tried to explain away his behavior. They were friends, she told herself. Just friends. Weren't they?
Suddenly, the thought of going to the concert with Ford seemed like an even worse idea than she had first imagined.