IX. I got my eye on you

Marlowe didn't realize how late she stayed up talking to EJ until she woke up the next morning and they were still on the line with each other. She heard his breathing and snores, and she stared at the lit up screen, not knowing how to feel. Marlowe quickly hung up and covered her mouth. All she could think about was Nini. They'd been close friends for so long and EJ was her boyfriend. . . ex boyfriend now, but she didn't want to do that to her. She couldn't do that to her.

By the time both of the twins woke up, Ricky was gone. Marlowe assumed he went home to get ready for school but she was still worried about him. Luca stayed up with him all night until he fell asleep. Even then he couldn't sleep because Ricky was crying to himself. All three of them were exhausted.

The homecoming dance was a few days away and Marlowe could not stop talking about it. Besides the fact that she didn't have a date, she also didn't have a dress, and those two things were stressing her out. "I found this dress online for less than $200 but I also saw one at Macy's that was really pretty," she rambled to her twin when they two of them entered the cafeteria. They made their way to the back table where Ricky and Big Red were at. "Ooh, maybe I can go and get that one black dress!"

Ricky groaned. "Please don't tell me you're talking about homecoming."

"Of course I'm talking about the homecoming dance,  Richard! You know me."

"Don't mind him. He's in a mood because he refuses to ask Nini to the dance." Big Red emphasized.

She furrowed her brows. "She just broke up with EJ."

"That's what I said!" Ricky exaggerated.

"You would be going as friends. There's nothing wrong with that!"

He rolled his eyes and pointed at the twins. "What about you guys?"

"I'm fine going by myself," Marlowe lied. She jabbed her thumb to the side. "This one over here is a little down in the dumps because a certain senior hasn't asked him yet."

Luca threw his hands up. "I just don't know how more obvious I can make myself." He exaggerated while pouting.

"Knox is probably just nervous,"

"If he wanted to ask me, he would have already." He muttered sadly and picked at his nails. Since their conversation in the hallway, Luca was somewhat hopeful that Knox would ask him to the dance. He didn't show that, obviously, because he was afraid to.  He had a crush on the senior forever and when Knox came out as bisexual, he thought he had a chance. But he was a senior, older and cooler, and Luca was losing the hope that he would ever see him as anything more than a friend.

"You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you,"

Everyone in the cafeteria looked confused. Marlowe looked around frantically for the voice that was singing. "What the hell?" 

"You'd be like heaven to touch.  I wanna hold you so much."

Suddenly, Knox's fall figure appeared at the top of the staircase. All eyes turned to him and Luca's eyes bulged out of his head. "Is that—"

"It is." Marlowe beamed and grabbed her his arm.

Knox slowly walked down the stairs while holding a microphone in his hand. "At long last, love has arrived and I thank god I'm alive." He walked to the middle of the floor on the upper half of the cafeteria and stood where everybody could see him. Finding Luca, he smirked and pointed at him. "You're just too good to be true.  Can't take my eyes off of you."

"Oh my god." Ricky and Big Red said in unison.

Then, as if it couldn't get any better, the band showed up out of nowhere and started playing. Marlowe laughed out loud at Luca's face and shook his arm with excitement.

Knox started dancing and spun in a circle. By this point, the entire cafeteria was laughing hysterically.  Marlowe could see EJ laughing his ass off from where he was sitting with the water polo team. The performer walked to the other staircase and stood at the top of the step. He threw his arm up. "I love you, baby and if it's quite alright, I need you baby to warm the lonely night. I love you, baby." Again, he looked at Luca and smirked. "Trust in me when I say. . ."

Luca felt like he was going to pass out.

Knox ran half way down the stairs. "Oh, pretty baby.  Don't bring me down, I pray. Oh, pretty baby. Now that I've found you, stay and let me love you, baby."  He did another spin. "Let me love you!"

"Luca!" Marlowe squealed and held her chest, the excitement she was feeling now getting out of hand now.

