8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
Margot
“So, he said yes?” Sydney asks, excitedly.
I shrug with a lazy grin on my face. “He said yes.” Of course I was accosted for details the second I walked back inside the kitchen. I left nothing out as I told them the whole story.
Danika squeezes the life out of me and Sydney hands me a beer, which I accept gratefully. Now that I’ve gotten the worst out of the way, I might be able to relax and actually enjoy myself for once at one of these parties.
Dani takes my free hand and leads us toward the living room, which is also the dance floor. As we walk, I get the lowdown from Sydney that Nico tried to corner Danika while I was outside talking to Alex, but he didn’t get very far. In fact, from what Sydney told me, he got a swift knee in the goods and an expletive or two thrown in his face but that’s about it.
Danika leads the three of us directly to the center of the dance floor and while I’m usually much more comfortable lounging against the wall, content to watch the revelry, tonight, I’m feeling bolder than usual. I faced a fear and put myself out there with Alex and it paid off. Now, I’m ready to let even looser if it keeps getting me the same positive result.
We laugh as the song changes to one I haven’t heard since I was in middle school and I start to sway my hips back and forth. The music tied with the beer is intoxicating and I’m finally starting to understand why Dani drags us to these parties every weekend. That is, until I feel unfamiliar hands snake around my waist.
“Hey gorgeous,” a deep voice speaks in my ear and my entire body tenses up. Danika watches the exchange from a few feet in front of me and eyes the guy for a second before leaning in to whisper in my other ear.
“Baseball player. He’s cute and has never given me any trouble before. Let yourself have some fun,” she says, pulling back with a wink. I trust Danika more than I trust myself sometimes so it’s only with that glowing endorsement that I step a little deeper into his embrace and move my hips along with him. Danika and Sydney stay close to me as we all dance together.
Finally, after the song finishes, I turn and face the stranger behind me. Dani’s right, he is cute. His friendly grin matches mine as he extends his hand toward mine. It’s tight to his chest since the dance floor is rather crowded but still a sweet gesture.
“I’m Ryan,” he says and I take his hand in mine.
“Margot,” I reply. He doesn’t let go as he continues the conversation and I let him keep holding my hand, which I quickly realize is a stark difference from how I pulled my hand away from Alex’s grasp earlier in the night.
Ryan leans into my ear to continue the conversation in the middle of the crowded dance floor. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around these parties before. I would’ve noticed.”
I shake my head and pull his neck down to speak back into his ear. “I don’t come often but when I do, I’m just usually in the shadows.”
I hear his soft laughter in my ear. “That’s no place for someone as pretty as you.” I can feel the blush creeping up onto my face. No one has ever spoken to me like this before. Truthfully, I’ve never given anyone the chance to.
“Do you want to go outside and talk where it isn’t so loud?” he asks and I nod. Ryan takes the hand he’s still holding and pulls me along with him. I glance back toward Dani and Syd, who both nod encouragingly at me.
Just before we make it to the door, I feel a pull against my shoulder and I whip around to see a furious Alex standing in front of me. Talk about deja vu.
“What the hell, Alex?”
“You can’t be here anymore. You need to leave.” He says to me but his glance keeps shifting above my head to Ryan standing behind me.
“Excuse me?”
I sense Ryan step up behind me but something in Alex’s stare keeps him back a step. Alex then unleashes that withering stare on me.
“Listen, I told you I’d tell you the details later but you can’t be whoring yourself around–”
“ Excuse me ,” I step toward him, ready to battle, and his gaze softens only a little when he sees the hurt and confusion in my eyes. By now, some people have noticed the scuffle and Danika and Sydney have pushed right to the front of the crowd.
“Please, Margot. Just leave,” Alex pleads with me, and it’s not lost on me this is the first time he’s used my real name. I have absolutely no idea why he’s kicking me out of his party after that whole conversation we just had but, with the way I’m feeling right now, there’s no way I’d want to stay anyway.
“You know what, fine by me. I never wanted to come here in the first place,” I say, giving him a push to get his intoxicating scent away from me. I turn on my heels and brush past a very confused Ryan as I continue down the walkway. I don’t even have to turn around to know that my roommates are only a step behind me, but I’m too furious to stop and wait for them.
“What the hell was that all about?” Dani asks as they both run up and flank me on either side. “I thought you said you had a good conversation with him?”
“I thought I did too,” I reply, still entirely confused.
“Do you think he was jealous seeing you with Ryan?” Sydney asks and I burst out a laugh just at the mere thought of that.
“Please, there’s no way,” I reply, shaking my head, but Sydney only shrugs.
In the current furious state I’m in, my walking speed is double what it usually is so we end up at our apartment building in half the time it usually takes.
“What exactly did he say to you?” Danika asks as we head up the stairs to the second floor. Sydney unlocks our front door and we all kick off our shoes before heading into the living room.
“He said, ‘you can’t be whoring yourself around’ or some repulsive, sexist thing like that,” I say, laying down on the couch. I close my eyes to try and collect myself.
