Talisman 01 - The Emerald Talisman

didn’t care.
    “Why not?” Dena asked, sounding a little disappointed.
    “Dances are lame,” he said, with a detached disposition.
    I knew his lack of self-confidence was the real reason, but didn’t know how I could help. I had just as much trouble with guys as he had with girls.
    “I don’t know if I’m going either. I don’t have a date yet,” Dena said while looking down at her tray, playing with her uneaten pudding.
    “Didn’t Brady ask you?” Sam asked.
    “Yeah, he did. I didn’t accept yet. I don’t know—” Dena’s eyes drifted in Morgan’s direction. “I was waiting for someone else to ask me.”
    I casually glanced at Morgan, who suddenly was interested in flicking the peeling paint off the table. I wanted to kick him so he’d wake up and pay attention. It was crazy they both wanted to go with each other, but neither would make the first move. Maybe letting Morgan know she wanted him to ask her was exactly what he needed since he wasn’t picking up on Dena’s body language.
    “I’ve decided to go with Todd after all,” Sam said.
    “Oh, that’s cool,” I said.
    I had noticed Todd McMullan, a Senior, showed a little interest in Sam and hoped he would ask her to the dance. Sam already mentioned privately she had a crush on him, but didn’t want to say anything to the group because Katie had a bad habit of teasing. But Sam hadn’t told me he’d asked her yet.
    “Come on Cam, I’ll go with you,” I finally offered feeling a tiny bit of peer pressure and sorry for Cam.
    “Naw, that’s cool. It’s no big deal,” Cameron said with a waning smile. I think he was tired of the pretenses too.
    I didn’t want to spend money on something like Homecoming anyway. Besides, Cam had two left feet, so we never actually danced . All we really did was go as two singles and spent the rest of the night with friends. I didn’t feel up to it this time. I actually would rather work.
    I was trying hard to save money for a newer car. Currently, I drove my older brother Luke’s 1984 Volkswagen Quantum. He bought it to turn into some sort of veggie oil driving automobile to save money on gas, but never got around to it. He offered to let me drive it until I could get something of my own. It was old but it got me where I needed to go.
    I tried to think of something insightful to say to alleviate Cam’s discomfort, but was saved by the bell. We sighed in sync as we got up and headed for our respective fifth period classes. Sam and I were the only ones who had Algebra, which was not my favorite class.
    “Todd asks you and you don’t tell me?” I asked as soon as we were alone, headed down the hall towards our class.
    “Well, I was going to. It literally happened right before lunch. He pulled me aside after class, but I had no idea that’s what he wanted to talk to me about. He seemed pretty nervous when he asked but so adorable,” she said with a grin.
    Sam’s giddiness was like sun breaking through stormy clouds and I couldn’t stay upset at her. Somehow I missed her elation all through lunch. It must have been because I was consumed with dodging Katie’s question.
    “That’s so great,” I said.
    “You should try to go. Isn’t there anyone you want to go with?”
    Deep down inside, a part of me wanted to attend, but there wasn’t anyone I felt safe to go with. It was hard to try to explain that to Sam. I’d given up on boys, for now anyway. They were all the same to me—immature and focused on one thing .
    “Really, it’s okay. I’m going to skip it this time.”
    She sighed. I think she wanted to double with me and I felt bad for bailing on her. Maybe I’d try to get Dena and Morgan to go with her and Todd, once I orchestrated Morgan to ask her.
    We walked into the classroom and found our seats. A knot formed in my stomach. Ms. Smith was an incredible teacher, possibly the best at our school, but I was so horrible at math it didn’t matter.
    “I’m never going to get it,” I moaned while we worked in small groups.
    “Just double check your work as you go, like this.” Her pencil darted across the page, leaving organized sets of numbers meaning something to her, but nothing to me.
    I chuckled. “Can’t you just do my homework for me?”
    Sam rolled her eyes. “With practice, you’ll get it, I promise.”
    “Yeah, right.”
    A hopeful expression formed on her face. She wasn’t going to let me quit. It gave me some confidence I’d actually have a fighting chance