It has been about two weeks since the Davenport kids started school and so far everything seemed to be going well. I walk out of the music room after storing my stuff and immediately get bombarded by Morgan and Zoey.
"Did you hear?" Zoey screamed as she squeezed my arm.
"This is so exciting!" Morgan squeals coming up on my other side.
"Will one of you tell me what's going on?" I laugh at them, shaking my head.
"Danielle and James broke up!" Zoey says shaking me in excitement. The three of us look at each other and squeal really loudly. People were staring but we didn't care.
"The three of us have been in love with him since kindergarten." I remind them, grinning like an idiot.
"True. But since you are the only one of us without a boyfriend he is all yours." Morgan informs me as we make our way down the hall.
"That's assuming he will even give me the time of day." I sigh.
"Shut up your hot, any guy would be lucky to have you." Zoey tells me as Morgan nods in agreement.
"Thanks, guys," I say to them as we turn the corner. We then see Leo trying to talk to Danielle with Adam and Chase holding back their laughter not far behind them. Danielle soon walks off leaving a sad Leo.
"Uh, oh. You might want to deal with that trainwreck." Morgan informs me. I nod grimly before I wave goodbye to them and head towards the boys.
"Really, Leo? You know Danielle is way out of your league right?" I tease him as I come up next to Chase.
"Oh. Like you wouldn't love it if James Connors asked you to the dance." He snaps back at me.
"Who's James Connors?" Adam asks me.
"He is nobody?" I say starting to walk towards my locker.
"He's the guy that Mara has been in love with since we were five," Leo informs his brothers.
"Ooooo." They mock me as I whip around.
"Leo!" I yell at him, marching closer.
"Come on Mar! You're saying you're not going to fawn all over James now that he is single." Leo asks, lifting an eyebrow at me.
"Of course not! I have more self-respect than that." I inform him. At that moment James walks by us.
"Hey, Mara." He greets me with his signature smirk that makes me go weak in the knees. I start incoherently giggling.
"Hi..Hi James." I get out through my giggling and give him a little wave. He chuckles a little and then heads on his way. I keep giggling and turn back to the boys who are laughing at me.
"What was that?" Chase asks me, trying to hold back his laughter.
"Shut up." I glare at them. Just then their sister joins us.
"Are you guys talking about the dance too?" She asks us, annoyed. We nod and she rolls her eyes. "Why is everyone making such a big deal about this stupid dance?" She complains to us.
"Nobody's asked you yet, have they?" Chase smirks at his sister as he crosses his arms.
"No!" Bree wines, stomping her foot. She then turns away from her brother to face me. "I really want to go with that guy." We all turn in the direction she gestured. "His name is Ethan. We sit next to each other in chemistry!" She says as she squeezes my arm in excitement. "Coincidence? I think not! Chemistry." She says in a sing-song voice. She then turns to me sad. "What should I do?" She asks me.
"I got this," Chase says, making a dramatic cross so that he was on the other side of his sister.
"What's he going to do?" I whisper to his siblings as the brainiac brushes his hand behind his ear.
"He's talking about a girl he thinks is cute," Chase informs us. Oh, I get it. Bionic hearing. "Ew, he is talking about Bree." He says in disgust. Bree turns to me and squeals excitedly. "He's coming over here now to ask you to the dance." I gasp in excitement and turn to her and see the panic in her eyes.
"What? No? Now? Really?" She says looking back and forth between all of us.
"You got this girl!" I say, as I adjust her hair. Chase and I push her in front of us as Ethan approaches.
"How's it going?" Ethan greets her with a bright smile.
"Ethan! What a huge surprise! To see you here,for reasons we do not know." Chase rambles trying to play it cool. I elbow him in the side which finally gets him to stop talking.
"Hey Ethan." Bree says nervously. "You know… we uh… decided… What is that over there?" She says pointing behind him. Once he turns around she super speeds away.
"Where'd she go?" Ethan asks, confused when he turns around. We all look at each other with wide eyes.
"Uh, more importantly, what is that over there?" Adam says pointing behind Ethan again. Ethan turns around as we all look at each and run the opposite direction.
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The next morning Alex and I walk into school to find Adam pinned under some lockers. Three guys on the football team rush over to help but Leo ushers them away.
"What the hell is happening here?" Alex yells, running over to help.
"Don't worry, Al. Everything is under control." Leo reassures my brother.
"She's coming!" Chase shouts from the doorway to the cafeteria. "Commence operation lady for Leo," Chase says, grabbing Alex and me and dragging us to the corner.
