"Oh God, X," I panicked over the phone, "If Finn finds out that I'm going to prom with Ryker then he won't ask me!"
I've had a crush on Finn since the seventh grade. He's been absent from English class these past few days from being sick. Xander has been trying to hook me up with him, but he always seems to be busy. I tried to repay Xander by trying to get him with Riley, but of course like everyone else, she's scared of me. I can't even get close enough to speak to her.
"I thought you said that you weren't going to prom with Ryker? And also, how do you know Finn would ask you?" Xander asked skeptically.
"Shut up. I was just hoping he would, but now he really won't. And I have to go to prom with Ryker or else he will not hesitate to post that picture. I know he's not into me and that he's only making me go with him to get back at me for what I did to his bike."
I was spinning around in the computer chair up in my room.
"Hmm. Why would you write prom on his motorcycle anyway? I thought you would have written something more along the lines of swear words."
"I thought it was funny! I didn't think he would make it backfire on me. Uggghh," I sighed. That made me think of something else, "What about Hannah? She's gonna hate my guts when she finds out I stole her boyfriend. Everyone is going to hate me. I'm going to have to move. That's it X, I'm moving. I'm not going to this prom. You can come with me if you want, take Riley with us."
"Stop, Eve. We aren't going anywhere. Oh hey, I might have a plan."
"What is it!" I yelled.
"Relax. Why don't you just steal Ryker's phone and delete the picture? You've already stolen many things in your life, this shouldn't be much different."
Xander was a genius. I told him so and hung up. With renewed energy, I began plotting.
"Evangeline, I'm home!" My mom yelled from downstairs.
"Coming, Mom!"
I ran down the stairs and hugged her. Her blond hair was up in a neat pony tail and she was still wearing her nursing uniform. She handed me some groceries so we could put them away. I helped her put all of them away before speaking.
"Mo-om," I whined, "Ryker's making me go to prom with him."
"What do you mean he's making you go to prom with him?"
My face turned a deep red which I tried to cover with my side bangs, "Uh, well, he uh, took a picture of me in the locker room when I was only wearing a bra and underwear and he said if I don't go to prom with him, he will post it on social media. He's only making me go to get revenge on me."
"What did you do to deserve this?"
I touched the tips of my pointer fingers together and mumbled quickly under my breath, "I spray painted his motorcycle."
My mom couldn't contain her laughter. So not the reaction I was expecting. I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed in annoyance.
"Sorry," my mom apologized, wiping tears from her eyes, "teenagers." She shook her head and dismissed me.
Ugh. She was no help.
~*~*~*~
I slumped in my desk in English class the next day. I was actually on time because I could finally drive myself. My head was plastered against the desk, my hair shading my face from my classmates.
Xander hit me, whispering, "Don't look now, but Finn is back."
My head snapped up and collided with Finn's gaze. He was so hot. His sandy blond hair was styled perfectly into spikes and his green eyes sparkled. A spattering of freckles dotted his nose. He could have been a surfing model.
I blushed hard when he looked at me. I quickly ducked my head to hear Xander's chuckling.
I threw my pencil at him as Finn took the desk next to mine.
"Hey, Evangeline. Did I miss much this week?"
Xander poked me, nodding his head at the desk next to mine. Oh shit, Finn was talking to me.
I whipped my head around, almost giving myself whip lash.
"Sorry, what?" I asked stupidly.
He smiled and repeated the question.
"Oh, yeah I don't even know what book we're supposed to be reading. I'm pretty sure I failed the last quiz," I trailed off as I remembered how Ryker had switched our names on the quizzes. Mr. Duncan had input the grades last night and I had gotten an A+. Ryker probably got a zero. Score one for me.
Finn ran a hand through his hair. Xander leaned across the row to explain what we had been learning. I took that time to calm my breathing and hopefully let my face return to a normal shade.
When Xander was finished filling him in, Finn said, "Oh, Evangeline, about prom-"
The seat a few desks in front of us scraped across the floor. Ryker stood up and stopped at our desks.
"She's going with me."
Finn held up his hands, "Woah dude. I didn't know you guys were a thing."
I said, "We aren't," at the same time Ryker said, "We are."
I glared at him and he smirked at me.
