Unlikely Allies

"Or, maybe he's decided I'm not the girl for him," I said, scooping up a stray piece of cheese up with my finger. "Don't you guys get sick of hearing me whine?" I asked, sucking the cheese off my finger.

"Are you kidding? It keeps me from hearing lonely boy here moan about his dismal love life," Dan said, tossing a piece of his crust at Brad.

"At least I'm out there trying," Brad countered.

"I don't need to try, I've already scooped up my girl," Dan said mysteriously.

Brad raised his eyebrows at me, questioningly. I shrugged my shoulders. His guess was as good as mine.

"Do tell big brother," Brad teased, bringing up the fact that Dan was a minute older than him.

"We're waiting until after break to mention it to anyone," he said with twinkling eyes, knowing full well he was tormenting us.

"You're worse than a teenage drama show," Brad griped. "Will Serena tell Dan the truth, or will she follow Carter to the moon?" he said, mocking one of my favorite shows.

"Hey, no reason to throw my show under the bus," I said laughing, throwing my crumpled up napkin at him.

"Who is she?" Brad asked.

"Can't tell," Dan said, winking at me.

"Well, whoever the lucky girl is, I'm happy for you," I said, flipping on the TV so we wouldn't miss our show.

"You know, it's a sickness that we watch this together," Brad muttered, sinking down on the couch next to me.

"Look, what happens in this apartment, stays in this apartment," I said, laughing as the opening theme song came on for the popular teenage show we were all hooked on.

Brad laughed and started to say something, but Dan shushed him, making me giggle. After earning a dirty look from him, I covered my mouth with my hand.

Brad winked at me and I smiled at him. At times like this, Mason's rejection didn't hurt quite as much.

***

I was still thinking about them the next day as Mom and I spent a quiet holiday alone. Mom fixed a small turkey breast for us, while I grudgingly entered the kitchen to make some of our favorite sides. When di

The next day, we were both done with our schoolwork and hit the kitchen together after sleeping in.

"Have you talked to your dad lately?" Mom asked as we were fixing leftovers.

"Last week. Why?" I asked, trying to ignore the way my pulse quickened.

"Did he mention Christmas?"

"No. Why?"

"He wanted to know if he could come spend the holidays with us," she said, looking at me critically, well aware of what I was thinking.

"What about Mason?" I asked quietly, slathering mayo on my bread.

"He said Mason has his own plans for the holiday," she said.

My heart dropped and I fought the urge to curl up in a ball like the weakling I had turned into. "Okay," I said, turning to leave the kitchen. I dropped my sandwich in the trash on my way to my room. Blindly, I closed the door behind me before collapsing on my bed.

As a rule, Mom and I did not discuss my puffy eyes the next morning, and I vowed to not shed another tear over Mason. I spent the last two days of break catching up on laundry and packing up the rest of my childhood stuff.

"You know, maybe finishing the year at UCLA wouldn't be a bad thing," Mom said, joining me my last evening at home.

"I already told Amy I'd be sharing her apartment come January. She's counting on me to help split the bills," I said, tossing a couple of my favorite childhood stuffed animals into the box marked "attic." "Besides, I'm already preregistered there and I handed in my withdraw papers to UCLA."

"I just thought, with the whole Mason thing, you might've changed your mind."

"Seriously, Mom, my transferring wasn't based entirely on him. I want to be closer to Dad for a while, and if that means moving halfway across the country, then so be it."

"And what about Mason?" she asked.

"What about him?"

"Well, he's bound to be there, and you're going to bump into him."

"Well, I don't run from my problems like other people I know," I spit out, hating that the same thought had plagued me.

She sucked in a deep breath at my words.

Sighing, I sank down on the edge of my bed. "I'm sorry, Mom. I know he's going to be there, but I have to stop making decisions solely based on him."

"I know, sweetie," she said, kissing the top of my head. "Why don't you leave these and we can go grab a bite to eat. You can finish going through this stuff when you come home for Christmas break."

"Okay," I said, abandoning the quilt I was folding.

***

Carol was already in our dorm when I returned late Sunday evening.

"Hey, you're late. I was begi

"Sorry, my mom and I decided to spend the whole day together," I said, hanging my sweater on the coat rack. "How was your Thanksgiving?"

"Hectic, busy, loud and too crowded. Would you like me to continue?" she said, smiling at me.

"Ha, so typical. Did you finish your project?" I asked, laughing.

"Yes, but only because I came back yesterday," she admitted.

"What? Did your family have a co

"Oh, they tried to guilt me, but I totally turned the tables on them by turning on the waterworks, claiming I'd fail out if I didn't get it done," she said, mischievously. "Now we can go out for coffee with Dan and Brad," she added, pulling out her phone to send a text.

"But it's almost ten," I objected.

"And you're worried your dress will turn to rags and your coach will return to a pumpkin?" she teased.

"Well no, but how do you even know they're back or even awake?"

"Oh they are, we've just been waiting for you to get home," she said, jumping off the couch and throwing my sweater to me.

"Why the sudden interest in them?" I asked, pulling my sweater back on.

"They're cool," she said, blushing slightly.

"Car," I said with a warning tone. She had been so busy with a guy she had met at the Halloween party that I hadn't had a chance to introduce her to Brad and Dan until the week before Thanksgiving break.

"What, you're the only one who can be friends with them?"

"No. I just don't want them hurt," I said, defending my new friends.

"Kim, I'm not going to hurt them," she said, looking hurt herself.

"Car, I know you won't intend to, but you're so full of life, and when you love something, you put your all in to it, but when you're done, you move on quickly. Brad was put through the wringer by his ex."

"What makes you think it's Brad I'm interested in," she said saucily, stomping down the stairs ahead of me.

Shocked, I followed behind her meekly.

The brothers were waiting for us at the bottom of the steps of our dorm, cutting off our conversation. I had to swallow my disbelief when Carol bent down to give Dan a kiss on the lips.

"What the hell?" I looked at Brad confused, who shrugged his shoulders, clearly as confused as me.

"Um, what did we miss?" I asked.

"Dan and I've been dating," Car confessed.