Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
O n Sunday, Teegan and I go out to lunch with a few freshmen AOPis after church, and they’re peppering me with questions about my relationship with Mateo. I haven’t filled Teegan in on last night yet, but she seems pleased enough with my level of swooning, plus reports from Amaya, to be satisfied with the conversation. Still, as we leave the restaurant, she leans in and whispers, “You realize I need more details than you just fed to the freshmen.”
Laughing, I loop my arm through hers. “Promise. How did rehearsal go last night?”
I get a full rundown on the progress they’ve made on showcase, including her scolding of the guys from Alpha Epsilon who were goofing off instead of taking it seriously. Teegan is sweet and sociable ninety-nine percent of the time, but feisty Teegan lets loose if people start messing with something (or someone) she cares about. Feisty Teegan is terrifying, so I have no doubt that all those boys will be straitlaced at the next rehearsal.
We’re walking into the AOPi foyer when the girl on door duty this morning stops me with a huge smile. “Oh Lanaaaaa,” she sing songs. “You had a surprise dropped off by an extremely hot delivery guy while you were gone.” She hands me a vibrant bouquet of flowers tied up in brown paper and twine, the signature wrapping of Grow Wild, a local floral and gift shop in Center Square. There’s an envelope with my name tucked inside, and I flush and smile as Teegan and the other girls squeal around me.
Teegan acts as a bodyguard, ushering me through the high-pitched calls for me to read the card aloud to everyone. “No comment; no pictures!” she feigns as we sprint up the stairs. Of course, the second we’re alone in our room, she’s the one demanding for me to read it aloud, which I refuse to do until I’ve previewed the contents.
I carefully slide my finger under the seal of the gray-blue envelope and find a card with a watercolor design inside. Mateo definitely stepped up his stationary game, even though I loved the notebook paper just as much.
Lana,
Thanks for arguably the best weekend of my life. I’m pretty sure I’m living in a dream, so I’m not going to pinch myself.
Mateo
Apparently Mateo’s smolder is just as effective via written words as via his deep brown eyes and dimpled smile, because my insides are once again vaporized. I decide this is a bone I can throw to Teegan, so I surrender the card to her greedy hands.
“You know, we could frame this and post it right here on the wall above the desk,” Teegan says. “No, let’s post it downstairs in the foyer so that any boy who dares to dream of dating an AOPi knows the standard he needs to live up to.” I roll my eyes and grab the card back out of her hand, careful not to crumple it.
“We are not doing that, Beef, but I am going to text him thank you for the flowers and note,” I say, pulling out my phone.
“You can’t just text him—at least send him a selfie with the flowers!” Teegan urges me.
“Fine, fine,” I respond. I hold the flowers up close to my face, give a soft smile, and snap a selfie.
I send the photo and thank you text to Mateo, followed by a second message.
Definitely no pinching allowed
After just a few seconds, I see the text is read and three dots appear.
Mateo
I solemnly swear
You make the flowers not even look pretty. That’s not very nice winky face emoji
I’m smiling down at my phone screen when I’m knocked out of my reverie by the sound of Teegan blasting “Lover” through her Bluetooth speaker. She’s swaying back and forth, singing along with her hands over her heart, a teasing smile on her face. I shove her onto the bed. “It’s much too soon for the L word, Teegan.”
She laughs and sits back up. “Lana, if ever there was a magnetic force of a man, he’s found you.”
Wednesday’s chapter meeting was extra long as Amaya shared schedule details for our “My VIPs” weekend coming up. AOPi used to host the traditional Mom’s Weekend and Dad’s Weekend like most Greek houses do, but last year Amaya successfully campaigned to change it to one weekend designed to be more inclusive for all family situations. I’m sure she felt the personal sting of not having a father figure on Dad’s Weekend our first two years, and Amaya is an unrelenting force when stung.
My grandparents are holding down the fort with my siblings this weekend so that both of my parents can come. I know they’re excited to see me and participate in all of the official AOPi events, but they’re not even trying to hide the fact that they’re primarily excited about meeting Mateo. My mom has called or texted me about it no less than nineteen times this week already, and it’s only Thursday.
