Dating Sarah Cooper

by Siera Maley

“Gaw-geous!” I drawled, and that made her laugh as she wrapped her arms around me again.

  We hugged, tightly, and she sighed out, “Jeez, I missed you. I wish we’d had a fourth ticket.”

  “It was boring here,” I agreed, resting my chin on her shoulder. “Nothing to report.”

  “I have something,” she told me abruptly, pulling away with a satisfied smirk. I heard a throat clear nearby and suddenly remembered Jake, who was now standing in the bathroom doorway, watching us both with two raised eyebrows.

  “Am I interrupting something?”

  Sarah jumped a little, then swiveled to face him. “Oh my God, you scared me!” She paused, then immediately moved to him. “Whoa, is your lip okay?”

  “Brett Larson was messing with him. I saw them on my way home,” I told her.

  “Ugh,” Sarah scoffed. “I hate that asshole.” She spoke to Jake even as she ducked into the bathroom to get the first aid kit in the cabinet. “Did you know that when we were in third grade, he used to copy Katie’s homework, like, every day?”

  “Every day,” I repeated matter-of-factly, watching Jake with some amusement as Sarah doted on him. He seemed a little overwhelmed by how high-energy she was. I was used to it by now.

  “So what’d you do? Step into his line of sight?” Sarah joked. “What’s your name, anyway?”

  “Jake,” I answered for him, given that Sarah was tending to his lip at the moment. “You guys had Chem together.”

  “Really?” Sarah raised an eyebrow. “Oh. Well, I probably just don’t remember you because it took every single ounce of concentration I had just to pass that class. I’m terrible at science. Got a B-minus though because I study hard, unlike this one.” She pointed over her shoulder at me with a thumb and shot me a smile, and then stepped back a moment later to admire her handiwork. “There. All cleaned up.”

  “Thanks.” Jake tapped at his lip, wincing a little, and then looked between us for a moment. “So… you guys are pretty close, then? I mean, I’ve heard your names mentioned together a lot, so I figured you were friends, but…”

  “We’re the best of friends,” Sarah cut in matter of factly, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me to her. “I almost died without her this break, you have no idea.”

  “Huh.” He looked back and forth between us for another moment. “That’s cool, I guess. I don’t think I’ve ever had a friend like that before.”

  “Well, we’ve grown up together,” I explained. “Like sisters.”

  “Closer than sisters,” Sarah corrected proudly. “Sometimes we even finish each other’s sentences.”

  “Yeah?” He raised an eyebrow again, and then looked over his shoulder abruptly. “So Katie, do you think I could grab a glass of water?”

  “Oh, yeah, sure. The cups are in the cabinet above the dishwasher.”

  “Thanks.”

  He left the room for a moment, heading into the kitchen, and Sarah immediately turned to face me. She spoke under her breath even as she shot me a warning look. “He seems nice. But you’re not into him, are you?”

  I let out a quick chuckle. “No. He’s gay, anyway.”

  “Are you serious? I mean, I knew we had them at school, but I’ve never actually gotten to know one.”

  “Well, maybe we should,” I suggested. “Like you said: He seems nice.”

  “I bet he’d go shopping with us,” she replied, sounding enthused at the idea. I let out another laugh.

  “Yeah. Maybe.”

  Jake came back a few seconds later, a glass of water in his hand, and for a moment, we all stood together in awkward silence. Finally, he cleared his throat.

  “So… I don’t know if I’m being too presumptuous… but there’s this club I kind of belong to, and I thought, I guess… if you guys ever wanted more people to hang out with and talk to and stuff… or if you just wanted to hang out with me and talk, you could come. You know, if you felt like spending time with people who can relate to you. Everyone’s really nice.”

  “Sure,” I offered, just being polite, but Sarah looked at me as though Jake had just offered to pay for everything she wanted during her next trip to the mall.

  “Wasn’t I just saying before break that I need way more extracurriculars this year if I want to get into med school? We should do it!”

