Kate cranes her head, and immediately wishes she hadn’t. Through the narrowest gap in the blinds—hardly even a crack—she can see a familiar face, making out with a certain former class president. “Gabe?”
“Kate, let’s go!” Devon hisses. “Before they see us!”
Instead of leaving, Kate takes a deep breath and moves closer to the window. There’s no doubt about it; that’s definitely Gabe and Amanda. Even though she knows she should leave before either one sees her, she feels frozen in place.
“Kate! Don’t let them see you!”
She glances at Devon. “Oh my god!” Kate retreats to the sidewalk. “Oh god, what am I gonna do?”
Devon whisks a bead of sweat from his eyes. “I don’t know. Do you even have to do anything? All I could see was the top half of his face. It could’ve been anyone.”
“No, I’m sure it was Gabe. And he was—“
“Feeling Amanda up.” Devon completes.
“No, they were just kissing.” As if that’s completely okay. Kate sighs… Of course it isn’t.
“That isn’t what I saw. Maybe you couldn’t see his hands but—“
Kate scowls. “With your track record, I’m not going to believe what you say you saw. I’m going to figure out how to deal with this, and you aren’t going to say anything. If I even see you speaking with Aude I’m gonna—gonna—“
Devon raises his eyebrows. “Are you threatening me?”
“No, I’m not. Just don’t tell Aude. Please.”
“I won’t.” He starts walking back to Kate’s house. “Well, I guess now you get to see how I felt. When I had to tell you about what I saw.”
“Yeah.” In fact, the whole thing seems eerily similar to that. Kate wonders if Maddie was “walking” with Devon when she saw Sean and Aude. “Devon, how come you’re always around when stuff like this happens?”
“It was two times, Kate. That’s it. I guess I’m just unlucky.” He follows Kate up the steps to her door. “Do you know what you’re gonna do?”
“I dunno. Tell Aude, I guess.” Kate frowns.
“Yeah, that’s probably the right answer. How’s she gonna take it, though?”
“Not well. Can you give me some time alone? I have to think.”
“Okay. If you need me, you have my number.” Devon starts down the steps. “Oh, and it gets easier. Once you decide to share what you saw. It’s freeing, in a weird way.”
Kate unlocks the door, closes it behind her, and sinks to the floor. What am I gonna do? she wonders. Then out loud, “What am I gonna do?”
“What’s that, honey?” Her mom asks, peeking out of the kitchen.
“Nothing. When did you come home?”
“A few minutes ago. That new nurse we hired showed up early to her shift, so they let me off.”
“Oh. Cool.” Kate mentally ticks off the days since she last saw her mother. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Three. Three days.
“You look stressed.” Her mom walks over and frowns. “What’s the matter?”
Kate exhales loudly. “I just saw Aude’s boyfriend kissing another girl. And Devon swears they were doing more, but I don’t wanna believe him.”
Her mom cocks her head. “Who’s Devon?”
“He’s that creepy kid. The one who put a picture of—“ Kate stops herself from saying me “—of Aude on his wall.”
“Oh. Well, what were you doing with him?”
“He said he had to talk about something.”
“Like what?”
“Just stuff. Actually, mom, can I tell you something weird?”
“Sure, honey.”
“I think—I think he planned it. It’s ridiculous, I know. But the way he acted right before we saw, it was like he was playing a part. Like he knew all along.” Kate stands up. “When I thought Aude betrayed me, I made a plan to get her in trouble, and Devon helped me.” She walks over to the couch and moves a throw pillow out of the way before dropping onto it. “It was his idea, actually.”
“Okay?” Her mom looks confused. “So you’re saying he—what, he knew that you’d find Aude’s boyfriend cheating on her?”
“Like I said, it’s ridiculous. But I dunno, I just have this feeling…“
“Well, I’m making steaks for dinner. That should make you feel better.” She leaves and goes back to the kitchen.
Yeah, thanks for the talk, Mom. Kate lies on the couch, a million thoughts running through her mind.
Chapter Twenty-four
Aude’s father wakes her up on Saturday morning with a yell. “Audrey, your friend’s here!”
