The Clique (5 page)

              “My mom thinks I’m cool.” Gabe sticks his tongue out at her.

              “Aww, I think you’re cool too.”

              “Good. So, do you know what you’re gonna order?”

              “Um, spaghetti?”

              “Half the menu’s spaghetti, babe. What kind of spaghetti?”

              “I dunno.” Audrey unfolds her menu. “The, uh, rigatoni sounds good.”

              “Mhm.” Gabe looks over her shoulder. “The Rigatoni D? You want the D?”

              Aude scoffs. “Don’t be so juvenile.” Then she laughs. “Okay, yes, I want the D. Why do you think they named it that?”

              “Probably so dirty-minded kids like us would have something to joke about. Or, maybe, the D stands for like delicious or something.”

              “That delicious D! Oh gosh, now I can’t stop thinking about it like that! I have to get something else.”

              The waitress pauses at a table across the way before approaching the pair. “Excuse me—“

              “We’re ready to order,” Gabe says.

              “Yes, well that’s um—“ the woman frowns “—I’m sorry, but you’re kind of disturbing the other guests.”

              Aude puts on her best apologetic face. “I’m sorry. We’ll be super quiet, I promise.”

              The waitress sighs. “Alright. Please respect our other patrons.” She walks away.

              “See?” Gabe laughs. “You’re gonna get us kicked out.”

              “No, I’m not. Besides, it isn’t my fault.” Aude sticks her tongue out. “You’re the one who’s making me laugh.”

              “I think it was the scream that did it.” Gabe glances around, frowning. “I guess we lost our waitress.”

              “Yeah, she probably wanted to give me a chance to tell you to behave yourself.”

              “Me? Behave myself? Never.” Gabe grins mischievously. “Who do you think complained about us?”

              Aude points to the elderly man the waitress talked to just before coming over. “Oh, it’s him for sure.”

              Gabe stands up and—before Aude can stop him—shouts, “Hey, what’s your problem with us? Can’t handle the delicious D?” He sits back down, laughing his head off.

              Aude tries to scold him, but she can’t keep a straight face. The waitress heads toward them, and she definitely
can
keep a straight face. “Sir, ma’am, I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave.”

              Gabe manages to look appropriately apologetic. “I’m so sorry. We won’t do it again.”

              “Unfortunately, that’s not an option. Would you please follow me out?”

              Aude follows her, feeling her cheeks flush as the waitress shoos them out like little children.

              When they get back to the car, Gabe is fuming. “How could they just kick us out like that? I had that reservation for months!”

              “I’m sorry,” Aude says, feeling like the whole thing was her fault.

              “No, babe, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at them. We’re paying customers just like anyone else. And yeah, okay, we made some inappropriate jokes, and we were kinda loud. But that was why they seated us in the back, right?”

              “Uh, yeah.” Aude decides not to point out that he sort of harassed at another customer. “Oh well, let’s just go to McDonald’s.”

              Gabe smiles. “For our two year anniversary? You wanna go to McDonald’s, not even like Applebees or something like that?”

              “I’ve had enough of fine dining for the night. I just wanna get some dinner and then spend the rest of the night with you.”

              “Me too. Alright, McDonald’s it is.” Gabe opens the door for Aude, then gets behind the wheel and leaves Giovanni’s behind. They each have a burger off the dollar menu.

              Well, it isn’t fifteen-dollar pasta. Aude shrugs and washes the food down with a sip of Gabe’s Dr. Pepper. “What were we gonna do after Giovanni’s? If we hadn’t gotten kicked out, I mean?”

              Gabe shrugs. “I dunno. I was thinking we could cuddle in the back.” Aude knows from experience that by cuddle he really means make out.

              She sniggers.

              “What?” Gabe asks.

              “Well, I was just thinking about how I’m gonna tell my friends. ‘Last night we got kicked out of Giovanni’s because we wanted to taste their delicious d.’”

              Gabe releases a barking laugh. “Oh, not we. You were the one who wanted it.” He sighs. “I love you, Aude. I love how everyone at school thinks you’re like this straight-laced Mormon girl, but really you’re—“

              “Just as bad as everyone else?” she finishes for him.

              “No. Better than everyone else. Way better.”

              “Aww.” Aude leans in for a kiss: Gabe’s lips feel soft and warm, and even though his mouth tastes like mustard, it’s alright, because what matters is the here and now and the fact that they just got kicked out of one of the best restaurants in Denver and they couldn’t care less.

“Is your mom home?”

              “Nope.” Kate gestures for Sean to come in.

              “How about your dad? He’s still away on business, right?”

              “Yup. We have the house to ourselves.”

              “Cool.” Sean pulls his shoes off and sets them by the stairs. “I hope you don’t mind, I got the teensiest bit drunk before I came over.”

              “Why?”

              “Well, I know you don’t like when I drink, so I figured I wouldn’t do it in front of you.”

              Kate scowls. “I don’t care where you do it, I don’t think you should drink.”

              “Why not, honeybuns?”

             
“’
Cause, your mom’s an alcoholic. And that stuff runs in families.”

              “I’m not an alcoholic.” Sean walks to the living room and falls down on the peach-colored couch. “I was just having fun. I still have the bottle in my car, if you want some.”

             
Great
, Kate thinks.
How to ruin date night, a case study by Sean Adams.
“No thanks. Let’s just watch a movie or something.”

              “Don’t you wanna get dinner first?”

