Stay With Them Tonight

Today was the day. That day, the one in which I was going on a sorta date with Greg and Kelly and Ryan and some guy named Kevin and his girlfriend.

I was fine with going on that sort of date with Greg.

I was excited about secretly watching every single move Kelly and Ryan made towards each other and talking about it later with Kelly.

I didn’t care about meeting this Kevin guy, or his girlfriend.

I was absolutely terrified of that fact that he might show up. Would show up. I was hoping he got a sudden case of the plague. Jason. Yesterday, Kelly had come in while I was working, demanding to know why I was avoiding her calls.

*****

”Allie! What the heck is your problem!? Why aren’t you picking up!?” I didn’t answer; I was too busy staring at my fingers. “Is this about Friday?” She asked in a quiet voice, leaning towards me across the counter. I fidgeted nervously, but figured this was a conversation better had in relative privacy.

I quickly shooed her out of line so I could serve the next customer. I motioned to give me a minute while I finished up the orders. She took five steps away and glared at me, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. I ignored her eyeballs boring into the side of my head, trying to see how long she would stand there. I guessed she would wait a long time.

Five minutes later I had gotten everybody, so I went to a separate part of the counter, speaking to Kelly over the display boxes.

“I’m sorry, okay? I was busy,” I explained lamely. I had been reeeeeally busy, watching movies but for once not getting into them. I felt like somebody had torn my teddy bear’s head off, that’s how lost I felt without my movies. Kelly would probably check me in to the nearest psych ward if I told her.

“Yeah, sure Alls. This is about Jason, isn’t it? What’s going on with you two?” She stopped for a second, but I didn’t reply. “I’ve never seen you freak out around a guy that much before. Except with Tyler.” I flinched, blushing.

“Yeah, look where that got me.” She looked at me questioningly, and I quickly pulled my thoughts away from previous bad experiences to current ones. “I hate him, Kelly. Nothing else. He makes me go crazy.” I paused, staring down at the watermelon gelato. “ Just . . . when I woke up against him like that, I felt like I had eaten a bug.”

“Gross!”

“No kidding.” It was the only comparison I could think of. And I remembered his smile and got instantly uncomfortable. “ Why didn’t you wake me up!?”

“He wouldn’t let us. He just kept saying it would be hilarious when you did wake up.” And she was probably too busy talking to Ryan to care. Not that I could blame her for that.

And that first night I met him, Jason had gotten really angry really quickly. I wondered if that was normal, or he had just been having a bad night. Who was I kidding? Jason never had a bad night. He was too amused by everything to care. Getting angry like that must be very normal, or very rare.

“Kelly! Don’t ever listen to a single thing he tells you! He is evil! Pure evil!”

Unlike me, who would have rolled her eyes at such an exaggeration, she gave me that look and put her hand on her hip. I stared at her, hoping she would catch the hint and drop it.

She sighed. “Fine. We’ll talk about anything but Jason. Anyway, so, uhm. Speaking of Jason. Ryan called me earlier about tomorrow. . .” I banged my head against the glass, and kept it there to let the glass cool my forehead. I probably killed a lot of brain cells doing that.

“He’s coming tomorrow, isn’t he?”

“Yep. Sorry about that, Allie.” I groaned, picking my head up and wiping away the tiny mark I left on the glass.

“Think it’s too late to cancel?”

She looked on the clock on the wall. “Considering we’re going in twenty-eight hours, and your best friend would really like you to be there, yes, it is too late to cancel.” I pouted. “He’s bringing Rachel, you know. Or I guess after yesterday when we were talking about it she asked him.”

“Oh, okay. If she wants to come, let her. She’s nice, Kell.”

“I know. I wish she would’ve talked to us first, though.”

“Me, too. But it’s one less person we won’t know. She probably just wants to find a boyfriend for junior year. I don’t think Jason will be it, though.”

She laughed. “You think?”

*****

So Rachel, who I had come to like a little bit, would be coming with my arch nemesis. I would have Greg sit as far away from Jason as possible, in both the restaurant and the theater. Too bad I would also have to avoid Rachel.

Greg would be picking me up any minute, while Ryan and Jason and Kelly and Rachel would go together. I knew Kelly was a little disappointed that she and Ryan couldn’t have any alone time all night. Kevin and his date would also come separately.

