Flower Feud by Catherine R. Daly

in the bush,” I said. It came out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying.
How very Dad of me,
I thought.
    “Huh?” asked Amy.
    “It’s from
Aesop’s Fables.
Kind of like an invitation from a guy you think is nice is worth more than a possible invite from someone else. You know?”
    “I guess so,” she said slowly. “But I already said no. And Jimmy already asked Eleni Nikolopolous instead. And she already said yes.”
    Eleni was in my math class. “She’s really nice,” I said.
    “I know,” Amy said glumly.
    None of this was making very much sense to me. Heather wanted to go with someone for the sole reason that he was popular. Amy had turned down a real invite from a nice, funny guy (who was also cute) for a phantom date.
    Amy and I said good-bye and she promised to text me if she had news.
    I pressed END and sighed. This prom date business was getting out of control. I needed to talk to someone who understood. I pressed number one on my speed dial — Becky. It rang once and went straight to voice mail. I knitted my brow. Had Becky just ignored my call?
    I hung up without leaving a message.
    I woke up the next morning to a text from Amy. GOT THE 411! it said. MEET ME IN CAF THIS AM.
    I got to school bright and early. I was the first one at our table in the cafeteria. I sat down and waited. And waited.
    Amy finally showed up, her cheeks flushed. “Sorry, Del. I was hanging out by my locker for a little bit thinking Brian might pass by, but he never did.”
    I shook my head with a grin. You had to hand it to her — she wasn’t giving up so easily. “It’s fine,” I said. I leaned forward eagerly. “So what’s going on?”
    Amy placed her palms on the table. “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”
    Couldn’t I ever just get some plain old good news? I considered it. “The good news,” I said. Might as well postpone hearing the bad for a moment or two.
    “The good news is that Amber and her friends are not going to Fleur for their prom flowers.”
    “Really?” I cried, my mood instantly brightening. “That’s great! So everyone must be procras —”
    “Here’s the bad news. They’re not going
anywhere
for their flowers. Amber says that corsages are just not cool,” Amy explained. “And if Amber says they are not cool, nobody thinks they’re cool. That’s the way it works when you’re cohead cheerleader.”
    “Oh,” I said. It felt like someone had punched me in my stomach. How could
flowers
not be cool? They were the most amazing, beautiful things ever. I just didn’t get it.
    “I’m sorry, Del,” said Amy, breaking the silence.
    “Thanks, Amy,” I said, remembering to be polite. But I kind of wanted to put my head down on the table and cry.
    I spent the rest of the day with a heavy heart. I had asked Becky why she hadn’t returned my call the night before, and she gave me some lame excuse, so I was feeling weirdabout that. I dreaded telling my family the news from Amy. I also dreaded going to gym class. I had successfully avoided Hamilton all week. But there would be no escaping him in gym class. Plus, my new lab partner, Bob, would be there, too. He was unable to participate thanks to his crutches, but totally able to make fun of everyone from the sidelines. What a way to end the week!
    I changed into my gym clothes morosely. My mood certainly did not match the garish purple-and-yellow outfit I was wearing. Dad had fallen behind on his laundry duties again, so I had no gym socks and was forced to wear the not-meant-to-be-seen knee socks I’d had on under my jeans — and they were red-and-white striped. I shouldn’t have, but I looked at myself in the mirror before I headed out the door. I totally looked like a clown.
    When I walked into the gym, Ashley took one look at me and shrieked, “Where are my sunglasses? Del is blinding me!”
    I barely even glanced her way. I had more important things on my mind.
    “Hey,” Ashley went on in a