Promised by Prom Read online

  Promised by Prom

  Squad Goals: Book Three

  Jessica Bucher

  M.F. Lorson

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Keep reading…

  Also by M.F. Lorson

  Also by Jessica Bucher

  About M.F. Lorson

  About Jessica Bucher

  Prologue

  Nora

  It was my barn. So you would think I would be the first to arrive, but I watched from my bedroom window as Addy hopped out of her SUV and disappeared inside the big brown doors. As the official snack provider of our annual end of summer sleepover, it was my responsibility to raid the fridge and pantry for all things sweet and salty.

  “Leave me a brownie,” called my younger sister, Nina, from the family room. With as much Pretty Little Liars as she had been watching lately, you would think the couch and her were one. I cut a large rectangle out of the center of the pan, leaving only a half inch perimeter of crusty side pieces. She didn’t specify which piece, I thought, wrapping the ooey gooey center in a thick layer of foil.

  I shoved a bag of Doritos, a two-liter of Diet Coke, and a king-size bag of Twizzlers in my overnight bag, grabbed my sleeping bag and pillow from their spot near the front door, and headed out across the property.

  Three years of failure wasn’t exactly the record I was going for freshman year when Addy, Lucy, and I had our first squad-goal-setting sleepover—but it was my cross to bear. This year was going to be different. There was no way I was graduating from Delinki High with another big fat zero next to my name. Forget talent shows and failed attempts to show livestock. This farm girl was about to make a real goal and then crush it. All I needed was courage. Courage and a whole lot of help from my friends.

  It wasn’t easy climbing a ladder in cowboy boots with a backpack full of soda and a sleeping bag under one arm, but I had pretty much mastered it over the years.

  “Where’s the princess?” I asked, unrolling my sleeping bag beside Addy’s. She’d snagged the best spot, of course. Right under the window where she’d get the benefit of every cool breeze that passed the barn.

  “Not here yet,” said Addy. “Probably still deciding which pajamas have the most timeless appeal.”

  I snickered, immediately regretting it when Lucy’s voice shot up from below the loft.

  “I heard that! She cried. It took her four tries to throw her bag up into the loft. In her defense her third shot would have made it, had Addy not slapped it back down at her.

  We arranged our sleeping bags in a Y formation, our heads meeting at the center. After we had changed into pajamas (mine an awesome Area 51 shorts and tank set), it was time to share what we had each brought to the sleepover.

  Lucy was first. “I brought Supernatural,” she said, pulling her laptop from her backpack. “The final season. No one is allowed to spoil the finale,” she warned.

  Addy grinned. “I’ll do my best but, did you see the part where…” Lucy reached up and clapped her hand across Addy’s mouth.

  “No,” she said. “Just no.”

  I unzipped my camo bag and dumped the contents in the center of our sleeping bags.

  “Nora,” growled Lucy. “You’re shaking up all the Coke!”

  “And you crushed the brownies!” cried Addy, grabbing the foil packet and hugging it to her chest. Admittedly, it was a little worse for wear.

  “Well,” I said reaching toward her, “if you’re too good for smushed brownies.”

  “Never,” said Addy—and then a little quieter, “Never.”

  I shrugged, then popped open a bag of Doritos, savoring the delicious Ranchy dose of awesome as it dissolved in my mouth.

  “It’s your turn to go first, Addy,” said Lucy.

  “That’s right,” I said nodding in agreement. “I took fall last year.”

  “Does that really count though?” teased Addy. “What with your failing miserably and all?”

  I hated when they did this. I loved hanging out with Lucy and Addy, but sometimes it felt like they connected better with one another than either did with me. This was probably because neither of them believed in extra-terrestrial activity.

  “I got very close to entering the talent show,” I said with a frown. “It’s not my fault I got laryngitis during tryouts.”

  “And the year before?” laughed Lucy. “When you got a mysterious stomach ache. That wasn’t your fault either?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Addy’s turn!”

  When Addy had filled us in on her plans for fall term and Lucy and I had determined we couldn’t talk her out of it, the three of us clasped hands, walked to the edge of the loft, called out Addy’s goal and jumped into the pile of hay below.

  Lucy went next, outlining a three-point strategy for turning her reputation from popular princess to nerdy girl with a heart of gold. The funny part was that she had always had a heart of gold, she just didn’t have the courage to show it.

  “Alright Nora, at what task are you destined to fail this spring?”

  “Hardy har har,” I replied bitterly.

  “You know I’m just kidding. Whatever you pick we fully support you.” said Addy, her eyes digging earnestly into mine.

  “One hundred percent,” added Lucy.

  “Good,” I replied. “Because I’m going to need help. Big time.”

  “Lay it on us.”

  I straightened my spine, cleared my throat and confidently delivered my goal.

  “This year I am going to be in a committed relationship by prom.”

