Page 76 of Compared
“What about Krew? Is he in the car?”
“No. He’s with my brother tonight.”
She looks around nervously, and I can see that she's about to tell me no. It's on the tip of her tongue.
“Unless, of course, you were going to eat takeout with someone else,” I say. “I don't know if you already had plans.”
She shakes her head. “No, it’s just me tonight.”
“Then there's no sense in us both eating alone.”
“Tyler?”
I look up, and Hillary is standing there holding a Styrofoam box with a silly grin on her face.
“That's me.”
She wags her eyebrows at me as I grab the food.
Thankfully Meg doesn’t notice.
“Are you two together?” Hillary asks, gesturing between us.
She’s not my favorite person right now.
“Uh…” Meg looks at me. “We’re friends.”
Hillary laughs, something way overdone.“You guys would make an adorable couple. You should totally think about dating.”
“Thanks,” I say, turning to go, but not before I threaten Hillary with my glare.
Meg looks down at the box in my hands. “Don't you need to pay for that?”
“Uh, I already paid online.”
“I didn't know they had that option.”
“It’s new.” We walk out the door together into the warm evening air. I shake my box of food out in front of her. “So do you want to eat with me?”
She shifts her weight.
“In a very ‘just friends’ way,” I say, trying to convince her.
“Okay. I guess you can come eat at my apartment. I live right around the corner.”
Oh, this is better than I thought. I get to see a peek inside Meg's world. It’s like a date, but not. It’s the perfect situation.
* * *
MEG
Tyler Dixon isin my kitchen, filling up two glasses of water. This is definitely not how I saw the evening going, but it’s much better than the night of depression I had planned, watching romance movies and eating ice cream out of the carton.
This dinner is casual.
Accidental.
Incidental.
