“No problem, right this way,” the hostess says, grabbing two menus and leading us toward the other end of the restaurant. We scoot in and she rests her hand on the table leaning over Sean, her boobs practically falling onto his place setting. “Can I start you off with something to drink before your server arrives?”
“Two Cokes and if you could do me a huge favor—don’t seat that tiara girl next to us. She’s my sister and I told her I was working all day so I couldn’t make it to her pageant. She’s pretty intense. I don’t want her to start flipping tables in here, if you know what I mean.”
The hostess giggles and blushes. “No problem. I’ll make sure she doesn’t see you.” She flips her gaze to me. “Did you want something to drink too?”
“I’ll probably have one of the two Cokes he ordered.”
She blinks a few times and giggles. “Oh yeah. Right. Of course. Got it.” She rushes off.
“You sure have a way with the ladies.”
“Guess so. You’re sitting here, right?”
“Ha. I’m only here for the cheeseburgers,” I say.
“Good to know.” Sean glances at his menu, slides it to the edge and drums his fingers on the table. “So, I have to ask you something. Todd wants us to go to Prom with them, as a group. Did Kallie mention that?”
“No, that’s weird. Anybody else in this group I should know about?”
“I don’t know, it got complicated. Chris and Laura are going with Molly and Brian, and Molly’s supposed to be doubling with Jane and whoever her date is. Todd said anything with Molly won’t go over well with Kallie, which means Todd and Kallie are on their own unless—”
“Unless we go with them. Ugh. I need a Venn diagram to keep track of everyone who can and can’t stand each other.” I pretend to scrutinize the menu rather than the decision. “Well gosh, I don’t know why Todd wouldn’t want to go to Prom with his current girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, and his side piece. What a missed opportunity for him.” I roll my eyes.
“Yeah,” Sean laughs. “He must not be one for drama.”
“Sure, we can go with them, it just … I don’t know. To be honest, it sucks. She’s my best friend and I have to watch her hanging out with such a … such a—”
“Fuckwad. I believe that’s the politically correct term.”
Smiling, I put the menu down. Then back up, over my face. “Shit. Speaking of fuckwads, guess who just walked in? Don’t turn around.”
Sean turns around, then raises an eyebrow and smirks. “Ahemmmm, Chip Ryan. Your ex-lover.”
“Gross. Hardly my lover.”
“Really? Meaning you weren’t in love with him, or you never—you know? You two were dating for a while, right?
“Ugh. Not that I want to get into it right now, but we were only dating for a couple months and we never …”
Our server bounces up to the table, popping his head over my menu. “Hey there, I’m Jake, I’ll be your server. You two ready to order or ya need more time?”
Good save. Thanks Jake. We order and Sean leaves for the bathroom. Of course Chip sees me. Of course. He’s probably got an app that alerts him whenever we’re within a hundred feet of each other. As he glides my way, I chant over and over in my head: please don’t come up to me, please don’t come up to me, please don’t.
“Bree?” he yells. “Hey Bree!” He sidles right up against the table. “How’s it goin’? I see you’re here with that football player guitar guy. Interesting.”
“His name’s Sean.”
“I knew that. So, is Sean your new boyfriend or something? He takin’ you to Prom?”
“Chip, I’m pretty sure I’ve told you that I’m not really trying to be friends, okay? It’s not your business.”
“Oh, sure. I get it. I can’t talk to you in front of your new friends. Give me a break. You know these guys are idiots.”
And then as if it wasn’t bad enough, Jane slides up next to Chip. I shoot him a dagger. Thanks for shouting me out Chip.
“Well, look what the cat drug in. With Chip Ryan. Am I interrupting a drug deal or something?”
I glare. “Sorry Jane, we’re out of Go-Go Juice this week. Did you need another ride somewhere?”
“So, you two are hanging out now too?” asks Chip.
“I was just coming over here to congratulate Bree here on officially stealing my Prom date. Guess all’s fair in love and war, right?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Love?”
Chip pushes Sean’s sweatshirt over and sits across from me. “You’re really going to Prom with him?”
Jane leans in over the table, gripping the edge with both hands. “She sure is. After he already said he’d go with me. You two haven’t even been hanging out that long. Have you had sex with him yet?” She blinks her chunky spider leggy lashes.
Chip watches us like a movie.
My anger steamrolls the anxiety that’s been fizzing in my stomach since Chip walked up. My teeth unclench as I glare into Jane’s eyes. “Are you done here?”
“Just what I thought,” she says. “You know, I’m a big contender for Prom Queen and I don’t even have a fucking date now. Which smells a lot like horseshit if you ask me. I’m not trying to be mean, but you don’t stand a chance so there’s no reason for you to use up one of our king nominees, especially one of the good ones.”