"Oh, no. This isn't going to end well." I inform my brother as Chase tries to make it look like we are not watching.
"I calculated the situation and there is a sixty-five percent chance that this works out. Which are the best odds Leo has." Chase informs as he sneaks glances at his plan.
"Well while you boys try and do the impossible. I'm going to get a date of my own." Alex says hiking up the collar of his shirt.
"You know if you ask Emma looking like that I think your girlfriend will tell you no." I tease him. He flattens it again and glares at me.
"Ya well, who are you going with?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at me. I shrug and turn to look at Chase who is very much wrapped up in the stupid stunt playing out in front of him. Just then James walks up. He looks over at Danielle and the boys and lets out a weird sigh. He then turns and smirks at me. This got Chase's attention.
"Hey, Mar." He greets me. I immediately start to giggle and wave at him.
"Hi, James," I say dreamily.
"I really like your shoes." He says nodding at my combat boots.
"Th… Thanks." I giggle even harder as I twist my hair.
"Well, later." He says walking away.
"Yeah… La… Later." I stammer out as I keep waving to him until he turns the corner. During that disaster, Chase turned his full attention to me and Danielle was glancing at me slightly out of the corner of her eyes. I turn and start to bang my head on the locker.
"You really need to stop doing that." Chase informs me to which I respond with a glare.
"Ya sis that was sad. Well, the Jacobs that actually has some game is going to get his date to the dance. Later, kids." Alex says patting my back and walking away. The youngest Davenport and I turn back to his brothers.
"What do you see in James anyway? Other than the typical he is attractive and plays lacrosse." Chase asks me shyly. I was about to answer but was distracted by Danielle asking Adam to the dance.
"Why don't you stop worrying about my taste in men and worry about the fact your plan failed. And just a word of warning. Leo holds a grudge like no one's business." I told him, giving him a supportive squeeze on his arm before walking away.
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Later that day I was walking with Morgan and Zoey to lunch and was telling them what happened that morning.
"I choked. Ugh, I don't understand it every time I'm around him I turn into a giggling mess. I lose all of my confidence around him." I complain to them as we make our way down the hall.
"I don't know, love. I mean I was like that with Josh when we first started dating." Morgan says, trying to comfort me.
"I was there for that. It wasn't this bad." I tell her, not amused.
"On the bright side he has been talking to you more. Maybe he will ask you to the dance!" Zoey encourages me.
"I doubt it. He'll ask me when pigs fly." I inform them as we turn the corner. Just then there was a huge gust of wind. We look around and see Bree sitting on top of the lockers with Ethan standing under her looking confused. "Shit."
"How did she get up there?" Zoey asks me, confused.
"Uh. She can jump really high." I say as I walk towards the bionic girl sitting on the lockers. As we approach Ethan walks away.
"Sweetie let's get you down from there," Morgan says as we help pull the older girl down.
"What happened?" I ask Bree, concerned.
"I choked again." She wines.
"I'm sure it's not too bad," I reassure her.
"No. It was that bad." Adam says as he and his brothers approach us. All three of them were laughing historically.
"I hate you three." Bree snaps at her brothers as she lunges at them. Morgan, Zoey, and I hold her back.
"Between you and miss giggle head over here you two will never get dates," Leo informs us, smirking.
"Oh, you should talk. Especially since Adam is taking the girl you asked to the dance." I sneer at him. This causes Leo to lunge at me this time. Adam stops him but Leo keeps fighting him.
"Leo you need to stop doing that you're going to hurt yourself." Chase laughs at him. I however keep taunting Leo by sticking my tongue out at him.
"Hey, Mara?" A voice interrupts us. We all turn to the voice and are surprised to see James. "Can I ask you something?" I pull myself away from the scene and straighten my appearance.
"Hey...Hey James. What's up?" I say shakily.
"Would you like to go to the dance with me?" He asks me, biting his lip. I go wide-eyed and pinch my arm to check if I'm dreaming.
"I… I would lov… love to." I stutter out smiling from ear to ear.
"I guess it happens when Bree flied." Zoey whispers jokingly. I reached back and discreetly hit her arm.
"Great! Here is my number. Text me later." He says smiling at me before walking in the other direction. I turn to the girls and we all squeal. I link my arm with Bree's and turn to the boys.
"Gentlemen," I smirk at them, tossing my hair over my shoulder and walking away with the other girls.
