... not in love with Kale Eddison (16 page)

Kale inspected
her reply and noticed she was looking at him apologetically so he
tried not to look too disappointed; he shrugged and gestured that
it didn’t matter. He felt rather stupid; Izzie had kept making it
clear that she wanted to remain just friends – it shouldn’t have
been such of a shock that she had refused his invitation. Kale
vowed not to pester Izzie for something more again; he realised he
was being cocky in thinking that she would actually want to have a
relationship with him. Yes, they had kissed but it was only the one
occasion when Izzie had been the first to initiate it and even
then, she had made it clear at the hospital that she had regretted
it and realised it was a mistake. Kale thought he must have been
working in the film industry too long; this wasn’t a movie and
there was no happy ending scripted; he would just have to accept
that.

Izzie felt
remorse when she noticed the flicker of disappointment that had
passed over Kale’s face when he had finished reading her reply but
she felt it was for the best. She really needed to sort out her
feelings and decide how she really, genuinely felt about Kale. She
was too confused to make drastic decisions that would either lead
him on or lead to disastrous consequences; neither outcome led to a
desirable or pleasant experience and Izzie really didn’t like those
odds.

Chapter
Twelve

When the
dreaded Halloween Dance had managed to sneak up on Izzie; she found
herself beginning to regret her decision in agreeing to go with
Kale. She had successfully dodged him all day Friday; citing that
she had to work as her excuse, but she knew she couldn’t avoid him
forever. It was now 7.30pm and Kale had suggested they meet in the
hall at 8pm; Izzie had been glad as it meant that it would be
easier to avoid anymore stories appearing in the paper.

She had been
that distracted about sorting out her feelings for Kale; that she
had left it until the last minute to sort out a costume. Yes, she
had told Kale
that
Saturday that her costume was a surprise
but that had been merely a piece of fiction; Izzie had no idea what
she was going to dress up as. So, an hour earlier, Izzie found
herself resorting to rifling through her mother’s wardrobe and
eventually coming up with an old Shakespearian stage costume.

When Izzie had
questioned her mother about it; Izzie had watched in amazement as
her mother blushed and mumbled something about once playing
‘Juliet’ in a local production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. While Izzie
was surprised at this revelation, she could not dwell on it as the
clock on the kitchen wall told her she had precisely forty-five
minutes to get ready.

Now, Izzie was
about make her way to Hartside High when a frightening thought
struck her; what if there were photographers lingering outside the
school? She really didn’t want her picture to end up in the paper
again, if she could help it, so Izzie decided there and then that
she was going to disguise herself and that was how her plan of
masquerading as a ghost had been born.

As she pulled
into one of the few remaining empty parking spaces in the school
car park, Izzie was amazed to find that her prediction had come
true; photographers were swarming outside the entrance of the
school. Izzie shook her head to herself and thanked her lucky stars
that she had stuck the white sheet over her proper costume at the
last minute. She got out of the car and made her way towards the
front door, still nervous of the reporters, but adamant that they
would not discover who was beneath the sheet. She managed to
squeeze through and had her foot on the first step when one of the
reporters tapped her on the shoulder. Izzie turned and squinted
through the eye-holes in the sheet.

“Oi, ghostie …
who lurks beneath the sheet? You ain’t Kale Eddison trying to pull
a fast one, are you?”

Izzie smiled to
herself and put on her girliest voice, “Not unless he’s decided to
change into a girl.”

The reporter
chuckled and she was relieved to see him turn away and say,
“Alright girly, on ya go.”

Izzie reached
the door and was relieved to be in such a safe haven … for now. She
breathed deeply and made her way down the corridor where she could
hear the faint strains of ‘Monster Mash’ being played. She opened
the door and was met with a faceful of fake cobwebs, complete with
plastic spiders. There were also some paper maché grave headstones
lined around the edge of the hall and fake rats and bugs strewn
across the fake webs. Izzie was amazed at how spooky the hall
looked; as much as she hated to admit it, Stacey had done a good
job and when it came to it, Izzie hoped that her effort for the
Formal would be just as good.

