Perfectly Clueless

by Madeleine Labitan

  Dylan snorts but doesn’t bother to explain himself. He goes back to his previous position.

  I make a face at him. You’re useless.

  He smirks. You’re on your own, sweetheart.

  Probably because there’s really nothing to explain. We didn’t do anything wrong. Though I know that if the tables were turned and I was his girlfriend and I caught him in a compromising position with another girl, I’d demand an explanation.

  Finally, he shrugs. “What she said.”

  Okay, then.

  Rolling my eyes at him, I turn back to Kristen whose eyes are narrowed for a moment before schooling her features and breaking into a smile. Yep, she isn’t happy by what she saw.

  Behind her, Walter seems like he’s holding back a laugh. Seriously, these McCafferty men.

  “I guess I better head out.” I make sure to sound cheerful, even though I’m really disappointed that Kristen showed up.

  Dylan was supposed to spend the whole afternoon with me, not just half of it. I slant a look at him and I’m a little surprised to see my disappointment mirrored in his face.

  He practically confirms it when he quietly says, “You don’t have to leave.”

  Kristen’s lips purses in annoyance. Then looks down when she sees me staring, pretending to dust off her shirt.

  I’m not an insensitive prick so I shake my head. “It’s okay. I have to work on my homework, anyway. I’ll just see you guys tomorrow.”

  I turn to leave when Kristen stops me. “Bianca, wait.” I look over my shoulder. "Want to go to the mall this weekend?”

  My eyes pop, making Dylan smirk. I ignore him. “To go shopping? Uh, no.”

  She laughs. “Come on, it’ll be fun. I’ve also asked El and Maddie to come along. I’d really love it if you’d join us, B.”

  Is she hoping for a sleepover two point zero? Guess I’m hoping the same because I find myself nodding and blurting out a yes before I step out of Dylan’s room.

  “That was painful to watch, kid,” Walter tells me as we walk down the hall, sounding a little sympathetic.

  “Don’t I know it,” I mutter, pretending not to hear Kristen’s squeal and soft giggles coupled with Dylan’s gruff whispers.

  Don’t worry, B, someday you won’t have to pretend anymore.

  As if to read my thoughts, Walter taps me on the back. “For what it’s worth, kid, I’ve always rooted for you.”

  Ten

  Friday night comes and almost every junior and senior student in Bayfield High is present at the drive-in. What can I say? There aren’t a lot of places to go to in this town when it comes to hangout spots. So here we all are.

  Dylan and Kristen picked me up a couple hours after they dropped me home from school. Nick, Sloan and El are already at the drive-in when we got here. So they managed to find a good spot ahead of us. And they even saved a space for Dylan’s pickup, which is right next to Sloan’s convertible. We’re near the front so it’s pretty sweet.

  The movie on the screen is a James Bond installment in which Daniel Craig plays the famous fictional character. I’ve watched it probably a thousand times but it seriously never gets old.

  Dylan and Kristen are sitting on the bed of his truck. We brought comfy beach chairs with us so that’s where El, Nick and I are lounging. Sloan, on the other hand, is making out with some girl in his car instead of watching the movie. They probably won’t come up for air until the end credits.

  “You know what’s missing?” El turns in her seat to face me.

  “What?” I humor her.

  “S’mores and a fire pit. That would be perfect.” She even looks wistful, which only makes me laugh.

  “We’re not camping. Besides, who needs s’mores when we have pizza and chicken drumsticks?”

  Todd was kind enough to let Nick bring two boxes of pizza and a chicken bucket for free. At least that’s what Nick and El told us. Since they’re working at the pizza place, they get to man the kitchen. And once or twice, Nick has sneaked out boxes of pizza without his dad knowing. I won’t be surprised if Todd doesn’t know about this one, too.

  “I’m actually craving for some s’mores myself,” Nick chimes in from El’s other side.

  What are we, six?

  I roll my eyes at them. “I’m gonna grab some drinks. Want one?”

  “Sure,” El says.

  Nick simply motions to the beer can in his hand.

  Okay, then.