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The rest of the day I was on cloud nine. The dance tomorrow night couldn't come fast enough. Even dance class seemed to drag on. I was surprised, however, when Bree was there to pick me up.
"Hey, Bree! What are you doing here?" I greet her with a hug.
"You guys are having dinner with us so your Mom asked me to pick you up." She tells me. I can tell she is still upset about what happened at school that morning. "Hop on Bestie." She crouches down and I hop on her back. She then super speeds us to her house.
"Hey Girls!" Aunt Tasha greets us as we walk in. She and my mother were in the kitchen cooking.
"How was your day?" My mom asks us. I run over and give her a quick hug as Bree sits down annoyed.
"Horrible. Ethan was gonna ask me to the dance, but I got nervous and ran away." She informs our mothers. "Every time I see him, I panic and act like a total…" she stops to look for the right words.
"Dork monster?" Aunt Tasha offers.
"Huge dork monster." I laugh, as I grab a water from the fridge. I turned around and saw all of them were looking at me, unamused.
"Oh, you should talk, Miss can't form a sentence whenever James Connors talks to me." Bree mocks me as I glare at her.
"Wait, James Connors? The one you have had a crush on for years?" Aunt Tasha asks me, raising her eyebrow. I nod and sit next to Bree.
"Yup and get this! He asked me to the dance!" I squeal.
"That's a great sweetheart!" My mom exclaims as she stirs something on the stove.
"I'm happy for you honey." Aunt Tasha smiles at me.
"Ya, ya. Great for Mara! Can we get back to my problem!" Bree exclaims, throwing her head on the counter.
"Sweetie, you are not the first girl to act weird around a boy you like." My mother comforts her.
"I flew across the room and jumped on top of some lockers." She informs the adults. I nod trying to hold back a laugh.
"Well, that's probably a first." Aunt Tasha grimaces.
"Whenever he's around, I get all flustered and glitchy, and I just want to eat my own face," Bree complains. I reach over and rub her shoulders.
"Honey, next time you see him, just breath. Stay in the moment, and your jitters will go away." Aunt Tasha instructs.
"Or just wear high heels. That way you'll wipe out like a downhill skier." My mom adds laughing.
"Oo ya! You can borrow a pair of my heels." Aunt Tasha says excitedly.
"Oh no!" Bree exclaims. "I don't have a dress! I totally forgot!" She panics.
"Don't worry you can borrow one of mine. Just come do the apartment before the dance." I tell her. She nods excitedly and we help the moms set the table for dinner.
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I was at my locker getting excited about the dance when suddenly Chase approached me.
"Guess who got a date to the dance?" He tells me leaning against the lockers next to mine.
"Oh, that's great, Chase! Who is it?" I say, giving him a bright smile.
"Danielle." He sighs dreamily. This makes me shut my locker.
"Danielle?" I ask him. He nods excitedly. "The same Danielle that Leo has a huge crush on?" He nods again. "Danielle who is going to the dance with Adam after your plan for Leo backfired?" He nods again eagerly. "Chase how could you?" I scold him.
"What do you mean?" He asks me, surprised as he stands up straight.
"It's bad enough that Leo and Adam are fighting over her but now you are getting involved too?" I reprimand him.
"Come on. This is the first girl that has ever been interested in me. Of course, I'm going to enjoy it." He tells me, matter of factly.
"Fine but when this blows up in your face don't say I didn't warn you," I tell walking away.
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The next day, I was pulling out some options for Bree and me to wear to the dance that night when my phone rang.
"Hello?" I ask answering it, not bothering to check the ID.
"Mar! What time is Bree coming over?" Leo's voice comes through the phone.
"I don't know. Like an hour and a half." I tell him looking at the clock next to my bed.
"Great do you think you could help me and Aunt Janice with something?" He asks frantically.
"That depends on what it is," I tell him hesitantly.
"Do you think you can choreograph a dance in less than an hour?"
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After I finished helping Leo I caught a ride back to my house from Aunt Tasha. She and my mom were hanging out while Bree and I were getting ready.
Bree picked out a navy blue dress with patchwork on the top. We matched a pair of Aunt Tasha's navy blue pumps to the dress.
I decided on a pink strapless dress with a white sweater. I matched a pair of white wedges to the dress. After I did both of our hair and makeup we made our way to the dance.
We walked into the dance and posed in front of the door to the gym. We turn and see our brothers staring at us.
"Hello, boys." We say at the same time. We start to walk towards them but Bree trips on her heels.
"Okay, if you're going to dance in those shoes I suggest a helmet," Leo informs her. She glares at him but trips again. This time I caught her.
