Free The Taming by Teresa Toten, Eric Walters Page B

so much to do. I knew that. Now, if only I’d had a clue as to what, exactly.

Chapter Seventeen
     

     
    O h. My. God! Too much, too fast, too good! At least for me. We, I, maybe we, had a great time. If I never had a date again in my entire life—and I figured I probably wouldn’t—at least I’d had a brilliant first and last date!
    Lisa and Travis had gone into overdrive on the prep, although, come to think of it, I don’t remember either of them boasting about their dating histories before this. Pinned against a wall, Lisa just kept saying that she’d had a whole rich tapestry of experiences before she’d met the two of us. I, for one, believed her. Not to be outdone, Travis hinted darkly about dark love in dark places. None of us much bought into that, including Travis, I think.
    I kept reminding myself that I’d been watching my mom prep my whole life. But then again, that was for old guys, different ball game. Besides, I didn’t own anything that skanky.
    Lisa lent me a cobalt-blue cashmere sweater to go with a fifteen-dollar pair of black skinny jeans that I bought on sale at Old Navy. Travis mascaraed and lip-glossed me endlessly until he was finally satisfied with the combination of dark and shiny. And for two days we rehearsed first-date small talk and witty repartee.
    By the time I hit the subway, my anxiety about what I looked like had been replaced by my anxiety about whether Evan would even show up or not. Was this all just a big goof, a prank, like the Carrie movie? Had I imagined the whole thing?
    To make matters worse, I was twelve minutes early. That was an extra seven hundred and twenty seconds to panic. But he was there! Unbelievably, Evan Campbell was already there, waiting for me right by the movie poster. I was laughably grateful to him and we hadn’t even said hello.
    “Hi.” He smiled. “I wanted to make sure you didn’t have to wait. You look terrific, Katie.”
    Evan fanned the tickets in front of me to show he’d already got them. “I really hope your parents don’t mind that I didn’t come over to meet them.”
    Wow, what century was he from? I knew less than nothing about dating, but even I knew that no one came over to get checked out by dear old dad these days.
    “No,” I said. “It’s just my mom, and she’s already gone to the cabin with her boyfriend.”
    It was true. Mom, who always said that fresh air made her puke, had somehow convinced Joey that she shared his obsession with rocks, scrub maples and the great outdoors.
    “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I mess up a great weekend away for you?”
    “No.” And I left it at that. They’d been going almost all spring, summer and now autumn, whenever Joey could get a weekend away. I’d never been invited. Mom told Joey that I was allergic to leaf mould or something to explain why I couldn’t come along. What she told me was, “Not a chance! There’s no way I’m going to have your whiny butt getting in the way of a good thing. Not this time, sugar plum!”
    Whiny? I was whiny? I wasn’t whiny. I didn’t mean to be whiny. Then I noticed Evan taking me in.
    “You look really pretty in that shade of blue, Katie. I don’t think I’ve seen you in it before. Cobalt, you should wear it all the time.”
    “Thank you, Evan, you look very handsome as well.”
    Aaaaarrrgh! Very handsome as well ? Travis and Lisa had been coaching date conversation for two full days, and I came up with very handsome as well?
    He smirked. No, not a smirk, it was a chuckle, definitely an indulgent chuckle. “So, movie first, then how about a bite at Mexicali Rosa’s?”
    I must have nodded. Movie and dinner, dear God. What should I pay for? What was I supposed to pay for? And did I have enough money to pay for it? Lisa had said that since Evan did the asking, the first date was generally on the guy. Generally . But this was two things, a two-parter, so now what? I wasn’t even hungry. We’d had pizza at Lisa’s pre–lip gloss, an hour ago.