Tease(40)

Then I see that Noelle isn’t surprised at all, so maybe Brielle’s just trying to be cool in front of the senior. Noelle shrugs a shoulder—she has on a strapless dress too, in a deep purple color that looks amazing with her dark hair, and she looks a little bored with everything. But Alison says, “Well, I guess Kyle really likes her.”

Brielle and Noelle laugh at this, so I do too.

“I guess he doesn’t mind sloppy . . . what are we up to now? Fifths? Tenths?” Brielle sneers.

I think of the other day when Brielle insulted all the guys at Burger King, and I watch Noelle for her reaction to this. I mean, she’s back with Jacob, one of the fifths (or tenths). But she just laughs and drinks more beer.

“So, pretty sweet digs for you and D-Bag,” Brielle says to me. “Big romantic night, huh?”

I glance at Noelle again, but she’s just waiting for me to respond. “Yeah, I guess so,” I say. “Kind of a rager now, though.” I swing my arm out to indicate the growing crowd and accidentally hit one of Dylan’s teammates’ shoulders. “Oops.”

“Already trying to chicken out, huh?” Brielle nudges Noelle with her elbow and adds, “Sara’s having second-time jitters.”

“I am n—” I start to protest.

“Oh, totally,” Noelle says, cutting me off. “You gotta shake it off. Once the chase is over, you start chasing him, keep him interested.”

My mouth is still hanging open from my unfinished sentence, and now it’s stuck that way in surprise. Brielle and Noelle look at me sympathetically, like they’ve been there a hundred times, kept a hundred hims interested. Like they just jumped out of the February issue of Cosmo. I don’t look over at Alison, because I don’t need to—she’s been dating this guy Asher since freshman year. Brielle calls them Alisher behind Alison’s back.

“At least he got you this nice room,” Noelle adds, lifting her plastic cup in a little toast. “I had to remind Jacob to get me flowers.”

Brielle laughs knowingly. I look around the room again, wondering where my wonderful, thoughtful boyfriend is now.

Still talking to Tyler and Emma. Standing really close to Emma, actually. I turn around again.

Brielle’s eyes have followed mine and she goes, “She is so whatever. I mean, give it up already.”

“He is totally hot,” Noelle says, clearly understanding what Brielle means, even though I don’t. “Seriously, dude, you’re really lucky. He’s a nice guy, too.”

Oh, that’s what she means. My nice, thoughtful, hot boyfriend. Anyone would want to have him. So I shouldn’t be surprised that Emma’s trying to, like, climb into his back pocket.

“Get over there, dumbass,” Brielle says. She shoves me, harder than I think she means to, away from them and in the general direction of Dylan’s little huddle. I’m still barefoot, so I don’t completely topple over, but I stumble a few steps before bumping into Kyle’s back. He doesn’t even notice, just keeps talking to a couple of baseball guys. Still, I’m red-faced with embarrassment by the time I right myself and squeeze through the crowd to Dylan.

I press myself to his side and glare at Emma. Her eyes widen when she sees me, and then narrow a little. Like a challenge.

“So anyway, Dylan,” she says, like I’ve interrupted a big conversation they were having, “it’s too bad you couldn’t come to the dance. It was super fun.”

Tyler barks a laugh. “Oh, man, you know we love hanging out in the gym on Friday nights! What a bummer.”

Emma’s eyes dart over to him, wounded. “I helped decorate,” she says defensively. “It looked really nice.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it really did,” I hear myself say. My sarcasm is so sharp and sudden that everyone flinches, even me. I don’t want to act like a bitch in front of Dylan, but I can’t stand this girl. Who does she think she is? She gets us kicked out of the dance and then shows up at our party? What the—

“Okay!” Tyler announces. “Who needs beer? I need beer. Dollface?” He turns to Emma, putting an arm around her. “You look thirsty!”

For once in his life, Tyler does something useful and steers Emma to the other side of the room, leaving me and Dylan alone. I stare after them, wondering how Tyler could be mean to Emma with the rest of us, or tease her about the roses or whatever, and still want to hang out with her when he’s drunk. I’m just about to ask Dylan why guys are so weird when he pulls me a little to the side and leans in close.

“You don’t have to be mean to Emma,” he says.

“But—” I stammer. “She’s—”

“She’s actually pretty nice,” he goes on, as if I haven’t said anything. Which I guess I haven’t.

“She got me kicked out of the dance. And Brielle,” I finally manage.

“That wasn’t her,” Dylan says. “I heard that was her mom. And anyway, didn’t you guys put, like, a sign in her yard or something? And send her all those roses at school?”

He’s really looking at me, and suddenly I feel like I’m back in Schoen’s office. I didn’t realize Dylan knew everything. I try not to ever talk to him about Emma, not since I acted like a pathetic idiot about the text she sent. I’m not supposed to care if he talks to her. And sometimes, like Tyler and Jacob, he complains about her too, calls her a slut and stuff. But then one of the guys starts seeing her—like Kyle—and everyone goes back to pretending she’s cool.