Shayler lifted her plastic cup of wine. “Totally.”
“You remember Selene, right?” He nudged his girlfriend forward.
Selene smiled, and Shayler gave her a small salute. “Hey. How’s the poetry going?”
“Uh, good.”
“Cool.” Shayler ripped the napkin in half and let it fall to the floor. “How’s soccer going, Ken?”
“Football,” he mumbled. “Football is going okay.”
Shayler listened as he babbled about qualifiers and red flags and people whose names sounded more like the ingredients listed on a soda can than actual human beings. Selene nodded along, grinning when he did. She had to give the girl credit for being an enthusiastic girlfriend. But the soccer talk had to stop, so Shayler interrupted with something she knew all couples loved to discuss.
“So, how’d you guys meet?”
“Oh, we had class together freshmen year and ran into each other like a month ago,” Ken said.
“He remembered how I always brought a black coffee to class, so he ordered us some at the cart. He took one sip and spit it everywhere.” Selene giggled.
“I was trying to impress her,” he said, as if it needed an explanation.
“Neat.” Shayler cleared her throat. “Um, excuse me.”
She shoved past them, her heels clunking on the floor as she sped to the doors. It was too hard to breathe in there, and she needed out. Love was suffocating the room and spreading like the freaking bubonic plague until it’d successfully claimed all of her friends as its victims. But she refused to be one.
The fresh air hit her as soon as she stepped outside and rested against the building. It was calming. Shayler tugged on her hair, pretty sure she was officially certifiably insane. Being the first person to leave the party was one thing, but being the first to leave without someone to bang? That was way worse.
She took out her phone and thumbed through her apps. Instagram was hell, she realized as her screen filled up with pictures of couples doing couple-y things. She scrolled down, Lucy Wilks kissed her boyfriend using definite tongue. Scrolled further, Billy Wu and Mike Nelson posed in front of a castle, arms around each other’s waists. One more scroll, and there was a picture of Sarah licking ice cream off Vivian’s nose. She shrieked and thrust it back into her pocket.
“Just find out about Brad and Angelina?” David asked, walking towards her slowly.
“Uh, no. They’ve been done for, like, half a year now.”
“Eh, I don’t keep up with that stuff.”
“Apparently.”
He leaned against the wall beside her. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. I just needed to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because it was … awful in there.”
“Seemed fine to me.”
“Everyone’s basically married. Settled down.” She scraped a stray leaf across the cement with her heel. “It’s weird.”
“Being in a relationship doesn’t mean that they’re ready to be shipped off to the nursing home.”
“Yeah, but what comes next? Marriage. And then babies. And then no one can go out at night or get wasted because little Timmy wakes up at six and expects his banana puree exactly at six thirty. Girls’ nights turn into play dates. And hanging out will start meaning grabbing lunch at a place with a playground and being back home in time for the daily nap bullshit.”
David laughed. “That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?”
She stared at the cloudy sky. “It’s true.”
“All right, fine. As we get older, there will be weddings and kids and early bedtimes. But we’ll be older, and we’ll be okay with that stuff.”
“So why are they starting now?”
“Because some people don’t like going to the club. For some people, this is it. This is why they were going in the first place, to find someone to spend the rest of their life with. Someone who will make the boring times seem not-so boring. And now, their idea of fun can mean anything as long as they’re with them.”
Shayler raised an eyebrow. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“What’d you expect from a guy whose study methods have been described as a little better than torture?”
She grinned, but only a little. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Another one?”
“Okay, holding decorations for me wasn’t that big of a favor.”
“It was six in the morning when Derek banged on my door today and demanded I help him set up.”
“You helped Derek set this up?”
“He made me learn origami because Rebecca likes butterflies and there needed to be butterfly napkins.”
Shayler giggled. “I’ve been tearing up the napkins since I got here. Sorry, but way too lame.”
“Agreed. But at least I didn’t have to make a barrel of purple wine.”
“I didn’t see any purple wine.”