"I got you bestie," I tell her as I hold her arm keeping her steady. However, just then James walks up to us.
"Hey, Mar you look great!" He tells me to offer his hand. I giggle and take his extended hand. I let go of Bree and she fell to the floor.
"Way to go, Mar." Alex says to me sarcastically, as he helps Bree up from the floor.
"Sorry," I tell her, fixing her hair. "Look there is Ethan. Good luck." I give her a quick hug and send her on her way.
"Well, I'm going to go find my date. You kids have fun." Alex says to us. "Not too much fun." He says pointing at James who puts his hand up in surrender. He starts to walk away but suddenly a tornado-like thing goes flying past us.
"Was that…?" Adam says pointing at the figures. We all go wide-eyed and change the subject.
"But what was that…?" James starts to ask but is interrupted.
"There you are!" Danielle says to Chase as she comes running in. She then notices her ex. "James." She sneers.
"Danielle." He responds as he puts an arm around my shoulders. She gives me a fake smile and turns back to her date.
"Wanna dance?" She asks Chase.
"Actually, I'm feeling a bit famished. I think it's time for the refrigerator." Chase says pointing at Leo.
"Do your thing big boy." Leo says point back at him. I give them a confused look as Danielle and Chase walk away.
"Let's dance," James says looking after them. He grabs my hand and pulls me on the dance floor. I start to dance to the music until I hear Chase yelling about food. I turn around and see Chase dancing like an idiot as he was calling out random actions.
"Leo," I growl under my breath. The whole school was laughing at Chase now and I felt sick to my stomach watching my friend being laughed at.
"Stop! What are you doing?" Danielle yells mortified!
"I'm swinging an invisible pickle!" He tells her like it is normal. He then stops and looks at everyone laughing at him. He makes eye contact with me and I can see his soul shatter. I give him a sad smile.
"Wow. Way to pick 'em, Danielle." James mocks. I turn and glare at him but he keeps laughing.
"Ahem." Adam clears his throat turning all attention to him. "That was the worst thing I have ever seen, but it also bought me the most joy I have ever known," Adam informs his brother. He then turns to the girl this whole ridiculous fight was about. "Now, how about I show you how a real man dances." Adam grabs her hands and starts to swing her around. She looked like she was having fun but I knew exactly what would happen next.
"Adam, no!" I told him but it was too late. He threw her in the air and she went flying.
"Talk about a lightweight," Adam says turning to me.
"Danielle!" James yells out as she comes crashing back to Adams arms covered in the decorations from the ceiling.
"Put me down!" She huffs. He does as he was told.
"Bet Chase can't throw you around like a rag doll." Adam laughs, like what just happened was normal. This causes me to facepalm.
"That's enough. Both of you!" Alex says coming up to the bionic brothers.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" James asks them annoyed.
"Get away from me!" Danielle warns all of them before storming off.
"Oh come on! I haven't even swung you by your feet yet," Adam yells after her.
"Adam," I warn, starting him down. Suddenly, the lights dim, and the music changes. Everyone turns to see Leo standing in the middle of the dance floor surrounded by backup dancers.
"Que it up G!" He yells as the song he had me choreograph to comes on. I facepalm again as he does the routine that we worked out. The song comes to an end he poses.
"Alright everybody, give it up for my Aunt Janice and her book club!" Everyone claps and cheers. "Also, for our amazing choreographer Mara Jacobs." He says pointing to me. Everyone cheers but I feel four sets of eyes move to me.
"Mar why would you help him?" Adam asks me, hitting my arm.
"Hey! I didn't know! You would be surprised how many of Leo's plans evolve me choreographing something for him." I tell all of them. Danielle walks back in and gives all of us a pointed look.
"That was awesome!" She tells Leo, gushing.
"Oh, that. That was a little something for the kids." Leo tells her nonchalantly.
"Shall we?" She asks, offering him her hand.
"Consider it shall." He says taking her hand and putting it on his shoulder. "Easy on the cape Mama. It's custom." He tells her. He leads her to the food table. As he passed us though he lowered his sunglasses to give us a cocky look.
"Do you want to dance?" James asks, turning to me. I grab his outstretched hand.
"Yes I…."
"Mara!" Morgan shouts coming towards me with Zoey standing with her back pressed against her.
"Mar my dress ripped. Can you fix it?" Zoey asked me, panicking.
