Chapter 14
Fourteen
I didn’t tell Kalani or Emi how the date went when I got home, so it’s no surprise when I wake up to a bunch of texts from them in the morning.
There’s just so much to tell, from Chad the sunglasses-wearing, drug-dealing bill skipper to the surprisingly really good time with Jay, so I invite them over to hang out and talk about it.
It’s been so long since just the three of us were together, and I’m hopeful the story of my crazy night will entice them to come over.
Kalani’s text comes in first.
Can’t. Mediator is coming today and there’s going to be a lot of fighting, so Emmett and I are taking Maleah to the beach after her soccer practice.
Oh, damn. Things must be really bad if Kalani is willingly going to the beach.
Everything all right?
Same old. Ailani’s living her life in California and forgot she has two sisters here, and my parents are too busy fighting over who gets what vacation house to remember their daughters at home.
It’s all good, though, Emmett promised Maleah he’d swim with her so I can tan.
I’ve gotta get ready, I’ll call you later.
That’s her way of saying she doesn’t want to talk about it, so I don’t push.
I’m grabbing my dad’s newest baked creation, a plum and peach personal pie that he decided wasn’t perfected enough to introduce to the bakery, when I get a text from Emi.
Sorry, fell back asleep and just woke up.
I’m meeting Daphne at the library now to study for exams. Apparently, she and my parents think I’m not taking math seriously enough.
But exams aren’t for two weeks! Anyway, you should come too.
Just because we’re in different classes doesn’t mean we’ll have different content.
Plus, I want to hear all about Chad—and if he lived up to his name or not.
Stuck in a library third wheeling my best friend and her girlfriend is not how I imagined spending my Saturday, but I do need to study, and it would be nice to do it with friends.
I text back.
He definitely lived up to his name. Meet you there in thirty.
When I pull up to the large library across the street from school, I don’t see Emi’s Corvette anywhere. Right as I pull out my phone, I get a text from her.
Leaving Daph’s now, going to Tim’s. Want anything?
Frozen lemonade, please and thanks!
She sends me a thumbs-up emoji, and I shut off my car to gather my stuff. The drive-through line at Tim Hortons is probably going to take forever, so I might as well get us a good table on the top floor.
The library is already busy with families perusing the books on the first floor.
The second and third are the same. The top floor is a designated study area, with tables and chairs across the whole floor.
On one side of the floor is the quiet study area, and the other is where you’re allowed to talk normally and not whisper.
I push through the door into the talking study area and see tons of tables already in use.
The floor-to-ceiling windows make it seem less bleak, less like we’re suffocating and stressed and cramming for the final exams of our high school career and more like we’re getting together with friends in a quiet, brightly lit place.
The desks are all a light shade of oak with electrical outlets in the middle for laptop chargers, and there are green plants near the windows.
It’s a comfy place, and I wave at people from school as I stroll through the aisle to find an empty table.
I spot a table where a boy is packing up his stuff, meaning he’s leaving and I can take over his table for myself. It’s perfect too: right beside the window, so we get all the natural light. He swings his backpack over his shoulder and turns right as I reach him, and I freeze.
“Carina?” he asks.
I suck in a breath. “Hi, Arthur.”
He crosses his arms, looking me up and down with disdain. This is definitely a different welcome compared to the first time. I guess he didn’t take the news Kalani broke to him about us not working out well.
“Are the rumors true?” he asks. “Are you going on other dates? I thought we were dating, but you’re seeing other people.”
What? What is he talking about? He thought we were dating? My mouth opens and closes uselessly as I try to figure out what to say. I wasn’t supposed to have this confrontation! Kalani was supposed to let him down easily!
“Um . . . didn’t . . .” I clear my throat so my voice comes out stronger. “Didn’t Kalani talk to you?”
“Yes. She talked to me,” he huffs and looks out the window. “And I did everything I was supposed to for it to work out.”
For it to work out? “What do you mean?”
Arthur gives me an exasperated look, like it’s obvious and I should be able to put the pieces together myself. “Kalani told me what to do for you to like me. She gave me tips.”
Kalani gave Arthur tips, and the date still went as poorly as it did?
