The Clique

by Valerie Thomas

  “No, we can’t! We don’t have enough time!”

  “Excuse me? Enough time for what?”

  Wordlessly, Gabe reaches into his pocket and pulls out a square-shaped wrapper.

  Aude stares at it, her own ire rising. She can feel her hands shake as she swallows back disgust. “I told you I wanted to wait! You said you were okay with that!”

  “I’ve waited, Aude! For two years! I’ve been sooo fucking patient!”

  Aude can feel tears coming to her perfectly wing-tipped eyes. “I didn’t know it was so hard for you.”

  Gabe presses a rough hand to her face. “It is, babe. You have no idea. No idea how much I—“ he takes another deep breath “—how much I want you. I just—please. I need you.”

  No. I won’t ever be pressured into sex. It’s a promise Audrey made to her mother in seventh grade, and one of only a few she hasn’t broken. “I’m sorry, but I’m just not ready yet.”

  Gabe sucks in air. “Fine. I’ve waited two years. I can wait a little longer.” He sneaks the condom back into his pocket. “I hate what you do to me. I hate it, but I love you. Do you understand?”

  No, not really. “Of course I understand.” Aude leans over for a hug.

  “It’s time for Nate’s party. Almost ten. If we leave now, we’ll be the first ones there. Just like you wanted.”

  “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” After what just happened, Aude isn’t quite sure whether she even wants to go. But they wait for Kate and Sean, and then drive over.

  “Hey, um… Aude, right? And Kate?” Nate’s tie looks a little crooked, but his grin reveals a set of perfect white teeth. “Glad you made it!”

  “We were figuring we could help set up,” Aude says.

  “Uh, yeah, sure. Okay. I guess, could you guys—“ he points at Sean and Gabe “—move the furniture out of the way? Not all of it, just the expensive stuff. And could you two—“ Aude and Kate “—please put the paintings in my mom’s room? Most of them are shit, but a few are genuine Renaissance.”

  “Okay.” Audrey steps into the house and has to suppress a whistle. It’s even bigger than hers. The main entryway leads to a spiral staircase and a balcony overlooking a spacious lower floor. “Wait, where’s your mom’s room?”

  Nate points upstairs. “First one on your left.” Aude, Kate, Gabe, and Sean set to work. Aude picks out the smaller paintings and brings those first. After her fifth trip to Nate’s mother’s room, she lets herself take a break, falling backward onto the mattress.

  “Oh, hey.” Sean backs into the room, carrying a white porcelain lamp. “Taking a break, Aude?”

  “Yeah. Sorry. I’m just so tired.”

  Sean sets the lamp down with a grunt. “Yeah, me too. So, listen…“ He crosses to the door and closes it. “I wanted to talk about Hannah’s party a couple weeks ago.”

  With a start, Aude watches him turn the lock. “Um, okay?” She stands up and works her way to a huge bay window overlooking Nate’s front driveway. Sean has a wild look in his eye and, although she doesn’t plan on it, visions of having to fling herself out to avoid a rape fill Audrey’s head.

  But that’s ridiculous. This is Sean. He’s nice. He’d never do anything like that.

  Sean clenches and unclenches his hand several times. “When I told you I loved you, I meant it.”

  At first, Aude tries to pretend it’s a joke. “I, uh, love you too.” She socks him on the arm. “Friend.”

  “No, I don’t mean it like that. I mean—“ he shakes his head vigorously “—Kate’s nice and all, but she isn’t you. No matter how much she wants to be.”

  “No!” Audrey holds up a warning finger. “Don’t do this. Don’t you dare do this to her. Kate loves you, and you love her, and she is a million times better than me.”

  Sean presses Aude against the window; he strokes a hand across her face. “That, right there, is why I love you. You’re so beautiful, but you’re also so incredibly nice, and sweet. I just want you to be mine.”

  I don’t want you! Aude wants to yell at him, but some irrational part of her still believes she can talk sense to Sean. “Kate is just as nice as me—“

  “No she isn’t.”

  “—and just as pretty—“

  “Nope.

  “—and she actually loves you.”

  Somehow, the words seem to register. “You don’t—love me?”

  “No. I’m sorry Sean, but no.”

  “You love Gabe?”

  “I don’t know.”

  A gleeful expression leaps to Sean’s face. “Then dump him, and go out with me! I promise, you’ll learn to love me.”

