Will the Real Prince Charming Please Stand Up by Ella Martin Read Free Book Online

bobbed her head as she bit back a laugh.“I came up to check on you girls. We should leave in about twenty minutes.” She turned to Ally. “Are you getting her dressed at school?”
    “You probably should,” Talia offered, “but I really hate those locker rooms.”
    Ally agreed. “So do I, but I don’t want her to mess up her dress.”
    “I’m standing right here!” I practically yelled. “You guys have been talking about me in the third person for, like, the last hour!”
    My mom gently put her arm around my. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. You’re right.” She looked at my friends. “You ladies seem to have everything under control. Twenty minutes. Don’t forget anything.”
    “Okay,” I said.
    She held me at arm’s length for a moment before enveloping me in a hug. “I can’t wait to see your dad’s face when he sees you.”
    Half an hour later, we finally piled into the back of my mom’s car. My dress hung beside me in a black garment bag, and Ally had packed a rolling carry-on bag with my shoes and what she called “other necessities.”
    It wasn’t even six-fifteen when we left the house, but my mom was the head of the Westgate Prep Parent Volunteer Association and felt it was necessary to be early for every major school event. My dad said it was because she didn’t want anyone to think she was shirking her duties or passing them on to other people, but I secretly thought it was because she didn’t trust anyone to run things the way she thought they ought to be done.
    Sure enough, as soon as we pulled into the school parking lot, she started pointing out things that were wrong.
    “Ugh,” she said as we drove past the stadium entrance. “I told Denise to put the Booster table between the main entrance and the concessions so people can look at spirit merchandise while they’re waiting to get food. And why is the Alumni Association booth so far from the stadium? No one is going to see it over there.”
    “Mom, they’re volunteers,” I reminded her while my friends snickered. “You can’t fire anyone, and you don’t want to scare them off.”
    “I know, I know,” she said begrudgingly. “I should be thankful that they’re even helping out.” She parked the car and turned to my friends. “Can you girls take it from here? I’ve got to straighten these booth placements out before more people start showing up.”
    My mom barely waited for us to get everything out of the car before she dashed off to talk to a stout blonde woman setting up merchandise at the Athletic Boosters’ table. I recognized her as Liam Iverson’s mom and immediately felt sorry for her. How the WPPVA managed to get any volunteers with my mother as chairperson was completely beyond me.
    “Come on, Holly Golightly,” Talia said, guiding me to the girls’ locker room. “Let’s get you out of those jeans and ready for your float.”
    I pouted. “But I’ve got, like, an hour before Sandra’s call time.”
    “Yes,” Ally said between gritted teeth, “but if you mess up your face or your hair, I will never forgive you.”
    I heard a slow, steady whistle behind me and turned to see Tim and Brady heading toward us.
    “Check out my baby sister,” Brady called. “What did you do to her, Ally? She actually looks presentable!” I stuck out my tongue at him and he sighed. “Well, she did.”
    Ally’s cheeks flushed as she beamed. “She doesn’t look too bad, does she?”
    “Meh,” he grunted. “She cleans up okay.”
    “You look incredible,” Tim said to me. I almost didn’t hear him.
    “Thank you,” I replied, looking up at him and suddenly feeling very shy. “Ally did it.”
    “Well, she had a lot to start with.”
    I felt my heart race, and my cheeks grew warm under his gaze.
    “Tim, we’ve got to go, man,” my brother said, shattering the moment.
    “Okay.” Tim looked down at me. “I’ll see you later.”
    “Uh-huh,” I mumbled as he followed my brother into the boys’ locker room.
    Talia