“Thanks. You want to come in?”
“Of course. You know how nosy I am!”
I laughed and stood aside, and right away I heard Naya greeting him. It was obvious that they would get along great: they were both super-social, and as soon as they flopped down on the sofa together, they were chattering away. Sue ignored them, flipping through her fashion magazine, and Will set a couple of beers down on the coffee table.
“I’m glad you guys have some classes together this year,” Naya said. “I worry about Jenna being on her own.”
“You sound like my mom,” I told her, but Curtis said Naya was right, that I struggled to fit in, especially with big groups. “And my friends all love you,” he added, pulling me into him and squeezing. I found that a relief—much more than I wanted to admit. Even if I had fun with people, I always wondered afterward whether they really liked me or were just pretending.
“Big groups suck,” Sue said, turning a page of her magazine.
“Says you,” Curtis responded. “I love hanging out with a bunch of people. It just means more people to talk shit to and embarrass.”
Sue must have liked that—it fit with her weird sense of humor. She grinned slightly, and I had to admire Curtis’s skill at winning over everyone in the house. I had needed weeks to get Sue to stop scowling at me when I’d first started coming over there.
Just then, Jack walked in and threw his keys on the counter. He had changed into a gray sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, all of it new looking. I felt somehow sad not to see him in clothing I recognized. Had things changed that much in a year? He didn’t notice me, instead addressing Will and saying, “Hey, bro, have you seen Jen? I need…”
He turned, stopped talking, froze. And I realized Curtis’s arm was around me. He withdrew it, clapped me on the back, and straightened up awkwardly. Jack didn’t react. But you could tell he thought something wasn’t right. He had reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt, but then he stopped himself instead of taking something out.
Will broke the tense silence: “Hey, man. This is Curtis, he’s one of Jenna’s friends.”
I didn’t like the tone of that wordfriends. It made it sound like he was trying to cover up for something. Jack’s expression turned suddenly spiteful, the same way I had already seen him look—I guess I was naive tothink something would have changed after last night—and he murmured, as if he couldn’t care less, “Great.”
He grabbed a beer, opened it, and sat on the other end of the sofa, leaving me between him and Curtis. Now things were actually getting weird.
“Our dear friend Jack here, who’s swilling his beer and ignoring everyone, is a movie director,” Naya announced, to try and make us feel less uncomfortable. “He’s about to make his big debut.”
“For real?” Curtis asked. “When?”
“Two weeks,” Jack said.
“Look how overjoyed he is,” Sue remarked.
Jack stared into the TV set. I wanted to ask if he was OK, but I was sure he’d be pissed if I did it in front of everyone. Will tried to force a conversation out of him again, asking, “Is Vivian going to be at the premiere?”
Vivian?I couldn’t help but frown. That girl who had picked up the phone when I called on Ross’s birthday…was that Vivian? What was the deal with them? I’d tried not to think about it before, telling myself it wasn’t my problem, but if it wasn’t, it sure as hell felt like it was.
“Obvs,” Ross grunted.
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Naya told him courteously.
Why did I feel like everyone was being quiet for my sake? I turned to Will wide-eyed, pleading for help, but he pretended not to see me. Curtis, clearly tired of pretending everything was normal, told me with a smirk, “I gotta go. We’ll talk, OK?”
“Sure,” I said. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
I tried to ignore the sensation of being watched as he put on his jacket and I opened the door for him. He gave me a quick but friendly hug, which I was thankful for, then whispered in my ear, “One of these days, you’ll have to tell me why the weirdo on the couch was staring daggers at me. I feel like there’s some hot goss behind that.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I told him, “You can’t even imagine.”
“Now I’m dying to know.”
“I’m sorry the evening ended up this way. If it makes you feel better, I think the rest of them really liked you.”
“Of course they did, Jenna. I’m great.”
I closed the door and felt everyone’s eyes on me again. Jack had stood by then and was leaning against the wall. As cordially as I could, I asked him, “Did you want to tell me something?”
He arched an eyebrow, pretending to be apathetic, but he was squeezing his beer so tight, I thought he might crush it in his hand, and there was tension in his shoulders as he tapped his foot on the floor. It felt like a bomb was about to go off.
