“It’s not even about him, it’s about you. That you’d do something like that,” she explained. “I was just distracting myself with him anyway. I would never dateNate Banksin the real world.”
I sat back, confused. “What do you mean? Why not?”
She laughed again. “Could you imagine? My mother would have a heart attack.”
Because he’s Black?
I thought of so many things—how uncomfortable it had been to meet my high school boyfriend’s aunt and uncle, how my mother’s Chinese parents threatened to disown her when she got engaged to my dad, how people had treated me and my sister because of the particular blending of genes that made up our DNA—and felt my cheeks go hot. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, don’t. If anyone gets to be upset here, it’s me,” she said. “Besides, I’ve already moved on…college boys like Nate aren’t for me.” She finished the rest of her drink.
“I’m so tired of all this,” Cecily said. “Everyone needs to stop acting like the world is against them. Men have treated women like that for centuries.”
What was this, the oppression Olympics? Did we have to compete for last place?
“Forget about it,” Cecily said now, standing and adjusting her dress. “You can have Nate Banks. Let’s go inside—I want another drink.”
—
We found Daisyand Kai on the dance floor, and I forced myself to drink, to dance, to forget. The DJ turned up the music and bass throbbed low and steady from the speakers. Girls removed their heels, twirled by tuxedoed young men. I could sense the unresolved tension between Cecily and me, her comments burrowing under my skin like a tick, until to my relief, she left the dance floor and disappeared into the crowd.
I took a deep breath. Across the room, I caught sight of Nate standing alone off to one side. He looked handsome in his tux, locs pulled back from his face, eyes scanning the crowd, and when he saw me, he smiled and a warm sensation tingled through me.
I went to him and leaned in close. “Sorry about earlier. I think I’ve smoothed things over with Cecily. Come with me, I want to show you something.”
—
On our wayout, Nate draped his blazer over my shoulders, and I looked back one last time at the party. It had devolved into chaos. Daisy was leaning over the railing, pouring champagne into a boy’s mouth below. Kai was barefoot, the skirt of her dress hiked up, sliding down the banister with a shot glass in her mouth. And Cecily was nowhere to be found. Nearby, a wineglass shattered.
I turned to Nate. “Have you ever skinny-dipped in Lake Carnegie?”
“Uh. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s snowing outside.”
“Scared of catching a cold?” I teased.
Nate raised an eyebrow. “You can’t be serious.”
But the fight with Cecily had made me reckless, and I was already running for the door. “Don’t be a loser!”
—
As we stoodside by side on the ledge overlooking the lake, flurries of snow dancing around us, it felt like we were far away from reality, the only ones left in the world. I was shivering, but I didn’t care.
He handed me a bottle of wine he’d stolen from the bar, and I took a long swig. Nate cupped a hand over his mouth and shouted into the dark. “Woooo!” His voice echoed across the vast space.
I shouted too, relieved to release the heaviness in my chest.
“I needed that after tonight,” I said to him, relieved to be feeling better.
When we sat down, Nate turned to me. “Why do you hang out with those people?”
“What do you mean?”
“Cecily, Kai, even Daisy…I don’t get it. They’re nothing like you—just spoiled trust fund kids.”
I frowned. “You’re the one who hooked up with her.”
“At least I don’t follow her around like a lapdog.”