  “Really?” Jake sounded surprised that she’d accepted his offer so quickly. “You think you can handle it?”

  “I mean, we probably just do volunteer work and all that, right? How hard can it be?”

  “Well-” Jake started to say, but he was interrupted by the sound of our garage door opening. “Shit, is that your parents?”

  “Probably my mom,” I admitted. “She won’t mind that you’re here, though.”

  “Well, I don’t want to risk your parents trying to make me call mine or something when they see my lip. I’m gonna see if the swelling goes down before dinnertime tonight and hopefully work some magic with makeup. My older sister can help me.” He moved to the front door and grabbed his backpack. “Thanks a lot, though. Both of you. If you’re still interested tomorrow, meet me after school by the front office, okay?”

  “We’ll be there,” Sarah agreed, and then he was gone. The front door slammed shut behind him, and she grinned at me the second we were alone. “Awesome. Now I just have to ace most of my classes this year.”

  “Shouldn’t we have found out exactly what kind of club he’s in first?” I asked.

  “I mean, how bad can it be?” she retorted, crossing to the living room couch and taking a seat. “It’s probably some science club or something, in which case we don’t have to do anything because we’ll just let everyone else do the work.”

  “What if it’s like a gay thing?” I pointed out.

  “We have a gay club?” Sarah’s eyebrows furrowed uncertainly.

  “I don’t know. Do we?”

  “I don’t think so. If we do, I haven’t heard about it.”

  “Well, what if we do, and it is? We’re not gay.”

  “So?” She laughed. “You don’t have to be gay to join a gay club.”

  “But people will think we’re gay,” I pointed out.

  Sarah paused, looking uncertain again. “…You think so?”

  “Of course, if we’re in a club for gay people.”

  “We could be, like, allies or something. Besides, even if anyone did think we were gay, it’s not like it’d be that bad, right? It’s not exactly the end of the world.”

  “Not that bad,” I deadpanned, taking a seat next to her. “Did you not just clean up a busted lip?”

  “He’s a guy,” Sarah sighed out, as though I was missing something obvious. “It’s not hard for girls like it is for guys, because straight guys think it’s hot.” She waved the topic away before I could respond, and abruptly changed the subject. “Anyway, speaking of guys, here’s my news. Sam texted me a couple of days ago. I think we might be close to officially ‘talking’ status soon.”

  I had to keep from groaning as she waited for my reaction. The thing about Sarah was that when she wanted something, she really wanted it, and although most things she wanted she seemed to not want for very long, there were two that were the exception to the rule. The first was to get into med school, which was the primary reason why despite seeming shallow to the majority of the student body, Sarah was actually a pretty hard worker, and why the most scared I’d ever seen her was last year when she’d been sure she was going to flunk her Chem class.

  The second thing was Sam Heath. He was a football player at our school that Sarah’d been obsessed with since freshman year. Of course, she tended to jump from crush to crush pretty frequently, but for some reason Sam had stuck. Regardless of whom she was chasing during any given month, it was always understood that she’d be willing to drop any other guy the instant Sam gave her the time of day. I’d never understood it; he wasn’t even that cute, and yet she’d tried to get his attention for the past four years. And failed. Well, up until now, any
way.

  “Let me guess: He wanted to know if your English class had homework over the break?” I asked.

  “Oh my God, shut up,” she whined, punching my shoulder lightly. “You’re supposed to be happy for me! This is a serious breakthrough.”

  “Don’t you think that if he liked you he’d have already tried dating you by now?” I pointed out.

  “Not when he’s got a dozen other girls waiting around for him to notice them, too,” countered Sarah.

  “And now he’s finally gotten around to you. Sounds like true love.”

  She scoffed. “You’re so cynical. Are you gonna be like this forever now just because it didn’t work out with you and Austin?”

  “All I’m saying is that maybe you should look for someone who thinks you’re special without all of the extra effort from you.”

  “No guy thinks like that,” Sarah dismissed. “I’m one dramatic gesture away from a date with Sam; I can feel it. I just need something to help me stand out.”

