21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-One
Alex
It’s times like these I wish I had a dog, just to have an excuse to walk by her building as she’s getting home from this date. I shouldn’t care that she's on a date. In fact, I don’t care. All I care about is that she’s ready to work on this podcast since now my reputation is entwined with this thing.
Plopping on the couch, I make myself comfortable next to Kai who’s typing away on his laptop. “Hey, man.”
Kai only grunts in acknowledgement, not looking away from the screen. I can’t help but peek over his shoulder and when I do, Kai shuts the screen before I can get a glimpse.
“What’s up?” He says, his voice sounding and failing to sound natural.
If this were anyone else, I would just leave it alone but Kai is one of my best friends and he’s been MIA for weeks now. Something’s going on. “Are you okay?”
Kai scoffs, “Yeah, man, I’m fine. Why?” He drops his laptop on the coffee table before getting up from the couch. I follow as he walks into the kitchen and opens a beer. He offers me one, but I shake my head.
“You just seem off. You’ve seemed off for a while, actually,” I say, leaning back against the sink and crossing my arms.
Kai thinks for a minute as he takes a sip of his beer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, pursing his lips. “Just got a lot of classes, I guess. Busy.” Kai shrugs and walks out of the room and up the stairs to his bedroom. I should keep trying to get to the bottom of this, but if he doesn’t want to tell me, then there’s really nothing more I can do.
Instead of harping on it, I pull out my phone and check the clock for the hundredth time. When I do, I’m pleasantly surprised to see a text from Margot. It must’ve come in while I was talking to Kai. Eagerly, I open the message, hoping for some kind of “SOS” or “Save me from this disaster” or anything that can get me to stop thinking about Ryan’s hand on her back.
I think we need to replan our script for Saturday. Are you free to meet tomorrow?
I pull the phone back and look at the time again. It’s half past ten and she’s…texting me? What happened to Ryan? Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask.
Why are you texting me while you're on a date?
I'm not on a date anymore. Ryan dropped me home fifteen minutes ago
If she were on a date with me, we certainly wouldn’t be home before midnight. Well, unless we were home together . She also wouldn’t be texting other guys right after. She’d have no reason to.
That bad, huh?
What? No, the date was fine. I just have early classes tomorrow
Just fine, huh?
Believe it or not, it's actually none of your business
Isn't this the kind of thing friends talk about? Dating and relationships and shit?
…
You seriously want to hear about my date with Ryan?
No. Yes.
Fuck.
Let's meet Friday afternoon. We'll rewrite the script and you can tell me all about Rowdy Ryan and your Really Hot Date, ok?
Those three little grey dots appear and disappear for a few minutes before her reply comes in.
Fine. Cafe Royale. 3pm
I send her a kissy face back that I know she rolls her eyes at. I have no idea why I decided that I want to hear about her date with Ryan when in fact, it’s probably the very last thing on this Earth that I want to hear.
I can’t help but feel better though. There’s no way she had that good of a time and then went home at a reasonable hour. But she is very practical…
I shake my head to get the thoughts out. Margot is my friend. That’s it.
That.
Is.
It.
While I’m used to people looking my way when I walk by, even I can’t get used to the attention on campus. By Friday morning, everyone and their mother had seen the first episode of the podcast and my phone was blowing up with texts about it. Some from my friends and brothers ribbing me about it and others from random girls–how they got my phone number, I’ll never know–asking if we could…well, you know. While I’ve never been one to shy away from attention, this has been a little too much, even for me.
“Alex.” I hear a voice call my name and thankfully it’s a familiar one. As I turn, I see Gia walking up the quad path toward me. She gives me a smile and wave, which I return as I wait for her to catch up to me.
“Hey, G,” I say as she walks to my side. Together, we head toward the library where I’m meeting Keith and Devon before our next class.
“I saw the podcast,” she says with a slight smirk.
I roll my eyes. “Cutting right to the chase, huh.”
“Hey, I thought it was good!” She demands, her hands raised in surrender. “You and that girl really had some great chemistry.”
I ponder that thought for a moment. I hadn’t watched the episode at all, too embarrassed to look at myself on screen like that, but it didn’t really occur to me how others would perceive our friendship.
