The Rest of the Story(44)

“Hey. Do you want to go to Club Prom with me?”

Every movement in the guys’ apartment did not screech to a halt as Blake said this. It just felt that way.

“What?” I said, although I’d heard him. So had Bailey, who was now looking squarely at us from where she was sitting on the other bed with Colin.

“It’s this dance,” Blake said casually, taking a sip from his beer. “They have it every year at the Club. Kind of a joke, kind of not. It’s usually fun.”

I looked at Bailey again, feeling helpless. She’d talked about this so much, it seemed wrong that I’d get asked first, and I wanted to give Colin a chance to make his move. But when I looked at him, he was studying his phone, his eyes narrowed.

“Um,” I finally said to Blake. “Yeah. Sure. I’d love to go.”

“Cool,” he said, so nonchalantly I wondered, briefly, what he would have done if I’d said no. “It’s next Saturday, and you’ll need something kind of formal, just FYI.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “I’ll figure something out.”

“I have procured a date to Club Prom,” Blake yelled toward Hannah and Rachel, who were by the doorway, huddled over their phones. “So you can stop nagging me.”

“Thank God,” Rachel said. “Nothing like waiting until the last minute.”

“Last minute? It’s Monday. The dance is next Saturday,” Blake told them.

“We’re girls,” Hannah informed him. “We need time to prepare for things like this.”

“Which is why,” Rachel said, “we asked our guys ages ago.”

At this, Colin got to his feet and walked back into the kitchen, where he opened the fridge, taking out another beer. He popped the tab, then just stood there, holding it and looking out the back door.

“You already have dates?” Bailey asked the girls now. “Who are you taking?”

Rachel shook the ice in her plastic cup. “These German exchange students from the kitchen.”

“Who are super cute but don’t speak English,” Hannah said. “And we don’t know German. Should be fun.”

“You,” Rachel said, “are just pissed because Roo said no. Don’t take it out on Gunther and Konrad.”

Bailey, surprised, said, “You asked Roo to Club Prom?”

Hannah blushed. “Oh, God. Yes. He shot me down, but at least he was nice about it. Said he had to work.”

“He probably does,” Bailey told her. “He has, like, four jobs.”

“That’s what he said,” she replied. “Truthfully, though, I don’t think he’s into me. Which stinks, because he’s totally my type.”

“Your type,” Rachel repeated. “What’s that, blond and handsome?”

“And nice,” Hannah added. “The other night at Lucy Tate’s, I lost my shoes and he spent like a half hour helping me find them. What’s not to like?”

Shoe buddy, I thought. It was hard not to wince.

Bailey stood then, walking back to the kitchen, where she said something to Colin I couldn’t hear. He replied, his voice also low, and then they were going out the back door, the screen swinging shut behind them.

“Someone seems tense,” Rachel said to me. “Everything okay with them?”

“As long as he’s asking her to the Prom right now, yes,” I said.

Hannah’s eyes widened. “He hasn’t asked her yet?”

“No,” I said.

“Who else would he take?” she asked Blake.

He held up his hands. “Whoa. Don’t look at me. I know nothing except I needed a date and now I have one.”

I couldn’t help but notice this was the second time I’d been referred to as his date, not by name. When everything comes easy, I guess you learn not to sweat the details.

“Boys are so weird,” Rachel observed, shaking her drink again. To me she said, “Hey, you need a dress? We brought a few options that should fit.”

This was a nice offer, I knew, extended in kindness. And maybe I’d been spending too much time with Trinity—okay, I was definitely spending too much time with Trinity—but I wondered about her motivation. I was a North Lake girl going to a Lake North Prom: of course they’d think I wouldn’t have something suitable to wear. And the truth was, here, I didn’t. But at home, my closet held a number of expensive dresses, most purchased by Nana for dinners at her club. Not that they’d know that, though. They only knew Saylor, not Emma.

The back door opened again then, and Bailey came in, followed after a beat by Colin. Now, she was smiling and so flushed that I guessed what had happened even before she plopped down beside me and said, “He asked me! Finally.”

I looked at Colin, who was still in the kitchen, getting another beer, his face, unlike hers, neither relieved nor overjoyed.

“That’s great,” I said as Blake stood and also walked back to the kitchen.

“Better than great,” she replied, taking my hand and squeezing it. “See? It’s all coming together.”

“Club Prom?” my dad asked. “Man. That brings back some memories.”

It was seven thirty a.m., the time my dad had taken to calling me to check in. Which was great for him, because in Greece, it was midafternoon. I, however, was always only (barely) waking up.