Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Of All the Things
I wake up to the sound of someone knocking on a door.
It takes a moment for me to realize the sound is coming from the other side of the house and not Oliver’s bedroom door.
I sit up and stretch, then listen as Oliver answers the front door.
I recognize Ryan’s voice but I can’t hear what he’s saying.
I slip out of bed and step closer to the bedroom door so that I can listen.
Their voices are muffled, so I can’t make out everything they’re saying. I press my ear against the door. I can hear enough to figure out that Oliver is explaining his idea for the marching band. Ryan doesn’t sound totally put off by the idea. I hope that’s a good sign.
“Let’s talk more about it later,” Oliver says. “I have to get ready for work.”
Ryan says something that’s too muffled for me to understand. Oliver responds with “Wait.” I frown.
There’s a shuffle of footsteps on the hallway carpet that gets louder as they come closer. Then, just outside the bedroom door, I hear Oliver say, “I’ll put it away, you don’t have to go into my bedroom.”
He says it loud enough that I know it’s intentional to give me time to hide.
I panic and dive back onto the bed, grabbing the blanket to try to hide under it.
I’m not fast enough though, and the door swings open while I’m still wrestling with the blanket.
I look up as Oliver and Ryan both step into the room.
Ryan’s eyes go wide when he sees me. “Priscilla?”
“Oh. Uh. Hi, Ryan.” I realize what he must be thinking, seeing me in Oliver’s bed, all tangled up in the sheets. “It’s not what it looks like.” I throw the blanket off myself and climb off the bed.
His mouth curves into a smile and then he frowns at Oliver. “Really? Because it looks like?—”
“Priscilla and I are sleeping together,” Oliver says. He wraps an arm around my waist as I try to pass him, pulling me against his side. I freeze. I look down at his arm, so comfortably wrapped around my body. I fight the urge to glare at him.
“Oh,” Ryan says. “Then I guess it’s exactly what it looks like.”
My lips tighten. I want to yell at Oliver, but since I don’t have a better explanation for why I’m here, I keep quiet. I look at Ryan and force a smile. “What are you doing here?”
He opens his mouth like he’s going to say something, but then seems to realize that he can’t give me an answer. He looks at Oliver. “I was just dropping something off. Oliver?”
Oliver leans down and nuzzles my neck. It tickles. I hold my breath. “What was it you were dropping off again?” he asks distractedly.
Ryan glares at him. I guess Oliver is on a roll today with pissing people off.
“Just this watch,” Ryan says. He takes it off his wrist, and as he passes it to Oliver, I notice him handing the ring box over, too. If I didn’t know what to look for, I might not have seen it.
Oliver waits in the bedroom, his arm still wrapped around me, until we both hear the front door close. As soon as Ryan is gone, I turn around and yell at him: “We’re sleeping together? Are you kidding me? Of all the things you could have said!”
He shrugs. “It was the most realistic explanation. What was I supposed to say? You fell asleep while we were planning his and Tina’s proposals?”
“You didn’t have to be that specific. You could have just said we were hanging out and I fell asleep.”
He smirks. “Come on. Like he would believe that.”
“It’s the truth. Who cares if he believes it?”
“I didn’t want it to seem like we were hiding anything,” he says. “Besides, if we’re going to be planning this thing, that means we’ll be spending a lot of time together. At least now we have an explanation for it so we don’t have to sneak around.”
I stare at him, my mouth agape, completely dumbfounded.
On one hand, what he’s saying actually makes some sense.
On the other hand, Ryan is definitely going to tell Tina if he hasn’t already, and that means I’ll have to lie to her too.
She’s been dying for this to happen and she’ll be crushed when she finds out it’s all a ruse.
“You mean you actually want to keep up with this lie?” I frown. “You’re okay with letting everyone think that we’re…” I hesitate, feeling embarrassed about saying it out loud.
“Having sex?” he finishes for me. He shrugs again. “Yeah, why not?”
I guess it’s a bigger deal to me than it is to him, but I don’t want him to know that. I don’t want him to think that I’m hung up on him, because I’m not. I think about that stupid thing I said when we first met. It annoys me that he might still think that’s how I really feel.
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable lying about something like that,” I tell him.
He drops his amused smile. “Oh. Shit, Priscilla, I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t really think that through. I can call Ryan and tell him I was just kidding.”
I’m surprised that I’m getting an apology out of him. I wonder if this is the first time he’s ever said he was sorry. I sigh. As much as I want this lie to go away, however, I know that it’s not that easy. “No. Don’t. I mean, it’s too late now. It will be weirder if you try to backtrack.”
“Right.” He reaches his hand up and rubs the back of his neck.
“I should probably go home.” I turn around and leave the room ahead of him.
I reach the front door. I slip my shoes on, and then I look back at him one more time.
His lips part like he’s about to say something.
I wait, my hand on the doorknob. His chest rises as he takes in a breath.
Neither of us moves or says anything for a moment.
I begin to realize that he wasn’t going to say anything, and now I’m making it weird by lingering here.
