Chapter 13 #2
He relaxed into his normal stance and checked the hallway to see who was around.
“The peonies aren’t going to work. What’s your second choice for a grand gesture?
” He held up a hand to stop my response and added, “When I say second choice, I actually mean do you want roses or an assorted bouquet, because that’s all the grocery stores carry.
No one has peonies. One store didn’t even know what they were. ”
“You planned to hand-deliver the flowers? I figured you’d order them from a floral delivery place. They know what peonies are.”
He arched his eyebrows at me. “Do you have any idea how expensive sending flowers is?”
“Fine. I’ll pay for them and send them to myself. You’ll just have to mention to your mother that you did it. That’s the main point.” And my father would certainly mention them to Ms. Nash once they came.
Cooper rubbed the back of his neck like he was having second thoughts.
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea. I’ve never bought a girl flowers before, and now I’m giving them to one I got together with last Monday just because I talked to another girl?
To put this in drama terms, it would be out of character. ”
I twisted my locker combination. “It doesn’t have to be flowers. What do you usually do when you apologize? What is in character?”
He shrugged and leaned on the locker next to mine. “I say I’m sorry.”
“That’s it?”
“I think that’s what most people do.” He folded his arms, and his tone turned challenging. “I bet you’ve never done a grand gesture for a boyfriend over something as insignificant as talking to another guy.”
I began putting books into my backpack. “Oh, I’ve apologized plenty.
One time, a boyfriend got mad because I ignored too many of his texts, so I baked him cookies.
” That fight had also been the first sign that the guy was too needy.
“Once, I had to miss a boyfriend’s birthday party, so I surprised him with tickets to see his favorite band.
That wouldn’t have been so bad if he had good taste in music.
” Mr. Self-Destructive had a thing for indie bands with lots of screaming electric guitar solos.
“And once an ex got bent out of shape because I had to repeatedly kiss another guy during a drama production. I sent him DoorDash of his favorite meal and then put chocolate in his locker. And then later broke up with him because he wouldn’t let it go. ”
Cooper surveyed me with still folded arms. “The guys you date are wusses. Although I do see the last guy’s point. I mean, making out with another guy in front of everybody? Harsh, Maddy.”
I shut my locker door. “That reminds me, no one has called me Maddy since I was six, so don’t use the nickname around my father.”
“Fine. And no one calls me Coop unless they want to pick a fight.”
Noted. “Just two more mistakes we made . . .”
“Back to apologies,” he said without any sign of discouragement. “Can we plan out our next argument, and you can be the one to tell me you’re sorry? Cookies, concert tickets, and DoorDash are better than flowers, and apparently you give them at the drop of a hat.”
He wasn’t taking this seriously. “We’re not supposed to have more apologies. We still have to figure out this one. A grand gesture doesn’t have to include flowers. How are you at composing poems?”
He blew out a breath. “Flowers it is then.”
“Don’t worry about paying extra for peonies.” I was about to reiterate that I would send them to myself when Selena strode up to the locker, her gaze bouncing between Cooper and me.
“Hey.” Her gaze made one last ricochet at Cooper before landing on me. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “We’re just working out some details.”
Without missing a beat, Cooper said, “She’s sending me DoorDash, so I’ll let her make out with guys in her play. I like Mexican food. Don’t forget the extra guac.”
I zipped up my backpack. “My character doesn’t kiss anyone in Hello, Dolly! I just scheme, matchmake, and sing loudly.”
“Do you flirt with anyone?” Cooper asked, refusing to let it go.
“Yes,” I admitted.
Cooper nodded, blue eyes amused. “That ought to at least rate some cookies. I like chocolate chip.”
“Speaking of matchmaking,” Selena inserted herself back into the conversation, “Boden talked to me in class today, and I’m a little confused.”
“Oh.” My hand flew to my mouth. I’d forgotten about Boden again. “What did he say?” And why had the boy chosen this moment to abandon his shyness?
Selena tapped her fingers against her backpack strap.