  “No. Sean, don’t do this to Kate. Just go downstairs, and have a great time, and tell her how beautiful she is. And never think about any other girl again.”

  His face falls. One breath, then another. “Fine. But on one condition: you have to kiss me. Just once.”

  “What?” Aude swallows.

  “You have to kiss me, right here and now, or I’ll go downstairs and dump Kate.”

  “That would devastate her,” she whispers.

  “I know. That’s how much I want you.”

  It’s just a kiss, Aude reasons. Just a kiss, to save your best friend’s relationship. “Okay.” The two syllables feel heavy on her tongue.

  Sean closes the distance, giving Audrey the sloppiest kiss she’s ever had. Aude keeps her lips tightly closed, hoping Sean doesn’t open his eyes to see the permanent grimace set on her features. One second passes. Two. Three.

  Then Sean works a hand under her dress, feeling up a thigh. I didn’t sign up for this, Aude thinks, panicking. She tries to pull back, but the glass stops her. She shoves him, putting all the force she can behind it.

  Sean backs off. “What was that?”

  Aude scowls. “About three seconds too long. Are you happy now?”

  “Yeah.” Sean turns to leave. He stops at the door. “I just want you to know, when Kate and I are married, no matter how many years pass, every time I kiss her, I’ll think of you.”

  Aude curls up on the bed.

  Chapter Twelve

  “See you in Econ, Kate!” Aude heads off toward the school doors.

  As the rest of Kate’s friends head back inside, she leans against the courtyard wall and waits for fifth hour to start.

  “Heyo, Kate.” The voice is at once hardly familiar and too familiar.

  “Devon.”

  “Hey Kate, I’m lucky I ran across you. I wanted to talk.”

  Kate folds her arms, thinking about the picture of Aude taped to his wall. “Go away, Devon.”

  But he doesn’t. “I think you’ll really wanna hear what I have to say.”

  Kate sighs. “Fine. Spit it out.”

  “I, uh, I don’t know how to say this… I didn’t wanna have to be the one to tell you, but on Friday…“

  “I said spit it out!”

  “At Nate’s party, I saw Aude having sex with Sean. As I was coming in. It was up against the window… You know, the one that you could see from the entryway? And I, uh, just thought I should tell you.”

  Kate snorts. “Bullshit, Devon. I don’t know what kinda game you’re playing, but I can see right through it.”

  “I’m not playing a game.” Devon glances to the left. “Look, if you don’t believe me, there’s an easy way I can prove it to you. Just get the two of them together, and watch how they act. I guarantee you, you’ll see it.”

  “Bullshit,” Kate repeats, with less force. Aude’s been a virgin since, well, forever. There’s no way she’d just lose it to Sean for no reason. Unless, they’ve been fooling around for a while. No, they haven’t. Kate shakes her head, as if that will help her convince herself.

  “It’s hard to believe, I know. But just—“ the passing period bell rings “—just do what I suggested. I’d hate to see you betrayed like that.”

  “Fine. Now go away, Devon.”

  He leaves just as Hannah comes up. “Hey
Kate. Why were you talking to Devon?”

  Kate shrugs. “I dunno, he just wanted to—“ she tries to think of a plausible lie “—I dunno.”

  “Um, okay? Well, anyway, you know where you wanna go?”

  “Hmm?”

  “For lunch.” Hannah laughs. “You seem a little out of it.”

  “Sorry.” Kate shakes her head. She watches Sean approach from the left.

  “What’s fun, honeybuns?”

  “I don’t know,” Kate says.

  “She’s being weird,” Hannah kids. “Let’s go to Chipotle.”

  Kate frowns, feeling like the conversation’s happening far away. Her world’s busy exploding, and the real world couldn’t matter less right now. “We were just there last week, though.”

  “Well, I wanna go. And Sean wasn’t. Were you?”

  Sean shakes his head. “No.”

  “And would you like Chipotle? I’ll drive...” Hannah pulls out her key and twirls it around a finger.

  “Sure.”

  “See? So we both vote for Chipotle. Two against one.”

  Kate blinks a few times. “Uh, ok. Let’s go, then.” They walk out to Hannah’s car. Kate sits in the passenger seat, leaving Sean in back. He plays around while Hannah’s driving, moving from one seat to another and messing with the windshield scraper. “Can you just—sit still!” Kate finally asks.

