She was on the other side of the room now, pressed against the wall.
“By the way,” she called from very far away. “I forgot to ask. How’s Nikki?”
Okay, I’d totally misread the situation. She was actually furious. I took another spin on the stool. Damn the medication! I would’ve been halfway through a toe-tap solo right now without it.
“She’s fine,” I said, although I had no idea how she was. Hadn’t seen her in years. She’d skipped out way before the trial started, leaving me to testify on my own, so we weren’t on the best of terms. “We’re not together.”
“Mm-hmm,” Grace replied, flat-lipped. “I don’t care.”
“No, I wasn’t saying you did. I was just telling you.”
Grace laughed, but, oh lord, it wasn’t a happy sound—more like a wounded animal with its foot caught in a trap.
“Since we’re doing story time right now,” she bristled, “I’m not together with Elliott anymore either.”
To which I replied, for no apparent reason, “I’m single.”
“Just shut up, Rory.” She rolled her eyes. “There’s absolutely no reason for me to know your dating status. We’re friends, remember?”
“You said you weren’t with Elliott, so I was reciprocating.”
“No, you said you weren’t with Nikki, so I was reciprocating. Now you’re just being redundant.”
Letting it all sink in, I stared at Grace. “This friend thing isn’t going to work, is it?”
“That all depends.”
“On?”
“Whether or not you’ll be bringing women back and banging them in the bunk room.”
“Me?” I protested. “What about you?”
“I don’t bang women.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m not the problem, Rory. I think you underestimate the appeal of being in a popular rock band. You’ll walk into the green room after the show and have your pick.” Giving her best Oprah impression, Grace pointed out imaginary women in the audience. “You can fuck me. And you can fuck me. And you can fuck me.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Yes, Rory. That’s very much going to happen. I may not have feelings for you anymore…” She paused, almost as if catching her breath. “But I certainly don’t want to watch you fall in love, either. My friendship has its limits.”
“Okay, if we’re making demands, then I don’t want to watch you fall in love either.”
“I can assure you, I have no interest in trolling the pit for a lover.”
“I don’t either.”
“It won’t matter whether you want to or not. You will. And you know how I know? You left me for another girl. Stood me up at Homecoming. I never got to go to the damn dance, you dickhead. Argh,” she groaned. “Just promise me you’ll bang the groupies when I’m not around.”
Flustered, the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. “I promise.”
“Fuck you, Beats!”
Grace stormed out.
Oh, yeah. Tucker had called it. Grace and I were both going to lose our jobs.
