Chapter Twelve
Troian
"Hey." Corey grabs my hand as I pass by his table at lunch on Friday, pulling me to a halt.
I look up from my stack of books to find him smiling at me.
"Sit with me today," he says, sliding over to make room for me at the end of the table.
I glance at the empty seat and then at the other football players sitting at his table. They're all looking between the two of us like they think this is some sort of joke. But no one laughs. No one says anything. Not even when I reluctantly slide into the empty spot beside Corey.
It's been a weird day. Actually, the last two days have been weird. Gage is acting strange. Stranger than normal, anyway. He's driven me to school and home every day. Last night, he stayed for dinner. I expected it to be awkward after his conversation with my dad the day before, but it was…nice.
This morning, I woke up to find him in my kitchen, making pancakes for me. They weren't great, but he was so proud of himself. I ate every bite.
During first period, a bouquet of roses arrived for me, complete with another Yeats poem attached.
I found a rose in my locker after third period.
There was no note, but I know Gage put it there because it was an Osiria rose, and he's the only one who knows how much I love them.
My dad buys them for my mom every single year to commemorate the day she told him that she loves him.
When I asked Gage about the one in my locker, he just smiled and told me that he'd see me later. And then he demanded that I go straight to class, just like he does every day.
He's so bossy sometimes!
It doesn't really bother me. I kind of love it.
But he asked me to give him until today to make up my mind about Prom, and I know he's up to something. For an actor, he's not very good at playing innocent. He looks like a mischievous little boy. It's making me nervous!
So is the way the whole school is watching me like I'm a movie.
They haven't really stopped watching since we walked into school together the morning after he threatened to expose Victoria.
She's the only one not watching me. She literally ran in the opposite direction when our paths crossed this morning.
For the first time, she isn't making snide comments or calling me Gage's stalker. She isn't making fun of my outfits or my weight. She isn't saying anything to me at all, and neither are her friends.
It's so weird!
"Earth to Troian," Corey says, snapping his fingers beside my ear.
I startle, turning to look at him.
The entire table is staring at me again.
"You think hard," Corey says.
I shrug, uncomfortable with so many sets of eyes on me.
Most of the guys at this table have obediently followed their Queen Bee's lead for the past four years.
They don't usually say much about me, but they laugh when Victoria does.
They're not laughing now. They're just staring at me like I'm an interloper, violating sacred ground with my presence.
It's so dumb. We're in a cafeteria in a public school in a free country. I can sit wherever I want.
"Have you gone dress shopping yet?" Corey asks.
"Um, no." I open my bottle of water, taking a sip like that's going to cool the heat in my face or make me feel less guilty.
Gage hasn't even officially asked me yet, and I'm seriously considering ditching Corey.
I turn my back on the rest of the table, trying to block them out. "I already have one."
"You didn't buy a new one?"
"No." My family has been fortunate, and my dad's company does really well. Like Gage reminded me, he's a millionaire. But spending hundreds of dollars on a dress I'll only wear once is silly to me. There are far better uses for money.
Besides, I found a beautiful dress at a consignment shop last year when Mom and I were in Los Angeles. It's an A-line cocktail dress with an asymmetrical skirt. It's a pretty, pearl pink color. The top of it is adorned with sequins. I feel like a princess in it.
Corey chuckles at me. "You're a rare breed, Troian Alessi."
"Thanks, I think." I scrunch up my nose, not sure if he's complimenting me or not. I think he is.
"It's a good thing," he says, swirling a fry through ranch dressing. He pops it into his mouth, still looking at me. He seems…amused. By me? By the fact that no one else at the table has uttered a single word since I sat down? By life in general? With him, it's hard to tell.
"Are you ready for the physics test?"
"Fuck no," he says, groaning. "Why did I sign up for this bullshit?"
"Because you want to graduate?" I fight a smile.
Corey's been in Gifted and Talented classes with me since I moved here, but he's always the last person to turn in his work.
He could easily catch me in the Valedictorian race if he wanted to do it.
I think he just hates bothering with it because it bores him.