  Sean sets the scraper down gingerly. “Uh, okay.”

  “It’s really not a problem,” Hannah says. “He’s just amusing himself.”

  “Well he’s acting like a five-year-old. I’m sorry, but I thought learning how to sit still and be quiet was like what they taught in kindergarten.”

  “Ouch.” Sean settles into the seat behind Hannah and pulls a seatbelt on. “Wook mom, I got my seatbelt on all by myself.”

  Kate rounds on him. “Stop trying to be funny! It’s not cute, it’s just annoying!” The memory of the night Sean was on ecstasy keeps coming back to her. I’ve had a crush on you since elementary school plays repeatedly in her head.

  Hannah turns into a lot behind Chipotle. “Hey Sean, could you give us a minute?”

  “Yeah, sure.” The look he gives Kate isn’t quite a glare, but there’s a definite heat behind it.

  The second he’s gone, Hannah turns to Kate. “Okay, what’s going on? I mean, yeah he was being kinda annoying, but you were just being—mean.”

  Kate taps the shifter. “I dunno, it’s stupid.”

  “What? You can tell me.”

  “Okay, well you know how Devon was talking to me before fifth? He kinda, um—he kinda said that Aude slept with Sean.”

  Hannah’s nose wrinkles. “Oh, come on. Aude? Our Aude? Sleep with Sean?” Her expression turns to a frown. “Wait, you believed him. Kate, Aude’s a virgin.”

  “I know, that’s what I thought too.” Kate can’t meet her friend’s eyes.

  “No, you don’t understand. I, uh, how can I—Kate, you know if anything had happened with Sean, she’d be freaking out! Like she wouldn’t have come to school today!”

  “I know,” Kate repeats. And she does, on an intellectual level. But—“Devon seemed pretty confident, earlier.”

  “Yeah, well, Devon’s a manipulative little—“ Hannah unbuckles her seatbelt. “You shouldn’t believe him for a second. Come on, let’s go get some food.”

  The line is shorter than last week; Kate, Hannah, and Sean get their food in a few minutes, and sit down at a booth near the soda fountain.

  Kate decides she should apologize. But—no, not until after the game tonight. A plan forms in her mind.

  “Hellooooo, Kate?” Hannah waves a hand in front of Kate’s face.

  Kate shakes her head. “Sorry. What?”

  “I asked what you were doing in Econ.”

  “Oh. Nothing. We’re supposed to read The Jungle, but I don’t think I’m gonna do it.”

  “You aren’t?”

  “Naw, I don’t think so. Aude found the Sparknotes for it.”

  Hannah laughs. “I think she’s finally starting to rub off on you. When was the last time you didn’t read a book for a class?”

  “Uh, I dunno.” Truth is, Kate can’t remember ever not doing the assigned reading for a class. “Freshman year, I think. Odysseus.”

  “Oh, yeah. That was that super-long one, right? Where it talks about all the Greek guys fighting in that war?”

  Nope, that’s the Iliad. “Yeah, exactly.”

  “Good one to skip, then. So, Sean, you think you’re gonna win tonight?”

  He shrugs. “Sure.”

  Hannah tries to start up a conversation a few more times, but gives up once it becomes obvious that Kate and Sean are both busy brooding. They finish lunch and head back to George Washington, arriving fifteen minutes before the end of the period.

  “Oh, I just remembered, I have a project.” Kate breaks off from the other two and heads to the library before either one can ask about it. She ends up alone at one of the tables, twirling her pencil and staring at a blank sheet of paper. The question of whether to trust Devon bounces around her mind, like a bright green tennis ball, impossible to ignore.

  Kate barely says a word to Aude in Econ, and during seventh and Student Council she counts the minutes ‘till the soccer game. It’s an away game, at Fairview High School. Kate catches a ride with Aude and pretends to be interested in the conversation.

  “You know, Maddie’s date for the Back to School Dance was from Fairview,” Aude says.

  “Yeah, I heard.”

  “I’m glad she found a guy to go with.”

  “Me too.” As if she wouldn’t. She’s beautiful too, Kate thinks. Maybe not perfect, like Aude thinks she is, but beautiful in her own way.

  “So, Gabe said they were definitely gonna win this game.”

  “Uh huh.”