I turned to explain what was going on to Finn when Mr. Duncan entered the room to begin his lecture. Finn didn't try to talk to me for the rest of class and Hannah scurried out of class, bawling.
Could this day get any worse?
~*~*~*~
The rest of the day dragged on. I decided to skip gym class before lunch and went into the library instead. I played games on my phone until the bell rang.
I met Xander in the lunch line. We picked out the food that looked the least disgusting and made our way to our table.
We walked past Ryker's table where he was sitting with the popular people. It was hard to believe I used to be friends with all of them. Hannah was no where to be seen.
Dean Atwood, typical jock with long brown hair, sat beside Ryker. Tracey Evans, who looked all fake, was trying to flirt with Rick Leonard who wouldn't give her the time of day. Finn Montgomery was also sitting at the table.
When Finn noticed me looking at him, he gave a weak smile and waved at me. I started to return the wave when Ryker turned his head to glare at me. I stuck up my middle finger at him.
Xander and I sat down at our table across from each other. The seat next to mine was pulled back and someone sat in it. I choked on my taco when I saw who it was.
"Evangeline, listen. I don't know what's going on between you and Ryker, but I like you."
I sat there gawking at him like a complete fool. He pressed his hands on the table and stood back up.
"Sorry for bothering you," Finn said as he walked away.
Xander kicked my shins under the table. I snapped out of it.
"Oh jeez, X! He just told me he liked me and I couldn't even say that there was nothing between me and Ryker and I couldn't say I liked him back and I looked like an idiot," I rambled.
Xander held up a hand, "Slow down. You can fix this, but first thing's first; you need to steal Ryker's phone and then you can go to prom with Finn. Okay?"
That had completely slipped my mind.
I nodded,"Right."
Lunch ended and I headed to my locker. As I was swinging the door shut, a hand stopped me. I looked up into a pair of blue eyes.
I groaned.
He smirked.
An idea burst into my mind.
I put on a fake smile and stood up on my tippy toes to whisper in his ear.
"Ryker, I think I've fallen for you."
He stiffened as I lifted my face up to meet his. I cautiously laid my lips against his and entangled my fingers in his hair with one hand. I smirked against his mouth when he groaned. I deepened the kiss and reached behind his back with my other hand. My hand slipped into his back pocket on his jeans and latched onto a small device.
I slid it out and ended the kiss. I hopped away from him. Ryker was breathing heavily, leaning against the lockers.
"Got it!" I said triumphantly, holding his cell phone above my head.
He narrowed his eyes on me.
"Give that back," he growled.
"Sure, one sec. Let me just...done," I deleted the stupid picture of me trying to cover myself in my bra and underwear. I chucked the phone at his head, but he caught it of course.
"Oh, and by the way. I'm not going to prom with you."
He shrugged, "Good because I already asked Hannah to go to prom with me when I made her cry. I would have just cancelled plans between you and I on the night of the prom and went with Hannah instead. I guess this is less humiliating for you, but it works out for me either way."
What an asshole, acting like I wanted to go with him. I would have been miserable the whole night.
Ryker straightened his leather jacket and stalked off. I had thought that he had enjoyed the kiss, but now I realized that he must kiss a lot of girls. I clenched my fists. I didn't care.
At least that's what I told myself.
~*~*~*~
"Just call him now before he asks someone else to prom," Xander said on the phone with me. I was sitting in my car, picking up Subway.
"I don't want to."
"Fine, then when Finn gets a date and you don't, then don't come crying to me."
"Ugh, fine. But only if you ask Riley to prom."
"Deal."
"Deal," I hung up and dialed Finn's number. I hesitated to press the talk button. My hands began to sweat. My finger slipped and made the decision for me. The phone rang.
I held my breath.
"Hello?"
"Hi. Finn, it's Evangeline. I just wanted to clear things up with you about Ryker. We aren't actually going to prom together and we aren't dating. He just likes to tease me, that's all. And I like you, Finn."
I was proud of myself for not stuttering once that entire time.
Finn took a deep breath on the other line before speaking, "So would you like to go to prom with me, Evangeline?"
I sighed. My stomach flipped when he said my name like that.
"Yes, Finn, I would love to."