“Derek thought it’d be a great idea to pour a bunch of white wine in a bucket and add six bottles of red and blue food coloring. Damion was in charge of that. Wine went flat and tasted pretty pungent.”
She smiled. “I’m not gonna ask you to do anything that weird. Will you just tell them I left when you go back in there? Tell Becca I’ll see her tomorrow?”
“You can’t leave, Shayler.”
“Excuse me?”
David stepped away from the wall. “Putting your personal beliefs aside, you know you’d regret not being there for your best friend’s birthday.”
“I’ll be there for the next one.”
“She’ll be sad if you leave without even saying goodbye.”
Shayler glared at him. Why did David always have to make such good points? She sighed. It was Rebecca’s birthday, and she never wanted to upset her best friend. Besides, she hadn’t had any cake yet.
“You win,” she said. “But I’m eating your slice of cake.”
“You can try.”
Her hand brushed his as they both went for the door, and she knocked against him. “Age before beauty.”
They strolled back into the party, his body close to hers, soothing her nerves. Rebecca sat at the table, a large cake in front of her that was covered with candles. Derek put the lighter down next to it, and the glow illuminated her best friend’s face, making her look even more angelic than usual. Although, that could’ve also been from the god-awful cardigan she’d somehow snuck in and was now wearing.
“Shayler!” Rebecca called. “We were waiting for you. Sit by me.”
“You do know that this place is a giant fire hazard right now,” she said as she sat next to her friend.
“He wanted to spell out twenty-one. The word, not the number.” Ansley shuddered. “Thank God he ran out of room.”
Shayler started the typical birthday song, making sure her voice was the most obnoxious it could be. Rebecca laughed, clapped, and froze for a second when everyone watched her expectantly. Shayler grinned as her best friend inhaled and blew the candles out, not missing a single one.
Rebecca seemed so happy and light. All of the things Shayler loved to be, even though she was going to move in with her boyfriend soon. Maybe David had been right about the other thing. Maybe this was what some people’s definition of fun was.
He tapped his foot against hers, and she glanced up at him. David’s smile was sweet, and her chest pitter-pattered like a handful of marbles dropped on a hardwood floor. Ansley caught her gaze and narrowed her eyes. Shayler put a lock of hair in her mouth, suddenly forced into her old habit of eating her hair whenever she got nervous.
The feelings she was having weren’t normal, but did that mean they were bad? David was a good person. Sure, he was sort of dull and a tad obsessive about organization. But Shayler was the opposite, and didn’t that mean they would balance each other out?
She scrunched her eyes shut and reached for his hand, glad when he accepted the offer and curled his fingers around hers. Opening her eyelids, she checked out the ro
om. No one gasped or cried out in shock. Shayler held on tighter, knowing her nails could break skin any second. But she couldn’t help it, there was a rushing sound in her ears and a pounding in her veins and her skin was sort of clammy and gross.
After kissing him and getting to second base, she hadn’t thought there could be anything left to fry her brain. Holding hands like they were in the fourth grade, however, was tilting her world upside down, and she was afraid if she let go, she’d fall right off the edge.
“Oh!” Shayler remembered as life seeped back into her. She spun to face Damion. “Guess who David’s roommate is.”
Damion flashed her a grin. “He told me this morning, after the purple wine tragedy. You got bad luck, man.”
“Purple wine tragedy?” Rebecca inquired.
Derek shook his head. “Don’t ask.”
David chuckled. “Yeah, well, I’ve gotten used to Kyle by now.”
“Planning your schedule around his absence is you being used to him?” Shayler teased.
“It’s not like I can change him.”
After Derek had passed out jagged triangles of cake, he sat down between Shayler and Rebecca. “Remember when he microwaved that can of beans when he was high?”
“And we had to call the fire department and pretend like he was just stupid?” Damion nodded. “Or when he stole Bruce’s stereo and used it to play his damn Spice Girls CDs.”
“Wasn’t that because he used it to woo his girlfriends?” Derek asked.
The two of them turned to David, seeming curious. “I haven’t heard any Spice Girls,” David said.