  For a moment there was silence. Then, Lucy let out an unintentional giggle, followed by Addy. If they were trying to seem supportive, they were doing a miserable job.

  “Nice, guys.” I grumbled. “What is so funny about me wanting a relationship?”

  Addy coughed, attempting to get control of herself. “Um, where are we going to find this mystical being?”

  I sighed, “I’m not that picky.”

  “Not that picky!” hooted Lucy. “Last year when Quinten Thomas asked you to Homecoming you turned him down because, and I quote ‘Leos and Tauruses are known to be incompatible.’”

  “That’s one-hundred percent true,” I replied.

  Lucy raised an eyebrow.

  “But yes, I see your point,” I conceded.

  They weren’t totally off base. I had been a touch on the selective side in the past, but that was all over now. I refused to fail this year—and I refused to spend another year watching from the sidelines as Addy and Lucy fell in and out of love.

  “Come on, guys,” I pleaded. “I want to feel something real before we graduate. I can learn to tolerate someone with different beliefs than me.”

  “Alright,” said Addy. “I would like to test that theory before we get too invested here.”

  “Go for it.”

  “Say I find you a major hunk, 6-feet tall, brunette, possibly the long lost descendant of younger, handsomer, Leonardo D
iCaprio.”

  I smiled, picturing Addy’s imaginary dreamboat.

  “But,” she continued. “He thinks the X-files reboot was undeserved.”

  I gasped. “What kind of monster are you trying to hook me up with?”

  “See! I knew you were going to be difficult,” cried Addy.

  I held my hands up in surrender. “Okay! I get it. I have to give people a chance...and probably a couple of classic X-files episodes on…”

  “Nora!” groaned Addy and Lucy in unison.

  “I’m just kidding.” I laughed, grabbing the squad goals notebook from the center of our sleeping bags. I flipped to the empty page after Lucy’s and penned the bullet points for my goal.

  1. Go on dates even if I doubt our compatibility.

  2. Spend time manifesting positive relationship energy.

  3. Make a serious commitment by prom.

  I tossed the book across the floor to Addy. “These goals are so Nora,” she said with a sigh before scrawling something in big pink letters across the top.

  Lucy and I were good at coming up with the tasks to be completed, but the big corny goal to tie it all together? That was always Addy.

  “Keeping with this year’s something by something theme I give you…” she paused for dramatic emphasis, “Promised by Prom!”

  “Hooray!” shouted Lucy. “Now release the brownies!”

  Later that night as the girls slept head to head beside me, I lay awake staring at the ceiling of the barn. I couldn’t ignore the fact that this was our last end of summer sleepover. Next year Addy and Lucy would be off at college—and me? I didn’t know where I would be. Probably still here, helping out on the farm. Everyone was growing up and moving on but me. I had to complete my goal, I thought turning over on my side. I was going to need something real to hold on to when everyone was gone.

  Chapter One

  Max

  I was going to see what was in that stupid book if it killed me. It wouldn’t be the first time I snooped through my sister’s room or laughed at the absurdity those girls scribbled on the pages. But now I had a different mission.

  Simon was definitely trying to tell me something. He practically made me look at Nora’s goals—and the minute the girls abandoned the stupid book in Addy’s room between back-to-back episodes of Supernatural, I pounced.

  Everyone was hanging out in the den, the couples probably eating each other’s faces like they were so prone to doing now, including my sister—which was not awesome. And it wasn’t like they noticed when I disappeared, anyway. So, I escaped and made a pit stop in my sister’s room. The book was just lying there, practically open to my curiosity. I could hardly be responsible for taking a quick peak.

  Flipping through the pages of talent show dreams and ambitions of being ‘hot’ (way to go, sis), I finally landed on the most recent page. It was Addy’s handwriting, but it had Nora’s name scrawled across the top.

  Promised by Prom.

  What the heck did that mean? Promised for what?

  I didn’t have to wonder for long. The three bullet points beneath the title told me enough.

  Go on dates?

  Positive relationship energy?

  Serious commitment!?

  Nora...no. Why did my sister feel the need to constantly meddle in her friends’ lives? Why couldn’t they just let her be single? She wasn’t the dating type. Nora was quirky, independent, and so uniquely Nora that the chances of any of these nerf-herders actually being good enough for her were absolutely zilch to none.

  It had to be the recent coupling between the three of them that brought this on. Nora must have thought that since Lucy and Addy each had boy toys that she needed one too. I squeezed the pages of the book until my knuckles went white. This was a huge mistake, and I had to do something to stop it. For Nora’s sake.

  “What are you doing?” Nora’s voice from the doorway made me jump. The notebook slammed close as I stared at her.

  “Being nosey,” I answered. Probably best to be honest.

  “Clearly.” She reached a hand out, waiting for me to hand her the book.

