A/N: thanks for all the awesome reviews! They totally make my day!
James sat in homeroom the next morning surrounded by his usually crowd of friends. He was waiting for Melani to come in. She walked in laughing with Bradin and Kelli
"Ya know James, if I didn't know any better, I'd think Mel was dating Kansas over there, not you" his friend said
"Shut up Mike" He said, angrily "You don't think I know that"
"Whatcha gunna do about it?" Allie said "I'm loosing my friend outta this, you better have a plan; Mel never hangs with me anymore"
"I do, I just have to finish thinking it through. It has to be something he won't tell her and something she can't find out about"
"Don't think too hard, you might hurt yourself" Allie said smartly
"I won't. Look at him; he likes her so much it's pathetic"
"Well, call her over; see if she leaves him for you" Brian, another friend said
"Fine" he said "Mel" he called "Mel, baby come here"
Mel looked over in his direction and smiled "Be back in a sec" she said to Bradin and Kelli, rolled her eyesand walked over to James "What's up hun?" she said sweetly
"Nothing, I wanted you to come sit with me" he said looking her in the eyes
"Why?" she said laughing
"Because I asked you to. That should be enough" he said roughly
"It is" she replied "Let me grab a chair" she turned to walk away, but he grabbed her hand
"No, your fine" he said pulling her onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her
She sighed and slowly lowered her head onto his shoulder. Something just doesn't feel right. I was in almost this same position last night and everything felt so right, why does it now feel so wrong, was it because last night I was with Bradin and now I'm with James? Her mind was racing a mile a minute as the morning announcements came on. No one listened as usual until they heard
Tickets for the Playa Linda High Homecoming Dance will go on sale Wednesday at all lunches. Tickets are $35.00 each or $65.00 per couple. When you buy your tickets you can also place a nomination for homecoming king and queen, as usual there will be one set per grade. In other news…
The homeroom started buzzing. Homecoming was the one ofbiggest events of the beginning of school, only second to the Fall Ball. "we're going together right?" James said looking at her
"Are you asking?" she replied
"Yeah, I am" he said, still looking at her in the eys
"Of course I'll go with you" he kissed her on the forehead
"You're so going to win queen again" Allie whined
"You don't know that Allie, I might not" she replied smiling
"You've won the past two years, even I can't compete with you!" Allie said "And I always get what I want!"
Mel laughed. "That's because everyone loves me, and I really don't know why"
"The 'captain of the cheerleaders' tag might have something to do with it" Brian said
"Or the dating a captain of the football team thing" Mike said
"Ok when you say it like that you make it sound like our grade's really shallow"
"What it's true! Varsity since you were a freshman, dating another varsity player with the same record, it's a recipe for school royalty" Allie argued
"I knew I dated him for a reason" Mel said laughing. James shot her a look "Oh get over it, I'm still into you" she softly kissed his lips, leaving him wanting more. Just as he was about to kiss her back, the bell rang. She hopped off his lap "I'll see y'all at lunch" and walked over to Kelli and Bradin and picked up her bag. "See ya lata" she said and walked quickly out of the room
"That was weird" Bradin said as they left the room walking to class
"Not really" Kelli responded "she's not here right now. They say 'Homecoming Queen' and a little bell goes off in her head. She'll be in a daze for at least the first ½ of the day"
"Why?" Bradin said
"Because she's been homecoming queen the past two years, and James has been king. I honestly think that if she doesn't get it she'll go into shock"
"Ok, that makes no sense"
"Yes it does, she goes all out for stuff like this, I can't wait to see her at Prom! Come on, we're going to be late" the two friends ran to class just as the bell rang
Melani walked around in a daze all morning, just as Kelli had predicted. By lunch she had gotten almost back to normal. She sat down with her two friends at lunch smiling
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Kelli said
"Nothing, I just love homecoming!" she said happily.
As she said this a senior walked over to them "Hey Mel"
"Hey Jason, what's up" she replied
"Nothing, I was just wondering if you had a date to homecoming yet?"
"Yeah, I'm going with James, sorry" she said apologetically
"I had a feeling. I'll see you at the game on Friday, ok? Save a cheer for me"
"Totally" she smiled as he walked away
"Ok, you need to direct some of that date stuff to me" Kelli replied "He was a senior!"
"I know he was, but honestly, you can take anyone you want Kel."
"No I can't, but I do have someone in mind"
The wheels in Mel's head began to turn"actually I lied, take Bradin, that way I don't have to worry about him"
"What?" Bradin responded "I need to be watched now?"
"No, its just I don't want some brainless bimbo all over you."
"Who said I wouldn't want that?" he said mockingly
"Well if you do then we're not going to finish what we started last night" she said matching his tone
"Well I don't want that" he said laughing
"Ok, I don't want to know" Kelli said.
The three laughed as Allie walked over "Hey" Allie said smiling
"Hey" They replied
"Bradin, I was wondering if you already had a date for homecoming?" she said
A knot formed in Mel's stomach. Hesmiled as he looked at her "No, why?" he replied
"Because I was wondering if you wanted to be my date?" she said, smiling sweetly, obviously trying to impress him
"Aren't they guys supposed to ask the girls?" Bradin said, trying to draw away from answering the question
"I suppose" Allie said, sensing he didn't want to go with her
"He's right Al" Melani responded. She turned to him "You need to ask her"
Bradin gave her a you-really-want-me-to look. Her eyes slowly blinked giving him the ok "Allie would you like to go to homecoming with me?" he said, looking at Allie
"I would love to!" she said happily and kissed him on the cheek. The knot in Mel's stomach tightened. "Here's my number, call me later!" she said happily as she walked away
"So much for no brainless bimbos" Mel said rolling her eyes
"I thought she was your friend?" Bradin said "And you walked me into it!"
"She is my friend, and I know she likes you. Just don't do anything with her you wouldn't want me to know about, ok?"
"I won't, there's only one person I want to be with"
Mel smiled "Well then I might let us finish uptonight, or soon." She got up smiling"See ya lata Kelli, bye Brae" And with that she walked off to her next class, leaving Bradin's mind racing