“But it’s still definitely a date.” Josh lounged on my bed as well.
Somehow my room had become a communal space despite the door having been closed five minutes ago.
“Look, things are complicated,” I said.
“He’s talking about the girlfriend,” Kellan said sagely before shoveling an impressive mound of ice cream into his mouth.
Josh nodded.
“I told him I wouldn’t be his sidepiece,” I said, deciding on the green shirt. I began stripping down to my underwear.
“So, that’s it, then,” Josh said. “No more Eth-rey.”
“What the hell is an ‘Eth-rey’?” I tossed my old clothes into the hamper near the foot of my bed.
“It’s the ship name for you and Grey,” Kellan said a little too cheerfully. “Eth is short for Ethan and Rey is—”
“I understand how shipping works,” I sniped, yanking the green shirt over my head. “My question is why?”
“Oh, we needed something to call you two,” Kellan said.
“You were talking about me that much?” I stepped into a pair of jeans that I knew made my butt look great. Just because this date was only half-hearted didn’t mean I shouldn’t look my best for it.
“Only when we were worried about you,” Josh said.
“So, like, every day.” Kellan laughed.
I zipped up my pants and pinched my nose as Josh joined Kellan’s laughter with his low chuckles.
“Good thing it’s over,” I said. “Eth-rey is a stupid ship name.”
“I’ll have you know I worked hard on it,” Kellan said, feigning insult. “Like at least two and a half minutes were spent coming up with it.”
“Imagine what you could’ve come up with if you had more than two and a half brain cells to devote to it.” Josh shot Kellan a wry smile to which Kellan launched a pillow in retaliation.
I ignored their bickering as I pulled on my boots. “Are you guys sure you don’t want to come? It’ll be a lot of fun.” I said it just as much to convince myself as them.
“I would, but I have—”
“Homework,” Kellan and I finished Josh’s usual excuse.
“What about you, Kellan?”
“Nah,” he said. “I’m already pretty stoned. I think I’ll finish this bowl of ice cream and watch some murder docs on Netflix.”
“Wouldn’t want to get in the way of that,” I said sarcastically.
“Should’ve told me about the partybeforethe edible hit.” Kellan wolfed down more ice cream.
I sighed, checking myself in the mirror one final time. I looked good. Definitely better than how I felt about this wholedate-with-Piper situation. But it was too late to back out. “I’ll catch you guys later,” I said. “Do me a favor, and turn off the lights whenever you decide to leave my room.”
Situatedinside an old metal barn at the back of someone’s property, the party was well underway by the time we got there. I could hear the music and smell the drinks and drugs and vomit before laying eyes on a single person. The land surrounding the barn had been converted into a makeshift parking lot, with cars and trucks sprawled chaotically around us as our feet crunched on dead grass and twigs. Though I could feel the music’s beat in my chest as we got closer, it took me a second longer to realize what song was playing.
“You’ve gotta know what you’re doing to me tonight.
You’ve gotta know that this is not all right.”
“God, are they playing Dreamscape?” I groaned. Just what I needed, a reminder of Grey’s existence during the date I was using to distract myself from him.