Izzie glanced
around at everybody’s different costumes and recognised a few
familiar faces; Maddie was dressed as a witch – but quite a
glamorous one – there was also Jake dressed as a zombie and Stacey
dressed in what Izzie could only call underwear and a pair of bunny
ears that were perched on the top of her head. Izzie shook her head
and noticed, with relief, that some of the other costumes were
quite normal-looking; there was a Cinderella and Prince Charming
near the DJ Booth, Scooby Doo and Daphne dancing and even a Tom and
Jerry near the food table! Perhaps her costume wouldn’t stick out
too much since there were many others who lacked scariness. Izzie
smiled to herself and made her way over to the drinks table – where
Kale had told her to meet him – and managed to bump into another
ghost.

“Whoops,” Izzie
giggled, “sorry, can’t see out these damn holes.”

She heard the
person beneath the sheet chuckle deeply and Izzie concluded that it
was definitely a male person then.

“Looks like
great minds think alike,” Kale’s voice came from underneath the
white sheet.

Izzie gasped in
shock and then laughed, “I should’ve known, very original idea Mr
Eddison – a ghost; who would’ve thought! Though, I’ll admit I just
threw this sheet on at the last minute so I could avoid the
reporters. I’ve my proper costume on too.”

Kale laughed
loudly, “Great minds think even more alike; that was my plan too
and it worked perfectly. Oh, and I have something on under here
also.”

Izzie feigned
relief, “I’d like to think so Mr Eddison; if you were naked under
there … well I shudder what to think if you removed your sheet – I,
for one, would not hesitate in bolting for the door.
That
is
something I could do without seeing, thank you very much.”

Kale laughed
even louder, “You are a strange girl Izzie Frank, you know that?
Ok, back to the matter at hand … how about we reveal our true
costumes then?”

Izzie rolled
her eyes but remembered that Kale would have a hard time seeing the
gesture through such small holes and nodded her head instead. They
both whipped the sheets off from over their heads, stuffed them
under the table and straightened up to take each other’s costume
in. Kale had a look of pleasant surprise on his face and Izzie
stared at him in amazement … of all the costumes he could pick!

“So, ‘Juliet’
what are the odds of this happening? It is ‘Juliet’, right?” Kale
smiled at her and Izzie nodded.

“Yeah,” she
managed to say eventually, “it’s my mother’s; I never knew but she
told me tonight that she played her once. Anyway, I can’t resist so
I’ll go for it – ‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thy Romeo?’”

Kale chuckled
and looked down at his outfit, “Guilty as charged; what can I say?
It’s from a production I did a while back and it was the only thing
I could find … so sue me.”

Izzie laughed,
“I can’t believe we actually match and we didn’t even plan on
it.”

Kale smirked,
“I tell you; it’s fate. It happens once in a while.”

Izzie rolled
her eyes, “Uh-huh, keep dreaming movie star. Now, can you dance as
well as you act?”

Kale held out
his hand which Izzie took and he lead her to the dance floor, just
in time for ‘Thriller’. “Did my ears deceive me Ms Frank or did you
just compliment me?”

Izzie scoffed,
“Yeah, in your dreams. Now, come on, quit stalling; I haven’t seen
you bust a move yet.”

Kale shook his
head in disbelief, “And just when I was starting to think you were
beginning to be nice to me! Well, rest assured; that illusion is
now shattered … now, give me some room so I can show you what I
got.”

Izzie took a
step back and watched in amusement as Kale broke into a hilarious
‘zombie dance’ routine. Many others turned to watch this comical
display and soon - to Izzie’s astonishment – Kale was leading
everyone in his funky moves. As the song ended, everyone clapped
and then broke off into little groups again while Izzie shook her
head in amazement.

“Well, Mr
Eddison, colour me shocked; I didn’t know you could dance so badly
or that you could lead a mass of people to actually follow your bad
example.”

Kale chuckled,
“Don’t lie, you loved it.”

Izzie rolled
her eyes again and hit him playfully on the arm, “Yeah, yeah, how’d
you guess?”

Kale smiled at
her and they made their way back to the refreshments table where
Kale helped himself to some fruit punch.

“So,” Izzie
began, “what do you think of your first high school dance?”

