The Dating Game by Natalie Standiford Read Free Book Online Page A

results in the bathroom mirror at Vineland. She wasn’t sure how she looked, but one thing she knew, and liked, was that she didn’t look like her usual self. As far as she was concerned, that was an improvement.
    She wanted to look sexy but she didn’t want to overdress. The eternal problem. So she wore fishnet stockings under her short corduroy skirt instead of her usual tights, and high-heeled boots. She left her black hair hanging down naturally.
    She went back into the café and picked out a table. It was four o’clock exactly. She grabbed a magazine and flipped through it, trying to look casual. Ten minutes went by, fifteen. Where was Sean?
    At 4:17, the door opened and a gangly, pallid boy with giant feet and a brown pageboy haircut walked in, flourishing a red satin cape. Mads recognized him. He was a ninth-grader known as Yucky Gilbert. His real name was Gilbert Marshall, and he was supposed to be super-smart. He’d skipped two grades and was only twelve. People called him Yucky because he was beyond dorky, snorted when he laughed, and ate things like peanut-butter-and anchovy-sandwiches for lunch. You could tell because he often had a bit of anchovy paste stuck to the side of his mouth at the end of the day.
    Mads went back to her magazine, but a shadow fell across the page. She looked up. Gilbert, who was tall for his age but skinny, loomed over her.
    “Hello, Madison,” Gilbert crooned.
    “Hello.” Mads went back to her magazine.
    “May I sit down?”
    “No. I’m waiting for someone.”
    “I know.” Mads looked up. How could he know?
    “You’re waiting for me,” Yucky Gilbert said. “I’m ‘John.’”
    Mads swallowed. She felt lightheaded.
    “You’re John? But you can’t be! John looks like Ashton Kutcher! He’s a junior!”
    Gilbert flipped his cape and sat down across from her. “Sorry. I lied.”
    “You lied! That’s not allowed! How can you be matched up with the right person if you lie on your questionnaire?” Mads was furious.
    “What’s a little lie when the love of your life is at stake?”
    “The love of your life?” Mads stared at him, not understanding. She still couldn’t accept that Sean Benedetto wasn’t going to show up.
    Gilbert reached for her hand. She snatched it away.
    “Madison Markowitz, you are the prettiest girl in the whole school. The town. The state of California. The good old U.S. of A. The Western Hemisphere. The—”
    “Stop! I get it,” Mads snapped.
    “The universe,” Gilbert finished. “And I’m gazoygle about you.”
    Mads squinted at him. “Gazoygle? What does that mean?”
    “It’s Blastoph—a special alien language I made up myself. It means I’m crazy about you.”
    “Does your special alien language have a word for ‘Get lost’?” Mads asked. “Or ‘Leave me alone’?”
    “Of course,” Gilbert said. “But those are phrases, not words.” He reached for her hand again. Mads sat on both her hands to keep them from veering into his air space.
    “I understand—this is a big surprise,” Gilbert said. “I’ll go to the counter and get us something. What would you like? They have cupcakes with jelly beans on them.”
    “I would like you to go away,” Mads said. “I’m not having a date with you.”
    “You have to,” Gilbert said. “You fixed yourself up with me. And anyway, what about your project? You have to report on our date.”
    “Who says? You lied on your form, so it doesn’t count.” Mads’ eyes frantically darted around the room. Who was there? Who saw her talking to Gilbert? Sitting at a table with him? On a date with him!
    This was exactly the opposite of what Mads was hoping to accomplish. She wanted experience. She wanted a more mature image. She wanted Sean. She was not going to get any of those things from dating a geeky twelve-year-old. Just being seen with him would nuke her rep back to the Stone Age.
    “You—you made yourself sound like a totally different person,” Mads said. “How could