The Way You Make Me Feel(36)
“Or it’s Hamlet because your date is actually now.”
I laughed. “You’re nuts.” It was the pizza, of course.
We settled around the coffee table with paper towels instead of plates. I folded a slice in half and took a huge, cheesy bite, watching Rose nibble hers, eating the pepperoni off her slice first.
“Are you nervous?” Rose asked as she held out a bit of pepperoni toward Flo. Flo bolted over and sniffed it, taking a little lick. Rose looked ecstatic when Flo took it from her, but then frowned when she just dropped it on the rug and walked off.
I laughed. “Don’t take it personally. She only likes her own boring cat food, kibble from Costco. The finest palate.” I took a large gulp of soda. “So, yeah, I am a little nervous about this date.”
“I’m always super nervous before first dates,” she said, picking up the abandoned pepperoni and wrapping it in a paper towel. “Sometimes normal, perfectly nice guys turn into total jerks on dates.”
Wouldn’t have taken Rose for a dating expert. “Do you go on a lot of dates?”
She shrugged, her shoulders lifting slightly. “Kind of.”
“For someone with an Awkward Friendship YouTube channel, that’s surprising.”
Her eyebrows arched. “I might be awkward with girls, but I’ve got the whole boy thing down.”
“I guess it helps when you look like you.”
Rose took a sip of Coke. “Thank you.” That was so very Rose Carver of her, but there was something refreshing about her just accepting a compliment. I had a hard time doing it—my girl-instinct was to deflect it, something that I was always working against.
“Are you dating anyone now?” I asked.
She sighed—the long-suffering sigh of a woman in hot demand. “Not dating, but seeing like three guys. I dunno, they’re kind of … whatever.”
“Three? Damn.”
“Like I said, they’re all whatever. But I like to keep my options open. I refuse to date anyone seriously right now.”
“Distractions you don’t need?”
She nodded. “Exactly.” Eschewing the bottle of sriracha, Rose reached for the Tabasco instead and doused her slice of pizza with it. Legit. Before taking a bite, she looked over at me, suddenly shy again. “Have you had a boyfriend before?”
“Yep.”
“Like, a lot of them?”
“Yep.”
“How many?” Rose was so riveted that she didn’t notice Flo slowly making her way toward her.
I thought about it for a second. “Um, I don’t know, five?”
“FIVE? You’ve had five boyfriends?!”
“Don’t judge!”
“I’m not! I’m just impressed.” Flo sniffed Rose’s foot. Rose still didn’t notice. “I think I remember some of them … you were with Leo Nguyen this year, weren’t you?”
A shudder passed through me. “Unfortunately. I found out he didn’t brush his teeth.”
Rose screamed, sending Flo shooting off to the kitchen. “Gross!”
“Yeah, I don’t even want to … I mean, we made out so many times…”
She laughed so hard that she choked. I pounded her back and handed her a drink.
“Thanks,” she gasped, waving her hand at me. “Anyway, wow. Totally gross.”
“Agreed. So, what about you? Have you had boyfriends? I don’t remember any rumors of you dating anyone at Elysian anyway.” It was strange to know someone for so many years and not know them at all, I realized. The bulk of my Rose Carver knowledge was like the news feed of someone’s life—only the obvious, visible stuff.
“Not really? I date guys, but never longer than a few weeks at most.” She looked around for Flo, who was now lapping up water at her bowl in the kitchen. “I’ve never liked anyone enough. I like them at first. But something happens when I spend more time with them.”
“You’re over it?”
“Exactly. I don’t know … when they like me too much I stop liking them?” Suddenly Flo plopped into Rose’s lap. Rose’s eyes grew wide, and she froze.
I raised my eyebrows. “See, Flo gets you. You only start liking them when they stop paying attention to you.”
Rose laughed and pulled Flo to her chest, which made her yowl and jump out of Rose’s arms—flouncing away with a swish of her finicky tail. “So … five guys. You didn’t like any of them enough to keep them around longer than…”
“Six months,” I finished for her. “My longest relationship. With Felix Rafael Benavides, believe it or not.”
“Oh, I remember when you guys dated. You were like our high school’s Brangelina.”
I snorted. “Please. He wishes he were Brad. Anyway … yeah. I dunno, when it gets boring and too real, I bail. Who needs that? We’re in high school.”
“But you like boys enough to keep wanting them around,” she said with a waggle of her eyebrows.
I waggled mine back. “Well, yeah.” We both laughed.
“I can’t even imagine liking a guy enough to call him my boyfriend, so you’re preaching to the choir,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. She looked at me. “But you know, why is it that we’re supposed to feel bad about this part of our lives? Like, if we don’t have a boyfriend, we’re loser weirdos. If we date too much, we’re ‘sluts.’”