Loveseat Nights

10

wednesday, feb 10

Ally pleads with me to go to some kind of volleyball banquet with her tonight. The noises of the surrounding hallway seem to fade away as she asks what’s been keeping me so busy.

“My mom’s been all weird lately. She might be going through menopause, I don’t know,” I blurt.

“Your mom’s, like, 45. I thought menopause happened to women 60-plus.”

“What can I say, she’s always been an early bloomer.” 

“Can’t you come to my banquet?” she begs, going back to the original topic.

“I…can try?”

“Honestly, Adrien, you’re no fun,” Ally complains. “I’m winning an award. You’re my boyfriend. You have to be there.”

All of this makes me feel like a giant, douchey cockroach, but what am I supposed to say? Oh sorry, babe, but if I don’t go watch this movie you’re going to find out that I cheated on you! Twice! Which only further proves my douche-cockroach-ness, so, uh, not going there.

Then there’s the idea that maybe I could watch the movie and then hurry along to the banquet, but that was ruled out when Ally reported the event time to be 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. It’s a long, long banquet. Volleyball girls are peppy, overexcited, and very numerous as well.

Of course, that leaves two options (or three, if you count the road currently taken): 1. watch the movie after the banquet, or 2. pray that Mona will take pity on my poor, girlfriend-pleasing soul. The first won’t work if Ally’s feeling quite celebratory after the banquet and wants me all to herself until my curfew, and the second...could possibly work. If I employ my smolder in just the right way.

But it’s better to leave her thinking I can’t go anyways. Even if I can, then hey -- at least she’ll be surprised. Happy surprised.

“I’m really sorry, Alyssa,” I tell her, kissing her forehead. “Can you go without me? Please?”

Her frown is so subtle it’s almost like she’s trying to pull it up into a smile but can’t seem to make it past a thin, straight line. “Yeah. Sure. Paul wants to go with me, are you okay with that?”

“Ha, sure. Amuse him.”

She gives me a little peck on the lips and walks away from the row of lockers, turning back around for a second and saying, “By the way, we’ve still got to make plans to set up Paul and Mona, remember?”

“Oh, definitely,” I reply, and she walks off with more of a strut in her step. But I doubt it’s going to work, with Mona’s not-so-great opinion of him. The thought makes me happy — I definitely don’t want my personal life and, well, blackmailed life crossing paths.

There’s a silly grin on my face, still thinking about that half-second kiss, as I turn around to walk to my next class and — oof! I run into Mona.

“You guys are a cute couple,” she says. I almost shoot back a snarky response, but then I realize she’s not being sarcastic. She’s genuine, for once.

“Oh. Uh.” I look down at my feet. “Thanks.”

“Anyway, I thought I’d ask for your opinion about tonight’s movie,” she continues as we walk down the hall.

“About that...” I begin. Mona slows down and sends me a piercing glare. Geesh. Soul-eating eyes much?

“Well, it’s just that Alyssa wants me to hang out with her tonight and I don’t want to say no again and have her think something’s up,” I blurt in a tangle of words and back-of-the-neck scratching.