I get that Kalani’s trying to help me, and this news just reinforces what I thought about Kalani really wanting the dates to succeed, but what could she have possibly told him?
How could he have misinterpreted her advice so badly?
“What tips did Kalani give you?”
His anger dissolves a bit, giving way to embarrassment. “You know . . . she said to wear a proper suit, to invite my mom so you could meet her, to buy you a nice necklace as a gift, to let you know I was looking for marriage . . . stuff to get you to like me more.”
But . . . that doesn’t make any sense. Everything he listed are things that drove me away—there were countless others, but those were the big ones.
Kalani would’ve known I’d hate that. Why would she give him those instructions to help?
And afterward, when I told her every disastrous thing he did on the date, she acted surprised.
But she knew full well why the date sucked because she told him to do everything.
Arthur and I stare at each other as I fully process his words and what they mean, what my friends have done. The betrayal is a punch to the gut.
“Arthur, did Emi give you those tips too?” I ask, not really wanting to hear the answer but needing to know anyway.
“Emi? Who’s that? Is that your friend with the purple hair?”
I’m suddenly dizzy. “Sorry, Arthur. I gotta go.”
I don’t give him time to protest, instead darting to the restrooms at the back of the library. No one else is in here, so I splash my face with some cold water and try to make sense of everything.
Kalani practically forced me on these dates, but she’s setting them up to fail then berating me because they failed.
I can’t wrap my mind around it, around what this means.
I don’t want to accept it—there must be another reasonable explanation.
But as I grip the counter and stare at myself in the mirror, water dripping down my face, the front pieces of my hair soaked and plastered to my face, I know there is only one thing that makes sense.
Kalani’s setting me up on bad dates on purpose.
It makes complete sense. She picked Jay knowing I hated him, picked Arthur knowing he’s clingy and gave him tips to be even more clingy, and picked Chad knowing he’s a rude drug dealer and that I’d hate him. She wanted me to be miserable despite being the one pushing me on the dates.
But why?
Emi can’t know about any of this, especially since she keeps fighting Kalani’s date picks, and Arthur had no idea who she was.
There’s a ping from my phone. Kalani.
So I guess Chad’s date sucked. Sorry about that. But I just set you up with another date for next week! You have to make this work because prom’s in exactly three weeks and you still don’t have a date. The future prom queen can’t be running around all night making sure you’re not lonely.
I squeeze my phone, wishing I was strong enough to crush it and maybe relieve some of this pent-up frustration.
What is she playing at? She keeps picking dates for me, guilting me and using prom as an excuse, telling me the dates have to go well; meanwhile, she wants me to fail so she can blame me for not trying, knowing full well the dates were going to suck because she’s setting them up that way.
What a complete waste of everyone’s time. Not only mine but those guys as well. Poor Arthur really wanted the date to work out, and she completely set him up for failure without considering his feelings. What is she thinking?
Does she know about Emmett? Is this her way of telling me to back off?
But back off what? I’ve never made any moves on him, never tried to get in between their relationship.
If she knew about my crush on Emmett, wouldn’t she confront me instead of pulling this elaborate scheme to make me miserable?
And wouldn’t she want the dates to succeed to keep me away from him?
Plus, she wouldn’t still be friends with me.
No. Something else has to be going on here.
I get another text, this time from Emi.
Where are you? We grabbed a table but don’t see you. I’m almost finished my iced capp and your untouched frozen lemonade is looking mighty tasty . . .
Shaking the tension from my arms and rolling my neck, I try to compartmentalize this new revelation about Kalani for now.
I don’t want to bring anything up to Emi, but there’s absolutely no way I’m going on any more dates, especially with whatever disaster Kalani is waiting to ambush me with and pretend she had no idea about.
As I dry my hair as best I can with a paper towel, I realize what I should do.
If Kalani wants these dates to suck just to make me feel bad, then I’m going to do something about it.
I promised myself to call it at three dates, and I’ve reached that threshold already, but I’m pissed, and I’m hurt.
Kalani’s my best friend, but she’s playing some twisted game to send me on bad dates and guilt me into feeling miserable.