“He asked for my phone number. While I was trying to think of an excuse not to give it to him because I didn’t want you to be upset about it, he told me that you wanted to set us up.
He apologized for not realizing I was interested in him beforehand.
” She blinked at me, her agitation growing.
“Since when did you decide to set me up with Boden? And shouldn’t you have, I don’t know, warned me you were doing that? ”
Cooper nudged me. “What do you do for friend--apologies? This seems bigger than DoorDash, Maddy.”
I pushed his arm away from me and turned to Selena.
“I didn’t mean to set you up with him. I just .
. .” I’d just tried to suggest the merits of a double date, only I couldn’t tell Selena that since she’d already told me not to ask Boden if he had a friend for her.
“I was being friendly, and conversational, and . . .”
She stared at me, waiting for the rest of the explanation.
Nope. I couldn’t save this. I blew out a breath in defeat. “Basically, I accidentally sent some severely mixed messages.”
“Wait,” Cooper broke in, leaning toward me. “Are you saying you like this guy but are so bad at flirting, he thought you wanted to set him up with your best friend? Is that what happened?”
I shushed him to lower his voice. “The teacher heard me talking, made assumptions, and told Boden I wanted to set him up with Selena. I tried to set Boden straight, but he didn’t listen to that part.” Because that’s how my life worked. Why would anyone listen when they could leap straight to chaos?
Cooper tilted his head back and laughed, far too entertained by all of this. “I think you just lost your flirting credentials.”
I couldn’t even argue. That’s where we were now. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll turn in my badge later.”
Selena resumed blinking at me like she was still buffering. “Do you want me to tell him the truth?”
“No, not even a little. I was undecided about him to begin with. Go out with him, if you want. You guys have a lot in common.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, clearly still deciding whether it was okay or not.
The dance was not in my future. Time to accept that as inevitable.
I slung my backpack onto my shoulders and turned to Cooper.
“Look, going to the homecoming dance will be too complicated. I mean, how would I explain to my date that I can’t sit with him at the football game because my father and your mother think the two of us are going together? ”
Cooper’s lips twitched. “You could go with one of the football players. Then he wouldn’t be able to sit with you anyway.”
I snorted. “That will only work if one of the football players asks me out. What are the chances of that happening?” It wasn’t like I hung out with any of them.
“Probably pretty low since I’ve spent the last year badmouthing you.” Cooper smirked, zero guilt. “But I can always float your name around the locker room and tell the guys you’re looking.”
“Don’t,” I squeaked. The idea of being marketed like some kind of locker-room fundraiser made my whole soul curl up.
“We ought to just skip the dance. Let’s tell our parents we’re going and then hang out somewhere else that night.
” It wouldn’t be so bad to spend time with Cooper.
We had plenty to talk about—which automatically meant an evening with him would be better than some of the dates I’d been on.
He shook his head. “I can’t skip. I already asked Dahlia to go. We’re having dinner with Jasper and Amelia.”
“Dahlia?” The thought bothered me more than it should have. “Wait, did you ask her while we ate ice cream?”
“No.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “She called me this weekend, and the dance came up in conversation, so I asked her.”
I bet it came up in conversation. Dahlia made sure it did. “Didn’t Claire tell you what she’s like?” I turned to Selena. “He asked Dahlia to the dance,” I emphasized.
Selena gave me a don’t-drag-me-into-this look.
Cooper lifted a hand to stop me from saying more. “You and Claire are allowed to have your opinions, and I’m allowed to have mine. Dahlia has always been nice to me.”
Of course she had. She saw him as the alpha wolf prize. “You have no taste in women.”
He had the nerve to smile. “Says the girl who went out with a bunch of admitted wusses. Do you want me to try and set you up? Anyone I find would be an improvement over the needy cookie guy who got upset because you didn’t answer his texts. I’m sure if I paid one of my friends—”
“I don’t need your help,” I cut him off. He was adding insult to injury. “I can get my own date.”
I had to now.
Thanks, Cooper.