  Dylan and Kristen seem to be completely engrossed with each other, but I don’t look to check if they’re making out. I don’t have any intention of torturing myself tonight, so I simply walk past them.

  Making my way toward the concession area, I stop a few times to nod and say hi to some people along the way. I spy Adam and Maddie a few cars down with Sean, Kenzie, and the rest of their friends. They haven’t seen me though, so I don’t bother going over.

  Thankfully, there’s no waiting line in front of the counter so I manage to get the drinks fast. Holding mine and El’s Coke cups, I whirl around and almost bump into someone.

  “Easy.” A hand shoots out to steady me.

  I glance up at a guy wearing a baseball cap. Squinting my eyes, I recognize him in an instant.

  It’s Rohan and he looks just as surprised to see me.

  “Hey,” I say.

  “Hello,” he greets back, biting back a smile, pulling his hand back and shoving them into his pockets.

  I arch a brow at him. “So, James Bond fan, huh?”

  He shrugs. “Eh, more like out of boredom. Thought I’d go along with my teammates.” Oh, yeah. Rohan is a member of the swim team. “But they’d gone off to join their mates or girlfriends. So I’ll probably head out.”

  “You can join us,” I offer, meaning it.

  He gives me a hesitant look. “I don’t know.”

  “My friends won’t mind.” When he just continues to stare at me, I blow out a breath. “Seriously, come on. There’s another chair that has your name on it.”

  It was supposed to be Sloan’s, but seeing that he’s otherwise engaged, I don’t think he’ll mind if I let someone else use it.

  Breathing out a laugh, he finally nods. “Okay. But let me carry those for you.” He goes to grab the Coke cups from my hands before I can even stop him.

  I guess chivalry isn’t dead?

  I quietly lead the way back to my friends, making sure Rohan is close behind me.

  “Here we are,” I say when we reach my friends, sitting on my chair and gesturing him to do the same on the empty chair next to mine.

  Taking the drinks from his hands and handing one to El, I address all my friends who turn out to be gaping at us. “Guys, you know Rohan, right?”

  It’s El who recovers first. “Um, yeah. Hi.” She waves at him awkwardly.

  I turn to Rohan. “Do I need to make introductions?”

  That makes him chuckle. “It’s okay. I know their names.”

  “Great.” I smile at him, but it fades when I see the look on Dylan’s face. He’s glaring at Rohan and he’s not even trying to hide it. I wait for him to meet my gaze before I give him my own dark glare. What’s your problem?

  He ignores me, focusing his eyes back on the boy sitting next to me. The words that come out of his mouth are pure venom. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be, Mallick? Where are your pool club friends?”

  El whips her head toward us, wide-eyed.

  Kristen gasps out loud. “Dylan!”

  Rohan stiffens beside me.

  I grit my teeth. “Shut up, D. I invited him.” To Rohan, I give an apologetic look. “Don’t mind him. He’s PMS-ing.”

  Rohan glares back at Dylan, but smiles at me then finally relaxing.

  I exhale a relieved breath. Trouble averted.

  Nick snorts out a laugh. Standing up, he walks over to us, making Rohan stiffen again. But he only slaps him on the back.

  “Your funeral, man,” Nick chuckles before heading to a group of stoners—probably to sc
ore a cigarette.

  I slant a glance at Dylan, but he’s scowling at Kristen. She’s tearing into him. Good. Serves him right.

  “What’s his deal?” Rohan quietly asks after a long moment.

  I sigh. “Ignore him. He’s just being an idiot.”

  “I think it’s more than that,” he says, as if implying something. But instead of elaborating, he focuses his attention to the screen.

  I pretend to do the same, but inside I’m still seething. I know Dylan can be an asshole. But what did Rohan do to him to warrant that kind of behavior? Is there any bad blood between them that I don’t know about?

  But Dylan doesn’t get into fights. And neither does Rohan. I think. He keeps to himself most of the time. Even though he sits with his teammates during lunch—yeah, I’ve been observing him lately—I haven’t seen him participate in their rowdy conversations. Plus he asked me what’s wrong with Dylan, which tells me he has no idea as well.

