Ava held up another finger as a point of order. ‘And our Tommy – ever the universal spiritualist – thinks Gabe getting a job at Sunset Estates means they are fated to be together and is thinking of giving up all his dreams to go to school in Los Angeles, with Gabe.’
‘I never said that!’ At least not out loud to Ava, I mean. How the hell did she even figure that out?
Morgan’s eyes clouded. ‘Oh, that’s not healthy.’
‘You didn’t have to say it,’ Ava said to me. ‘I can read context clues – asking me if I’d ever thought about going to another campus if Johns Hopkins had another one. And I talk to Gabe at work, too. He’s as hell-bent as you are on going to New York or LA.’
‘That doesn’t mean I’m thinking of going to LA.’
Ava arched her eyebrow at me. ‘Then why aren’t you doing early decision?’
‘Because …’ Because I wasn’t sure which campus I wanted to go to yet. ‘I still don’t have my letter from Natalie. Which I need for theNew Yorkcampus, by the way.’
‘Do you have a backup plan if she doesn’t write you one?’ Morgan asked. I had already filled her in on the bizarre deal I had going with Natalie, hoping she’d give me a heads-up if she saw Natalie talking to a resident before Morgan seated them.
As far as backups, I figured I could always ask Roni for a letter. But what would she write?I haven’t worked much with Tommy, but he comes to work on time and leaves on time? Also, there was the slight problem with her being very intimidating. But it was more of a respectful intimidation. I respected Roni so much that having a mediocre letter of recommendation from her would be so much worse. I already expected a middle-of-the-road letter from Natalie.
‘Hey, guys!’ I looked up to see Brad Waldorf standing over us, pool cue in hand.
‘Hey, Brad,’ Ava said. ‘I saw you kicking Terry’s ass over there.’ She pointed to a pool table where a few of the other guys on the varsity hockey team – including James, who had shouted our nicknames across the pool hall to announce our arrival – were playing what looked like Cutthroat.
‘Hey,’ I said when he turned to me expectantly. Then he turned back to Ava and raised his shoulders, putting on a cocky smile.
‘There’s a reason they made me a left winger.’
Ava gave him a wide grin. ‘Not a clue what that means, hon. Y’all almost done with that table or what?’
‘I think James and Terry are playing another round, but some of the other guys are leaving. Maybe you can jump in with them?’ He turned his full attention to me. ‘Tommy, can I … talk to you for a sec?’
Talk? Brad Waldorf? Usually, when he came over to me, he wasn’t using his tongue totalk. Was the hockey team having a bake sale? Maybe James told Brad to ask me to bake a few things for them like I did for the drama club when Hank Dyer and I were trying to force chemistry that wasn’t there.
‘Yeah, what’s up?’
His eyes flicked to Ava and Morgan, then back at me. ‘Actually …’ He turned to glance around the pool hall. ‘Can we take it outside?’
Oh, so it was the kind of ‘talk’ that involved tongues in other ways.
Ava shot eyes at me and barely raised her eyebrows. ‘Go ahead.’
I gave her aYou sure?look, and she gave a slight nod. I really did have the best friend. She knew I didn’t want to talk about Gabe, but there was something else I could do to forget about him.
‘Sure.’ I grabbed my jacket as Brad handed his pool cue over to Ava and she and Morgan walked over to James’s pool table.
‘Euthan-Ava!’ James shouted over the music. ‘Morganza!’
I followed Brad, and when he left me to grab his jacket at the table I continued to the door. I headed for my car and turned it on so the heater would warm up, then pulled out my phone to see a text from Ava telling me she and Morgan would get a ride home from James. Perfect. I could use a distraction from everything, and what better way to do that than getting handsy with your no-strings-attached straight-boy friend? Two separate words, of course – he was a boy, and we were friendly. Well, more than friendly.
One time last summer my mom had to take the Sunset Estates residents on a trip to some farm out in Lancaster. She left at seven in the morning and didn’t come home till almost eight that night. I learned that sex in my own bed – even a twin bed – is much better than in the back seat of a car or in the dark of someone’s basement while a party raged above. It was easier. It was actually nice. More enjoyable.
Although we could barely fit on my bed if one of us wasn’t on top of the other. But even after that, I was kind of surprised to see him stay. I had expected him to come over at ten a.m., then leave by ten thirty. But we hung out, I made him lunch, and we watched TV and talked. Then we went back up and did it again. But he still didn’t leave. He talked while we squeezed, sweaty and naked, onto my bed and he ran his finger up and down my back while I explained the process of baking the bread for the sandwiches we’d just had.
Thinking about it in the Ball Busters Billiards parking lot got me excited again. The pool hall door swung open, and Brad scanned the parking lot. I flashed my lights at him, and he waved and marched over.
‘Hey,’ Brad said when he ducked into the passenger seat.
‘I’m thinking Planet Fitness parking lot,’ I said. ‘Around the corner, where the staff usually parks. Plus, it’s eight fifty on a Saturday, so chances are it will be pretty empty.’
‘Huh?’
