Lizzie

I feel like my insides are melting with Brandon's leg pressed up against mine. There is sufficient room for me to move up closer to Lilly, but what the hell, I'm not going to. Now he has decided we shouldn't sneak into each other's bedrooms at night; this is the closest I'm going to get to having my boy crush satisfied with any kind of touch.

"So, who are you going to the prom with?" Lilly asks me. I don't have a Scooby Doo since I haven't really put much thought into it. I kind of hoped Brandon would ask me, but he hasn't, and I am sorely disappointed.

"Nobody at the moment." Her mouth gapes open; even Brandon is staring at me. Do I feel uncomfortable? You bet I do. All of a sudden, I feel like the spotlight is on me and I really don't like it. "Will y'all stop looking at me like that?" I huff and pick up my coffee, which the waitress has just put in front of me, and start sipping at it instead.

"Girl, you gotta get a date sorted. It's only a few weeks away." Lilly's voice has a sudden, high-pitched squeak.

"Yeah, honestly." Pipes up Brandon with a lazy grin on his face. His electric blue eyes are smiling. "You could have your pick of anyone." He says, that melts my heart. Truly, does my best friend the billionaire bad-ass boy, who has all the girls chasing him, really think I can have my pick of anyone? So why hasn't anyone asked me?

"Really? Well, I don't have a queue of boys asking me." I moan.

"Girl, come on, Brandon is right. You could have any man you wanted. Trust me. Perhaps they're all a bit shy and nervous." She smiles. I watch Tobes watching her as I look up from over my coffee cup, wishing I'd chosen a mocha latte instead.

"Leave her alone, guys," Denver says and gives me a reassuring smile. "I do know who you could ask." I'm waiting, so is everyone else. "Dexter."

I almost spit my coffee out. Aside from Brandon and Denver being the guys in the whole school every girl is dying to be with, Dexter is right up there at the top of the list. I'm not sure he even truly knows I exist, and besides, I don't want to share prom night with just any old guy. I want it to be Brandon. My heart is crushing, and I feel in physical pain at the thought of Brandon going to the prom with some other girl. I hope it's not bloody Jennie.

Since he is going on a second date with her, it is likely. I stop myself from thinking about big-boob Jennie. It's probably the only reason he's dating her, that and I have heard she puts out. I know Brandon has already slept with a couple of girls, and that hurts like needles in my eyes.

"Hey y'all. What's up?" In breezes our very own Barbie Girl with Button, her Chihuahua in her oversized Prada handbag. Today they're wearing matching outfits. Tammy is wearing an unbuttoned baby pink blouse, which, in my opinion, is too much considering we are just in a diner. I can see the dark pink lace on her bra. I want to stand up and do a few buttons up. Yeah, I guess some people would call me a prude; the most daring I am is cut-off denim shorts and even those that don't ride up my butt. Besides, my father wouldn't allow it. Button is wearing some kind of frilly pink dress thing.

Do I feel sorry for that poor dog? You bet I do. Still, she adores Tammy, and Tammy adores Button. It's a match made in heaven. To match her blouse, our girl is wearing the tightest hot pink shorts I have ever seen. Brandon just looks at me and raises his eyebrows. I giggle, then he wiggles them, and I laugh, as does Denver.

Sometimes I honestly think that Tammy is out to shock. "Do your parents know you're out dressed like Dolly Parton today?" Asks Brandon. Denver snorts as he laughs. It's cute. Lilly reaches across the table and slaps her boyfriend's hand.

I change the subject. Tammy is Tammy, and that is the way it is. "For y'alls information, my mommy and daddy are way too busy to notice what I'm up to." She says it breezily, but deep down I suspect that it hurts her. It'd crucify me knowing my parents didn't really care enough to take notice. Despite her appearance, Tammy has a lazor sharp brain and wants to be a lawyer. God forbid anyone when she is in court, she'll rip them to shreds, and I already know she's going to lure them into a false sense of security with her bimbo looks and all.

"So what y'all gassing about?" She takes a seat next to Tobes, who suddenly goes beetroot. Tammy knows he has the hots for her, and she plays on it. He knows this, but when you're smitten, you're smitten, and there isn't a darn thing you can do about it. I have tried millions of times to talk to my heart about how it feels for Brandon, and still I can't change it. This has got to be a crush; it just has to be. Maybe I ought to speak with Dexter and see if he wants to go to the prom, although I'm guessing a hot guy like him will already have a girl lined up.

"Nothing really," I reply.

"Hell, we are." says Lilly. "We're discussing who Lizzie can go to the prom with and who knows what else after." She laughs.

"Yeah, who you going with?" asks Tammy, then slaps her own forehead. "Of course, Brandon." She looks super pleased with herself and claps her hands like she's just won some award or something. Button looks up, excited, thinking he's probably going to be awarded a treat. Brandon splutters, and the latte he had a mouthful of splurts out on the table, and on his I'm a rockstar t-shirt.

I feel more uncomfortable than ever, and I feel my cheeks flushing. "Ooo look at you, girl. You're as red as a beetroot." Tammy is enjoying this.

"Man, is that true? I knew something was going on between you two." Denver says. I want to crawl under the table and curl up into a ball. They're all so bad.

Brandon, now recovered, says, "Give it a rest, Denver. Guys. We're not going to the prom together. We keep telling you we're just best friends. Why, because we're all a bit older, do we have to be getting it together?"

"That's what friends do." Tammy and Lilly say in unison.

"Well, not us. Period. Full Stop." Brandon replies. My heart is now sinking further and further; it is cascading out of my body and squirming and dying on the floor. I can't catch my breath. I want to cry.