              Kate assumes he means driving somewhere, and the idea doesn’t strike her as all that safe. She doesn’t know exactly how drunk Sean is. Could be a little, but if not… Better safe than sorry. “I already ate,” Kate lies. “But you can get something from the fridge if you’re hungry.”

              “Naw, I’m good. So, Netflix?”

              “Sure.” Kate sits on the couch next to Sean. They pick a dull romantic comedy, and ten minutes in Sean seems to decide he’s more interested in kissing Kate. He climbs on top of her and plants one bourbon-flavored kiss after another on her neck, leading up to her face.

              “Mmm, you taste so good,” he whispers.

              “Yeah, uh, I bought this new perfume. From Bath and Body Works.” Kate frowns. Sean isn’t usually the type to notice things like that.

             
“Oh, wow, that’s great! You just smell so—and you feel so—“ Sean works a sweaty hand under her shirt.

              Kate pushes away. “What’s up with you?”

              “What do you mean?”

              “You’re acting so—weird. You haven’t asked me about my day, or my friends, or anything. What’s going on?”

              Sean gives her a giddy smile. He reaches out toward Kate. “Okay, you got me. I’m not just drunk. I’m also—a little high.” He whispers the confession.

              “Like on pot?”

              Sean shakes his head. “Something waaaaaay better.”

              “Oh god. What did you take?”

              “Ecstasy, honeybuns.” He bounces on the cushions. “Let’s do it! Right here, on the couch!”

              “No way.”

              “Come on! It’s supposed to be really good on ecstasy. Like so good, you can’t ever have sex any other way.”

              “Well
I’m
not on ecstasy,” Kate argues.

              “Oh, right.” Sean’s smile falls, as if that’s a revelation. “I could get you some!”

              “No thank you. I don’t want any.”

              “Aw, it’s so much fun though! Like I can see entire spectrums of color that I never could before! And you. You. Oho, you look so amazing.”

              “I do?”

              “Yeah, like—whoa-o. You sure you don’t want me to get you some?”

              Kate folds her arms. She knows Aude would say yes. She’d say it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. She would try it and not look back.
But I’m not her,
Kate thinks. “No, I don’t want to try ecstasy.”

              Sean giggles. “Okay, honeybuns. Can I still kiss you though?”

              “Let’s just watch the rest of the movie.” It turns out to be boring and predictable: misunderstanding leads male and female to dislike each other, the misunderstanding is cleared up at the end, hijinks ensue. Sean can barely sit still; by the end, he’s literally shaking.

              “Are you alright?” Kate asks. A terrible thought makes her sit up:
what if you aren’t supposed to mix ecstasy and alcohol? What if he has to go to the hospital?

             
“I’m great. C’mere.” Sean picks up right where he left off, feeling Kate up and down as they kiss. Somehow, the knowledge that he’s on drugs makes the encounter more intense and awkward at the same time.

              “Mmm, hang on. I have to, uh, go to the bathroom,” Kate says.

              “Can I go with you?”

              “What? No.” Kate heads upstairs, to her own bathroom instead of the guest one on the main floor. On the way in, she spots her phone lying on her pink-sheeted bed.
I should text Aude,
she thinks
. She’ll know how to handle this.
Kate knows asking any other friend—except maybe Hannah—would be more practical, but when it comes to advice, best friend trumps all.
Hey,
she sends,
Sean showed up high on E. How’s
your
date night going?

             
Kate takes as long as she can, both to give Sean time to cool down and to let Aude respond. She checks her phone first thing after washing her hands. No reply.

              She wishes she could just send him home. But that won’t work; he might crash. So instead, Kate goes back downstairs, determined to keep her boyfriend from making a fool of himself… Well, any more than he already has.

              “You wanna go for a walk?” she asks, hoping it will tire Sean out.

              “Yeah! A walk sounds great!”

              Kate can’t help but laugh at his enthusiasm. Like a puppy, so anxious to do anything. “Okay, let’s go.” She has to remind Sean to put his shoes on before they leave.

              The moon is only a sliver in the sky, and the sun’s long since set. The only light that illuminates Sean’s face comes from overhead streetlights. It looks flushed. Kate tries to think of an excuse to check his temperature, then sighs and simply holds the back of her hand against his forehead.

              “What are you doing?” Sean goes cross-eyed trying to glimpse her fingers.

              “You’re burning up!” Kate exclaims. Maybe a walk wasn’t such a good idea. “Let’s go home.”

              “But we just started. I wanna go to the park.”

              “Fine.” Kate decides a fever is probably just one of the side-effects of ecstasy. Nothing to worry about.

              Sean quickly gets bored of the swingset, but the jungle gym keeps him occupied for quite some time. Kate sits on a rock, feeling like she’s babysitting a seven-year-old.

              Finally, her boyfriend seems to remember her. He hops off a plastic slide and walks over. “Isn’t tonight just the greatest night ever?”

              “Sure.”

              “Hey, you wanna know a secret?” Sean whispers. “I’ve had the biggest crush on you, ever since elementary school.”

              “What?” Kate didn’t go to elementary school with Sean.

              Aude did.

Instead of going to Kate’s house with the rest of her friends on Wednesday afternoon, Maddie heads to the girls’ locker room to change into a black leotard. The day she’s practiced for all summer has arrived: Patriots tryouts are in fifteen minutes. Maddie looks around the nearly-empty locker room. At least there won’t be a lot of competition.