“You think so?” We enter the library and head downstairs toward the stacks and study rooms.
“Yeah, you guys had good banter. You seemed very comfortable together,” Gia replies. “She your girlfriend?”
“No,” my reply is immediate and a knot forms in my gut, almost as if I’m betraying Margot. No, she’s not my girlfriend. She’s made it abundantly clear she wants nothing to do with me in that way. Not that I want anything to do with her either. But still, I don’t want Gia to think she’s meaningless to me. “She’s just a friend.”
Gia nods thoughtfully. I can tell she didn’t ask out of jealousy or anything like that. Just a friend catching up with another friend. See, I can be friends with girls.
As we hit the bottom of the stairs, I spot the guys working at a table by the window.
“Well,” Gia starts. “If you’re not dating her, you wanna hang out tonight? It’s been a minute since we’ve…hung out.” She looks up at me with those doe eyes that have the power to make me melt. Okay, maybe not…
Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I’ve hung out with anyone really. I hadn’t hooked up with anyone since the semester started and definitely not since meeting Margot. I mean, when would I even have the time? When I’m not with Margot, I’m in class or at the gym. Not a lot of time for extracurriculars with a schedule like that.
Maybe I should just hook up with Gia. There’s clearly something pent up in me right now, especially with how I acted while Margot was on her date. Maybe I need to just let loose and forget about her for a night.
But I do have plans with Margot this afternoon and I’m sure she’ll be coming to the house party with her roommates. I wouldn’t want to ignore her while she’s at my house. That would be rude. And it would also no doubt put her right back into Ryan’s waiting arms.
“Alex?”
I blink and am reminded that Gia is patiently waiting for a response from me. Luckily, being the cool girl that she is, she lets me off the hook.
“I’ll be at the KA party tonight, maybe we’ll catch up then.” She touches my arm with a slight smile before turning and walking toward the other side of the library. With a confusing sigh, I head over toward Keith and Devon.
“Yo, what’s Gia up to? That girl is seriously hot,” Devon says as a greeting as I sit at their table.
“Yeah,” I reply absentmindedly. I have no idea what I’m doing but I need to figure it out quick. I thought being friends with Margot would be easy, but this feeling in my gut is not going away.
By the time three rolls around, I’m sitting at the same booth that Margot and I met at the first time, a black coffee in front of me and an oatmilk whatever waiting on her side of the table. Margot walks in, does a double take between me and the counter before she comes to sit down.
“I didn’t expect you to be on time,” she says, taking the empty seat across from me.
“Why not?”
“Well, you’re always late to public speaking class.”
I laugh, taking a sip of my coffee. “To be honest, I don’t really care about that class.”
“But you care about this?” Margot starts taking her laptop out of her bag.
“I guess I do.”
She hesitates for just the slightest moment, but I catch it. Pulling her laptop out of the sleeve, she opens it up and pulls up the podcast website. She absentmindedly reaches for the coffee and takes a long sip. “Thanks for the coffee.”
I nod with a small smile. There’s a slight awkwardness to Margot. Almost as if she’s nervous about something. I push the thought aside, knowing she’d be open if she had something on her mind. Margot is nothing if not forthcoming about her feelings.
She jumps right into her show notes, pulling out the new questions that she believes will be better than the ones we had planned. We rework the script for about an hour, working tirelessly until Margot is satisfied with the changes.
“Thanks for meeting with me to fix this up. I think it’ll be much better now,” she says, putting her laptop away.
“Hold on, sunshine. Where are you running off to?”
She pauses with her backpack slouching off one shoulder. “What do you mean?”
“I was promised date details. Go on. Spill,” I lean my elbows on the table and put my chin in my palms, the picture of attention.
Margot breathes out a laugh and looks at her watch. “Fine, but can we walk and talk? I gotta get home.”
I get up from the table, throwing my empty coffee cup out as we walk out the door. “What’s the rush?” I ask, as nonchalantly as possible as we head in the direction of our homes. I should tell her that I drove to the cafe and I’d drive her home but that would be a two minute conversation, rather than a ten minute one. And for some reason I’m masochistic enough to want to hear all the sordid details so a walk it is. I’ll pick up my car later.
