by Kitty Parker
Tully and I shared a nervous look. Had the two of them run into each other after all?
"What happened?" I inquired.
Amory sat down on his bed in a huff. "Well," he began. "I found this stupid note on my bed that said to go to the library at nine for something 'important,' so I went and waited there for twenty fucking minutes, and no one showed up."
I raised an eyebrow. "Okay… that sucks, but what does it have to do with Elizabeth?"
He sighed in frustration. "Obviously she's the one who put the note there. She's wasting my time to piss me off."
"Which apparently worked," Tully muttered.
"I think you're overreacting, Amory," I reasoned.
"Am I? Am I?"
Tully shook his head in amusement. "This is textbook sexual frustration."
Amory glowered at him. "How is this sexual?"
"Well…"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh boy. Here comes the intro psych mumbo jumbo."
"… you have a lot of pent up sexual energy since you haven't gotten laid in a long time, and you want Elizabeth but you think she hates you, so you get angry at her instead. But you really want to do her. Or something like that."
"Thank you, Doctor Freud."
Amory scowled. "Will both of you just leave? I'm pissed off enough already."
I threw up my hands in defeat. "Fine. We'll go. Come on, Tully."
Shrugging, my boyfriend stood and followed me out the door. I headed down the hall to my room and flopped down on my bed, frustrated.
Elena had already gotten back from Olin. "Amory angry?"
"Yup."
She sighed. "That plan backfired spectacularly."
"Epic fail," Tully agreed.
I clutched my pillow to my chest. "I'm just about ready to give up. I'm pretty much out of ideas."
Elena tapped a finger against her chin thoughtfully. "How about an intervention?"
I was intrigued. "Define 'intervention.'"
"We all go into the same room with them," she explained. "And then we just tell them what's what. They'll have to believe us, since there are three of us confirming it. We just won't let them deny it."
I mulled this over. It seemed like a decent plan; it had the coercive edge that was necessary to deal with two people as stubborn as Elizabeth and Amory, and it allowed Elena, Tully, and myself to mediate should the situation turn ugly. More importantly, the truth would have to come out. We would make sure of that.
"Sounds good to me," I decided, then looked to Tully for his thoughts on the matter.
He shrugged. "It's worth a shot."
"Maybe we should wait until Amory's cooled off, though," I suggested.
Tully shook his head. "Nah, let's just go for it. Now or never, you know?"
I shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"
Elena grinned. "Brilliant. Is Amory in your room?"
"Yeah," Tully replied. "He just kicked us out."
"Right then. We can go pick up Elizabeth and bring her over to your room and have the intervention there."
I nodded. "Good plan."
Having finalized our plot, the three of us left my room and headed down the hall to Elizabeth's. As we neared our destination, we could hear loud, arguing voices coming from inside. Apparently, Amory had decided to confront his "nemesis" about her supposed role in wasting his precious time. I could only imagine what horrible things were being said.
As we reached the room, the voices suddenly stopped. I looked at Elena, confused.
She shrugged.
Elizabeth's door was slightly ajar. Tully pushed it the rest of the way open.
His eyes widened to the size of golf balls. "What the fuck?"
What the fuck was right.
Elizabeth lay sprawled across her bed, spread-eagled, in the midst of a rather heavy make-out session with none other than Amory. They were both fully clothed, but their passion was so intense that I felt like I'd just walked onto the set of a porno.
Oh, my virgin eyes!
Elena was the first to collect herself, shoving Tully and I out into the hall and softly closing the door behind us. The three of us simply stared at each other, at a loss for words.
Finally, Tully spoke. "Now that is what I call an argument."
Elena and I rolled our eyes.
* * *
"Thanks." Amory handed some money to the cab driver as Elizabeth, Tully, and I climbed out in front of The Haunt, a small nightclub down by the lake that featured live bands.
I wrapped my arms around myself as the wind blew across the parking lot. Although it was already early April, Ithaca was still on the chilly side.
"Here." Tully took off his jacket and draped it around my shoulders.
Instantly feeling warmer and reveling in the familiar scent of my boyfriend's clothing, I smiled and reached up to peck him on the cheek. "Thanks."
That was the nice thing about hockey season finally ending. Although I missed going to the games (and I knew Tully missed playing in them), the two of us could finally go on dates on Friday and Saturday evenings. This time, we'd decided to bring Amory and Elizabeth along with us in our first attempt at a double date.
My covert matchmaking attempt had apparently worked, though not in the way I'd intended. An argument about the notes had apparently led to some shoving and such, and things just sort of unraveled from there. I really didn't want to know the details; I was just happy that they were finally together.
The two of them had been an item for a little over a month and were still the most amusing couple I'd ever seen. They didn't fight as much as they had before they started dating, but they still had spats about the most random things. The main difference was that these now ended in passionate kissing rather than glaring contests.
After the bouncer at the door checked our IDs to make sure we were all over eighteen (and stamped our hands to show that we were under twenty-one, much to Tully's chagrin), we headed over to one of the high cocktail tables near the bar.
"This place is weird," Amory commented, eyeing the gothic decorations adorning the balcony that ran along the wall.
I examined the grave stones and skeletons (which were ironically draped over with white Christmas tree lights) that served as the decor. I wasn't usually into that sort of thing, but in this case, it worked. "I think it's kind of cool."
"When are the bands coming on?" asked Elizabeth.
"Eight-ish," I replied. "There are three of them tonight."
"I'm getting a Coke," Tully informed me. "Do you want anything?"
"Water?"
"Sure." Smiling, he headed over to the bar, but not before I'd pecked his cheek affectionately.
Amory watched his roommate as he got the bartender's attention. "Pepsi is infinitely better than Coke," he commented.
Elizabeth scrunched up her nose in distaste. "Ew."
"What do you mean 'ew'?" he asked, whipping his head around to stare at his girlfriend incredulously.
"I mean that Pepsi's disgusting," she clarified.
"You obviously have no taste buds."
"Says the guy who keeps a ginormous supply of stinky French cheeses in his mini-fridge," she shot back.
He glared at her. "Are you saying I have bad taste in food?"
"Well, if the shoe fits…"
I watched the exchange with an amused grin.
"Oh no," Tully sighed as he returned with our drinks. "What is it this time?"
I took my water gratefully as the debate across the tabled raged on. "Coke versus Pepsi. Shouldn't last much longer, though."
Tully took a sip of his Coke. "How long do you think it'll be?"
"I'd give it ten more seconds."
We turned our attention to the clock above the bar.
"Five," Tully began counting down. "Four, three, two, one…"
We both looked back at our friends. Sure enough, they were furiously making out.
Unable to hide his smile, Tully shook his head in wonder. "I don't understand their relationship."
I
shrugged. "It's just their thing."
A mischievous glint suddenly came into my boyfriend's eyes. "If I pick a fight with you, will you kiss me like that?"
I gave him a blank look. "If you pick a fight with me, Tully, I'll kick your ass."
He frowned in disappointment.
"But," I went on, a smile creeping over my face. "I'll kiss you like that if you don't pick a fight with me."
"Deal."
With that, he pulled me into his arms and we sealed our deal with a kiss.