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BROOKE WAS WEARING NED'S SWEATSHIRT. He had given it to her when she had gotten to school, the boy practically throwing it at her, and refusing to give her an answer as to why he wanted her to wear it. Liz had given her a few, rather uncomfortable theories, but the two decided that Ned was much too naive and soft spirited to be possessive, especially since he was too scared to kiss her half the time.
"It's so big on you, that's so cute," Betty Brant cooed, because Liz had dragged her sister to sit with them during lunch, because she felt bad that Brooke had to sit with River during break, since Ned was retaking quizzes during break and lunch.
Brooke smiled as she glanced down at the jacket that was drowning her, looking at the slightly too long sleeves that she had to pull up to show her hands, and she couldn't help but laugh at the fact it was themed after the second Robin from Batman.
"Liz won't tell us why she's going to Homecoming with a sophomore, could you tell us?" one of Liz's other friends asked, and Brooke paused, unsure of how to reply.
She glanced towards her sister who, upon first glance, didn't seem too fazed by the question, simply continuing to eat her apples, texting on her phone, most likely talking about Homecoming which was the next day, and it was a surprise the girl was even eating lunch with them at all.
But upon closer inspection, Liz had frozen up, trying to seem nonchalant as she ate, but was clearly on edge, her movements too rigid despite wanting to be uncaring, her shoulders closer to her ears and her whole body turned in on herself.
"Peter's had a crush on Liz forever, and he's a really shy guy, so, you know, wouldn't you wanna be nice and just agree to go with him? He's not the worst date ever, he's a sweet guy," Brooke explained, and she saw Liz relax, taking a sip of her juice, looking relieved.
Betty didn't seem as convinced as her other friends, glancing over to Liz who caught her eye, the two holding it for a moment before going back to eating, turning their attention back to Brooke who averted her gaze, going back to eating herself.
She wished she had a relationship like Betty and Liz did. It seemed nice.
"Are you going to Homecoming?" the junior asked, and she shrugged, pressing the sweatshirt sleeve to her mouth in thought, resting it against her cheek.
"I don't think so, I don't have a dress or anything," she admitted, and the girls all gaped at her with varying degrees or shock and appall.
"Ned hasn't asked you?" Betty demanded, and Brooke shrugged, shaking her head as she glanced to her lap.
Truthfully, she hadn't thought much about it, especially since she and Ned had started dating two days prior, she wasn't thinking too much about Homecoming or anything other than actually doing the dating thing correctly. Neither of them knew much about it, but they could try.
"We're going on our first date today, we didn't really think about a school dance," she explained, not looking at any of them, which meant she didn't see the way Liz motioned for her friends to ease up and leave her alone.
