“Trey wants me to help him plan a romantic date for Portia. So he can ask her to prom.” My head rested against the back of the brown leather couch.
“You’re kidding?”
“No.”
“Maybe Captain Nerd needs a smack upside the head so he’ll open his eyes and see what’s in front of him.”
“Well, I’m kind of at his house right now.”
“Run out the door and don’t turn back. Maybe throw some plant testicles at him on the way out,” Kenadi said.
I laughed, in spite of everything. “Wish I had some on me. I mean, not that I had plant testicles, but you know.”
Kenadi giggled. “Yeah, I gotcha. So where’s Trey now?”
“Portia called so he left the room to talk to her.”
“That girl is seriously whacked. You’d think she’d be done with him by now. Who actually likes roses of death?”
“I’m guessing she’s more morbid than we thought.”
“Do you think she steals flowers from gravesites too?”
“Funny,” I said. “May-maybe I should give up. It’s obvious he’s into her.”
“Or maybe you should come clean with him.”
“I already told you I can’t do that. Sabotaging them is my last hope.”
“Okay, we’ll come up with something.”
“I’m sorry I’m dragging you into this.”
“Don’t be, I’m your best friend, remember?”
I laughed. “Yeah. I’m just so miserable. It’s like my stomach knots up every time I see him with Portia. I-I get those nervous flutters when he’s around, whether we’re playing a video game or talking about school. And, I can’t stop thinking about him.”
“You got it bad.”
“Yeah, and I have to plan this stupid date now.”
“Any ideas?”
“No.” My gaze flitted to a picture on the wall of a beach scene. “Wait, I think I just got an idea.” And boy did I. If this didn’t deter Portia, then nothing would. “Sabotage date, take three,” I said.
Kenadi chuckled. “Can’t wait to hear the details.”
So we put our heads together and came up with an epic plan, which I prayed wouldn’t fail. Again.
Trey came back into the room. “Sorry, she wanted to chat about her dance recital coming up.”
“Well, I think I’ve got an idea of where you can take her,” I said. A devious smile tugged at my lips and it was all I could do not to break out in a villainous laugh. “There’s this great spot over on Lake Michigan, near the Whitehall, Montague area. They’ve got a boardwalk and picnic area. Really romantic. You could pack a lunch for the two of you and watch the waves—maybe take a walk along the shore. She’ll love it.” Except for the part where I forgot to mention the bajillion seagulls that flocked over there.
Kenadi assured me, we could get them to swarm the picnic.
“You’re brilliant.” Trey sat down next to me, his hand squeezed my knee.
Tingles shot up my leg where he touched me. I wriggled away. “No problem. I’ll send you directions later. But I gotta run. See you.”
***
Kenadi carried six loaves of bread to the checkout line, while I grabbed another three. Once I paid for them, we hopped into her car.
“Start breaking it into pieces so we can toss it off the boardwalk when we get there,” Kenadi said, putting her seatbelt on.
“I still can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“You should get an award for your devious plotting,” Kenadi said.
I put my sunglasses on, clicked my seatbelt into place, and then started breaking the loaves of bread into smaller chunks. Sun blazed through the windows as we drove west and headed to the lake shore. We listened to music and talked about guys and soccer. It was nice to have a girls’ day. When we pulled into our spot, there were only a few cars there. We’d come over early to get into position.
“Do you think Trey will recognize my car?” Kenadi said.
“Not if you take the Yellow Jacket Soccer decal off your back window.” I shoved the torn up loaves of bread into my duffel bag, while Ken peeled the sticker off her car and grabbed us a blanket to sit on.
My sandals squeaked as I walked across the sand to the boardwalk. We climbed the stairs and headed down the path that went behind the dunes. There was a bridge back there that overlooked a stream which emptied into Lake Michigan. It was private and where I told Trey to have lunch with Portia.
“We’ll have to position ourselves either further up the boardwalk or in the dunes so we can toss the bread down,” Kenadi said, slipping her shoes off to walk barefoot.
“Let’s go up. We’ll have a better view from up there to see when they get here.” My sunglasses slid down my nose, and I pushed them back into place. We trudged up the sand, warm granules pushing between my toes and sandals. The blue sky was cloudless. Trees waved in the wind as a breeze kicked up. When we reached the top, my legs burned.
“Geez, that was a work out.” I set my stuff on the ground and helped Ken spread a blanket out. Once we finished, we plopped onto it and arranged our stuff.
“You might have to carry me back down.” Kenadi took a bottle of water out of her bag.
Down below, I watched the waves roll in. Whitecaps gurgled and sloshed against the shoreline. Seagulls already dotted the beach. They sat on the water, riding the waves or searched the sand for remnants of food.
