Pushing Perfect(20)

Alex didn’t react to Raj’s compliment, though; she was still waiting for Bryan. Perhaps I’d been wrong about who the Prospect was.

“Just tell her she looks good,” Justin said. “It’s not that hard. I’ll show you.” He turned to Alex and gave a little bow. “You look ravishing tonight, my dear.” He held out a hand, and Alex spun into him as if they were dancing, and then he dipped her just a little. It was a cute bit—it kind of reminded me of Alex and her dad.

“I feel like I should applaud,” Bryan said.

“No need,” Alex said. “You can just go refill my drink.” She handed him her champagne glass and watched him walk off.

“So you’ll be lavishing your charms on Bryan tonight, then?” Raj asked. “Poor fellow. He won’t know what hit him.”

“I’m mostly here for Kara,” Alex said. “Consider this her social debut.”

“Well, it was lovely to meet you, Kara,” Justin said. “Sorry to rush off, but I’d been planning to send Bryan to get me a drink before Alex so rudely coopted him for her own nefarious purposes.”

Nefarious purposes? Who talked like that?

“You’re leaving already?” Alex asked, but Justin was already gone. “He’s such a performer.”

Performer . . . that’s why he looked familiar. He was one of the theater kids. Even though Isabel and I weren’t friends anymore, I never missed a show—she’d gotten the lead every time since we’d started high school, just like she wanted, and she was fabulous. I looked around and sure enough, there she was, telling a story to a fawning group of theater kids. Always the center of attention. It had been helpful when we were friends; Becca and I could go out with her and be shy if we wanted to, secure in the knowledge that eventually we’d be surrounded by people no matter what. And she liked playing that role, liked being the one to find out who was interesting and introduce us to them. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t really known how to make friends myself, once she and Becca were gone.

I wasn’t going to let her presence here bother me, though. I was here to hang out with Alex, to test my ability to make it through a social situation without disaster striking. So far so good.

“So, Kara,” Raj said. “How is it that we’ve never met? Where has Alex been hiding you?”

“We just started hanging out,” I said. “I wasn’t hiding.”

“Don’t be such a flirt, Raj,” Alex said. “We don’t want to scare her off.”

“I’m not a rabbit,” I said. “I don’t get skittish at the sight of sudden movement.”

Raj laughed. “So I should keep flirting, then? Will it do me any good?”

“You’re pushing it,” Alex said. “Go make yourself useful and refill her—what are you drinking, anyway?”

“Ginger ale,” I said.

“A sensible choice,” Raj said. “I’ll be back soon.”

Alex turned to me. “Sorry, they can be kind of a lot, and Raj hits on anything that moves. But they’re my friends, so I really wanted you to meet them. How are you holding up? Are you having fun?”

I was, actually, and I told her. I might have been a little disappointed that Raj was an equal-opportunity flirt, but it wasn’t like I was really into meeting guys anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal. Or so I told myself. The truth was that Raj was the first guy who’d sparked my attention in a long time, and that was kind of a scary thought. Was it just that he was the first cute guy to talk to me in forever? Maybe I just needed to meet more people in general. That’s probably what Alex would say.

“Novalert still working?” she asked.

“I think so. I’m definitely not freaking out.”

“Want it for the test? We can take care of it tonight if you’ve got money on you. It’s sometimes hard to get, so if you want it, I’d get it now.”

“Might as well,” I said. I could always change my mind later. Better to get this part over with.

“Excellent. I’ll make it happen. Look, the boys are on their way back. You okay if I leave you on your own for a bit? The Prospect awaits, and you seem to be doing all right so far.”

“No problem.” This would be a good way to test how well the Novalert was doing. But I could fend for myself. I was sure of it. Which was totally not how I’d been feeling earlier—maybe that was the first sign that it was actually working.

Bryan and Raj came back together, each holding two drinks. Alex took one from each of them and handed me the one she’d taken from Raj. “How do you know that’s the right one?” I asked.

“Alex knows I don’t really drink,” Raj said.

“I know lots of things about you,” Alex said. She reached up and pulled on his collar, bending him down so she could whisper in his ear.

“Gotcha,” he said.

Alex turned around and started walking around the other side of the house, giving Bryan a little nod that he seemed to understand meant “Follow me.” She was so good.

“It appears Alex and Bryan have gone off to do some exploring,” Raj said. “How about I show you the rest of the party?” He touched my arm and guided me back to the house, chatting all the way. “I only moved here last year, so it actually makes sense we wouldn’t have met.”