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ISABELLA
My favorite spotat Lenny’s was in a corner booth, hunched over a textbook and downing cups of coffee. Occasionally a fellow classmate would wave at me from across the dining room, but for the most part, I’d keep my head down. Emily would check in on me between her other tables, keeping my coffee cup full and making small talk. The only way to succeed in school was to hit the books.
Not that night, though.
Emily was finally back in town, and we hadn’t seen each other since she left. I waited patiently for her in a table smack dab in the middle of the dining room, sipping on a root beer float and chatting with other patrons. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, incessantly tapping my foot as I counted down the minutes until she clocked out.
It hadn’t been easy dealing with my parents in her absence. Emily was my only true friend at Exley, and I rarely stayed in contact with anyone from high school. She and I texted whenever possible, but I wasn’t sure how honest I’d be about my relationship with Blade. She wouldn’t go blabbing about it, but at the same time, I really liked keeping our relationship a secret.
Finally, Emily punched out and walked over to my table, clutching onto a Styrofoam cup and plopping down across from me.
“One hundred and ninety-three dollars in tips tonight.” She threw her head back. “Fuck, I am exhausted.”
“I don’t know how you work so long on your feet, Emily. They must be killing you.”
She slid her feet out of her shoes and breathed a long sigh of relief. “I’ll be soaking these babies in Epsom salt tonight.” She locked her eyes with mine, and then waited a moment to speak. “So, when were you gonna tell me about Jason?”
“How did you find out?”
She rolled her eyes before sliding her cell phone across the table. “Social media, of course. I was going to bring it up but wanted to hear it from your lips first. Unfortunately, you’re even more tight-lipped than usual these days and I grew impatient.”
Of course, Emily had found out about Jason and me breaking up online. Social media was the bane of society as far as I was concerned.
“I finally saw what a controlling, narcissistic asshole he is. Plus, Jason has someone spying on me at Exley. Or a group of people. Who knows?”
“And I suppose they’re the same people who claim you slept with The Bedroom King, too.”
I recoiled in my seat as images of Blade and me ran through my mind. Our bodies pressed up against each other, naked, as we continuously lied to the world about our relationship. Relationship was such a weird word. It implied that there was anything between us outside the realm of explosive sexual chemistry. “It’s not like that, okay? I’m only tutoring him, so he doesn’t lose his football scholarship.” I leaned across the table and whispered to her, “Besides, my parents cut me off, so I really need the money.”
Emily slowly sipped on her drink as I poked away at my root beer float, hating myself for lying to my best friend. She didn’t deserve that, but the truth wouldn’t do either of us any good. How could I tell her what’d really been going on after balking at the very idea of Blade and men like him for so long? I would have looked like the biggest fucking hypocrite in the world.
“If you say that you’re not hooking up with Blade, then I believe you.”
“Okay, good.”
She smirked at me before retrieving her cell phone. “I just find it hard to believe that Blade isn’t at least trying to get into your pants.”
“Just because he has a reputation doesn’t mean he can’t think of anything other than sex. Besides, I wouldn’t let him take advantage of me like that.”
She leaned back in her chair and slurped the rest of her drink. “Look, what happens between you two is your business. But can you please promise me something?”
“Of course!”
Emily’s voice lowered to a whisper indicating that she was going to say something that should only be said in a hushed tone, but the smile that hitched across her plump lips betrayed that notion. “If you ever do sleep with him, tell me if he lives up to his reputation.”
I smiled from ear to ear. “Trust me, Emily. You’ll be the first person I tell.”
Our sorority sisters were waiting with several pitchers of margaritas back at the house. One by one, we poured ourselves a glass and sat down in the living room, eager to catch up with Emily and fill her in on everything that’d been happening. Like her, they were also surprised at my seemingly platonic relationship with The Bedroom King. And also, like her, they demanded to know all of the details if our relationship ever progressed.
I had my suspicions that a few of them had hooked up with Blade, but neither he nor any of the girls had ever mentioned it. Perhaps they felt guilty now that they secretly believed Blade and I were together, but that didn’t bother me. After all, everybody had a past, myself included. Day by day, the sordid details of my past only became more gossip-worthy and that’s why I continued to shy away in the confines of darkness.
I merely sipped my drink and nodded along, silently promising to fill them in. Apparently, Blade had stopped pursuing other girls, or at least that’s what was circulating in the Exley gossip mill. And there were plenty of ladies who were pissed about it, patiently waiting for the semester to finish so they could have their shot with The Bedroom King before they moved onto the greener pastures of the real world.
I didn’t have the heart to tell them not to hold their breath.
After a night of binging on pizza and more margaritas, Emily and I retreated to our bedroom, where we promptly fell asleep.
I spent most of the following day looking through the travel group’s information about their next summer trip. If my parents hadn’t cut me off, then I probably could have slowly stashed some cash away without them knowing. But the round-trip ticket alone was more than my emergency cash stash, let alone the cost of a room, board, and entertainment.