Danika grabs my legs, pulling them up to make space for herself and pulls them back down onto her lap. Sydney grabs us all fresh water bottles from the fridge before she cozies up in the armchair next to the couch.
“Sounds like jealousy to me,” Dani shrugs and I give her a pointed look. Just then, my phone buzzes in my pocket, signaling an incoming text. As I pull it out, I see a message from an unknown number.
Don't be mad at me
Immediately, I know who the text is from. But it doesn’t answer the question of how he got my phone number in the first place. I don’t even want to respond. I don’t have to think about it too hard before more texts come in.
I promised I'd explain, didn't I?
Give me a chance, sunshine
I roll my eyes and send a text back before I lose my nerve.
Sorry, you must be confusing me with some other "whore" who'd let you speak to her that way
I didn't mean to call you that. It just slipped out.
Even better
I hope he picks up on the sarcasm leaking through my words. As if it’s okay to call someone that even by accident? What an idiot.
I'm sorry, okay? I promise it won't happen again
Don't go back on our deal. You need me, remember?
Think about the New York Times…
Ugh, would you shut up for a second? I'm thinking
Atta girl
I said shut up
He sends a zip-lipped emoji and I roll my eyes, dropping the phone onto my lap. “He has a point,” Danika shrugs.
“He’s repugnant,” I counter, then I sigh. “What do I do?”
“At the very least you need to let him explain what you’ve signed up for with the prank. Then you can decide if you still want his help or not,” Sydney pipes up from the armchair. I pull up my phone to answer this already incredibly annoying boy.
You have five minutes. Explain
I can practically see the grin on Alex’s face as he types this next text and the three of us wait anxiously for it to arrive. What could he even need me for? I’m not a prankster. I’ve never pranked anyone in my entire life.
The gray dots keep appearing and disappearing. At this rate, he’s using all five of his minutes to send this message. Finally, after I’ve already downed half the water bottle and am visualizing what pajamas I’m going to put on, the text rolls in.
Can't tell you via text. Too easily traced. Meet me at Cafe Royale tomorrow at 9am. I'll even buy you a coffee
“The boy has officially lost his mind,” I say, showing the screen to Dani and Syd before turning to Danika. “Why have you set me up with this psychopath?”
Even she seems speechless for a moment before she cracks a huge grin. “This is all very intriguing though, isn’t it?” She doesn’t have a chance to dodge the pillow I throw at her head in response.
“This is completely ludicrous. I’m not going to entertain this any longer. It was fun while it lasted,” I say, physically and mentally wiping my hands of this entire idea. I’ll find someone else to do a podcast with. Maybe I can ask a professor to host with me? That’ll be interesting…for no one. My phone buzzes again.
Don't chicken out, sunshine. Meet me tomorrow
“God, he’s relentless! I’m so over this. And how did he even get my phone number?” Tossing my phone into the couch, I walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Sydney follows, but Danika takes a few seconds before meeting us at the mirror.
As we brush our teeth, Danika talks her usual gibberish that I can’t understand but I know she’s on her soapbox about Alex and giving him a chance. With her mouth full of toothpaste, she prattles on and on, knowing I have no idea what the hell she’s saying but that doesn’t stop her. Sydney and I give each other that look we always share when it comes to Dani.
We’re both done before her and she finally spits out the remaining suds from her mouth. “All I’m saying is, you’ll be glad that you went.”
“But I’m not going,” I say, wiping my mouth with the clean hand towel, waiting for Dani to say something else to convince me, but instead she’s quiet…scarily so. Slowing, I look over toward her and her expression looks guilty as hell.
“You didn’t.”
She gazes at me with that sheepish grin and I can’t run to my phone fast enough.
I'll be there
“I’m going to murder you!” Throwing myself at Danika, I’m caught by Sydney, who is surprisingly strong for her short figure. “Murder!” I shout, now unable to make any more moves. Danika skirts by Sydney and me quickly, keeping herself close to the wall until she reaches her bedroom door.
“See you in the morning, ladies! Don’t forget to set an alarm to meet Alex! Ok, I love you, bye!” She blows me a kiss and then slams the door behind her. As soon as it closes, Sydney lets me go and I sag against her, not realizing how much of my weight she was actually holding.
She hits me with that other shared “Danika” look. The one that says “we love her for a reason, remember that” and I find it harder to share in that one this time around.
“It’ll be okay, Margot.” Sydney says, rubbing my back once before heading to bed herself.
I’m left staring at the text exchange with me and the strange man that I agreed to work with for the foreseeable future. He didn’t even respond to Danika’s message. Just “liked” it and that was it. Typical.
I should just not go. Technically I wasn’t actually the one who agreed to go so I have no actual obligation to go. Gripping my phone a little bit tighter, I think about everything that happened tonight. How hot and cold Alex was with me. Then I think about The New York Times internship contest. Then I sigh and set an alarm for eight thirty.