together, we’d sit and chat, but as soon as the bell rang, she’d go to her new friends. But I had new friends of my own, which
made it easier not to have hard feelings.
After the game was over, Ian and I waited by the locker
room for Levi.
He exited the building with a gray hoodie pulled low over
his head. His entire posture showed defeat.
“Hi!” I tried to be enthusiastic for him, but not too
enthusiastic.
“Hey, guys.” Levi continued to look down at the floor.
“I told your mom we’d give you a ride home. But first maybe
some custard? On Ian?”
“Hey!” Ian grabbed me by the waist.
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I swatted his hands away. “Ever the gentleman.”
Levi wasn’t amused. “Nah, I’m okay.” He wouldn’t even
look at us.
There were two words for a moment like this: awkward.
We got into Ian’s car. I could practically feel Levi’s eyes roll into the back of his head when a rap song came blasting from
the stereo. I turned the music down.
“So, Levi.” Ian glanced in the rearview mirror. “I heard
you’re dating Carrie Pope?”
I didn’t think you could technically call one coffee and one
movie dating. But Levi nodded.
“Isn’t she a freshman?” Ian’s interest in Levi’s dating life
was making me anxious.
“Hey, pot, are you calling this kettle black?” Levi said with
a laugh. I was relieved that he still had his sense of humor.
“No,” Ian stammered. “I’m just saying she’s cute.”
“Hey!” I playfully hit his arm.
“That’s not what I meant. She’s not my type.”
“Oh, so cute isn’t your type?” I countered.
“Sounded like that to me,” Levi announced from the
backseat.
“You know, you guys are no fun,” Ian sulked. “Nobody can
ever win anything with the two of you ganging up on poor,
poor souls.”
“Oh, please.” I turned around and gave Levi a high five
just to annoy Ian further.
“Blimey if we can help it,” Levi said in a British accent.
“Ack!” Ian protested. “Enough with that blimey stuff. You
guys are too much.”
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“I believe he means too much awesome,” I clarified.
“Clearly,” Levi agreed. “Can’t imagine what else it would be.”
“Unless it’s amazing.”
“That’s another word people often use to describe us.”
“And fabulous,” I reminded him.
“Inspiring.”
“Extraordinary.”
“Stop!” Ian cried out like he was in physical pain. “Oh, I’ve
got plenty of words to describe you two. Believe me.”
He pulled over in front of Levi’s house. “So, Levi, how about
we even the playing field and go on a double date. Then maybe
Carrie and I can gang up on you two for a change.”
An odd silence took over the car. Levi and I were no longer
joking around. I don’t know why we were both reacting so
strangely. It wasn’t as if Levi didn’t hang out with us, but
now we were adding a fourth. Would it be uncomfortable?
“Was it something I said?” Ian asked, to lighten the mood.
I tried to grasp on to reality and not overreact. “No, yeah,
I think that would be great.”
I looked at Levi, who was studying my face. “Sure,” he
said. Although he didn’t sound sure.
“Great!” Ian was way too excited about this. “We’ve got
that party at Keith’s next weekend.”
“We do?” I hadn’t known we had that.
“Yeah, didn’t I tell you?” I shook my head in response. He
continued. “Oh, well, let’s go grab a bite beforehand and go
over together.”
“Ah, okay.” Levi got out of the car and gave me a little wave
before going inside.
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“See.” Ian leaned over toward me. “Look at me playing
nice with your BFF. What does this get me?”
“The privilege of driving me home,” I stated flatly.
He laughed. “You’re something else. You know that, right?”
So I’ve been told.
I didn’t know if it should comfort me that Levi was as hesi—
tant about the double date as I was. I’d met Carrie a couple of times, but I’d tried to give her lots of space. I knew that Levi having a girl as a best friend could be intimidating. She
seemed sweet and he liked her, so I wanted it to work for him.
Plus, I had learned to knock before entering rooms, both
literally and metaphorically.
The four of us were eerily quiet on the drive over to the
restaurant for Friday night fish fry. I gave Levi the front
seat, thinking he and Ian could talk about guy things and I
could get to know Carrie more.
“I like your skirt,” I offered. Carrie was wearing an orange
skirt with an off-white cashmere wrap sweater.
“Thanks. I like your outfit, too,” she replied, although I
was only wearing jeans and a basic black top. But she was
clearly trying to make an effort.
“Thanks.”
She smiled at me. “And you have, like, the best hair.” She
started fiddling with her own long honey-brown hair.
“You’ve got great hair, too.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “My color is so boring.”
Levi turned around. “Seriously, hair and clothing? Way to
shatter stereotypes, Macallan.”