“Oh shut it, Daniel. You're just jealous. Just because Kylie has cut you loose...again.” Rachel said hatefully. My two best friends were the only dark spot in my state of Clay induced euphoria. Ever since the night of the dance, after Daniel callously ditched Rachel in favor of trying to work things out with Kylie- (who dumped him three days later-), they had been at each others' throats.
Personally, I was totally on Rachel's side with this one, though I typically tried to be Switzerland between them. But what Daniel had done was nasty and he deserved every ounce of Rachel's complete and utter bitchittude.
Daniel curled his lip at Rachel but didn't say anything back, angrily shoving his mashed potatoes around on his tray. The tension between the two of them was palpable. Clay cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable.
“So, do you guys have any plans for Thanksgiving break?” Clay asked, trying to break the tense silence that had blanketed our table. Rachel shook her head and Daniel grumbled something unintelligible under his breath.
I leaned into Clay's chest. “I'd take that as a...maybe?” I posed the statement as a question, hoping to solicit some sort of response from my miserable friends. “Well, I have an idea.” Clay piped up, getting everyone's attention.
Daniel stopped swirling his potatoes and Rachel looked up from her Cosmo magazine. “Oh yeah? What's that?” I asked him. Clay grinned down at me and kissed the tip of my nose. I loved it when he did stuff like that. He had this way of making me feel like something infinitely valuable. Like I was the most precious thing in his universe.
“Well, Ruby's girlfriend, Lisa has a cabin down by Franklin Lake. Maybe we could go down for the night. Like, say the Saturday after Thanksgiving? I mean, it's really nice. With satellite TV and a huge jacuzzi tub. It could be a lot of fun.” Clayton sounded excited.
I was pleased to see this even-natured side of Clay. He had started taking the lithium again, starting the night of the formal. Despite my happiness about this, I continued to watch him closely. Looking for any sign that he was lying about the meds and had stopped taking him.
I knew deep down that this wariness of mine where he was concerned wasn't good for the long term health of our relationship. But right now, Clay was on his meds and they seemed to have evened him out. He was still tired a lot and his appetite was nonexistent but he seemed less zombiefied than the last time he had been on the pills. Clay said they must be acclimating to his system, now that he was on them for a longer period of time.
Well, whatever it was, I was happy to see it.
“So what do you think?” Clay asked the table, pulling me out of my thoughts. I appreciated that Clay was trying to integrate into our circle. He had struggled with relaxing around my friends. He and I continued to exist in our isolated bubble most of the time. I knew opting to spend most of my time with him as opposed to my friends was having a negative effect on my other relationships. But I was in the blissful throes of the honeymoon period. I couldn't be faulted for that, right?
For the most part, Rachel had tried to be pleasant, though she watched the two of us warily. I knew that she worried after Clay's Hulk episode at the dance. And Daniel, well, he still maintained an arms length with Clay. Though he tried for my sake. So, Clay inviting them along on an outing was huge. I hoped it was a positive step in the right direction in merging these parts of my life. I hated how being with Clay seemed at times to fragment my other relationships. Why did I have to have only one or the other?
I squeezed Clay's hand in appreciation at his gesture. Clay gave me a shy smile. I reached up and brushed a loose curl out of his eyes, letting my fingers linger on his skin. His gaze softened and I shivered in giddiness.
Daniel rolled his eyes at the two of us and I dropped my hand into my lap. I glared at my friend and he raised his eyebrows at me. “Sounds like fun to me.” I said, giving Daniel a pointed look.
Rachel didn't look up and only shrugged. “I don't know. It all depends on what's going on with my family.” I sighed in frustration. I knew Rachel didn't want to hang out with her extended family for any length of time. Her grandparents drove her nuts and her aunts and uncles, for the most part, were a bunch of jerks. No, she was just being difficult.
“Well, I think it sounds cool.” Daniel piped up, surprising me. Rachel stiffened beside him. I knew he was goading her. Not to be outdone, Rachel sat up straight. “Well, I think it sounds cool too. Count me in.” She said through clenched teeth. Great. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
“Fantastic. So we'll all go.” Daniel said tersely, shoving his fork through his peas. Clay looked at me questioningly. I lifted my shoulders in resignation. “You two need to play nice or we'll leave your asses behind. Fair warning.” I told the two of them, wagging my finger in their direction.
Rachel and Daniel briefly looked at each other and then away. Rachel gave Clay a tentative smile. “Thanks for inviting us.” “Sure.” Clay replied, still feeling awkward with the antagonistic vibe my friends were throwing out.
“I'm gonna go get a soda. Want anything?” Clay asked me. “I'll have a soda too.” I dug a few coins out of my purse and tried to give them to him. Clay pushed my hand away and smiled. “I've got it, baby.” He said softly and I beamed at the endearment.
Clay got up and went to get our drinks. I turned on my friends and leveled them with a glare of death. “You two need to get your acts together. Clay is making a big effort to be nice. The least you could do is give the battle royale between the two of you a rest for a while. You know, so you don't make the rest of us miserable.”
Rachel and Daniel grumbled, but the chill between them thawed a bit. “Hey guys.” I felt the bench beside me dip as someone sat down beside me. I looked over to see Jake Fitzsimmons grinning as he snuck a piece of my brownie off of my plate.