"Smart ass. Do I even need to ask if you're ready for it?"
"I'm ready," I say, confident. People may make fun of me for being smart, but I'm not embarrassed about it.
I'm proud of myself for working as hard as I have.
I could have graduated last year, but if I had, Bella Rosario wouldn't have been Valedictorian of her class.
I didn't want to take that from her, considering how hard she worked for the honor.
Naturally, Victoria told everyone I did it because I wanted to stalk Gage for another year. Is it wrong to take comfort in the fact that high school will probably be the best years of her life? She's not very smart, and she's mean. Once she leaves here, she'll be a little fish in a big pond.
But there's a place for me in the world. While I'm living my best life, Victoria will still be a sad bully, remembered solely because she was mean. Beauty fades. The way you make people feel lasts a lifetime.
She doesn't make anyone feel warm and fuzzy.
"Oh, showtime," Corey says, staring across the cafeteria.
I follow his gaze to find Gage headed our way. Except, he's not the same boy I saw an hour ago. He's sporting a suit and tie now, looking more like he should be on a red carpet than in the middle of the cafeteria.
"What is he doing?" I mumble, more to myself than anyone.
The look of stubborn determination on his face makes my stomach flutter. No one is more obstinate than Gage when he sets his mind on something.
The entire cafeteria falls quiet. It's almost eerie. As Gage passes each row of tables, the occupants nudge one another and then go silent. All eyes are on him…but his eyes are on me. His gaze doesn't deviate or waver as he marches toward me, purpose in his steps.
"Troian," he says, drawing to a stop next to the table. "Come here, butterfly."
I stare at his outstretched hand, not entirely sure what's going on. Is he mad I'm sitting with Corey instead of at our usual table? And why in the world is he dressed in a suit and tie?
In Calculus an hour ago, he was in jeans and a T-shirt.
"This is the part where you get up," Corey hisses, nudging me gently. Well, gently for him. He almost knocks me out of my seat.
I lurch to my feet, trying not to face-plant into Gage's chest.
He grabs my hand and pulls me closer to him.
"It's okay, butterfly," he whispers close to my ear. "Just breathe for me. This will be over soon, I promise."
I eye him warily when he pulls back, not sure what he's talking about. Part of me really wants to hide behind him because I'm pretty sure people are filming us right now. But Gage squeezes my hand in silent reassurance and then looks over his shoulder.
I follow his gaze, and my mouth goes dry. Half a dozen men stand just inside the doors of the cafeteria, each carrying a bouquet. One by one, they make their way across the silent cafeteria to us.
Roses of every color and variety are piled in my arms, their intoxicating scent swirling around me.
It's strong enough to dull the unique smell I've always associated with school cafeterias.
It's part industrial-strength cleaner, part body odor, part old food…
none of which is particularly appetizing or appealing.
Only when the last bouquet, all Osiria roses this time, is in my arms does anyone speak. A ripple of sound goes through the cafeteria, a soft murmur like the sound of wind rustling through the treetops before it falls still again.
The sound of Corey's chair scraping back from the table is ridiculously loud. He grins at me and scoops the flowers from my arms. "I'll hold onto these."
I barely have time to look at him before Gage claims my attention again.
He tugs me so close that I'm practically pressed up against him, violating pretty much every rule Principal Wickers has about appropriate displays of affection.
My entire body heats up, a shiver working its way through me.
It's the same one I feel every time Gage touches me.
"What are you doing?" I whisper-hiss at him.
"What I should have done a long time ago," he says, and then takes a deep breath. "Troian Alessi, will you do me the honor of going to Prom with me?"
He says it loud enough for everyone to hear him.
I gape at him, too stunned to speak.
"When I said I had a date, I was talking about you, butterfly," he says. "I wanted to go with you."
"But…" I probably look like a fish with my mouth hanging open, but I can't seem to get it to close again. If this is a dream and I wake up in my bed, I'm going to cry. I might cry anyway, because he's asking me to Prom, but I already asked Corey.
"I've been madly in love with you pretty much since the day I met you," Gage says, his voice loud enough to carry across the entire cafeteria.
