Rory
Jacob managed to act like everything was normal on the ride over to school in his truck. Like they went places alone together
heart felt like it was full of raging fireflies, but the two of them put on a good show of being casual about it all.
The double doors to the gym were propped open, and she could see inside from where they stood on the sidewalk. Mrs. Kalish,
the senior class adviser and one of her favorite English teachers, was manning the ticket table. The music was pumping, and
the hum of conversation wafted out into the cool night air.
“You good?” Jacob asked.
“Sure,” she said, rubbing her sweaty palms together. “Great.”
Jacob pivoted so that he was standing right in front of her, his black-and-white Air Jordans crunching on the cement walkway.
She looked up at him, shivering beneath her winter coat, feeling suddenly shy. “You sure you’re sure? Because we can just
go get a couple milkshakes at the diner. Talk about what tools all these people are for participating in a cliché teenage
rite of passage.”
Rory laughed. “No, it’s really okay. I want to go in.”
Jacob nodded slowly. “You look incredible, by the way. Have I told you that?”
Rory couldn’t help beaming. “You have not.”
“You do.”
“So do you,” she told him.
“Yeah, well, that’s a given.” Jacob touched the knot in his tie and sniffed haughtily.
She laughed again, and Jacob reached out and took her left hand in his right. Her breath caught instantly at his touch, and she found herself staring down at their hands as if she couldn’t possibly look away.
“Shall we, Miss Graham?” he asked.
“We shall, Mr. Reilly.”
Arms swinging between them, they walked over to the door and Jacob handed Mrs. Kalish their tickets. She gave them an impressed
look as she put them in her lockbox. “Can’t say I hate this development,” she said, winking at Rory.
“Me neither,” Jacob told her.
He took Rory’s coat and hung it on the nearby rack along with his own, then took her hand again. It didn’t take long for people
to start to notice their entrance. They were pretty late, after all. Likely no one had come in through the doors in a while.
As soon as they were spotted, whispers broke out, and Rory noted more than one set of wide eyes taking in her and Jacob’s
clasped hands. Well, let them talk. She didn’t have to answer to anyone.
“Dude! You made it!”
Rory startled as Jacob’s brother Ford appeared as if from nowhere. He was wearing a suit with no tie and held the hand of
Jessica Paige, one of the senior girls from the volleyball team, who wore a glittering gold dress.
“And you even have a date! The date,” he added, looking Rory up and down. “My little bro is all grown up.”
“Ford, I’m literally ten months younger than you,” Jacob said.
“Love your dress, Rory,” Jessica said.
“Thank you! I love yours, too,” Rory replied. “What do you mean the date?” she asked Ford.
“Oh, just that he’s been in love with you since he was in diapers. NBD,” Ford said.
“Ford!” Jessica scolded as Jacob’s face turned beet red. “I’m sorry. He has no filter.” With that, Jessica pulled Ford toward
the dance floor, leaving Rory and Jacob behind.
In love with me? Rory thought, her heart pounding. She had about a million questions, but she knew better than to ask them all now. She raised
her eyebrows at Jacob. “Diapers, huh?”
“Well, obviously that is logically impossible since I didn’t even know you until we were five, and I was definitely not still
in diapers when I was five.”
“I really hope not,” Rory said.
“So what’s first?” Jacob asked, deftly changing the subject. “Punch? Food? Do you want to dance?”
“Um . . . I . . .”
Rory couldn’t seem to string words together, because she’d just noticed Tucker near the back wall of the gym, and he had definitely,
one hundred percent, noticed her and Jacob. His face was the color of the Woodmont-red banner behind him, and his jaw clenched
and unclenched over and over again. There was a girl in a silver minidress hanging off of him, but he didn’t even seem to
feel her there. He was too busy staring daggers at Rory.
And then, he shrugged the girl off of him and headed her way.
“Uh, incoming,” she said to Jacob under her breath, gaze following Tucker.
Jacob turned to look and immediately squared his shoulders. To his credit, he didn’t drop Rory’s hand. Most guys would have
been so intimidated by the look on Tucker’s face and his clenched fists that they would have run for the hills. Or at least
the nearest bathroom.
“What the hell is this?” Tucker snapped as soon as he was close enough.
“This is my date,” Jacob said gamely. “Rory, meet Tucker. Tucker, this is Rory.”
“Ha ha,” Tucker said, not taking his eyes off Rory. “Are you out of your mind? Or are you just trying to humiliate me?”
“Neither,” Rory said. “I’m just attending the homecoming dance with my . . . teammate? Partner?” She looked at Jacob, whose
expression was amused.
“The person who throws you and hopefully catches you?” he supplied.
“Right. That person,” Rory said with a smile.
Tucker still didn’t look at Jacob as he said, “Reilly. I’m gonna need to talk to you. Outside.” His nostrils flared nastily,
and Rory noticed a small smear of barbecue sauce near the corner of his mouth.
Jacob began to respond, but before he could get a word out, the music faded to the background and a loud voice boomed through the speakers.
“And now it’s time for the homecoming king and queen to have their first dance!” It was definitely Kai’s voice, Rory realized.
The crowd parted next to her, and she, Tucker, and Jacob all looked over at the stage, where Kai was, in fact, clinging to
a microphone. “Rory Graham and Tucker Panagopoulos, if you’ll kindly take the floor?”
Tucker’s mouth slowly twisted into a smirk. Jacob finally dropped Rory’s hand.
“Let’s do this,” Tucker said.