Everyone else turned toward Trip and me then, offering their own hellos and birthday greetings. Lisa got off her chair and ran over, welcoming me with a big hug before whispering in my ear, “I came here with Pickford!” She handed me a pink, plastic bowler hat covered in glitter and looped a black, feather boa around my neck. My birthday suit, apparently.
For a half-baked surprise party, my friends didn’t do such a bad job. They had a decent fire going, which we appreciated more for the light and to keep the bugs away than for any actual heat we’d hoped to garner. Someone brought a boombox, there were a couple cases of beer in actual cans and Lisa had even baked some peanut butter brownies. She’d put a few candles in the cake pan and lit them, but I wasn’t delusional enough to wait for anyone to start singing before blowing them out.
Amidst the swirling smoke, Trip asked, “Whadja wish for?”
And obviously, I couldn’t tell him!
So I said, “Won’t come true if I tell, right?” which was the expected response anyway, so no one pressed me on it.
I watched as Rymer shotgunned his Budweiser and I asked, “Hey, don’t you guys have a game tomorrow?”
Rymer tossed the empty can over his shoulder before responding. “Yep. But Coach won’t allow us to get laid during football season. Drinking’s all we got.”
I looked wide-eyed at Cooper and Sargento for confirmation. They were both nodding their heads, Coop saying, “It’s true.”
“Get out of here!” I said, appalled. “How can he-why would you even agree to that?”
Before Coop could even answer me, Pick piped in with, “That’s why I play basketball!” and Trip added, “And that’s why I play hockey!” the two of them high-fiving above my head and laughing hysterically.
“Holy crap, I can’t even imagine,” I said, realizing a second too late how that must have sounded. I didn’t mean I couldn’t imagine having to abstain from sex for four whole months-I meant I couldn’t imagine letting anyone lord that much control over my life.
But Trip grabbed hold of the setup I provided. He raised his eyebrows at me and said, “You know I play hockey, right?” which just set everyone off on a laughing fit.
I knew he was just joking around, but having Trip flirt with me even a little bit helped to make my seventeenth the Best. Birthday. Ever.
Chapter 13
ROMEO.JULIET
Over the following weeks, I spent so much time with Trip Wilmington that it was ridiculous. At Totally Videos, our schedules lined up so that we were together two out of the three days a week that I worked there. Even though I had passed my driving test and gotten my license, I still didn’t have a car yet, so Trip offered me a ride to and from work every Monday and Friday.
In school, I saw him every day in between; hanging out at lunch, walking with him through the halls and then sitting near him during English class.
On the weekends, we’d normally bump into each other at parties, and sometimes, Lisa, Pickford and I would carpool with him to go to the football games on Saturday mornings.
On top of all that, I had him all to myself every Tuesday afternoon while we worked on our English project. It was my favorite day of the week, because for all the time that we spent together, the Shakespeare thing was always just the two of us.
It’s not as though I could report some romantic version of our film collaboration. I wish I could tell you about the passion-filled hours spent rehearsing the balcony scene between Romeo and Juliet, or, better yet, the “morning after” scene where they’re all spoony and basking in the glow of Romeo’s proposal having just spent the night screwing like a couple of bunnies.
No. The fact of the matter is that our assigned scene was Act 3, Scene 3. Which, if it’s been a while since you’ve brushed up on your Shakespeare, means Trip got to play the charming, dashing, lovesick and romantic hero, Romeo. I, on the other hand, was cast in the role of... the nurse. Yep. The ugly, old, obnoxious nurse, who was nothing more to the story than a third wheel, the comic relief, and eclipsed in every scene by the beautiful object of Romeo’s affections. Basically, that’s how I felt anywhere in the vicinity of Trip’s girlfriend, so let’s hear it for method acting!
Tess wasn’t making too many appearances, but I knew that they had to still be dating. At least I assumed they were. It sounds weird, but for all the talking that we did-and we talked a lot- we never really discussed it.
Preferably, I would have bypassed some of that riveting conversation for a little more making out, as it would have been nice to be more to him than just a “buddy”.
But the way I saw it, I was happy enough that Trip and I kind of had this unspoken thing. I don’t mean like boyfriend/girlfriend, but when we were together, we were just... us. He was a different guy with me than the one he was at school or at parties, and I knew I was the only one to see that side of him. And he knew that I knew.