"You're the best part of my life. I should have told you that a long time ago, but I'm an idiot.
I was afraid you didn't feel the same way.
And I was worried that dating me would make you a target because most of our classmates are embarrassing assholes.
But I forgot something important, Troian. "
"What?" I whisper. My mouth is completely dry.
My heart beats a thousand miles a minute.
If he weren't hanging on to me, I'm pretty sure I'd be on the floor right now because I can't feel my legs.
He just told the entire school that he's in love with me.
And then he called them embarrassing assholes.
"You've never needed me to protect you. People already target you and say shitty things about you," he murmurs, tipping my head back so I'm looking at him.
"And even though they treat you like crap, you never let it harden your incredible heart.
You never let it change the extraordinary person you are.
You're beautiful, and smart, and compassionate, and kind, and funny, and so damn sweet.
They're mean to you because they know they will never hold a candle to you, butterfly. "
"Gage," I whisper, pretty sure this is a dream.
"You don't need me to protect you. All you've ever needed me to do was love you.
I should have told everyone that I was crazy about you a long time ago," he says, regret washing through his expression.
"Maybe then they would have left you alone.
Maybe they would have seen you for the amazing girl you are.
I'm an asshole who doesn't deserve you. I know I don't deserve you.
But I'm also the asshole willing to crawl through hell to become worthy of you. If you'll let me."
I want to tell him yes so bad. But…
"I can't go to Prom with you, Gage," I whisper.
"Do you want to go with me, butterfly?" He actually seems nervous, as if he genuinely doesn't know.
"Yes," I whisper, my heart beating so loud I'm pretty sure everyone hears it. "I love you. Of course I want to go with you. But I already made plans with Corey. It wouldn't be fair for me to back out now."
"I knew you'd say that," he says, giving me a tiny smile. "You care about the people in your life so much. I knew you wouldn't want to upset him, so we made an arrangement."
"You did?" Somehow, I'm not surprised he's come up with a solution. If something stands in his way, he will absolutely bulldoze over it. He's not a very patient person.
"You're going with me," he says. "But Corey can hang out with us."
"Gage," I whisper, smiling despite myself. He is completely crazy. I love it so much.
"I'm just kidding," he says, grinning back at me. "He's taking Laura Groves."
"Dude, seriously?" Tommy Chambers asks Corey.
I don't even have to turn around to know the entire table is officially jealous that Corey is taking a literal Hollywood starlet to Prom. But I do turn around to make sure Corey is okay with the change of plans.
"Um…are you sure?" I ask him. He's been a good friend to me this week. I don't want to hurt his feelings or make him feel like I'm abandoning him.
"Yeah, baby girl. We're good," he says. And then he looks at Gage. "But I get to dance with her."
"One fast song, three feet apart," Gage says.
I'm pretty sure he's not joking.
When Corey grins at him, I know he doesn't mind.
I glance between the two of them, and then my gaze drifts to Victoria and her group of mean girls.
Victoria is glaring at me like she hates me.
I'm not surprised. She may be afraid to cross Gage, but he just stole her ammunition and made her look like a jealous brat in the process.
And with Laura coming to the dance, I'm pretty sure he just stole every bit of spotlight that would have been on Victoria, too.
I almost feel sorry for her. At least until I remember the time she told everyone she caught me peeping in Gage's bedroom window. That little bit of empathy shrinks quickly at the reminder.
"What do you say, butterfly?" Gage asks. "Will you go to Prom with me?"
"Yes," I whisper.
As soon as I say the word, he pulls me closer.
His lips touch mine in a soft caress that I feel all the way into my soul.
His tongue flicks against my bottom lip, making my knees weak.
So does the sound rumbling in his chest. It's half hungry growl, half impatient grunt, as if he's just as desperate as I am.
"Enough, Bronx!" Principal Wickers shouts from across the room as half of our classmates whistle and catcall.
Gage grumbles, reluctantly breaking the kiss. But I don't even care because he wraps his strong arms around me, holding me close. And for the first time in a long time, I don't care that everyone is staring at me. I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.