  I sighed quietly. She was hopeless sometimes. “Suit yourself. But I’m not funding the chocolate binge when it doesn’t work out.”

  “Fair enough.” She bit her lip and smiled, excitement radiating from her in waves. “I can feel it. This year is gonna be special.”

  “Oh, is it now?” came my mom’s voice from the hallway that led to the garage. We both turned to watch her enter the living room and set her purse down on the coffee table. “And why is that?” she asked. I could tell she was just teasing, but I answered anyway.

  “Sarah’s determined to hatch a plan to snag the guy she’s been pining over for the past four years.”

  “The quarterback one?” Mom replied with surprise.

  “He’s a running back,” Sarah corrected. “And he took the time to get my number from someone.”

  “Ooh, exciting. And what did he want to talk about?” My mother turned away from us to hang up her coat, but I glanced at Sarah in time to see her cheeks pink.

  “I knew it!” I laughed out even as she went redder.

  “Okay, we had this stupid journal thing for English. But it’s progress!”

  “You are so sad,” I told her with a shake of my head. Mom looked amused by the both of us.

  “Well, dating doesn’t get any easier, girls. It’s better you learn the ins and outs of it early on.”

  “Tell that to Katie,” said Sarah. “How long has it been since you and Austin?”

  “Just a couple months,” I said, eager to change the subject. “That’s not that bad. And anyway, you’ve never even dated Sam and four years later you’re still not over him. You’re way worse.”

  “I don’t give up on the things I want. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “There is when he probably doesn’t even know your last name and you know what his favorite song is.”

  “Hush.” She clapped a hand to my mouth, then cringed and yanked it away when I licked her palm. “Ew! Gross.”

  “You were asking for it.”

  “Sarah, are you staying for dinner?” Mom interrupted. She’d gone into the kitchen at some point, and now she peered out at us from the doorway.

  “Oh, no, that’s okay. I should get back soon. I just needed to recharge my Katie bar.”

  Mom nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen, and Sarah stood and went to go put her shoes back on. I followed behind her with an exaggerated sigh.

  “So are you gonna ask Sam to catch you up on what you missed in class today?” I asked her. She’d only gotten home from her vacation around noon today, which meant she hadn’t gone to school. We had six classes total, and I shared just a couple of them and then lunch with her. I wasn’t, however, in her English class with Sam.

  “Maybe I should. We’ll see.” Once she had her shoes on, she straightened up and faced me, arms outstretched toward me. “Hug for the road?”

  I squeezed her tight and mumbled, “I missed you.”

  “Me too,” she whispered back, and then she was waving goodbye to my mother and me and heading out through our front door.

  After she left, I helped my mom cook dinner. That was kind of our thing. I loved cooking, and every day, my mom would go to work, I’d go to school, and then right after we both got home she’d start dinner and I’d help. Then my dad would arrive and we’d eat together as a family. And I liked that about my family. I liked being close with my parents, and I liked that I could tell them anything, particularly my mom. Aside from Sarah, she was my best friend.

  Sarah’s family was different. She lived in a house much bigger than mine, and frankly they were kind of loaded. It wasn’t even because of her parents; her grandfather died around the time she was born and he was apparently very talented when it came to the stock market, so he left a lot of money behind.

  Sarah lived in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Flowery Branch, but she also rarely saw her dad because of his job, and from what I’d seen growing up with her, her mom was a little disconnected, to say the least. She cared more about the next country club event than how her daughter’d done on her English test, and that was kind of sad to watch sometimes, especially given that I had two parents that cared so much about me. So I got a lot of parental quality time and bonding, and Sarah got free cruises and an empty house to throw parties in. I liked to think that my parents picked up a little of the slack, though. Sarah was over at my house so much anyway that we were like a second family to her.

  My mom had a lot to say about the conversation we’d had in the living room as we cooked together. “You know, I remember being just as boy crazy at that age. I even had my own Sam.”

  “I’m guessing he wasn’t Dad?” I asked, grinning. My dad was kind of a dork.

