I looked around at the kids screaming in the pool as sweat and sunblock mingled together in one delightful skin soup. Heard Felix and Cynthia shouting at each other. Saw Patrick already dozing off next to me.
Guilt about ditching these guys chipped away at me with each word I texted.
To Rose:Yeah sounds cool. Could I invite Hamlet?
She replied:O M G I’m gonna need the dirt later.
I sent her a thumbs-up emoji. Then I texted Hamlet:Hi. I had fun too… I’m going to Rose’s place to hang out at her pool. Want to come with?
COOL! Yes! For sure! And I just had practice in Chinatown, so I can be there like NOW.
I let out a bark of laughter at his enthusiasm and woke Patrick up.
“What’s up?” Patrick asked from his face-planted position as I typed away furiously on my phone, figuring out logistics with Rose and Hamlet.
I considered asking these guys if they wanted to come, but I couldn’t imagine all of us hanging out. Talk about motley.
“Gonna head home. Getting too much sun, I think.”
“Are you serious? We haven’t hung out in weeks.”
Stuffing my towel and book back into my tote, I frowned. “That’s not true. I hung out with you guys a few days ago, at Taco Bell.”
“Oh. Well, it’s just hard to see you lately, that’s all.”
He was right. Not only was I busy with the KoBra, but I didn’tfeel like spending all my free time with them anymore. The fact that I was ditching them to hang out withRosewould be considered totally bizarre. Because what they knew about Rose was so limited and wrong. I should know, because that’s what I used to know about her, too. And now, well. I found myself wanting to hang out with her more and more each day. “I’ll see you guys soon, though. Text me this Thursday when it’s my day off, okay?”
He grunted in reply, his eyes already fluttering closed.
***
Hamlet picked me up at the pool, and we drove toward Rose’s house up in the hills, a historic neighborhood filled with old Craftsman houses.
“This place is so cool!” Hamlet exclaimed as we drove up the hilly streets. “I never knew it existed.”
“That happens to me all the time, and I wasbornhere,” I said as we pulled up to Rose’s house, which had a huge porch, giant pine trees shading the property, and pretty bright green trim against the dark wood.
We were walking up the driveway when Hamlet stopped abruptly in his tracks.
“What’s up?” I asked.
His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, so I couldn’t read his expression right away. “So, I don’t want to be awkward, but the thing is, I’ve never had a girlfriend before.”
I stood there, feeling the heat rise off the concrete in warm waves onto my bare legs. How did we go from first date togirlfriend talk? I kind of felt like I was being cooked alive. “Girlfriend?” The question squeaked out of me.
He stuck his hands into his shorts pockets and then took them out. Then put them back in again. “Yeah. What I’m saying is, I’m not sure how this works?”
Hm. I fanned myself with my hand. “Well, uh, we don’t have to put a label on it or anything…”
“Oh. Okay. So you don’t want to datejustme?” He was smiling, but I could hear the hurt.
“No, I didn’t say that,” I said in a rush. Wait, did I want to date other people? Did I want to beexclusivewith Hamlet?
Maybe. I wasn’t sure. I just knew that the way he was looking at me right now was special, and I couldn’t really handle the idea of him looking at anyone else that way.
I walked up to him and poked his arm. “I like you.”
His smile transformed from forced to genuine, and I felt the wall of emotional defense so carefully constructed inside me start to chip away. “I like you, too,” he said before poking me back.