  Aude finds an open parking spot near the field. “Is something wrong? You seem quiet.”

  “I’m just tired. That’s all.”

  “Oh, okay.” They pay for tickets and find a place to watch. Aude gives Gabe her typical pre-game talk, while once again, Sean is “talking with the coach.”

  Aude returns to the bench, frowning. “I guess Gabe’s still mad at me.”

  Alarms go off in Kate’s mind. “Why’s he mad at you?”

  “Oh, nothing.”

  “No, come on, you can tell me.”

  “I said it was nothing. Okay?” Aude huffs.

  The game starts out looking like another GW loss. After thirty minutes, the score’s stuck at two-zero. Then Gabe scores a goal, and another right after. Aude cheers loudly, but the best Kate can manage is a weak “Yay.” From then on, the lead seesaws back and forth; with two minutes to go in the game, the Patriots are down by one. Their middie loses the ball, but Sean manages to take it back.

  He dribbles around a defender, sprinting toward the goal with Gabe. They cross the ball back and forth. Sean manages a spectacular rainbow over the last defender, ending in a low kick at the goal. It’s too far for the goalie to block; the ball isn’t exactly flying through the two posts, but that doesn’t matter. It nicks the left goalpost and rolls in.

  “Goaaaaaaaal!” the announcer yells. “He shoots, he scores! He nudges the ball past the goalie, and that’s all she wrote! Victory for the Patriots!” On the field, the ref’s whistle blows.

  Aude looks at Kate and smiles. “Well, that should cheer Gabe up. Come on, let’s go meet them.”

  “Actually, you wanna go get ice cream? With Sean and Gabe, of course.”

  “Uh, yeah, okay. I have to ask Gabe if he’s fine with that... But I’m sure he will be.”

  They follow the George Washington bus back to school; Aude parks between Gabe and Sean’s cars.

  “Hey, babe.” Gabe’s wearing his letter jacket; it looks a little big even on him.

  “Hey! So—I know you didn’t want to last time, but—“

  “Ice cream?” Gabe finishes.

  “Yeah.” Aude looks down. “On
ly if you really want to, though.”

  “Sounds good. You coming Kate?”

  “Yeah, once Sean gets here. We can carpool.” Sean’s striding up the inclined lot, a few feet away from the group.

  “Hey Sean,” Kate says. “We’re gonna get ice cream. Wanna come?”

  “Uh, fine.”

  “Great.” Aude pulls out her key. “I’ll drive!” They pile into her car. Kate tries to maneuver Sean to the front, but Aude insists on letting her ride shotgun. Gabe complains loudly about his legroom, and after a short discussion Kate ends up riding with Sean in a separate car. Another five minutes takes them to Baskin Robbins.

  “Ladies first.” Gabe holds the door open for Aude and Kate.

  Kate holds back, recognizing her chance. “Sean, you go ahead. I have to talk to Gabe about, uh, something.”

  “Okay.” Sean follows Aude in the store.

  “So, um, Aude’s birthday is in a couple weeks—“ Kate watches Aude order “—and I was thinking we could plan, like, a surprise party or something.”

  “She always celebrates with her family, though,” Gabe protests.

  “Yeah, I know. But it doesn’t have to be the same exact day as her birthday.” Look at that! Kate scowls. Aude won’t even look at him. Sean waits by the start of the line while she orders. He watches her intently.

  Gabe clears his throat. “Are you gonna go inside?”

  “Yeah, sorry.” Kate enters and walks up to where Sean’s waiting. She puts an arm on his shoulder and he jumps.

  “Whoa! Hey, honeybuns. What’s fun?”

  “Sean, I have something I wanted to ask you.” Sean raises an eyebrow at the abrupt change of plans, but Kate can’t wait any longer. She has to find out the truth. “Can we, um, go outside for a second?”

  “What? We just got here. Can’t we at least order first?”

  “Fine.” Sean gets a milkshake, and Kate a small cone. She makes a quick excuse to Aude and Gabe, and then heads outside. Sean follows her to a small metal table.

  “You have been acting sooo weird today, Kate. Are you alright?”

  Kate frowns at the interlacing pattern of the table. “No. Devon told me something, just before we went to lunch. He told me he saw you and Aude, at Nate’s party—“

  “Oh, Kate…“ Sean’s face is flushed “It was a one-time thing, I promise.”