Page 89 of Enemies to Prom Dates
“Heath makes it his mission to get under people’s skin. Don’t take it personally.”
“You watch. All he’ll have to do is smile at a girl, and she’ll drop her panties for him.”
“It’s because he’s the prettiest of all us,” Chas offered. “That and girls think they can save him from himself. All that damage is like catnip to them. I’m going to find another beer. Since I can’t tell if my dizzy is from the concussion or the booze, I figure I’ll double down. You guys good?”
Both Ed and I nodded.
“Star on her way?” I asked him. He’d been texting with her on the drive over.
He nodded. “Yeah. She was helping her mom with something tonight, but she’s coming to get me soon. So if I don’t see you again tonight, I mean it. Keep winning, Fitz. I really want to steal the trophy right out of your hands.”
“I’ll get on that,” I offered then lifted my chin as I watched him walk farther into the darkness of the woods where we kept the coolers of beer.
“So you don’t think Heath meant that? About Janie,” Ed pressed.
Clearly, we weren’t done with that conversation. “No. I think he was just trying to bust your balls.”
Ed shrugged. “Not that I care.”
“No, of course not.”
“I have a girlfriend,” Ed said as if he was reminding himself.
“You donothave a girlfriend. You have a Bee problem. That’s not the same thing at all.”
“Says the newly minted smug boyfriend. Where is Beth anyway?”
“Working,” I said before thinking better of it.
“Working,” Ed repeated. “Like a job? Why is Beth working?”
“Uh…you know her. Overachiever. She believes it will pad her college résumé to prove she can be academically successful while also holding down a part-time job. It’s more for the experience than the money.”
As lies went it was pretty pathetic. Almost as bad as her telling me she was doing it to learn conversational Spanish because some of the bus boys who worked at the club were Hispanic.
Wait, did that mean Beth wasn’t actually taking Spanish?
I needed to follow up on that. Sure, we were dating now, but that didn’t mean I didn’t still want to beat her as this year’s Top Academic. I would have way too much fun rubbing that in her face.
Thinking about her face, it made me smile. I took out my phone and saw the time. It was just after nine. When exactly did her shift end? There was only one way to find out.
Me:Hey when do you get done work? I’ll come pick you up.
I put the phone back in my pocket not expecting her to answer right away since she was working. But five minutes later I felt the vibration of a text.
Beth:11ish. Usually takes some time to clean up.
I could work with that.
Me:I’ll be there.
Beth:Okay. Don’t have fun without me.
Me:I’m not. I promise.
That’s why I was agitated, I realized. It was like standing still for any length of time without seeing her or hearing her voice or even just texting with her made me feel like I was missing something. Like I should be out looking for her and everything else was just killing time.
I did not share that thought with Ed, who probably would tell me to fuck off.
