“Well, you’re the only one. So stop.” She turned back around, elbowing me sharply in the stomach again as she did so. “The movie’s about to start.”
“Movie?” I looked at the front of the room, where, sure enough, Kim had rolled in a cart with a TV and DVD player on it. On the screen, a title page: STAGES OF LABOR AND DELIVERY. “Oh, God. Is it okay if I wait—”
“Nope,” she said as the lights went dim overhead and the video began. The camera zeroed in on a woman in a hospital bed, hugely pregnant, her feet up in stirrups. She was smiling, as was her husband, sitting beside her.
I looked at the clock: there were twenty minutes left of class, and then I’d have to drive us home. When faced with two not-so-good options, there really isn’t even a point in choosing between them. Still, I did cover my eyes.
Eleven
“Hey. Do you want to go to Club Prom with me?”
Every movement in the guys’ apartment did not screech to a halt as Blake said this. It just felt that way.
“What?” I said, although I’d heard him. So had Bailey, who was now looking squarely at us from where she was sitting on the other bed with Colin.
“It’s this dance,” Blake said casually, taking a sip from his beer. “They have it every year at the Club. Kind of a joke, kind of not. It’s usually fun.”
I looked at Bailey again, feeling helpless. She’d talked about this so much, it seemed wrong that I’d get asked first, and I wanted to give Colin a chance to make his move. But when I looked at him, he was studying his phone, his eyes narrowed.
“Um,” I finally said to Blake. “Yeah. Sure. I’d love to go.”
“Cool,” he said, so nonchalantly I wondered, briefly, what he would have done if I’d said no. “It’s next Saturday, and you’ll need something kind of formal, just FYI.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “I’ll figure something out.”
“I have procured a date to Club Prom,” Blake yelled toward Hannah and Rachel, who were by the doorway, huddled over their phones. “So you can stop nagging me.”
“Thank God,” Rachel said. “Nothing like waiting until the last minute.”
“Last minute? It’s Monday. The dance is next Saturday,” Blake told them.
“We’re girls,” Hannah informed him. “We need time to prepare for things like this.”
“Which is why,” Rachel said, “we asked our guys ages ago.”
At this, Colin got to his feet and walked back into the kitchen, where he opened the fridge, taking out another beer. He popped the tab, then just stood there, holding it and looking out the back door.
“You already have dates?” Bailey asked the girls now. “Who are you taking?”
Rachel shook the ice in her plastic cup. “These German exchange students from the kitchen.”
“Who are super cute but don’t speak English,” Hannah said. “And we don’t know German. Should be fun.”
“You,” Rachel said, “are just pissed because Roo said no. Don’t take it out on Gunther and Konrad.”
Bailey, surprised, said, “You asked Roo to Club Prom?”
Hannah blushed. “Oh, God. Yes. He shot me down, but at least he was nice about it. Said he had to work.”
“He probably does,” Bailey told her. “He has, like, four jobs.”
“That’s what he said,” she replied. “Truthfully, though, I don’t think he’s into me. Which stinks, because he’s totally my type.”
“Your type,” Rachel repeated. “What’s that, blond and handsome?”
“Andnice,” Hannah added. “The other night at Lucy Tate’s, I lost my shoes and he spent like a half hour helping me find them. What’s not to like?”
Shoe buddy, I thought. It was hard not to wince.