  Slowly, I yielded. She kept her silverish-blue eyes trained on my face as her fingers brushed mine, and the book left my hand.

  “Find anything interesting?” She flipped through the book with a sly smile on her face. I could only assume she was lingering here because going back to the maker-outers was out of the question.

  “I couldn’t find anything interesting in that book if you offered me a million bucks for it.”

  She smiled that typical crooked, dimple-forming, Nora smile, the one that made my stomach do the flip-flop thing. “Don’t you have any goals, Max?”

  “Sure,” I said, trying to ignore the burning in my cheeks. “There’s a level on Skyrim that’s being a real pain in my—”

  “I mean life goals,” she said, stabbing me in the chest with her finger.

  “Oh...nothing I would put in that book.”

  “Well, you should rethink that. Goals are good for you. They help you get the things you want in life. The things you think are totally out of reach. You’d be surprised how much of that is just in your head. Nothing is really out of reach.”

  I swallowed. Then, I grabbed the notebook back. “Fine. Then I want my first goal to be…Cool by Columbus Day. No. Rich by Ramadan!”

  She reached forward to grab the notebook out of my hand, but I held it up out of her reach.

  “You don’t take anything seriously, Max Altman!” She was practically clawing at my arms as I kept the notebook just inches away from her fingers. And her face just millimeters from mine.

  “Attractive by Arbor Day?” I laughed. “Yummy by Yom Kippur!”

  Nora was lost in a fit of giggles as we wrestled over the book. And I should have known better. Any other girl would have played for fun, cute and flirtatious, but Nora was ruthless. Before I could get another word out, she laid a harsh knee right into my gut, and I barreled over in pain.

  As I landed on the carpet in the fetal position, I watched her cute red boots march out of the room with the notebook in her hand. “Bye, Max.”

  Laying there, cradling my stomach and waiting for the ability to breathe again, I felt on cloud nine.

  The thing was, I did have goals on my own. Well, one goal really, and it wasn’t something I could write in that book. I wanted Nora all to myself and had wanted that for as long as I could remember. I wanted to kiss her, hold her hand, cuddle with her on the couch while we watched mindless TV. But mostly, I wanted to call her mine. In fact, I’d be happy to let her knee me in the gut every day of my life if it meant she would let me breathe the same air as her.

  There was no way any other guy was going to appreciate her the way I did. Which was why this year’s goal had to go.

  Nora

  I laughed when Max made fun of our goals. Rich by Ramadan and Attractive by Arbor Day had me dying long after I left the Altman’s house. But the more I thought about it the more freaked out. Half the school year was already over, and I hadn’t taken a single step toward my goal. Like I seriously hadn’t manifested anything.

  “It’s February,” I said to Lucy on Monday morning as we sat at the cafe tables outside the school store.

  “So true,” said Lucy, her eyes focused on her phone. She was a real textaholic now that she and Simon were official.

  “It’s February,” I repeated, adding a little edge to my voice. “And I remain undated.”

  Lucy looked up at me, scrunching her lips to the side in the smirkiest of smirks. It was still weird seeing her without makeup. Nina’s makeunder was supposed to be a temporary fix for showing Simon she was more than her image, but that was months ago and Lucy only picked up a mascara wand for special occasions now.

  “That’s right. It’s your turn. What’s the plan?” she asked, setting her phone down and warming her hands around a steaming cup of hot coffee.

  “The plan is that I, Nora Henry, have never successfully orchestrat
ed any plan. You guys are supposed to do that part,” I reminded, giving her big ole puppy eyes.

  “Save that pleading for your dates,” said Lucy. “Besides, I was kidding.” She started to say something else but stopped mid-sentence, her face breaking out into a smile as she spotted Simon across the student union. He gave a shy wave in our direction but knew better than to interrupt. Which was more than I could say for Addy’s boyfriend, Gray. It didn’t matter how serious the conversation looked, he was never shy about hopping in.

  “I’m serious though,” I said, drawing her attention back to me. “Prom is three months away. The good dates are going to be taken by April, and I have to get more than a date, I have to get Leonardo DiCaprio’s, beautiful commitment-ready younger brother to fall in love with—”

  “Nora..Nora,” cried Lucy snapping her fingers in front of my face. “You’re doing the thing where you start daydreaming out loud. Rein it in. You look crazy.”

  “Sorry,” I said, lowering my voice, “but I’m starting to freak out.”

  “I hadn’t noticed,” said Lucy, smiling as she sipped her coffee.

  “How did you do it? Before Simon, I mean because I’m not doing the thing with the birds and the healing.”

  “How did I do what before Simon?”

  “Get boys to want to date you.”

  “Ah,” said Lucy, sucking in a deep breath. “I got really popular, and I spent like forty minutes on my hair every morning.”

  My heart sunk. “Girl code is too important to me to be popular.”