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Aiden
Chad’s waiting for me when I get to the bar, so I start by saying, “I’m not buying you shit.”
Waving his hand in the air, he mutters impatiently, “I know. I know.” He goes on to say, “But how do you know Claire? Do you know her? Or do you know her?”
I wish I could pretend that I didn’t know what he was talking about, but instead, I sigh and say, “I just know her.” He does a small fist-pump in the air that makes me somehow like him less than I already did. “I thought you were into Lauren.”
He nods his head too many times as he thinks over his new dilemma. “Lauren’s hot, for sure. But like...have you seen Claire? What’s her story? Single? Fair game? You want dibs?”
I hate that he just used Claire and dibs in the same thought, so my immediate reaction is to shake my head no.
He furrows his brow. “What are you saying no to? She’s not single? Not fair game? Don’t want dibs?”
He said it again. Feeling defensive, I mutter, “I don’t want dibs.”
Clapping me on the shoulder, he practically yells, “I love that you came to visit!”
Without so much as a second glance, Chad saunters back to our table, looking like he’s a foot taller.
What the fuck just happened?
When Chad sits at the table again, he immediately strikes up a conversation with Claire. She looks over her shoulder and scans the bar until she finds me. Tilting her head, she gives me a questioning look like she wants to know why I’m still standing here.
I don’t know why I’m still standing here.
All I know is that, after talking to Chad, I think I have chest pain. I don’t want to care. Claire needs a Chad. She needs a meaningless distraction that’s going to get her through a hard breakup. She needs someone to hit on her and tell her she’s pretty, to momentarily excite her so that she isn’t feeling so down, to want to kiss her with no expectations.
I force my mind to stop there because I know that’s not all Chad wants to do.
Ignoring the sudden pit in my stomach, I head back to the table and take a seat next to Lauren. The last thing I want is to listen to Chad hit on Claire for the rest of the night, but even though I’m at the opposite end of the table now, my ears strain to listen to their conversation.
“So, do you live with Chad and Ethan?” Lauren asks as she stares at me all bright-eyed.
I should want to talk to her.
Trying to refocus, I say, “No, I’m visiting from New York.”
I didn’t think it would be possible, but her eyes seem to shine brighter. “The Big Apple! Oh, I’ve always wanted to go. What’s your favorite part of The City?”
She says the city like it’s a movie title or some shit, and I don’t want to be the one to crush her dreams. The city is a fucking dump, but instead of saying that, I just shrug and say, “I’m more upstate.”
She sits back a little, and I know I’ve lost some of her interest. She’s polite about it, though. “Oh, I’m sure it’s beautiful.”
“It is.” I mean it, too. I’d much rather be surrounded by winding roads and mountains than concrete blocks and overflowing trashcans. I feel obligated to ask her about her life now, so I say, “Are you liking college here so far?” She tilts her head back and forth like she doesn’t want to say what’s really on her mind. After a moment, I add, “I hate Florida, and your roommate sounds like a piece of work, so don’t worry about offending my opinion of this shithole.”
She laughs and then grabs my arm. “Okay, well in that case, yeah, Florida sucks. Like really sucks.”
I find myself smiling. Maybe Lauren won’t be such bad company after all.
38
Claire
I’ve just finished telling Chad how I know Aiden and why we’re both in Florida.
He might be in shock.
He’s staring at me with his mouth open.