"Yes. Of course." I reassure her. I then turn to James. "I'll be right back I promise." I tell him before running to the bathroom with them.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." Zoey apologizes. Bree walks in and sees us panicking.
"Don't worry about it. Do you have the emergency sewing kit?" I ask. Morgan hands it to me.
"You have an emergency sewing kit?" Bree asks us confused.
"One of us always brings one. You never know when you're going to need it." Morgan shrugs. I keep my work up and finally tie the stitch off.
"Alright, love you are all set!" I tell her, putting the thread back.
"You're the best." She sequels throwing her arms around me.
"Come on girls. I think some cute boys are waiting for us." Morgan says.
We all link arms and make our way back to the gym. However, when we walked in we are met with James and Danielle making out in the corner of the corner.
"Oh no," Bree says, grabbing my hand. She squeezes it as the tears start to fall. I feel Morgan and Zoey wrap their arms around me and lead me into the hallway.
"Hey, guys!" Leo shouts when he sees us. "Guess who made…"
"Mar are you alright?" Chase asks me concerned. I shake my head as the tears fall harder.
"James is making out with Danielle even though Mara is his date," Bree tells them fuming.
"I'll be right back," Adam growls before marching off.
"Adam, no!" I shout, running after him. By the time I caught up Adam already had James lifted by his collar.
"You think you can use my friend like that?" He growls threateningly.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't think of another way to get Danielle back." James sputters out.
"What's going on?" Alex asks, marching over to us with Emma on his heels.
"James played Mara," Leo informed him.
"Oh, I'm going to kill him," Alex says clenching his fist.
"No! You won't," I warn him. "And Adam put him down. He's not worth it." I order.
"But…" Adam starts.
"Adam." I warn. He lets out a sigh and puts him down.
"You got lucky." He growled coming to stand next to me. Danielle rushed to James' side and I approach them.
"You hurt me, James. You used me. Don't talk to me again." I tell him. I then turn to the other blonde. "And you. You had no right to use these boys the way you did. You both should be ashamed of yourselves." I tell them before walking away to my friends awaiting arms. They start to lead me to a bench.
"Your lucky Mara won't let us near you cause you would have gone against me and you really would have been screwed." Leo taunts.
"Come here, Fitto," Morgan calls Leo over to us.
We all sit on the bench, all of them trying to cheer me up.
"Ladies and gentlemen it is almost time for the final dance so find that special someone and hold them close." The DJ announces. The girls all look at each other.
"Go," I tell them reassuringly.
"Are you sure?" Zoey asks.
"Go. I'll be fine. You should be able to have fun." I insist. They all nod and hug me.
"I love you bestie," Bree tells me before she runs over to Ethan. I sit there quietly just staring at my shoes when suddenly there was another pair of shoes in my eyesight. I look up and see Chase standing in front of me with his hand outstretched.
"May I have this dance?" He asks me shyly. I look at him amused.
"Should you really be dancing again? We saw what happened last time." I asked him, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Haha. But come on you deserve to have some fun and besides you are a good enough dancer for both of us." He smiles at me. I roll my eyes at him as I put my hand in his.
He leads me onto the dance floor and looks around at everyone else. I take his hands and put them on my waist. I then put mine around his neck as "You and Me" by Lifehouse starts to play. We look around awkwardly at first but we then make eye contact. It was then like I couldn't look away. It was almost like he could look right through me. I feel his grip on my waist get tighter as he pulls me closer. We stay like this for a while until I tuck my head into his neck. I feel him place his head on top of mine. I felt safe and warm. All too soon the dance ends and I pull back a little to look him in the eyes. He stares back with an unreadable emotion written in them.
"Hey, guys!" Leo startles us. We both pull away and I feel myself blush for whatever reason. "Ready for the last dance?" He asks us excitedly.
"I thought this was the last dance?" Chase asks, confused and a little flustered.
"It was but we paid the DJ twenty bucks to play one more song," Adam says coming up to us wearing Leo's jacket that was much too small for him.
"Come on Bestie let's show them what you got." Bree says, handing Chase and me two pairs of black sunglasses. That's when I understood what they were planning. I looked at Chase who was smirking at me.
"Let's do this!" I tell them. They all cheer as we get into formation with me in the center.
"Que it up G!" Leo shouts to the DJ. The music for the dance I choreographed for Leo started to play and we all started to do the routine. We even added in a freestyle part where we all did flips and spins and just had fun. At the end, we all start laughing and pull each other into a group hug.
After a crappy day, I felt loved and it was at that moment I realized I don't know what I would do without these idiots in my life.