Chapter Seven — Blair

Blair whistled as he walked into his house, kicking the door closed as he spun in a circle. He couldn’t believe he had done it. After months of watching Sandra from afar, wishing he could talk to her without making things completely awkward, he had asked her to a dance. And it wasn’t just any dance—it was the Valentine’s dance. He’d have to make sure it was really special. Except, they’d be with Cameron and his girlfriend Amanda, and their friend Gracie and her boyfriend. As the only couple who wasn’t an actual couple, he worried about expectations. Would Sandra want him to hold her hand or—gulp—kiss her?

His neck felt itchy at the thought. Was he breaking out in hives? He did that when he was nervous. Blair worried he’d be so anxious the night of the dance that his whole body would break out in hives. That thought made his neck even itchier.

“What’s wrong?” his brother Gabe asked, walking in from the kitchen with a burrito in hand. He was only a sophomore, but he was already taller than Blair. “Why’s your neck so red?”

Blair shoved his nerves aside and tossed a smirk his brother’s way. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Oh, so it has to do with a girl.” Gabe grinned. “I bet it’s the one Mom doesn’t want you to date.”

The anxiety returned full throttle.

“How do you know about Sandra?” Blake asked as he rubbed at his neck.

Gabe took a bite of the burrito. “Heard Mom talking to Dad on the phone,” he said around the mouthful of food.

Oh, great.

Gabe’s eyes lit up as if he’d just had a brilliant idea. He swallowed before asking, “You going to kiss her?” And then, his grin grew wider. “If you do, can I be the one to tell Mom? She’s going to be so mad.” He seemed thrilled at the thought.

Now Blair’s arms were starting to itch. He needed to do something to chill out. “I…have to go.” He turned around and headed back toward the front door.

“But you just got home,” Gabe protested. “I was only teasing; I wouldn’t really tell Mom.”

Oh yeah, he would.

“Tell her I’m at Cameron’s.”

Blair couldn’t remember if his best friend had said what his plans were for the day, but he would take his chances.

When he knocked on Cameron’s door, Blair was relieved when his friend answered. Cameron dramatically pulled out his phone and looked at it. “Well what do you know, you’re just in time for dinner.”

Blair inwardly cringed. He knew Cameron’s parents would invite him to stay, and they would be happy about it, but Blair didn’t want to be a burden on the family—another mouth to feed. Things had been tough since Cameron’s dad had been injured at the steel shop. “Shoot, I just realized that I promised Julianna I’d meet her at the library,” Blair said, taking a step back. “I’ll come back when we’re finished.”

Cameron rolled his eyes. “Get in here. My mom already saw you through the window and set an extra plate.”

Guilt settled in Blair’s stomach, but he followed Cameron inside. Whatever his mom was cooking, it smelled amazing. His stomach agreed, making itself known by grumbling loudly.

“I heard that,” Cameron’s mom said with a smile as she walked into the entryway. “You don’t mind cauliflower, do you? I’m trying out a new recipe.”

“I can’t wait to try it.” If it had been his own mother cooking with cauliflower, Blair would have grumbled and then pushed his food around on his plate, acting like an ungrateful turd. But not with Cameron’s mom. Not when he knew she had probably chosen to cook with cauliflower because it was what was on sale at the grocery store.

Less than half an hour later, he was sitting with Cameron and his parents around their small dining room table. Cameron’s mom said the prayer over the food and then passed around a dish that consisted of noodles and chicken and yes, cauliflower, swimming in a red sauce. It smelled like it was probably really spicy. Just how he liked it.

Blair was careful to only take a modest spoonful, wanting to make sure he didn’t take more than was polite. They’d probably want leftovers for lunch the next day.

Cameron’s dad eyed Blair’s plate and raised an eyebrow. “Really? I know for a fact you could eat ten times what is on your plate. Take more.”

“Oh, I couldn’t—”

Cameron’s dad raised his fork and pointed it at Blair. “You aren’t fooling anyone. Eat.”

Blair exchanged a look with Cameron, who gave him a small nod.

“Okay.” He took another spoonful before passing the dish.