I had decided to just come in a poufy white and blue dress, which wasn’t formal but also wasn’t too casual. I went downstairs, where my dad was in his den with the door open and my mom was nonchalantly reading a book in the front living room.

I rolled my eyes when the doorbell rang, because they both looked up immediately and my mom told me to make sure he came in.

I opened the door and he stood, all almost six feet of him, looking fantastic and respectable at the same time. I pulled him to the living room, where now both of my parents sat, smiling.

So this shouldn’t be too bad, I thought.

“Mom, Dad, this is Greg. Greg, Melanie and David Anderson.” I said it quickly, and thankfully my parents only talked to him for a minute before letting us go. I grinned in relief and quickly pulled Greg outside. It was raining again, but it was that nice rain that smelt so good you just wanted to live in it.

“Looks like they’ve already left,” I commented as we hurried to get in the car.

“Who?”

“Ryan and Jason. They live right there,” I said, pointing to the house next to ours.

“They’re your neighbors?” He laughed, knowing by now and all my complaining that I hated Jason with a passion.

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t mind Ryan.” He chuckled.

I looked over at Greg, appreciating how casual we were keeping this. He knew and I knew that this was just a night of hanging out with friends, and that neither of us would push to become a couple anytime soon. I knew he was going to ask a girl out soon, anyway.

We listened to the radio and talked on the way to the Italian restaurant, and we played slug-bug. It seemed like there weren’t that many VW bugs out there anymore, which meant we didn’t get to hit each other that much, until we added red cars. Do you realize how many red cars and trucks there are? I was glad he wasn’t hitting hard, because that would hurt. As it was, I had a bruise by the end of the night.

When we pulled in, I noticed Ryan’s car, but it was impossible to know if that Kevin dude was here yet, because I didn’t know what his car looked like. We got a parking spot up front and we linked arms as we went inside, trying to figure out who had hit the other the most.

“Uh. Party of eight?” Greg asked the guy up front, who called out for a waiter to bring us to our table. The waiter looked around twenty. He was hot, but I saw him checking Greg out, and he caught me looking. I smiled at him, and he looked embarrassed but smiled back.

I was dying, trying not to laugh at myself and the appreciative expression on the guy’s face as he glanced back at Greg. It didn’t help that Greg was 100% straight and clueless. He kept pestering me quietly on the way to the table, trying to get me to explain why I was practically doubled over trying not to laugh, but I wouldn’t say anything. If Greg had been gay, I would have totally set the two up. Seeing as how Greg seemed to like a certain girl at school, it was too bad.

Jason and the Kevin dude and their dates were missing from the table, so it was just Ryan and Kelly there. Apparently everyone else was in the game room across the hall, at the pool table. I could hear a couple people talking, but none of them were Stupid or Rachel. I had no choice but to sit next to one of the empty seats and hope that the seat wasn’t Jason’s.

Greg sat down next to me as everyone came back in, and to my relief I had sat next to Rachel. It didn’t matter that on the other side of her was Jason, because at least I didn’t have to sit with him.

I smiled to myself, and was extra nice to the waiter guy, whose nametag said “Sam.” He came and took our drink orders, and I was sad to see him go. He seemed like a cool guy.

I looked around the table, noticing Jason was looking at me with one eyebrow quirked. I narrowed my eyes at him and looked away.

Kevin seemed about my age actually, with dark hair and equally dark eyes. He had a hard smile but interesting views on things, and seemed pretty quiet around the girl he brought, Marina. She was a tiny brunette, who looked a little bit like a nerd, and she blushed easily. When we were done eating, I saw Kevin kiss her on the cheek when he thought no one was looking, and it was so cute. I instantly liked him after that.

The guys paid the bill, and everyone started drifting out. I told Greg to go outside ahead of me. He made a gesture at Sam, silently asking if I liked him, and I rolled my eyes at him and pushed him towards the door.

I walked up and talked to Sam, and we exchanged phone numbers. Why would I exchange numbers with a complete stranger? Because Sam was super friendly and I liked him.

Ryan came as I was leaving, and we walked back out together. “Greg said you were busy trying to get that guy’s phone number.” He laughed.

“What?” I said, acting offended. “I did!”

