The House of Grey- Volume 4 (11 page)

Monson
tor
e
his eyes away
from
Cyann
.
“
I
’m
all ears
.”

Casey nodded
.
“So check this, the only way to get these random girls to leave you alone is to set the bar so high that they won’t have the courage to approach you.”

“What the heck does that mean?” responded Monson curiously
.

“It means you need to ask someone to this dance.”

Monson glared at Casey
as he replied
sarcastically, “Thanks Case
,
that’s a
lot of
help. Whatever would I do without you?
”

“It’s the best way and you know it.
”

“That’s a terrible idea
.
B
esides, there isn’t anyone that I want to ask.”

“You mean there’s no one that you aren’t too much of a coward to ask
,
”
challenged
Casey
.
“That’s not it at all!” Monson
shot back
angrily. “I’m not afraid to ask a girl to a dance. It’s
just that
there’s really no one I want to take.”

“So
if
I told you to ask someone
,
you’d do it? No fear of rejection
,
no hiding in the bathroom
,
you’d just walk right up to her and ask
? You know—no big deal.
” Casey
was clearly
skeptical
.

“Of course
.
” Monson folded his arms indignantly.

“
OK
then
.
” Casey glance
d
around their little circle
.
  “
W
hy don’t I pick someone and you ask her.”

“
Excuse me
?”

“No
,
listen to my plan
.
” Casey cleared his throat
.
“You ask someone who is
totally
hot and super
-
popular, who will probably
just
say no. If
she
say
s
yes, then sweet
,
you’re good to go, but you’ll be
expecting
her
to say no. Once
she
do
es
, you’ve set the bar so high that all these other girls will
have to
leave you alone
,
thinking that you’re
‘
that type
’
of guy. Furthermore
,
we ca
n establish that you’re not full of crap.
”

Monson sat there
,
looking off into the distance
,
his
eyes unfocused
,
and thought for a while.
As stupid as
it
sound
ed
, there was a rather perverse logic to Casey’s suggestion.  However, the whole idea of actually asking someone with the intention of getting rejected seemed
painful, not to mention
overtly idiotic. So what
should
he do?

A sharp poke to his midsection brought Monson back to reality.

“Monson!
”
Artorius
poked
him again
.

“Ouch, Arthur
,
that hurts
.
” Monson scowled
.
“
W
hat is it?”

Artorius
pointed
in
the direction
from
which Monson
had
just turned
.
A
group of girls he recognized from their year sat not far
from their little group.
All were looking his way
,
smiling and giggling behind
their
hands.

Monson gave a resigned wave of the hand
.
“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. 
OK.
L
et’s
get this over with.
W
ho do I ask?”

“That’s a good question
.
” Casey grinned deviously. “Let me ask you a question before we start
,
Grey.”

Monson cocked the eyebrow
.
“
W
hat’s that
,
Case?”

“Are you sure there isn’t anyone
who
you
want
to ask?”

“No
,
not really
.”

Casey
shook his head and shrugged.
“
OK then.
N
ow this girl has to be popular, and pretty, and not random
.
I
t probably wouldn’t
have the impact you’re looking for
if you just asked some chick
you didn
’
t even know
. No, it has to be someone you
’
re familiar with,
or at least someone you’ve talked to
.
I wonder
WHO would have that kind of sticking power
.
”

In the
midst
of Casey’s mock
consideration,
Monson knew he had made a big mistake. “Taris Green
.
”

I should have seen that one coming
,
thought Monson
,
even as his jaw jerked open. “No way Casey, you’re on crack
.
T
here is no way that I’m
going…”

“I knew you were chicken,” Casey
crowed with
a triumphant smile on his face
.

This was probably Casey’s plan from the beginning
,
but for what purpose
,
Monson did not know.
He
narrowed his eyes
,
letting all his discontent bore into Case
y. He was stuck between a rock and a
really hard place. He could either embarrass himself so thoroughly that he would have to hide for the remainder of high school or he could live
with Cassi
us Kay and the never-ending reminder
s
of his “big talk” for the rest of his life.  Monson decided that the latter was a much greater evil. 

“
OK
, I’ll ask her
.
”

“Oh
,
you
gotta
be kidding me
!
” shouted Indigo.

“What’s with you?” asked Casey
,
a knowing smile on his face
.
“
D
oes that upset you
,
Indigo
?
But why on earth would—
”

“Shut up
, Cassius,
”
she
growled
with
forced calm. “Not that I care
,
but why should he go through the embarrassment of asking Taris when there
are
other girls
who
are way cuter and might even say yes
?
”

“If I didn’t know any better
,
Indigo
,
” Casey cut across her
.
“I’
d
think
you were jealous.”