  “Not even close.” Mom laughed. “He was this big, hulky guy on the wrestling team. I think the line he used to use… oh, God…” She started laughing again as she recalled, “When I finally tried having an actual conversation with the guy, he told me how many times he thought he could bench press me, and I think my crush died in that moment.”

  “Ew!” I wrinkled my nose and shook my head even as I stirred noodles into a boiling pot of water.

  “Right? Anyway, what I’m getting at is that those things rarely go the way we want them to. Mostly because you don’t actually know the person, so you put this ideal version of them on a pedestal, and that’s actually what you’re falling for instead. And once you finally do get to know them, you like them even less than you’d have liked them if it had just never occurred to you to date them, because then they’re just a disappointment when they’re not exactly what you thought they’d be.”

  “Mom, preaching to the choir.” I told her. “But you know how she gets. Once Sarah’s set on something, she won’t rest until she gets the outcome she wants.”

  “Well, I wish her the best of luck, but I have a feeling she’s going to be greatly disappointed.” Mom finished grabbing a second pot from the cabinet and opened a can of spaghetti sauce. “Anyway, is there something I don’t know about what happened between you and Austin?”

  I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering what on Earth had made her think that. “No, why?”

  “Well, Sarah just mentioned it, and I know how things go. You tell your parents what you feel comfortable telling them and your friends get to hear the rest.”

  “No, she was just… being her,” I deflected. “He and I are fine. Just not talking.”

  “Well, I’m still sorry to hear that. He was a really nice guy. I think he would’ve made a good friend.”

  “Yeah, me too. I don’t think I get to decide if we stay friends or not, though. Not since I broke up with him.”

  “That’s true.” Mom brought the sauce to a simmer, and a while later, I helped set the table while she scooped out three plates of spaghetti and covered them with sauce.

  Dad walked in through the garage door just as dinner was ready, tossing his coat over the couch and calling out, “Where are my girls?”

  I rolled my e
yes as Mom went to him and kissed him, and then I waited for him to hug me hello, like he always did. We sat down together moments later, and as we ate, Dad asked, “So how was your first day back? No Sarah today, right?”

  “She wasn’t at school, but she came over after and then left an hour or so ago,” I explained.

  “Ah. Of course.” He chuckled as he rolled a pile of noodles onto his fork, and then asked, “So did anything interesting happen today?”

  For a moment, I debated whether or not to tell them about Jake, but decided eventually to go ahead and say something. We’d talked about homosexuality before, and I think my parents were a huge part of why I’d never understood why gay people were bullied. My uncle was gay, and although he lived across the country and I’d only met him a few times, his existence meant that in my family, being gay was normal.

  “Yeah, actually.” I took another bite of my food as they waited for me to continue. “Um, there was this kid getting picked on on my way home. I saw him with this other guy from the football team; his lip was busted and everything. He said it was because he was gay.”

  “You’re kidding,” Mom cut in. “Is he okay?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “I actually let him come here and Sarah cleaned him up. But he pretty much left right when you got here. He was worried you’d try and get in contact with his parents.”

  “Well, we should certainly contact the school.” Mom looked across the table to Dad. “Don’t you think, Jeff?”

  Dad’s eyebrows furrowed as he chewed his food. Once he’d swallowed, he sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe he wants to handle it himself.”

  “How can you say that, with your brother being the way he is?” Mom asked him. “Would you have let Kevin take that from another boy back when you two were kids?”

  “Well, he did,” Dad pointed out. “And much worse than it is today. His solution was to take up boxing.” He grinned. “They left him alone after that.”

  “Well, not every gay child can just take up a violent sport to avoid getting bullied every day,” Mom countered, clearly upset.

  “I know. I’m just saying that if this kid avoided meeting you because he was worried you’d get his parents involved, he clearly wants to handle it himself. Besides, he obviously has someone he can count on now in our daughter.” He smiled over at me, and Mom looked to me abruptly, almost like she’d forgotten I was even here.