The noodle-y concoction ended up being delicious, and Blair couldn’t even taste the cauliflower. He even asked Cameron’s mom for the recipe, but she just laughed and didn’t seem to believe that he actually wanted it. She thought he was just being nice. It seemed to make her happy anyway, and Blair was glad for that.

After the boys had helped clean up the dishes, Cameron nodded toward the den, and Blair followed him to where the TV was set up. “I know this is why you really came over,” Cameron said with a grin. “You wanted to get your zombie butt kicked.”

Blair laughed and shook his head. “In your dreams.”

“No dreams, but I do use meditation and visualization,” Cameron said, his smile disappearing in mock sincerity. “You have to imagine yourself achieving your goals…what it will feel like. And a vision board never hurt either.”

“You have a vision board with my zombie butt on it?”

“Among other things.”

“I think I’d rather not see this board of yours.” Blair paused. “On second thought, maybe I do. It will help me know if I need to run an intervention, or at the very least, warn Amanda to run. Like, fast.”

Cameron turned on the TV and handed Blair a video game controller. “Speaking of Amanda, she called me right before you showed up.” He said it casually like he was commenting on the weather, but Blair could tell that it had been anything but benign.

“Oh, yeah? Are you going to give me a play by play of your conversation, because I really don’t want to know how many times she called you ‘snookums.’”

“That was one time.” Cameron’s cheeks had turned a bright shade of red, and it seemed Blair had managed to sidetrack his best friend. But then he said, “I wonder what pet name Sandra will come up with.”

Blair’s gaze snapped to where Cameron sat on the opposite end of the couch. Sandra must have called Amanda immediately after he had left, and then she’d turned around and called Cameron—who had been acting like he knew nothing for the previous hour that Blair had been at his house.

“I know you asked her to the dance,” Cameron said, giving Blair a look that said there was no point in denying it. “And I know she’s freaking out about it.”

Oh. That didn’t sound good.

“Um…yeah. I think she only said yes because she knew my mom wouldn’t like it.”

Cameron stared at the TV and used his controller to scroll through the selection of guns and choose which one he wanted his character to use. “That’s not what I heard.”

Blair’s heart thudded against his ribs and he watched Cameron, waiting for him to continue. “Yeah?”

“Seems like she thinks the same thing about you—that you only asked her because you were forbidden to.” He threw a side glance toward Blair. “I know I’ve been trying to get you two together and everything, but I’m not sure a common goal of ticking off your mom is a healthy place to start a new relationship.”

“Okay, Delilah,” Blair said with an exaggerated eye roll.

Cameron snorted as he turned his attention back to the TV. “Delilah?”

“Yeah, you know that lady on the radio that gives people love advice late at night?”

With a grin, Cameron said, “Call me Dr. D.”

Blair laughed and then was quiet for a moment while he chose his weapons. Cameron pressed X, throwing them both into the open world game. They could travel wherever they wanted as they searched for the supplies they’d need to survive life after a nuclear bomb had basically wiped out the entire planet. Some people were lucky enough to have survived and had come away relatively unscathed. Others—they should have been so lucky to die.

“That’s not why I asked her,” Blair said after a particularly brutal fight with a giant rat that had two large tusks protruding from its mouth. The rat was mostly bald but had red beady eyes and an insane number of teeth. It was the most hideous thing Blair had ever seen. If he had the choice between being killed by a nuclear bomb or having to live in a world where those things existed, he’d rather die.

“I know,” Cameron said. A pause. “But you might want to tell her that.”

Blair had, but Sandra must not have believed him. He didn’t know how to prove to her that his mother had nothing to do with him asking her to the dance.

He could try again.

He’d tell Sandra that he’d asked her to the dance not as an act of rebellion and not because their friends had coerced him, but because he liked her. A lot. And had ever since he’d first met her. He could end his speech with a kiss. Maybe then she’d believe him.

Blair’s neck started to itch again, and his pulse skyrocketed. He’d never felt so nervous at the thought of kissing a girl before.

In fact, he felt less anxious at the prospect of facing a giant killer rat in a zombie-infested wasteland than when he thought about kissing Sandra.

Blair rubbed a hand over his face and groaned.

Dang it.

He liked Sandra way more than was good for him.