“Indigo does have a point
,
” Cyann
remarked
in a quiet voice
.
“I don’t really know Taris very well
,
but the odds of her saying yes are not
all
that good. Why not ask someone
who
would actually go with you
?
”

“Cyann,
” breathed Monson
,
though no one could hear
him
.

“
So you don’t want to ask Taris?”  Casey threw his hands around his neck
,
sounding relaxed as he did
.
“
T
hen who do you want to ask?”

“Excuse me
.
” A
familiar
voice interrupted them
, disconcerting the group much more
than the situation really warranted. Damion Peterson stood before them spilling awkwardness from every
pore
.

He looked at each
one of
them
,
saying their respective name
s
in turn. “Monson, Casey,
Artorius
, Indigo, how are all of you?”

“We
’
re...
OK.
” Casey
sounded unsure.
“
A
nd yourself?”

“I’m
fine
.”

An
u
ncomfortable silence followed
,
exacerbated by the many people
becoming aware of
their conversation.  The noise
within
t
he Gardens died out around
them as the eyes of the student body watched quietly
.

“The reason I came over
is
…”
Damion stumbled stupidly over his words
.
“I mea
n...what I wanted to say was..
.Cyann
,
can I have a word?”

Surprised
,
Cyann gave Monson
a
sharp expression that he did not quite know how to
interpret
.  She answered Damion
,
“
A
l
l
right
,
sure
.
”

She
sounded as
awkward and
unsure as
Damion
. 
The
elder
Harrison got to her feet
,
adjusted her cloth
e
s
, and
followed Damion a short distance away. Monson and the rest watched as they strolled towards an unoccupied
space
of
t
he Gardens.

“
What was that all about?”
asked
Casey
,
sounding annoyed
.

“Not sure
,
” said
Artorius,
still watching them walk
away.
“
M
aybe
—
hey Monson
,
where are
you
going?”

Casey
, Artorius
and Indigo gazed at the retreating backside of Monson as he strolled towards Taris Green
with
apparent confidence.

What in the world am I doing?
t
hought
Monson
.
I shouldn’t be asking anyone to this stupid thing
.
Blast yo
u
and your idiotic ideas
,
Casey.

The football players glared scornfully
as
he neared.
Since the night when he opted out of the Legion after being almost run over by a car, they had been less than friendly. The bitterness of the loss suffered at the state championship did not help. Fortunately, they let Monson pass unmolested.

Monson reached Taris with the eyes of the majority of the school, at least those in the Inner Garden, upon him. He was thankful that Taris greeted him with a bright smile.

“Well
,
if it is
n
’
t
my
h
ero in training,” Taris commented
.
“
A
nd
to
what do
I
owe the honor of your visit?”

“You flatter me
, Princess
” Monson took a knee next to her
.
“I’ve just come to bask in your
radiance.
”

Taris le
a
ned a little closer
towards him,
“
A
ren’t you
sweet.
You’d better be careful with
y
our fancy words
,
Mr. Grey
.
I may
just
have to take advantage of you.”

Monson tried to keep his face from going
red.

“Actually, I was wondering if I could speak with you for a second. Alone, if possible.”

Taris wetted her lips
.
“Hmm
…
well
,
I don’t see why not.”

Monson stood up
,
proffering his hand to Taris
and
inadvertently
catching
a glimpse of
Artorius
, Indigo and Casey
. They
were
all
looking at him
, apparently
at
a
complete los
s
for words. Cyann
,
back from her conversation with Damion
,
was now propped up against the willow a
t a distance
from the others.

That was quick
,
thought Monson as his eyes met hers
.
Yet,
as always
,
her expression was unreadable. Remembering where he was
,
he made another obvious attempt to help Taris
up
. She took his hand
and
stood up
,
sweeping under her skirt
so
as to not flash the entire varsity football team
.

When she
let go of Monson’s hand
,
her
fingers skimm
ed
his palms and
fingertips
. 
He
tried to control
the resultant
trembling
in his hand
.

Get a grip!
Monson took his other
hand
and clamped down on the trembling one
.
J
ust do it and be done.

Taking deep
,
steadying breaths
,
he
reach
ed a
stone bench
tucked away
from the student body.
He made to sit but decided against it.
Despite the distance,
he
could still feel a great many eyes peering at them
with
interest. 
It made him all the more nervous.
Whipping his mind back
,
Monson
steeled
himself for
t
his idiotic venture.

“
Thanks for giving me a moment of your time
,
”
he
said bashfully
. He was
not really sure where to start
.
“I need
a favor
and you may be the only person
who
can
help.
”