  I guess I’ll have to confront Dylan about it. And I know it’s not going to be pretty. I’d probably end up yelling at him and kicking his ass in frustration.

  Halfway through the second movie, Kristen announces she’s tired, so we all decide to pack up and go home. Like I suspected, Sloan remains attached to his kissing partner’s lips the whole time. So he’s a little disoriented when I tell him it’s time to go.

  After the chairs are loaded up in the back of Dylan’s truck, I turn to Rohan. “Do you have a ride? We can give you a ride home.” I can feel Dylan’s scowl boring into the back of my head, but I ignore him.

  Rohan looks over my shoulder, his eyes darkening a little. “It’s okay. I brought my car with me.”

  I nod. “So, uh, see you at school?”

  He nods. “Thanks for inviting me over.”

  “Eh, no big deal.” Smiling at him one last time, I turn to climb into the truck, throwing a scowl in Dylan’s direction. He’s already in the driver seat, looking impatient. But I only manage a few steps before Rohan is calling after me again. I whirl around to see him jogging back.

  Stopping in front of me, he runs a hand through his hair. Is it me or does he look a little nervous?

  Behind me, Dylan honks impatiently.

  Sloan honks the horn as well, pulling out of his spot and driving away with El and Nick.

  “I’m coming, geez. Just wait a damn minute,” I snap at the asshole. Turning back to Rohan, I say, “Yeah? Did you forget something?”

  “Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to see Reckless Pursuit play.”

  My eyes widen. Is he asking me—

  “They have a gig in Brooksville next weekend.”

  Brooksville is just three towns over from Bayfield. My heart starts to race in excitement. “They’ll be there? Seriously?”

  He nods. “My cousin already reserved a table for me. Said I could bring my mates if I want to. Since I know you fancy them.” He shrugs, trailing off.

  “Are you asking me on a date?” I blurt out.

  “I…Well.” He blushes and I can’t help but grin at how adorable he looks.

  I find myself nodding. “Okay. I’ll go with you.”

  It’s a wonder how I’m not jumping up and down like a crazy fangirl. Because I’m legit fangirling right now. I’ll be seeing one of my favorite bands perform live. Holy shit!

  Relief crosses his features and he grins. “Pick you up at seven then.”

  I grin back. “Can’t wait.”

  We both jump as another honk sounds behind me, and it’s even longer this time.

  I close my eyes. I’m going to kill Dylan in his sleep. Saying goodbye to Rohan, I run to the truck and climb inside.

  “Ohmigod, he totally asked you out!” Kristen squeals. “We heard every word!”

  I just grin at her, still feeling overwhelmed that Rohan asked me out. Looking out the window, I sigh audibly and watch him walk away.

  I only startle when Dylan reverses out of the spot abruptly, making Kristen squeal and almost knocking me off my seat.

  My eyes find his through the rear-view mirror. He’s still sporting a dark look. Seriously, the guy needs to get over himself.

  Flashing a taunting smile, I lift both hands and flip him off.

  Eleven

  “My feet are numb. I can’t feel them anymore,” Kristen whines, stretching her legs out.

  Next to her, Madison blows out a tired breath. “When I go home, I’m going to stay in my bed for the next twenty-four hours.”

  “We have school tomorrow,” I point out, snickering on my banana milkshake.

  She shakes her head firmly. “I don’t care. I’m sleeping in.”

  “I’m never going shopping again.” Kristen continues to gripe, shoveling a forkful of pasta into her mouth.

  El gives them a sympathetic look. “Well, at least you managed to shop all the clothes you wanted.”

  “Not really,” Kristen pouts. “I couldn’t find the dress I just saw a few days ago. I was really hoping I could get it today. But no, someone beat me to it.” Her frown deepens, but then it’s quickly replaced by an excited smile. “Oh, I know. I’ll just go browse their online catalogue and see if I can find it there.”

  What happened to not shopping again? But, really, I don’t have to ask. Sure they’re complaining about aching feet and legs right now. But come next shopping spree? Sore limbs be damned.

  It’s a good thing I don’t care much for shopping. I mostly wear graphic tees so I only enter one or two stores—and every few months at that. Buying a new shirt doesn’t even last me twenty minutes.