I fumble with the doorknob, trying to open it without taking my eyes off of him. “Thank you for letting me crash here,” I say. I tighten my grip on the knob and turn it, pulling the door open. I’m gone before he has the chance to respond.
* * *
Tina is already calling me by the time I get home.
I’m surprised she’s awake this early. I put my phone away without answering.
I haven’t had enough time to think of what I’ll say to her.
How can I lie to my best friend about hooking up with the guy she’s been rooting for me to end up with for the last year? It seems almost cruel.
I have seven new text messages by the time I make it to my front door.
Tina
Answer your phone!
Priscilla…
PRISCILLA
A little birdie told me a little something about you and Oliver.
It was Ryan. Ryan told me.
Come on, Priss. Call me back NOW.
I know your not asleep.
Her last message bothers me more than anything else. I type out a reply.
Priscilla
*you’re
Tina
Ha! I knew the grammar police wouldn’t be able to resist correcting me.
You should have been a teacher.
That’s why you and Oliver are perfect for each other.
Now that I have your attention, TELL ME EVERYTHING.
Priscilla
I didn’t even know he was a teacher until yesterday.
Tina
Priscilla…
Priscilla
That’s my name.
Tina
I’m starting to think your being intentionally evasive.
Priscilla
Those are some big words for someone who can’t spell *you’re* correctly.
Tina
What?
Ok, that time was an accident.
My phone starts to ring before I can think of another way to avoid lying to her. I know that I have to answer it or she’ll show up at my door, and it will be much harder to lie to her in person.
“Tell me everything,” she says as soon as I answer the call.
I sigh. “There’s not much to tell.”
“Don’t be coy. Ryan says he caught you in Oliver’s bed.” Even though I can’t see her, I know she’s wiggling her eyebrows the way she always does when she says something suggestive.
“Yep. He caught me.” I’m not really lying yet, so my conscience is clear.
“Don’t make me pry it out of you, Priss. How did this happen? When did it start? Was it before or after the game? Are you guys serious or just a fling? Ryan said that Oliver said you’re just sleeping?—”
“Jesus, Tina,” I interrupt. “Slow down with the questions or I won’t even remember what you asked.”
“Then talk! I want all the details.” She’s quiet for a moment while I hesitate. I don’t even know what to say. “Priss…” she warns.
“Fine.” I rack my brain trying to come up with a story. “It started when we got out of the car on the highway.”
“I knew it!” she exclaims.
“I’m not going to tell you if you interrupt.”
“Sorry! I’ll be quiet. Zrrrp! That was the sound of me zipping my lips. Please go on.”
I roll my eyes, laughing. Then I clear my throat.
“It was the first time that it was just the two of us in a really long time, and I don’t know, I guess we kind of hit it off?
” I cringe, hating that I’m lying to her.
“On our way out of the building, we stopped by the doors and…” I trail off, my mind taking me back to that moment.
My breath catches again as I remember the way he cornered me against the door, and even though he was angry with me, I have this vision of what it might have been like if he had stepped just a little bit closer to me.
“And?” Tina prods.
I have to take a deep breath to calm my racing heart in order to speak with an even voice. “And he kissed me.”
Tina squeals. “And you didn’t tell me immediately? I feel betrayed!”
“Sorry. I guess we wanted to keep it between us for a little while.”
“I had a feeling something was going on. The way you two were whispering and giggling the whole time, you weren’t fooling anyone. Plus, with the way Oliver looks at you, I knew it was just a matter of time.”
Now she’s just imagining things. I roll my eyes.
“I guess the cat’s out of the bag now,” I say. “Everyone knows we’re dating.”
She squeals again. “So, you are dating? You’re not just sleeping together?”
“Uh, yeah,” I confirm, suddenly unsure whether I was supposed to keep it casual or not.
I have to pull my phone away from my ear when she squeals even louder. “You know what this means, right?” she says.
“What?”
“Double-date! You, me, Ryan, and Oliver.”
I cringe at the thought. Keeping up with this white lie is one thing, but sitting across from Tina and putting on a show is a little too much.
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “I’m pretty busy.”
“Priscilla,” she says through a sigh. “Your only job right now is planning my proposal. I’m sure you can afford to take a night off. In fact, I know that you can.”
“Okay, fine. We’ll go on a double-date, I guess.”
“You act like this is such a burden,” she grumbles.
“We just started dating,” I remind her. “Going on a double-date seems a little fast.”
“We’ve known both of you forever. How is it any different than going to the game with us the other day?”
The difference is that we weren’t pretending to date when we went to the game the other day, but of course I can’t tell her that.
“I guess you have a point,” I say reluctantly.
“So, Friday?”
“Friday. That’s…”
Before I can say that it’s too soon, she takes my response as a confirmation that Friday works for me.
“Perfect. I’ll make a reservation.” She squeals again. “This is going to be so much fun!”
She hangs up before I can protest.
“Great,” I say to no one. “I guess this is happening.”