“No rush, just, uh… Sydney is waiting for me to help her with an article for the newspaper.” She’s lying. I know that she’s lying. I just don’t know why she’s lying.
“Well then, talk fast,” I reply, trying to make light of the situation. I’m still not sure why I’m even pushing this conversation, but something in me needs to hear about this date. I need to know what they did, where they went, what they talked about. Did they kiss? Does she like him? Every question and potential answer makes my stomach clench more and more.
Margot rolls her eyes as she walks in step with me. “What do you want me to say? He picked me up, took me to an Italian restaurant. We had pasta and bread. It was nice,” she says, her voice clipped.
“Nice?” I bump into her playfully.
“Yes, nice.”
“Is that what you want? Someone nice?” Her eyes jump to mine. I meet her gaze for a second but keep walking, definitely noticing her steps faltering a bit. For half a block, she’s quiet and it’s clear she’s in her head. At this point, I’m not sure how safe that place is for me so I stay quiet too.
We pass the turn for my block, but I continue walking with Margot to her apartment.
“You don’t have to walk me to my door, frat boy,” she says and immediately the tension leaks out of the air, leaving a smile on my face again.
“Maybe I just want the extra exercise,” I shrug and Margot nods with a giggle. Her apartment building comes into sight in the middle of the street. “You guys are coming to the party tonight, right?”
“Yeah, Ryan is coming to walk us and—” Immediately Margot closes her mouth tight as if she accidentally let it slip that her and Ryan would be coming to my party together. Like it was a secret. Like I would care.
And all at once, I realize I do. I do fucking care. She wants to show up at my fucking house with another guy?
Like a goddamn miracle, Gia leaves the same building that Margot is about to enter and I seize my opportunity.
“Gia,” I shout and she gives me a huge wave and smile as she walks toward us.
“Hey guys. Great podcast—”
She doesn’t get a chance to complete her sentence before I sweep her up with my left hand and crush her mouth to mine with my right. I kiss her with the force of someone in love, and it takes her a second or two to catch on but when she does, she matches my motion with her own flair. I ignore Margot next to us, no idea what expression she has on her face right now and trying my fucking hardest not to care. If she wants to date Ryan, bring him to my house in front of all my friends, make a fool of me…she can do whatever the hell she wants. And so can I. At this point, I have no idea what the hell I’m doing, but the train has already left the station. All that’s left to do now is let it ride.
After a moment, I release Gia and she catches her breath. “Well, hello, handsome,” she says, her hand still on my arm for stability. “I was just heading over to yours actually, figured I’d get there early before all the good beer is gone.”
Perfect. “I’ll walk with you,” I say to Gia before turning back to Margot, her expression blank as a newly purchased canvas. “See you later, yeah?”
She nods a few times as I wrap my arm around Gia’s shoulders and lead her back the way I just came from toward frat row. I don’t turn around to check, but when I’m satisfied that Margot is safely inside her building, I drop my arm, putting both my hands in my pockets.
“You got it bad, don’t you?” Gia laughs next to me. I almost forgot she was there.
“Shit, G. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that to you.”
Gia waves me off easily. “I get it. And I don’t mind. I mean, as long as I don’t get bitch-slapped, I’m down to help you with your cause.”
I run my hand through my hair. “What cause is that?”
“Obviously you want to make her jealous.”
Do I? It begs the question, why would I want to make my friend jealous? Is it because the thought of her and Ryan, her and any other guy, makes me physically ill?
I sigh loudly. “I’m in way over my head here.”
Gia laughs as we ascend the steps to the house. “Yes, you are. But you know the best cure for that?” She grabs the door and holds it open for me. Walking into the kitchen, she grabs two beers from the cooler and hands one to me. “Alcohol.”
I take the drink from her hands, gratefully. “To a good cure,” I say, holding my bottle neck up to hers. She clinks her drink against mine.
“To not getting bitch-slapped.” We laugh and take sips of our drinks. The door swings open and no less than twenty people enter the house. Let the party commence.