“Did he do that with you?” Ansley asked, stabbing at her cake.
Shayler licked frosting off her finger and grimaced. “No. And thanks for the reminder.”
Ansley shrugged, turning to Trish and Debbie to join their conversation. At least the education majors had thinned out and Ken and Selene were talking to Chris. Damion and Derek started going on about some sort of end of the year frat party, but Shayler ignored it. If it happened, she’d be invited. No need to hear the details months early.
Shayler sawed into her slice, chuckling as she discovered Derek had ordered Rebecca’s favorite. Vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. David was mid-bite when an idea popped into her head. She grinned and drove her plastic cutlery into his cake. He yanked the hand he was holding, pulling her away from it.
With a cackle, she fought his fork with hers, ignoring the bits of icing and cake that splattered onto her face. He owed her, and she was ready to collect. Tugging her hand outs of his, Shayler reached over to swipe his plate.
David pushed her away, shielding the paper plate with his body. It was funny to her that he thought his back would be enough to protect her dessert. She let out a battle cry and jumped onto him, her boobs pressed against his neck and she bent over and grabbed at it.
Tears streamed down her face, probably wrecking her mascara and winged liner, but it didn’t matter. She was happy. Her stomach ached, her abs protesting the constant laughter. Thankfully, David seemed to be having the same problem because he straightened and tossed the cake on the table.
“You win,” he said in between breaths.
She giggled and collapsed onto him. “Always do.” Shayler picked off a piece of cake with her fingers and popped it into her mouth.
He snaked an arm around her waist, and she fell deeper into his lap. Only then, when she was clutching her belly and lying against him, did she realize that people were staring. Not the random ones either, but her close friends. Rebecca, Derek, and Ansley were gawking at her.
“I’m not pulling a Janet, right?” she asked, checking to make sure her boobs hadn’t spilled out during the fight. Wouldn’t have been the first time.
David chuckled and swiped a thumb on her cheek. “No, but you’re covered in cake.”
“Don’t think that’s it,” Derek said.
Shayler smiled sweetly. “Bite me, Derek.”
Rebecca’s boyfriend smirked. “I think David might have that covered.”
Shayler’s heart thumped loudly. Were they as bad as Derek and Rebecca? Did her friends think they were an actual couple? Obsessing over it wasn’t helping. She just wanted to do what felt right, and being in David’s lap and laughing with him felt so goddamn good. But what if it was a mistake?
Rebecca turned her gaze to Derek. “Please, coming from the guy who had the secret Twilight obsession in high school?”
Derek gasped. “I told you that in confidence! I was only a freshman.”
Rebecca crossed her legs. “He was Team Jacob.”
“All right, that’s it.” Derek stood, his eyes narrowed. “When I move, you’re sleeping on the couch.”
“Not my fault you picked the wrong team.”
“Jacob never left Bella, not really. It should’ve been the right team.”
Shayler tossed her hair behind her. “Wouldn’t you like Edward then, since you two have so much in common?”
Derek clutched his heart, but there was a playful glint in his eyes. “You’re being a real Victoria.”
“I have no idea what’s going on,” David said.
Shayler peered up at him through her lashes. “I know.” She glanced back at Derek. “His favorite movie is The Last Samurai.”
Derek sat down and pushed his seat all the way in. “That shit’s too dramatic. Top Gun is far superior.”
“Sorry, The Last Samurai is too dramatic, but you liked Twilight?” Ansley asked.
Shayler listened to them argue and felt a nudge under the table. She blushed as Rebecca met her gaze with a smile and thumbs up. It was good to know that her best friend liked David, and that David was getting along with Ansley of all people, but she didn’t want it to go further than that.
