Free Will the Real Prince Charming Please Stand Up by Ella Martin

blast.”
    Tim glanced at my brother, and the two of them laughed at some inside joke. “Oh, man, it was awesome,” he said, leaning on Veronica. “You should’ve gone.”
    “Maybe next year,” I said with a non-committal shrug, “if Ally and Talia go. Someone’s got to be around to referee those two.”
    He chuckled. “Your friends are a riot. How was the marathon?”
    “Good!” I replied brightly. “We only watched four movies, though. Finn didn’t want to stay for The World Is Not Enough . But Dante came over for a little bit.”
    Brady stared at me, surprised. “Oh, really?”
    “Yeah, we had a good time.” Dante smiled at me.
    “He didn’t stay long,” I said, resting my head on his shoulder, “so it was mostly me and Ally and Talia and Finn.”
    “No Jake?”
    I shook my head. “Bonfire had some kind of Battle of the Bands thing.” I frowned. “I don’t think it went well, though. Talia got some cryptic text from him Saturday night, and she said he was kind of down when she talked to him yesterday. And there was something about some record label guy being there or whatever.”
    “Ooh, Zack can’t have been happy about that.”
    “Probably. I didn’t get all the deets.” The first bell rang and I jumped. “I’ve got to run,” I said, hoisting my backpack over my shoulder. “Talia texted me early this AM, and I have to go over some notes with her before homeroom.” I turned to Dante and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Will I see you at lunch?” I asked, peering into his eyes.
    “I’ll see you before that.” He planted a small kiss on my nose before I took off running for class, leaving him with my brother and his best friend.
    ****
    Dante was waiting for me when I got out of homeroom, and I nearly skipped across the hall to see him.
    “Hey,” he said, taking my hand. “I missed you.”
    “Aww, I missed you, too!” I pecked him on the cheek and put my head on his shoulder as he put his arm around my waist.
    “I wish we had some classes together,” he said as we walked to my next class. “Then I could see you more often.”
    “We had algebra together last year,” I said.
    “We did?”
    “You don’t remember? I sat next to you the whole year.”
    “Oh, yeah,” he said absently.
    I frowned. I had a strong suspicion he didn’t remember.
    He nodded greetings to a few people as we passed them in the halls. “Are you doing stuff with your friends this weekend?” he asked.
    “Jake and Talia are coming over Saturday to finish up our project.”
    “Will that Finn guy be there, too?”
    “I don’t know. I think so,” I replied.
    “You spend a lot of time with him.”
    “With Finn? Um, I guess?” I shook my head. “Finn is, like, the last person you should worry about.”
    He nodded, but he looked skeptical. “What about Sunday?”
    I shrugged. “I don’t think I have anything going on. Why?”
    “I figured you and I could hang out, maybe do some stuff together since I didn’t really get to have you to myself last Saturday.”
    “Maybe. Possibly.” I smiled and glanced up at him. “We’ll see.”
    We turned to go down the hall toward my English class, and I saw Tim and Chelsea Cooper headed our direction. The petite blonde had her arm linked through his, and she was staring up at him as if whatever he was saying held the answer to all of life’s mysteries. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. I mean, Ally had told us he was dating her, but seeing them together made my breakfast curdle in my stomach.
    It was unsettling.
    “Are you okay?” Dante asked.
    “What? Um, yeah.”
    “You look like you’re in another world.”
    “No, I’m fine.” I kept my eyes downcast as Tim and Chelsea passed us. Dante didn’t miss it. He looked over his shoulder.
    “She’s pretty.”
    “Who?”
    “That girl with your brother’s friend.”
    My lip curled into a slight sneer. “I guess.”
    “But you’re beautiful,” he said as we approached my classroom.
    I