  But Kristen and Maddie? They spent over three hours going through clothing store after clothing store. And they only ended up with, what, two or three shopping bags each?

  El and I were happily spared of the torture. She shares my lack of interest so we opted to see the latest Tom Cruise movie instead, and decided we’d just meet the two of them here in the food court afterwards.

  We even had time to mess around at the arcades and try out those comfy demo massage chairs after we stepped out of the movies. Best three hours spent ever. We’re definitely not moaning about having achy feet.

  Kristen said we’d have fun. El and I sure did.

  “You know what we should get after this?” Maddie addresses us all, waving a fry as she does so.

  “More clothes?” I deadpan.

  “No. Massage. I badly need one,” she ends on a whimper.

  El and I grin at each other knowingly.

  “Okay,” Kristen somberly agrees. “But can we, like, get one later? I literally don’t think I can walk right now. I need at least an hour.”

  “Poor baby,” I smirk. “Want me to call Dylan to come carry you?”

  Instead of beaming at my offer, her face crumples. She looks down. “I don’t think he’ll come willingly.”

  “Why not?” I demand.

  She blows some stray hair out of her face. “We kind of had a fight last night.”

  They did? My mind goes back to the drive-in. Everything seemed fine then. “When? After you guys dropped me off?”

  They sure weren’t fighting when we left. In fact, it had been a quiet ride to my house. If there was tension simmering between them, I didn’t notice. Even Dylan’s dickishness didn’t stop me from riding the high of being asked out by Rohan.

  See, here’s the thing: I’ve never had a boyfriend before. Honestly, I can count in one hand the number of times a guy asked me out throughout high school and middle school—none of them my type in the slightest.

  I do get some skeevy propositions for a hookup from time to time. It’s like boys take one look at me and decide, “This girl is always up for a good time.”

  Yeah, in their dreams. I’m not like Dylan and Nick. I don’t go around hooking up with people liberally.

  Truth: I only kissed two boys my whole life. One time in seventh grade when I got roped into playing Spin the Bottle. It lasted all of three seconds before Mark Johnson and I pulled apart, wiping our lips.
I’m pretty sure it was the moment he realized he was gay.

  The other one was back in sophomore year. I just caught Dylan making out with a senior behind the school gym. So in retaliation, I spent an hour sucking face with Chad Harrelson—a junior—in his car in the parking lot. He was a sloppy kisser and he squeezed my boob so hard I thought it was going to fall off my chest. So yeah, that was the end of that.

  Now I can’t help wondering if Rohan is a good kisser. More importantly, will he end up being my first boyfriend? Getting the attention of one of the most elusive boys in school has certainly been a shock. But I’m certainly not averse to the idea.

  “Maybe he was just having a bad day.” El’s voice reels me back into the conversation.

  Right. We’re talking about Kristen and Dylan’s ongoing lovers quarrel.

  “No. He was in a good mood. He just started acting all moody at the drive-in.” Kristen pauses thoughtfully, turning to me. “I think it was around the time you brought Rohan with you.” She frowns at me for a long moment, as if coming to a realization.

  “You brought Rohan?” Maddie arches a questioning brow at me but I ignore her.

  Come to think of it, Kristen’s right. Rohan was the cause of Dylan’s dark mood. Which is still very much a puzzle to me. What did Rohan ever do to him?

  Wait.

  Is it because Rohan is showing interest in me? Is Dylan actually...jealous?

  But I quickly dismiss the thought. That’s impossible. And totally ridiculous! He has Kristen, why would he be jealous? And it’s already been established that Dylan sees me as nothing but his best friend. Maybe even a sister.

  Yeah, that’s probably why he was rude to Rohan. He was just acting like a protective older brother to me. Maybe to gauge Rohan’s real intention, in case Dylan needs to break his nose or something.

  That’s it.

  Nothing more.

  Now, if only hope didn’t bloom in my chest at the prospect of Dylan being jealous.

  Twelve

  I’m not a vain person. I don’t spend a lot of time staring at myself in the mirror, wondering if I look pretty enough. But on Monday morning, I find myself doing just that.