Her and David’s friendship didn’t need an official title, didn’t need to be thought of as more than what it was. But she was okay with admitting she liked being there, nestled against him with one of his hands on her hip and the other stroking her thigh. Maybe it was time she started owning up to the butterflies and rainbows and other childish bullshit she felt around him, rather than running from it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Shayler unrolled a neon-green sleeping bag in the middle of Rebecca’s living room while Ansley filled up a bowl with popcorn and chocolate chips. She kicked her pillow closer to the makeshift bed, trying to ignore the way Rebecca smoothed down her own purple bag and fluffed her pillow like she was prepping for a queen to sleep on it.
“Why do we have to sleep out here?” Rebecca asked for the fourth time. “I’ve got a perfectly good bed that’s fit all of us before.”
“Because this is a traditional sleepover,” Ansley said. “Which means we have to sleep in bags and hope we don’t need to make a chiropractor’s appointment in the morning.”
“Yeah, plus this space is gonna be tainted by a dude soon,” Shayler added.
Rebecca sighed. “It’s not going to be tainted.”
“Just hear me out,” Shayler started, lying down on the flat blanket. “When he moves in, he’s gonna rearrange your shower caddy, use all of your soap and not tell you, buy the sugary kind of cereal, not make the bed, and not clean out your microwave.”
“He’s not going to do all that.”
“Ans, do you know any guys that routinely wipe down their kitchen appliances once a week?”
“Damion,” Rebecca answered quickly.
“He doesn’t count,” Ansley said. “Neither does David.”
“Well, well… I want to live with Derek, Shayler. So deal.” Rebecca stomped her foot.
“I know you do, but you’re going to hate it.”
“Am not!”
“You will,” Ansley agreed. “You can’t stand when I don’t take my shoes off outside, before I come in. You expect Derek to do that?”
“Yes. If I tell him to.”
“Do you think he’s gonna squeegee the shower after he takes one?” Shayler asked.
“Yes
,” Rebecca said, her voice softer now.
“I get that you love him, just think about it,” Shayler said.
Rebecca peeled a broken kernel out of the carpet and folded it into her napkin. “I have. I don’t know where he’s going to intern at after school, and I don’t know where I’ll teach. I don’t know where we’ll be in ten years, which sucks, but I want to spend this time with him. I want to wake up next to him and make him breakfast and come home to him in my bed, watching ESPN and rattling on and on about some stupid sport with way overpaid athletes that I don’t understand. Also, they seriously are overpaid. Educators of the future generations of this nation get a salary they can barely survive on, but someone dunks a ball in an end zone and gets millions?” She crossed her arms. “It’s not fair. I-”
“Off track,” Ansley said.
“Sorry. I was trying to say that I want to live with him, even if he makes the floors dirty and doesn’t know how to clean an oven.”
“You’re supposed to clean ovens?” Shayler asked.
“Living with Derek might not be perfect, but living with you would be a nightmare,” Rebecca said.
Shayler beamed. “You haven’t even seen my closet lately.”
“Are you putting your clothes away?”
Ansley snorted. “Are you even washing them?”
“Once a month, like usual.”
“You’re gross.”
“What?” Shayler sniffed her PJs. “I smell fine!”
They laughed, and Shayler tossed a handful of popcorn at them. Of course, that put a pause in the sleepover so Rebecca could clean the floor and spray for bugs. But they settled back in ten minutes later, stuck in a movie, and snuggled into their glorified body bags.
Shayler’s phone vibrated halfway through the latest Avengers flick, interrupting one of the Hulk’s dramatic monologues. She held the cell discreetly under her blanket, her breath catching as David’s name flashed across the screen.
David: How did I get roped into going out with Derek?
That bad?
David: Kyle came. We’re at a bar. There’s a mechanical bull.
Those r fun! Ride it for me ;)
Shayler giggled at the messages and held her phone in her hand, waiting for another text. When it didn’t come, she tried to reassure herself that everything was okay. He was at a bar, that wasn’t a big deal. Derek was with him, and he definitely wasn’t looking for trouble. However, Kyle was there, and that meant at least one of them was going to attempt to get laid. What if David had to play wingman and hook up with someone or hit on someone to take one for the team? And why did that idea make her feel sicker than when she’d had the stomach flu last year? Her phone vibrated.
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