“Can we see the date in action?” Sarah asks.
“It’s not very exciting,” I say.
“Please?”
“Fine. Just don’t expect fireworks.”
She gets up, and I lead her and James out of the kitchen and down the hallway. David follows a few steps behind the rest of us, hands jammed in his pockets.
In the family room, Mom and Ron are hovering over Ivy and Ethan.
“Is it a good movie?” Mom asks.
“Not really,” Ivy says.
“I like it,” Ethan says.
“I’m sure Ivy’s enjoying it too,” Mom says.
“No, I’m not,” Ivy says.
Mom laughs like it was a joke.
Ron says, “Can you please pause the TV while we’re talking to you, Ivy? That’s the polite thing to do.”
“Okay.” She picks up the remote and stops the movie but stays slumped on the sofa.
“Hi, Ivy!” Sarah says, and moves deeper into the room. “How are you doing? We came over to see your sister. Who’s your friend?”
“Ethan,” Ivy says.
“Introduce everyone, Ivy,” Ron says. “You know how to do that.”
“I just did,” she says, her eyes darting around the room, taking in all the faces looking down at her, watching her every move. I don’t blame her for looking a little terrified. She and Ethan are like two bugs that are about to be pinned to a card and cataloged.
“Come on, you know how to do this right,” Ron tells her. “Stand up. You too, Ethan. And now you say, ‘Ron, this is Ethan, Ethan, this is Ron.’ That’s the right way to introduce people, isn’t it?”
They’re quietly doing what he told them to do—?they’re both standing up, and Ivy’s repeating his words, and Ethan’s shaking first Ron’s hand and then Mom’s, and then Sarah’s and James’s—?and I’m the only person (well, maybe David, too) who can see how Ivy’s chin is down and her hand is slapping quietly against her thigh and how Ethan’s eyes are more evasive and more troubled than I’ve ever seen them before.
All the comfort and peace of the afternoon are gone.
“Can we get you guys anything?” asks Sarah, all smiles and curly hair and knowing winks. “Chloe makes really good popcorn . . .”
“We already have snacks,” Ethan says, and points to the table.
“How about some carrots?” Ron says. Ivy shakes her head at that, and Ron says, “No, thank you?” like he’s prompting her, so she says, “No, thank you,” and her hand pumps faster at her side.
“We don’t mean to interrupt,” Mom says. “You two should finish your movie and then maybe we can all have an early dinner together?” She turns to James. “That reminds me—?I’ve been meaning to thank you for all the meals your parents have treated Chloe to. I think if she could trade our family for yours, she would.”
“Well, my parents would trade me for her, so it’s even,” James says easily. He’s so good at this make-the-parents-happy kind of thing. Meanwhile David stayed behind in the hallway, where he’s staring down at his phone, ignoring the rest of us.
“Let’s go back to the kitchen,” I say and start us moving back in that direction. I want everyone to leave Ivy and Ethan alone.
I pass David, who backs up against the hallway wall to make room as we go by. “You coming?”
“I think I’ll go see how the movie ends.” He slips past the others, moving away from the rest of us and into the family room.
Twenty
“OH, MY GOD, this is amazing,” says Sarah once we’re back in the kitchen. “Ethan is so cute! If Ivy doesn’t want him, I’m going to ask him out.”
“So will you stay for dinner?” Mom’s nailing the hostess role right now. There was a time when she would have crawled to her room to curl up in a fetal position at the ring of the doorbell. And here she is, smiling, welcoming, social. Progress.
“I have to be home for dinner,” Sarah says. “Sorry.”
“How about you, James?”
“I should probably check with my mom first.”
“Yes, of course. I’m thrilled to hear that you check with your parents before making plans. I’m not always sure Chloe does.” She laughs, and Ron adds, “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t.”
I need to get away from them both before I lose it. I say to my friends, “Let’s go to my room.”
Once we’re safely behind a closed door, Sarah asks me what’s wrong. “You’re being weird.” she adds.
“No, I’m not.”
She looks to James for corroboration.
“Yeah, you’re in a bad mood,” he says.
“It’s just . . .” I sit on the edge of my bed and pull my knees up to my chest. “I’m working really hard on this Ethan and Ivy thing and then everyone just descends on them like they’re mating pandas in a zoo or something.”
“Oh, please.” Sarah sits down on my desk chair. “They barely even noticed us. And we told you we were coming.”
“I didn’t think you were serious.”
“We thought it would be fun to drop by. Sorry if it annoyed you.” But her tone isn’t apologetic. It’s pissy.
“Maybe she’s mad because we interrupted something between her and David,” James says.
“Yes,” I say. “That’s exactly what’s going on here: I’m furious because David Fields was just about to tell me who his biggest crush is, and I had my fingers crossed that he was going to say me, and that’s when you guys walked in and ruined everything. I’m sorry this had to be the way you found out I’ve lost interest in you, James, but what can I say? David is twice the man you are. I mean, that body . . . and then there’s his radiant personality—”
“Okay, okay.” James holds up a hand. “Sarcasm noted.”
“Good. Because you’re being ridiculous. You know why I have to hang out with him. Ivy isn’t ready to be alone with Ethan.”
“That explains why you have to be here,” Sarah says. “Doesn’t explain why David does.”‘
“Same deal with his brother.”