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“Yes, we’re done,” Brenda chuckled. “You know the drill, right, honey?”
“I know. No drinking, no smoking, no drugs, home by twelve-thirty,” she recited.
I couldn’t help snorting. The fact that Kyler’s mother felt the need to lay down most of those ground rules was hilarious. I had the feeling that Kyler wouldn’t touch drugs or alcohol with a ten-foot pole.
“I’ll take good care of her, Brenda,” I promised. “Ready to get out of here, Ky?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” she said.
Brenda walked us to the door and shut it behind us, and Kyler turned to me.
“Brenda? You’re on a first-name basis with my mom now?”
“Sheasked me to call her by her first name,” I chuckled. “Who was I to say no? That was kind of a one-eighty from dinner the other night, though.”
“Yeah, she has her moments. Sometimes,” she sighed. “I really am sorry about that, by the way. Dinner.”
“I told you not to worry about it. It’s worth it to get to hang out with you.”
Her eyes widened a little, but then she shook her head slightly. “Okay, let’s get this stupid dance over with.”
“Oh, come on. I promised you’d have a good time. I can’t keep that promise if you’re going to be so pessimistic.”
“Did you learn that word in your SAT prep guide?” she chuckled.
“Hey! I’m actually good in English, thank you very much,” I laughed as I opened the passenger door of my truck for her and gave her a hand up.
“And a gentleman to top it off,” she teased.
“Promised I would be, remember? I even got Braden to agree to be nice tonight too.”
Actually, ever since our fight last week, he hadn’t said so much as a word against Kyler. It kind of seemed like he’d turned over a new leaf, which I was glad for. He was the first friend I’d made when my family moved here, and he’d quickly turned into the brother I’d never had. I hated seeing him stoop to Max Taylor’s level, because the guy I’d gotten to know during spring semester last year was better than that.
“He’s not so bad,” she sighed. “Unlike some of your other teammates.”
“We’ll steer clear of Max and his cronies tonight. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she muttered.
I took the risk of taking her hand and did a mental fist-pump when she didn’t flinch or jerk it away. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to avoid them. How’s that?”
She nodded, and I turned the key in the ignition and backed out of her driveway.
* * *
When we walked into the gym, where the dance was being held, I immediately saw Braden with Hannah Olsen, his date for the night. She was on the cheerleading squad and had been trying to get him to notice her ever since I’d started attending school here. And I could definitely tell that she was more into being his date than he washavingher as his date. I waved at him, and he looked grateful for the save. He left Hannah talking with her friends as he made his way over to us.
“Hey, man. I think you deserve some kind of medal for getting Kyler to come to one of these!” he shouted over the music.
Kyler narrowed her eyes a little as she looked at him. “I’ve come every year. I just went stag with my best friend.”
“Sorry,” he chuckled. “Um, can we start over? Hi. I’m Braden, and I swear I’m not a dick.”
“Hi. I’m Kyler, and I’m actually a nice person, if you bother to get to know me,” she clipped out.
“I can vouch for that,” I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.
My heart did a funny flip in my chest when she leaned into the half-hug.