I get to the Arrow meeting early to get the name tags ready and make small talk with Rachel. It’s evident that she’s heard rumors about Mateo and me as she asks me open-ended leading questions, but I don’t say anything about him, as Bailey is not-at-all-subtly eavesdropping nearby.
The rush of students begins, and the blood starts pounding in my temples as I see Aaron approaching with some of his fraternity brothers. There are other girls standing nearby available to write name tags, but Aaron makes it a point to come straight over to me. I look down and start slowly writing his name to avoid looking him in the eye.
“Uh, hey Lana, how are you?” Aaron asks, more subdued than normal.
“Fine, yeah, I’m good,” I mumble. “You?”
“Alright, I guess,” he says, and I finally look up from the name tag, trying not to be totally awkward. He’s staring intensely at me and asks, “What’s the question today?”
“Oh, right,” I say. “What will your Halloween costume be this year?”
Aaron is silent for a second before speaking lowly. “Maybe a broken heart?”
I stare at him without breathing for what feels like forever before I finally open my mouth. “Aaron?—”
“I know, I know. Don’t write that, obviously.”
I suspect my look must be attempting murder, because Aaron immediately adds, “I’m sorry, that was out of line. I shouldn’t have said that. A friend wouldn’t say that.”
My eyes drop and study the Sharpie in my hand, still poised above the name tag. Aaron must notice the same thing and says, “Um, a bunch of us OGs are dressing up as Greek gods this year.”
I write “Greek god” at the bottom of the name tag and peel it off. It seems like Aaron goes out of his way to make contact with my fingers when he takes the name tag I’m holding out, but I keep my eyes down.
He turns away to go into the room just as Mateo and several of his teammates breach the top of the staircase. At the Arrow meetings since our first date, our only interaction has been smiles from across the room. He’s always occupied with the soccer guys and I’m always tied up with the AOPis. But now that we’re officially boyfriend/girlfriend, I’m not sure how to play this. I hope Mateo gives me a clear lead to follow.
I shouldn’t have been concerned, because of course he does. With his characteristic subtle confidence, Mateo heads straight to me with a smile and gives me a quick hug before asking if I remembered Shawn from the other night.
I smile and reply, “Of course I do. Great to see you, Shawn—is Linh here with you?”
“Nah, she’s not here tonight, I’m just checking it out,” Shawn responds. “But maybe she’ll come with another time.”
“Well, let her know that she’d be welcome to sit with me if she wants to come but not sit with a bunch of soccer dudes,” I say with a smile as I write his name. “Every week we ask a question and write your answer on your name tag as a conversation starter. The question this week is ‘What will your Halloween costume be?’”
The guys all turn to each other mumbling variations of “Halloween?...Are you wearing a costume?...Are you dressing up?”
Mateo turns to me and asks, “Am I dressing up for Halloween this year?”
I burst out a laugh and tell him, “That is one hundred percent up to you.”
He furrows his brow. “But are you?”
Pointing to where my name tag says “Undecided,” I shrug and say, “I love fall, but Halloween has never really been my thing.” A thought dawns on me, and I gesture at the collective group and say, “But you all should definitely dress up as the guys from Ted Lasso .”
There’s an outburst of enthusiastic responses. I smile to myself as they start bickering over who would be which character and catch Mateo’s eye. “Well, now I know what we’ll be doing all night,” he says to me with feigned disapproval, making me laugh.
The band starts playing, so I give the guys their name tags with question marks instead of answers. They can fight and sort it all out later. Mateo turns to give me one last smile over his shoulder before heading into the room, his wink shooting a flaming arrow through my heart.
Near the end of Kent’s message, I sneak out the back door to head to the restroom. Maybe that 6:00 p.m. coffee wasn’t my greatest idea ever. I’m washing my hands at the sink when the door opens and Bailey stands right behind me in the mirror, arms crossed and hip popped. Here we go.
“You know, I have it on good authority that Aaron is basically totally depressed ever since he found out about your little dating situation with Mateo,” Bailey says, fake concern lacing her voice. I draw in a deep breath through my nose and exhale through my mouth as I turn off the sink.
