“I guess you guys didn’t do much talking.” She tossed her hair to get it the right amount of playful.
Ethan searched for the words. She was right and wrong at the same time. “It’s like I barely know him, but I feel like I know him so well. Does that sound crazy?”
She left the mirror and got on her tiptoes to reach the upper bunk. “Kinda. But the good kind of crazy.”
That didn’t make Ethan feel any better. He fell back on the bed and pictured Greg’s smile, only for him. True, he didn’t have all the facts on Greg. Barely any. But he saw through Greg’s bullshit and had viewed glimpses of the real him. That had to count for something more than hard data.
When he sat back up, Lorna was looking something up on her phone.
“Change of plans for tonight,” Lorna said, typing away. She tossed her phone in her bag. Her cheeks bunched into a smile. “We’re going somewhere else.”
“Weare?”
“Greg’s frat is having a party tonight. You’re going. You’re talking to Greg. You’re setting the record straight. Or not, in his case.”
“What? No, no. I can’t.” Ethan’s face bleached white. His airways closed up at the thought. “I’ll see him on Tuesday.”
“No. You’re going to see him tonight in his fratty element.”
“What about your party? Chicks over dicks and all that.”
“Ethan.” Lorna never sounded this firm. “Don’t you want to talk to your hunk and find out what the hell is going on? You have a right to know.”
Yes to all of that!Attending a frat party? Confronting Greg? The possibilities and scenarios flashed through Ethan’s mind like a montage on speed. This would be a night to remember. Ethan jumped off the bed, giving Lorna a shock.
“I can’t wait. I’ll meet up with you after Dave’s concert.”
Lorna pulled a flask from her desk drawer. She took out two cans of Diet Coke from her mini-fridge and two shot glasses from the freezer cubby. “If we’re going to a frat party, we need to prepare. We need to pregame.”
“You want us to start drinking now?”
“You need to chill out.” She poured them each a shot of what smelled like vodka and handed him a can of soda. “You’re going to be wired during the a capella show, thinking about the party and Greg. A shot or two will help keep you calm.”
“I am calm!” Ethan shouted. Lorna shot him a look, and he immediately hung his head.
“Are you ready to ask Greg if he likes you as more than a fuckbuddy—sober?”
He held both beverages like the scales of justice. If there was a chance that he would see Greg tonight, then there existed only one way he was getting through it.
They clinked shotglasses.
Φ
Three shots later, Ethan had reached a state of calm. Well, more like a state of hysterical laughter. The alcohol warmed his insides, and he felt prepared for tonight. He and Lorna took turns dishing about awkward guy experiences. She regaled him with tales of guys giving her a fake phone number or sitting next to her crush on a field trip bus ride for an hour and not being able to say a word. Lorna wasn’t the cool cat from birth Ethan had imagined. She was once shy and stiff, but she’d come out of her shell. Ethan imagined himself going through a similar process. College did that to people. It was the first time you were on your own, finding your own way. That had to cause people to change, and Ethan pitied people who stayed the same over their four years.
They sprawled out on her floor, the empty shot glasses between them. Ethan stood up to get another Diet Coke from her fridge, but the room had the nerve to spin around and tilt. How inconsiderate! He stumbled and gripped onto Jessica’s chair for balance.
“Easy there,” Lorna said.
“I’m fine.”
Ethan didn’t remember feeling this way at the tailgate, and he’d had more to drink. Perhaps sitting and drinking produced a different effect than standing while drinking. He was inspired to do some scientific research into the theory. But first he needed more Diet Coke.
“You okay?” Lorna asked, mostly pointing out his drunkenness.
“I said I’m fine.” Ethan squatted down and picked out a soda from the fridge, even as the room continued to act like the inside of a kaleidoscope.
His body froze as the door opened, and Jessica stepped inside. Her eyes immediately flung wipe open at the site of empty shot glasses and a flask.