He turned to look at me surprised. “You did?”

“Yep!” I showed him the number, purposely not telling him Sam happened to play for the other team.

“Watch out, Greg!” He called out ahead. “She really did!” I laughed, skipping up to Greg and linking my arm through his again.

“It’s okay, baby, you’re still my favorite,” I cooed, looking up at him and batting my eyelashes. He burst out laughing.

“That . . . was so . . . creepy!” He was laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe. I pouted.

“Ryan! Look what you did!” He gave a “wasn’t-me” gesture and got into his car. Greg and I fake-fought on the way to the movie theater, and got out of the car having a fake break-up.

“You’re always checking out other guys!” he exclaimed to me as he shut his door.

“Maybe you should learn how to keep a girl interested!” I felt a smile start on my face, and in order to cover it up I put my face in my hands and pretended to cry.

“Aw, baby it’s alright,” he pulled me into a hug, shaking from laugher.

“You guys are so weird,” Kelly commented as she and Ryan walked past us.

“Baby, I still love you!” I shouted purposely, throwing my arms around him. He spun me around, proclaiming his everlasting love for me. He put me down, dizzy, and we waltzed towards the door like nothing happened.

*****

We found the others already in the theater and started discussing our little skit with Ryan, Kelly, and Rachel, Jason just texting someone. At least the smirk was back, I noticed. He was so much less unsettling when he was his normal self.

Kevin and Marina were in their own little world. I guessed he had just wanted to make her feel comfortable, rather than a single date. When Kevin left for a minute, I turned to Marina and we started talking,

The girls had paid for the drinks and small popcorns, although we were all so full you wouldn’t have thought we could possibly eat any more. Most of us, anyway. Halfway through the new Pirates I was munching on the popcorn, and Greg was looking at me like I had grown another eyeball.

Somehow Jason and I had wound up sitting next to each other, despite my efforts to make it otherwise. Somehow I felt embarrassed in the parts where somebody kissed onscreen, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. My face would get hot and I wouldn’t be able to look at him, and I was pretty sure it was just the result of remembering Friday.

When I thought of how it must have looked that day, me curled up to him, arm resting on his chest, I feel like hitting my head against something.

Greg seemed to realize my discomfort, and we whispered our opinions to each other throughout the movie.

“That was predictable,” he would say.

“Oh that doll is cute,” I said honestly. Greg turned wide eyes on me. “Don’t worry, I won’t make one of you,” I patted his arm extra hard, where the bruise was from earlier. He poked my arm to get me back. I stared at the screen, and my right side where Jason was sitting felt all weird and tingly.

*****

We left a little before everybody else, and sat in my driveway for a minute, talking. My house was dark, so my parents had gone to bed. It was about ten-thirty, and tomorrow was Monday. The rain had settled down, and he walked me to the door.

Because it had been an almost date, a goodbye kiss felt practically obligatory. When Greg leaned in towards me, I followed, and the distance dissolved between us until I felt his mouth against mine. I felt free, knowing we would still be friends tomorrow. Just friends.

We got lost in the kiss, and I almost forgot we were in front of my house, until I heard a car down the street. We broke apart and looked over at the car, which had come from the other direction.

“They’re dropping Kelly off,” I told him.

“Oh.”

I felt his breath against my face as he pulled away slightly, and we were both breathing slightly harder than we had been a few minutes ago.

“I guess I forgive you now, if you kiss like that,” he said teasingly.

“For what!?”

“For checking out another guy!” he exclaimed like it was obvious. I laughed.

“That guy wasn’t into me like that. He’s not into any girl like that.” I looked up for a second, thinking. “Unless he’s bi, which I somehow doubt.” Greg looked absolutely shocked.

“He was gay!?” he said, not judging, just verifying. “The whole argument was because you were checking out another guy!”

“I was. He just happened to not like girls.” I shrugged, trying to look innocent. He laughed, giving up, and gave me a hug. I felt enveloped in him, and suddenly he was like a big brother and a best friend all at once. I still didn’t regret kissing him one bit.

“Bye, Al. See you in the morning.” He pulled away and walked back to his car as Ryan and Jason pulled in. I waved, Ryan waving back and Jason barely looking over at me. Maybe now he would always treat me like this. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.