Aude gets out of bed and descends the stairs slowly, suppressing a yawn as she comes to the door. “Hey Kate, what’s up?”
Kate looks like she’s just woken up as well: strands of her hair fly off at weird angles, and her eyes are puffy. “Here, let’s go to your room.” She grabs Aude by the hand and reverses the trip Aude just took.
“What’s going on?” Aude asks, as Kate closes her door.
Kate sighs and turns to face her. “Last night, I saw something.”
Could she be less specific? Aude frowns at her. “Uh, okay. What did you see?”
“Gabe, and Amanda. They were—kissing.”
“Right. Haha, very funny.”
“No, I’m not joking. I was walking with Devon, and we saw them.” Kate walks over to the closet and inspects one of the white shirts hanging there.
“Don’t do that,” Aude says. “Look at me. Okay. Now, you seriously saw Gabe kissing Amanda?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t lie about this.” She lets go of the shirt and walks over to Aude’s bed.
Aude scoots over to make room for Kate to sit. “You’re sure it was them?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Okay.” Aude stares at the ground. Even though she kissed Sean, it feels like a betrayal. Sean made me kiss him, Aude thinks. Did Amanda make Gabe kiss her? It seems unlikely. “Well, thanks for telling me.”
Kate looks confused. “You’re not gonna ask about it? How I saw, or what I saw, or anything?”
“Nope, I don’t think so. You told me what you saw, and—I guess I’m just thinking the less I know, the better.”
“But… Aren’t you mad? Or hurt?”
Aude gathers her thoughts before replying. “When I kissed Sean, Gabe was very understanding. Yeah, I’m hurt. And yes, I’m mad. But—I don’t know if I have a right to be. Does that make sense?”
“No.” Kate looks even more confused. “That doesn’t make sense at all.”
“Well—I guess it’s sort of a ‘shoe’s on the other foot’ situation. Gabe was understanding when I made a mistake, and maybe it’s my turn to forgive him.”
“But aren’t you at least gonna tell him you know? I mean, what’s to stop him from doing it again?”
Aude smiles. “Trust. I trust him to do the right thing, and—I mean for me, it was a one-time thing. I don’t want to lose Gabe because I didn’t trust him.”
“And if you lose him because you do trust him?”
“Kate, I’m seeing Gabe tonight. If he seems weird or anything, I’ll ask him then. But otherwise, I’m gonna choose to trust him.”
“Aude, don’t be afraid to ask him just because you’re afraid of the answer.”
“I’m not afraid of the answer!” Aude grimaces. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I’m not afraid of the answer. I’m choosing trust, and that decision comes from confidence, not fear. We’ve been together for two years, and he hasn’t cheated on me once. Why would he start now?”
The door creaks open and Aude’s mom pops her head in. “I made waffles, if you girls want any.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Aude turns to Kate. “Have you already eaten?”
“No, not yet. Waffles sound great, Mrs. Hughes.” They follow Aude’s mom to the kitchen, where she serves them hot waffles and bacon.
“Careful with that syrup, Audrey,” Aude’s mom reprimands. “The idea is to coat the waffles, not drown them.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Aude pours a liberal amount of syrup. “Where’s Dad?”
“At work. One of his patients had a gout flare-up.”
“Oh, too bad.” Aude doesn’t spend too much energy pretending to be sad. Her mom knows she and her dad aren’t exactly the best of friends right now. Aude takes a huge bite of waffle; some syrup spills onto the counter. “Sorry.” She grabs a napkin and wipes it off.
“It’s a pleasant surprise seeing you, Kate,” Aude’s mom says. “Seems like it’s been forever.”
“I know.” Kate cuts a small square of her meal and chews it thoroughly before continuing. “Aude and I had some, uh, difficulties. But we worked them out.”
“That’s good.” Aude’s mother pours out two glasses of orange juice and sets them in front of the girls. “You know, fights just help make friendships stronger.”
Kate smiles. “So I’ve heard. Mmm, this is great Mrs. Hughes. New recipe?”
Aude fights another yawn as her mom goes into a detailed description of the steps involved in making “her waffles.” Like she doesn’t just use Betty Crocker mix with a little bit of extra sugar and flour.