By now, everyone was staring at him as Knox sang continued to sing but all Luca could do was stare at him with a queasy stomach. The senior ran down the rest of the stairs. He jumped on top of the table where the water polo team was sitting and Marlowe could see EJ laughing harder than he already was.

"I love you, baby, and if it's quite alright, I need you,  baby to warm the lonely night. I love you, baby. Let me love you, baby. Let me love you!"

Knox pointed to the top of the upper floor where a group of freshman were standing. On que, the unraveled a large banner that read Luca, will you go to homecoming with me?

There was complete silence and everyone on the cafeteria turned and looked at Luca, who sat there completely stunned. His sister had a grip on his arm,  her own thrill taking over. Knox stared at him from the table expectingly, breathing in and out deeply, also feeling nervous.

Luca stood up from the cafeteria seat and Marlowe released his arm. He stared at the senior and sucked in a deep breath. He smiled. "Course I will."

"YES!" Marlowe yelled and everyone erupted in cheers and hollers.

Knox jumped off the table and met Luca in the middle.  They embraced in a tight hug. "How the hell did you pull that off?" The junior laughed

He shrugged with a tiny smirk. "I paid a few freshman and said I'd do their homework for them."

Luca chuckled and looked up at him. "I did not expect that." 

"You told me to go on and ask who I wanted to ask, so I did."

Turning red again, he bit the inside of his cheek and laughed. They continued to hug.

Marlowe was still shrieking in excitement when she and Luca walked into rehearsal. "Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you! What are you two wearing? Are you matching? Is he coming to get you—"

"Marley, cálmate! He just asked me, like, thirty minutes ago!" Luca interrupted her and laughed. "It's not that big of a deal." Calm down!

She scoffed. "No es gran cosa? Has estado enamorado de él desde siempre y te acaba de dar una serenata en la cafetería. Eso no es gran cosa?" No big deal? You've always been in love with him and he just gave you a serenade in the cafeteria. That's not a big deal?

Luca didn't say anything right away. His eyes darted springs them before he looked at her again and smiled.  "Okay, it's kind of a big deal."

She made a noise of delight and pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh, brother, I'm so happy for you. I've always rooted for the two of you!"

"I know, gracias."

Miss Jenn came walking into the rehearsal room with Carlos. "Okay, people, let's get started." She announced to everyone.

"Dancers, get warmed up for Status Quo!"

Gina came over and dropped her bag on the floor where Marlowe's was. "I didn't know you spoke Spanish?" She said and the pair fell to the floor.

"I'm Colombian. We really only speak Spanish at home, but, it gets me an A in Spanish." Marlowe explained with a sneaky smile.

Gina gasped. "So smart."

"Are you excited for the homecoming dance?"

"Oh, you have no idea. I'm going with EJ. I think it's going to be really fun—"

Marlowe quickly looked at her. "You're going with EJ?" She asked

Gina nodded. "Yeah, he asked me earlier today. It was a relief, actually." She answered while smiling.

She looked over the girl's shoulder and saw EJ enter the bomb shelter with Knox. "That's great, Gina. I hope we all have a good time." She said with a faint smile.

The sophomore smiled with her teeth and began to stretch. Marlowe frowned again when she wasn't looking. Unconsciously, she caught EJ's eyes from across the room.He waved at her, smiling big like he always was. She looked away and scratched the back of her neck, feeling warm. She started to stretch along with Gina.

EJ found Marlowe at her locker and he immediately walked her way. "Hey, Marlowe." He said with a large smile.

She glanced at him. "Hey, Caswell." She said casually and went back to putting her rehearsal clothes into her locker.

The smile on his face dropped a tiny bit but he quickly recovered. "That was awesome what Knox did earlier. I think him and Luca look great together." He said with enthusiasm.

Marlowe nodded in agreement, smiling the tiniest smile she could conjure. "Yeah, i do too." 

When she looked away, that's when he frowned fully,  not understanding the cold shoulder. "Hey, are you okay? You didn't say anything in rehearsal."