I don’t know what Kalani’s playing at, but I need to know what she’s up to.
Hands off my lemonade! I’m coming.
I text Emi then take a breath to compose myself and exit the bathroom, walking through the aisles until I spot two girls leaning close to each other, one with natural red hair and one bright purple.
“Hey.” I drop my bag on the table in front of them.
Emi’s arm is slung over Daphne’s shoulders, and she leans back in her chair, balancing on the back legs only.
“Where have you been? Your drink is melting.” Emi slides the drink and straw across the table to me, and I rip the straw from the wrapper and take a refreshing sip as I sit down. The cold helps me focus.
“It’s perfect. Thanks,” I say, setting it down and gathering my confidence. “Hey. You think you can set me up with Wyatt this Friday?”
Emi slams her chair back on all fours, then exchanges an excited glance with Daphne before a smile spreads across her face. “You bet your damn ass I can set you up with Wyatt! He’s perfect for you. Emmett agrees.”
“Actually,” I add as she whips out her phone, “let’s make it a triple date. Me, Wyatt, you two, and Kalani and Emmett. Maybe I just need you guys there to help me break the ice.”
Kalani’s going to be pissed, especially since she apparently just set me up with someone for next week. But good, let her be. I’m done playing her game.
“I love it!” Emi exclaims.
Daphne nods along, adding, “What should we do?”
“I’ll text the group now,” Emi says, tapping something out on her phone. “We can figure it out together. A big group date! How fun!”
Yes. Fun. Of course, Emi’s excited—I won’t be awkwardly fifth wheeling them this time. They won’t have to worry about leaving me alone for a few minutes because I’ll be there with my date.
My phone goes off with a bunch of new messages, and I switch it to vibrate even though we’re allowed to make noise in this section of the library.
They’re mostly from Emi texting the group chat anyway, informing everyone of the new plan.
Daphne replies too, showing her excitement, even though she’s sitting right in front of me, and Emmett replies saying Wyatt’s awesome and he knows we’ll get along.
Kalani says nothing, but she messages me privately.
Wyatt? Seriously? I just told you I got you a date with someone already! What am I supposed to tell him?
I force my expression to remain neutral in front of Emi and Daphne, who are considering date options for us and what to say to Wyatt.
I reply to Kalani.
Oops. Didn’t see this message before we set everything up. Sorry.
Although I lied, I’m feeling bold.
Plus, if it doesn’t work out with Wyatt, there will be no more blind dates, so tell whoever you’ve got set up it’s not going to work.
Despite all the conflicting emotions I’m feeling toward Kalani, I feel like giggling. Jay would be proud of me for saying I’m done with the dates. He’d tell me to say a lot more, and to probably say it in person, but I said I was done with the dates nonetheless, and it feels fantastic.
She texts back right away.
Seriously?!
I don’t answer. If she has an issue, I’m sure she’ll bring it up when I see her on Monday, or even argue with Emi in the group chat. But I doubt Emi’s going to let her have her way this time, especially after having rallied for Wyatt for weeks now.
Kalani’s my best friend and has been for years, but I can’t figure out why she’d do any of this. I refuse to believe it’s over any discovery of my feelings for Emmett. She’d be way more pissed if it was, and she wouldn’t hesitate to pull the plug on our friendship if that was the case. So why?
I don’t know what Kalani’s endgame is here, but clearly she wants me to go on shitty dates and doesn’t want me to succeed.
I’ll show her. This date is going to be a success if it kills me, and she’ll see it with her own two eyes.
Plus, I don’t really want to believe it’s true.
Maybe Arthur’s confused or things got mixed up.
Maybe Kalani told him those things for a reason and I’ve jumped to the worst conclusion.
I don’t want to think the worst of Kalani right away, so now I’ll get to see if she says something or tries to sabotage my date, and I’ll have actual proof.
“Wyatt said yes!” Emi exclaims, showing me her text.
Wow. That was fast. I guess I’m really doing this. But whether or not Wyatt and I get along, it’s one hundred percent going to be my last date, and Emi and Kalani will just have to deal with me fifth wheeling until we all go to university.