“Well, I’ve gotta scoot. I promised Audrey’s sister that I would pick her up from the airport.” Aude’s mom grabs her purse and a ridiculously large pair of sunglasses before floating out the door.
Kate immediately resumes the argument. “You should tell him. He has to know that you know.”
“No.” Aude finishes her waffles and nibbles a bite of bacon. “I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. He’ll tell me, when he’s ready.”
“What if he doesn’t? What if he’s been cheating on you forever and you just never knew? Come on, Aude, you need to get to the bottom of this.”
Aude takes another bite. The crisp bacon pops between her teeth. “I told you, I want to feel this out. I know Gabe pretty well. If it seems like he’s not being faithful, then I’ll push him. But otherwise, I trust him.”
“There’s trust, and then there’s stupidity.” Kate folds her arms.
“I don’t want to argue with you, Kate. This is my decision, and I’m going to do what I think is best. Thank you for telling me, but I’m not gonna rush off and accuse Gabe of anything.”
“Accuse? Aude, I saw him. This isn’t some rumor, and it isn’t something that’s gonna go away if you ignore it. Like that video of you at the party. You know I had something to do with it, but you haven’t asked me. Why?”
Aude drops her bacon. She stares at her plate for several seconds, but in the end there’s no avoiding Kate’s question. Aude looks up to meet her eyes. “Okay, sometimes I am afraid of the answer.”
“Don’t be. Ask me.”
Aude already knows what Kate’s going to say. But she asks anyway. “Kate, do you know anything about that video that someone sent to Gabe and my parents?”
“Yes. Yes, I took it. I thought you completely betrayed me, and I wanted to get back at you any way I could. So I took the video and sent it to Devon, and he sent it to your parents.”
Aude dry swallows. “Okay.”
“Do you hate me now?”
“Of course not. No matter what, you’re still my best friend. I thought I made it clear that nothing could ever, ever change that.” She studies the floral pattern of her plate. “I know you didn’t intend for it to be as bad as it ended up... My dad called me a whore, after he saw it.”
“Oh, Aude—“ Kate pulls her friend into a warm hug “—I’m so sorry. For everything. I’m such a terrible friend.”
“No, you’re not. This last month has been hard, is all.” They maintain the embrace for a few minutes, and then decide to spend the rest of the day at Kate’s house.
They rock out in Aude’s car on the way over, and at Kate’s house they play games, watch TV, joke about celebrity gossip, and remind each other why they became friends in the first place. Late afternoon arrives all too quickly; Aude doesn’t realize how late it’s getting until nearly four-thirty.
“Oh, shoot!” she says. “Gabe’s supposed to pick me up at my house in like twenty minutes.”
“You wanna borrow a dress or something?” Kate asks.
“Um, yeah. I’ll put it on at home. Can I take your blue one? With the single sleeve?” Aude heads up to Kate’s room, searching in the closet.
“Sure.” Kate helps her find it. “Shoes?”
“I’ll just wear my ones for church. Okay, thanks, see you later!” She rushes out the door and to her car. At home, sneaking Kate’s dress in, putting on makeup, and picking out clothes to wear to hide the dress takes so long that Gabe has to wait with Aude’s father for several minutes before she’s ready.
“Bye Mom!” she calls. “Gabe, let’s go.”
Gabe stands up with a sigh of relief. Once they’re past Aude’s front porch he says, “Your dad seemed even colder than usual. Like, he just glared at me the whole time.”
“Oh. Sorry.” Aude climbs into his SUV. “It’s probably just ‘cause my sister’s home.” Or he’s still mad about the video.
“Yeah, I noticed. Why’s that?” He starts the car.
Aude shrugs. “For my birthday, I think. This would’ve been the first one Jenna wasn’t around for. Or maybe she just wanted a break from college.”
Gabe laughs. “Who needs a break from college? Parties, dorms, hot chicks… Why would you need to take a break from that?”
“Baby, you’re describing a different college than the one my sister goes to. Where she goes, it’s more like homework, schoolwork, homework again, and then, if there’s a bit of time left, extra-curricular work.”
“I bet there are still parties at her school.”