Pulling out paper towels, I respond without looking at Bailey. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think my dating life is any of your business, Bailey.” I toss the paper towels in the trash, resisting the urge to clarify that Mateo is, in fact, my boyfriend. Not just a “little dating situation.” I turn around to find Bailey totally invading my personal space.
“I don’t get it, Lana,” she continues. “You already had a perfectly nice, totally cute and popular guy lined up to date you. Did you really need to go after someone else? You and Aaron so obviously liked each other, it seems a little immature for you to just drop him so suddenly.” Her tone and word emphasis has my blood running hot and my rational brain vacating the premises.
“Look, Bailey, I don’t understand what you have against me or the other AOPis, and I don’t understand why you care about this. My conversations with Aaron and my relationship with Mateo are of zero concern to you, so why don’t you just leave me alone?”
I charge out of the bathroom before she can respond, just as students are exiting the meeting room to head home or to the After Party. After partying is a big fat no for me tonight, so I rush down the back staircase to walk straight to AOPi. I send a quick text to the Beefs to let them know I’m bailing, and then I turn on my Christmas piano playlist. I don’t have my ear buds with me, but I just hold my phone and hope the muffled music will help me relax as I walk.
I’m a few paces out of the student union when I hear footsteps running behind me in the dark. My pulse quickens until I hear a familiar deep voice call out, “Lana! Wait!” I’ve never liked my name more than when Mateo says it.
He catches up to me in like two seconds and asks what’s wrong. “Are you upset that I hugged you before the meeting? I know we didn’t really talk about how we were going to handle being around each other at Arrow stuff, and that’s totally my fault, I should have planned ahead and gotten your input.”
He’s being so sweet and thoughtful, I can’t even stand it. I launch myself at him and throw my arms around his neck, face buried in his shoulder. His arms circle my waist as I say, “No, I’m not mad about that at all.” He doesn’t make a move to let me go, so I stand there until my tiptoes start protesting.
“I just had an unpleasant conversation with someone who’s not my favorite person in the world,” I say as I take a step back. His face looks concerned with a minor jealous tinge, so to make sure he knows I’m not this affected by talking with Aaron, I shrug one shoulder and add, “Bailey.”
Realization dawns on him. “Ah,” he says simply. We’re both quiet for a second before he asks, “Anything I can help with?”
I shake my head. There’s no point in burdening him with Bailey’s opinions.
“Well, at least let me walk you back then. I can’t let you walk home alone in the dark,” Mateo says.
“Are you going to miss the After Party with your teammates, though? Were you planning on going?”
Mateo snorts. “I have a feeling the only after party we’ll have tonight is campaigning for who should be which Richmond player for Halloween.”
“Yeaaaaaah, sorry about that,” I say with a guilty smile.
He takes my hand and winks. “You can make it up to me by detouring to take the long way back to AOPi.”
With each day that passes, I’m more convinced that the long way could never be long enough with Mateo.
“P.S., I’m digging the Christmas mood,” Mateo teases. I laugh and move to pause the music, but he waves me off to leave it playing as we walk.
The evening is getting cold, so Mateo eventually leads us back to AOPi when he realizes I’m shivering. “I’d offer you my hoodie, but I don’t have a t-shirt on underneath,” Mateo says apologetically, and I’m extremely grateful for the pitch black so he can’t see the color in my cheeks as I’m now fighting back thoughts of shirtless Mateo. Suddenly, I’m not so cold.
At the AOPi front porch, Mateo confirms the time and restaurant for tomorrow night with my parents, then gives me one last lingering hug. He’s down the stairs when he turns back and says, “Hey Lana? Don’t let Bailey get in your head. I think she generally means well, but she’s just jealous of you.”
I bark out a laugh. “Yeah no, Bailey Williams is absolutely not jealous of me. Well, maybe other than for the fact that I’m your girlfriend.”
Mateo cocks his head and stares at me. “You’re beautiful, determined, empathetic, successful, an amazing friend, and you go after what you want. Maybe if I tell you enough times, you’ll eventually recognize how uniquely incredible you are, Lana.”
My heart explodes with warmth, and I’m in an all-out war with my whole body to not fly down the steps to kiss him. I muster a grateful smile and open the door behind my back as I whisper, “See you tomorrow, Mateo.”