Page 23 of The Crafting Con

My gaze flicks behind him, and there’s the lacrosse team, all lined up in a row. They tear their jerseys off—much to the crowd’s excitement—and the words go to prom? are painted across their chests.

No. No, no, no. This is not happening.

I’m not ready.

I…

Without even realizing what I’m doing, my gaze flies to the opposite side of the field, where the rest of the marching band stands looking on. I scan their faces until I find the one I’m looking for. My heart squeezes at the blank expression staring back at me. And then it turns away, and Declan is gone, swallowed by the eager onlookers who are collectively waiting for my reply.

“Ava Aimes.” Tyler’s voice pulls me back to the situation at hand, and I force myself to look down at his upturned face. “Will you go to prom with me?”

“I, um…” I should say yes. I know I should say yes. Everyone’s watching. My mom is watching. I glance over at her, and her face is positively glowing with excitement. This is the moment she’s been waiting for since I entered high school. I can’t let her down. Even if a part of me desperately wants to say no.

I close my eyes, willing the niggling doubts away.

This is a good thing. Tyler might be a popular jock, but he’s also incredibly sweet and kind. There’s no question we’d have fun together.

I blink them open and try not to picture Declan kneeling in front of me instead. Asking me to prom. Or better yet, to hang out at OA Con together, and do all the things we talked about the other day.

A flicker of worry creases Tyler’s face while he waits for my answer, and it’s enough to push me back on track, to say the one word that will make everyone around me happy. I lift the corner of my mouth and smile.

“Yes.”

CHAPTER 10

DECLAN

Eight days until OA Con

It’s French bread pizza Friday, and I don’t even care. Honestly, the whole thing tastes like cardboard, and the side salad isn’t much better. I push my tray away with a disgusted sigh and look out the cafeteria window. Rain streams down the wide panes, overlaying a dull gray background, and I can feel the cold air seeping through the glass.

A perfect reflection of my mood.

“So what do you guys think we should do about Declan?” Hiro leans across the table, talking to Bailey and Zeke like I’m not even here. “He’s been acting super depressed all day, and last night he didn’t log on to Valheim even once.”

“An intervention does seem to be in order,” Bailey says, teeth crunching through a bright red apple. She chews methodically, her head tilting while she studies my profile. Zeke nods solemnly by her side.

My jaw clenches under their scrutiny. “I’m fine. The rain just makes me tired.”

“He says he’s just tired, but I don’t know,” Hiro continues, still ignoring the fact that I am sitting right next to him. “When he isn’t gazing broodingly out the window, he’s glaring broodingly across the cafeteria at a certain blonde junior who was—pretty epically—promposed to at yesterday’s lacrosse game. Do you think there’s some kind of connection there?”

Bailey’s head bobs seriously. “Definitely.”

“Seems likely,” Zeke adds, reaching for one of Bailey’s salt and vinegar chips.

She swats his hand away. “Not happening.”

He pouts. “But I’m hungry.”

“So get your own.”

Zeke mock growls, pulling her into his side and biting at her neck. “Stingy.”

She giggles, and I roll my eyes, looking away. I am so not in the mood for their flirty back-and-forth. “I’m not brooding over Ava,” I grumble, even as my gaze strays across the cafeteria to the crowded lunch table where she’s sitting. Her friend Stasia is next to her, laughing at something one of the lacrosse guys is saying.

Golden Boy sits across from them, and the way he smiles at Ava, all confident and casual like, makes me physically ill. I really wish he was a jerk or something, then I’d have a better reason to hate him. Something to validate the violent daydreams I’m currently entertaining. Nothing over-the-top, of course, just a nice, swift punch to his face. A crooked nose would give him character. I’d be doing him a favor, really.

Okay, fine. Maybe I am brooding a little.