Aude giggles. “Yeah, of course. But Jenna wouldn’t notice a party if it was thrown on her front lawn.”
“They aren’t as fun as you.” Gabe smiles. “Speaking of which, I got us into another super exclusive restaurant, so you have to be on your best behavior.”
“Oh? Where are we going?”
“The Silver Palace. And I have a special surprise, after. For your birthday.”
Aude fake-pouts. “I don’t like surprises. Just tell me.”
“You’ll see.” The restaurant’s downtown, which means about thirty minutes of driving time, ten minutes of searching for a place to park, and ten more minutes of walking. Aude and Gabe arrive thirty minutes late for their reservation.
“Welcome to the Silver Palace,” an uptight-looking host says. Except for a bit of hair above his ears, he’s completely bald. His black suit, complete with an obnoxiously long coat, fits in perfectly with the restaurant decor. Unfortunately.
“Hello,” Gabe says, “I have a reservation for two. Mr. Parker.”
The host looks at a ledger on the walnut podium in front of him. “Ah, yes, Mr. Parker. Reservation for two. You—ahem—you do not look like Mr. Parker.”
“Excuse me?” Gabe puffs up, as if he’s expecting a fight.
“I’m sorry, sir, but minors aren’t allowed in the restaurant without an adult present. When we made the reservation, we assumed it was for the Gabriel Parker. Not some young boy and his—date.”
“Hey!” Gabe pokes a finger at the man. “I’m his son, so maybe you ought to show me some respect.”
Aude grabs Gabe’s arm, hoping to talk him down before he causes a scene. “Baby, let’s just go somewhere else.”
“No! I made a reservation, and I deserve to get my table!”
The host discretely waves over a much larger man. “That may be the case, Mr. Parker, and I might be inclined to seat you, but as I said, no minors allowed. And I might also mention that you are, ahem, a little late as well. Your table has been filled.”
“But—“ Gabe blusters. “You have an open table right there!”
“Ah, not quite. That table has not been bussed yet, and is reserved by another party.”
“We can go somewhere else,” Aude repeats.
“We can’t! I have a room at your hotel tonight! What am I gonna do, go
to bed without any dinner?”
At the mention of the hotel room, the host’s eyes flicker to Aude. “Please calm down, sir. If you have a room booked with us, I can put an order in with the chefs and have it brought up. Will that be alright?”
Aude can see Gabe’s chest rise and fall. “Fine.”
The host gestures to a desk at the foot of a gold-and-black staircase. “Cecilia will help you find your room.”
Gabe collects the key and tromps up the stairs, pouting like a small child. Aude follows, trying to ignore the judging looks from the diners below.
“Room one-oh-seven.” Gabe inserts the key and thrusts the door open. “Well, here we are. Surprise.”
“Um…“ Aude pauses at the threshold. “Gabe, why did you get a hotel room?”
“It was gonna be romantic.” He picks up a package by the door. “See? I had rose petals, and candles!”
“Okay. But, why?”
“Because tonight is going to be the night, Aude. We have this great room, I still have the candles, and we’ll have dinner brought up.”
Aude shuts the room door. “I really hope you’re not saying what I think you are... This was your big surprise for my birthday? ‘Hey Aude, let’s have sex in a random hotel room, even though you said you weren’t ready yet?’”
Gabe releases a huff of frustration. “That was like two weeks ago. I waited, and now I’m asking again.” The room phone rings. “Yes?” Gabe answers. “I dunno, we don’t have menus. Just send up some spaghetti. Yeah, charge it to the room. Okay, thank you.” He slams the phone back into the cradle. “Asshole.”
“So—“ Aude glares at the blue-sheeted bed. “I’m still not ready.”
“Well, maybe I am.” Gabe matches Aude’s expression with an icy stare. “I’m tired of waiting, Aude. It’s been long enough. I’m putting my foot down.”
Wow, so romantic. Aude shakes her head. “No, you can’t force me into this.”
“You know, if you really loved me, you wouldn’t torture me like this.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re torturing me, because you like having power over me. But not anymore, Aude. I’m not going to let you do it. Either you put your money where your mouth is, or we’re over.”
The Clique Page 15