Date Me

Riley: Cave tonight?

Me: I probably shouldn’t.

Riley: Me and Ariela are over.

Me: WTF??!! Why???!!!! What happened?

Riley: I’ll tell you at the Cave.

Me: Tell me now.

Riley: Dallas is coming. We’ll discuss then.

At one o’clock, I pull on a pair of sweat pants, grab a jacket, and sneak out of my room.

Riley jumps out of the bushes just as I crawl out of the window. He covers my mouth with his hand and muffles my scared scream.

“Shhh,” he says.

“Don’t jump out of the bushes at people and they won’t scream. Where’s Dallas?”

“He’s already there. Even though we made it through Homecoming and I’m sure everything is fine, I didn’t want you to walk by yourself.”

“Aww, thanks, Riley.”

We get to the Cave and find Dallas already smoking. We sit down next to him and Riley spreads a blanket out over our legs. It’s starting to get chilly at night.

“So what happened?” I immediately ask.

“Smoke first. Questions later,” Riley replies. I can tell he’s upset.

Dallas says, “We’re still keeping the rug.”

“What’s this got to do with the rug?”

“Everything,” Riley says with a sigh. He hands me the joint and starts talking. “So, tonight, Ariela came to my room. I mean, we had a great time at Homecoming. A really great time. I didn’t get a hotel room because I didn’t want her to think that I expected sex. But then you gave me the rug.”

“And?”

“And she came to my room tonight . . .” he hesitates.

“And?” I say again.

“And we were kissing on the rug. She liked it. Loved it. Commented about how soft it is. Then I sort of blurted out how I want to do her on it. How I’ve been thinking about it. Then I made a move.”

“And she got pissed?”

“Yeah. Said she wants to be more than just sex. Of course, then I got pissed and asked if she was still talking to that guy from home. She said yes. I told her I haven’t been talking to anyone since we started talking. Then I got more pissed. Told her I’d been going slower than I’ve ever gone in my life and I was sick of it. It went downhill from there.”

I put my arm around his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Dallas puts his arm around my shoulder. “What about me?”

“What about you kissing a girl in front of the whole math class? Are you even upset? Did you do that just to get back at her?”

“I was hurt at first. I’ve never been completely ditched like that. Then I was pissed. Then I just wanted to get even.”

“Because she hurt you.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I give him a big hug. He wraps me in a hug and rubs his hands down my back. “I’m very, very hurt. I need you to help cheer me up, sweetie.”

I wiggle out of his grip. “You’re so full of shit,” I say with a laugh.

He laughs too. “Fine. I don’t really give a shit.”

“I give a shit,” Riley says pathetically. “For the first time in my life, I really give a shit. And it sucks.”

“So are you going to try and win her back?”

“Nope. She wants to talk to other guys behind my back, then I’m going to be talking to other girls in front of her.”

“You’re going to try and make her jealous?”

“No. I’m done with her. I was really, excruciatingly, patient with her. I did everything I could to make her feel special. And if she’s going to be pissed at me because I got hot and tried something, fuck her. A simple no would have sufficed.”

Dallas says, “All right. You need to chill.” Then he passes him back the joint.

Wednesday, October 12th

Never wearing plaid again.

10am

Peyton grabs me after math class and holds up a note. “What’s that?”

“It’s a pass. You, me, and Whitney are going on a field trip.”

“A field trip with Whitney? Why?”

“We need to go to the party rental company’s warehouse and look at props for Greek weekend. The drama department has a few columns, but they are too busy with the play to do anything custom for us. The art department is going to do some large canvas pencil drawings of classic statutes. Their teacher is giving them extra credit for it, so we should have that to line the walls of the banquet, but we need more.”

“That sounds fun.”

“Good. Now go change out of your uniform into something cute. I’m not wearing this plaid skirt in public.”

“Oh, really? I just got a cute dress that I ordered online. I’m excited to wear it.”

“What’s it like?”

“It’s a Thakoon mini. It has the cutest quilted leather sleeveless top and then a plaid straight skirt on the bottom. I’ll probably wear it with a pair of black Burberry riding boots.”

“The bottom is plaid?” Peyton asks, scrunching up her nose. “Don’t you get sick of plaid? I swear, when I leave here I’m never wearing plaid again.”

“I guess I haven’t been here long enough to be sick of it.”

“Fine, so go change and meet us outside your dorm in ten minutes.”

We go to the rental store and find a few more props.

“So, we headed back to school now?” I ask.

Whitney turns to look at me sitting in the backseat of Peyton’s car. “We are going to the spa.”

“But won’t we get in trouble?”

“The spa is decorated with columns and has a Romanesque feel to it. We’ll be immersing ourselves in the culture and brainstorming. It’s strictly business,” Peyton says with a laugh.

I laugh when we get to the spa. It has a total of two columns that flank the entrance to the hot tub. I look over a menu and sign up for a lavender bath. That’s one thing I really miss from home. My bathtub. I soaked it in all the time to relax. My loft has a great bathtub, but I’ve yet to take a bath in it because Dawson prefers showers.

“We’re getting massages and spa pedicures together,” Peyton tells us. “I already booked those.”

I nod even though I don’t need a pedicure, since I just got one right before the dance. I don’t want to rock the boat. Since Homecoming, things seem strained between Peyton and Whitney.

But, since they banished Rachel, Whitney’s down a minion.

I just hoping she’s not looking for a replacement.

No one really talks during the massages, which is fine with me.

Then I get to go soak in a fragrant bath for almost an hour.

I ask one of the spa helpers, who I could tell didn’t speak much English, for a glass of white wine.

Needless to say, she did not ask me for ID, since I was naked in the tub, and I was thrilled when she walked back in with a glass of chilled Chardo

I lean back in the tub, take a sip, and totally relax.

I’m not sure what I think of Whitney, but her idea of coming here was perfection.

After my bath, I throw on my robe and meet the girls for our pedicures.

Whitney politely asks, “How was your bath?”

“It was amazing. They really need to install bathtubs at school.”

She laughs. “I totally agree. So, Keatyn, Peyton seems to think you and I should get to know each other better. That was the whole point of today’s little outing.”

I smile at Peyton. She wears a pained expression, which lets me know for sure that this was not her idea at all. She’s trying to pull away from Whitney, not get closer. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is one of those keep-your-friends-close-and-your-enemies-closer kind of thing. Even though I was nice to her at Homecoming and appreciate her being civil, I doubt we’ll ever be BFFs.

But, then again, maybe I should be nice and give her a chance.

“I’d like that,” I say to Whitney. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Well, you already know that I’m Dawson’s ex and pretty much everyone at school loves me.”

“Loves you or fears you?”

“Same difference,” Whitney replies haughtily, with a wave of her hand. “And, let’s face it, even you like sitting at my table.”

Peyton rolls her eyes but doesn’t contradict her.