"Oh, that?" She asked, acting like she didn't know what he was talking about. "I was just trying to focus, you know? The musicals only weeks away."  She gave a small laugh to play it off, "But,  uh. . . you excited for the homecoming dance? I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun. Y'know, cause of Gina."

She didn't mean to say it so carelessly.

When EJ realized, he quickly shook his head. "Oh, no,  it's not what you think. I, uh. . ." He leaned in closer to her. "I'm trying to get Nini back and Gina said taking her to the dance would make her jealous."

It took her a minute to process that. "Wait,  what?"

"Gina knows I want Nini back so we formed a plan to go to homecoming together."

Marlowe shook her head, not believing his words. "So you'd rather go to homecoming as a form of retaliation and not go with someone you really want to go with?"

EJ furrowed his brows. "Where's this coming from?"

She opened her mouth to argue but stopped herself. "Nothing. I have to go."

EN quickly stopped her before she could walk away.  "No, wait, Marlowe, why are you so upset?"

"I have to go,  EJ." She emphasized and quickly walked away before he could stop her.

"Marlowe!" He called after her but was ignored. "Marlowe!"

Luca was the happiest Marlowe had ever seen him. They spent so many times talking about Knox, and how much he liked him, but Luca never thought he ever had a chance with somebody like Knox Fletcher. He was younger, not as important, but Knox was always kind. He was goofy. He loved everybody. He saw Luca for more than just the theater kid. He actually liked him.

"Oh, mi dulce chico, me alegro mucho por ti!" Sabrina squealed and kissed her son's cheek. Oh, my sweet boy. I'm so happy for you!

"Me alegro por ti, hijo." Said Mateo and he patted his back. I'm happy for you, son.

"I just can't believe he actually asked me. I mean, I never thought he would ever see me in that way." Luca beamed.

"Trust me, Luke, he's always liked you," said Marlowe.  She was sitting sideways in the love seat with her legs handing off the side. "He gets that little gleam in his eyes whenever you're around."

"And what's the gleam, sweet girl?" Her mom teased.

She bit her lip and shrugged. "I don't know. I just know he has it." 

Luca continued to ramble on about homecoming and as happy as Marlowe was, she started to feel sad that she didn't have a date of her own. She didn't mind going by herself, but Luca was her twin and she though she would have him to spend time with and now he was going with Knox. She began to wonder why nobody asked her. I'm not that bad, am I? She thought to herself. Marlowe considered herself to be really sweet. Sure, she was tough and strict when she needed to be, but she was nice to everyone. And she loved to dance.

"What about you, querido? Has anyone asked you?"  Her father asked, just quiet enough so only she could hear. Darling

Marlowe shook her head. "No, papi. It doesn't bother me, though."

Mateo pulled a face. "What boy or girl is stupid enough to not ask my daughter to a dance?"

She giggled. "It's not a big deal. I'll just. . . enjoy the snacks."

"Want me to be your date? You know I can get down with the kids." He offered and started doing a weird dance move.

Marlowe and Luca cringed. "Oh god, please don't ever do that again." She laughed. The doorbell rang. "I'll get it."  She announced and crawled out of the chair. She walked to the front room and opened to the door to reveal Ricky and Big Red standing with their hands behind their backs. She titled her head and smiled. "What are you guys doing here?"

They looked at each other before looking back at her.  "Well, we know you still don't have a date to the homecoming dance," Big Red started.

"And because you're our best friend. . ." Ricky trailed.

"We thought we'd make your night as special as it can be."

The boys pulled their hands out from behind their backs and revealed what they were holding. Big Red was holding a bouquet of daises, her favorite flower, and Ricky was holding a white teddy bear with a red heart that had homecoming? written on it.

She thought she was going to cry. "Oh, you guys," Marlowe swooned and took the things from their hands. "Of course I'll go with you."

They high fived each other and the three of them shared a group hug.