Kale looked
around and then met her gaze again, “Definitely interesting but, I
have to say, the company makes it a little more bearable for
me.”

Izzie threw him
a look and he knew to avoid that kind of talk for the rest of the
night; he had to behave himself, as difficult as that might be.

“Sorry,” he
apologised to Izzie, “I’m determined to mess things up again,
aren’t I?”

Izzie smiled at
him, “Don’t worry; let’s just enjoy ourselves tonight, yeah?”

Kale nodded in
agreement and pulled her onto the dance floor again. Izzie laughed
and joined him in his mad dancing until the DJ cut the music
halfway through the song.

“Sorry to stop
the party folks but it’s time to announce the winners of the best
costumes. Ms Belson, Mr Rowntree … could you guys please come up
and put us out of our misery?”

Everyone
laughed but Izzie turned to Kale, “I didn’t know it was a
competition, did you?”

Kale gave her a
funny look, “Hello? I’m the guy who’s new to all this … was there
not meant to be?”

Izzie shrugged,
“Not usually; it must’ve been Stacey’s idea. The teachers must’ve
been judging us all night.”

Kale nodded and
gestured to the stage; Ms Belson and Mr Rowntree had now taken
their place near the microphone, “Who do you reckon then?”

Izzie smirked,
“Please, you know your number one fan will choose you. Dunno who
will win the female one … probably Stacey if it was her idea; she’s
bound to have fixed it so that she would win.”

Kale chuckled,
“We’re about to find out … wanna bet on it?” A mischievous glint
shone in his baby blue eyes.

Izzie smirked,
“I’ll win and you know it. What are the terms?”

Kale grinned
cheekily, “Dinner again?”

Izzie
vehemently shook her head, “Uh, no way … look what happened last
time. Try again.”

Kale thought
for a moment, “Ok, what about a movie? Winner picks the film and
loser pays?”

Izzie nodded,
“You’re on. Ok, so who do you think will win?”

Kale was about
to answer when Ms Belson stepped up to the microphone first and
started to say, “The winner for best male costume is …”

“Whoops, looks
like I’m too late.” Kale smiled, “Let’s just make it that I think
you’ll win best female.”

Izzie agreed as
she knew there would be a snowball’s chance in Hell of her winning
and it looked like she was going to win the bet since, when they
both returned their attention to the stage, it was just in time for
Ms Belson to declare, “Kale Eddison … come on up and collect your
prize. Give a big hand to our best male costume winner.”

Kale threw
Izzie a feigned look of loathing and made his way up to the stage,
looking quite reluctant when Ms Belson handed him a white envelope
and planted a kiss on his cheek. Izzie smirked at him and then
returned her attention to Mr Rowntree.

“The winner of
the best female costume is … Isis Bell. Come on up here and collect
your prize.”

Izzie watched
many of the girls look severely disappointed but she, for one, was
glad that the shy girl from her English class had won; her Medusa
costume was out of this world and had a headdress of snakes that
actually moved mechanically. Izzie’s gaze followed Isis up to the
stage and then moved to Kale again; he looked a little disappointed
to have lost another bet. Izzie smirked to herself and wondered
what film would be best to force Kale to sit through; she would
have to check what chick flicks were on.

When Kale
gratefully left the stage, twenty minutes later, he made his way
over to Izzie again. Izzie was enjoying teasing him about Ms Belson
and was clearly relishing the fact that she had won another
bet.

“Looks like
you’ve gained a girlfriend and she’s older too … oh you charmer
you.” Izzie smirked at Kale who rolled his eyes.

“Uh huh, just
what I needed … although it would shut the press up about us for a
while.” Kale grinned and Izzie raised an eyebrow at him but
remained silent; the less she said, the better.

Izzie decided
to change the subject, “So, what did you win then?”

Kale looked
down at the envelope in his hand and shrugged, “Didn’t open it yet
but we’re about to find out.” He tore at the flap and pulled out
the card that was inside.

“It’s a meal
voucher for somewhere called ‘Wing Ting’s’ … where’s that?” Kale
frowned in puzzlement and handed it to Izzie.

She rolled her
eyes at him, “It’s a Chinese Restaurant near my Dad’s bookshop.
It’s actually quite nice.”