We couldn't get much conversation in, as every few minutes someone came to the table to congratulate Drew. He answered everyone graciously, but about an hour later, he'd apparently had enough.
"You want to get out of here?" he asked us.
"Alan and I are going to a movie," Ri answered. "Want to come?"
"Depends," he said.
"On what?"
"On what Janey wants to do. What do you say, Sugar, wanta go with them?"
I tilted my head questioningly. Was he asking me on a date? That could be fun, I thought. "Sure, why not?" I answered. Drew immediately slipped his arm around my shoulders and answered Rihanna.
"I guess it's a date," he said, answering my unspoken question.
After a little discussion, we decided to see Ender's Game. I'd read the book, and was all for it. Even though critics were panning it, Ri was obsessed with Harrison Ford, and the guys were just happy we didn't want to see a chick flick.
Not having much experience of movies, I didn't know what was so bad about it. Of course, a lot of the book was left out, but Orson Scott Card, the author of the book, had been involved in the production, so I thought they did a good job of capturing it, especially the special effects during the battle scenes that were among my favorite parts of the book. I came out of the theater with Drew's arm still around me. I was smiling and bouncing with excitement.
"You liked it that much?" Drew asked, smiling at me in return.
"I did! It really brought the book to life."
"Usually, people who like to read don't like the movie adaptation," he said. "But, I haven't read the book, so I guess I'll take your word for it. Hey, Sugar, this was fun. Wanta do it again next weekend?"
Ri stopped in her tracks ahead of us and turned around, her mouth a perfect O and her eyes wide. "Drew, that's the BYU game."
"So?" he said.
Widening her eyes even further and thrusting her head forward, she stared at him for several seconds, while I puzzled over her demeanor. "Okay," she said, apparently satisfied with her examination of her friend. Drew and Alan walked us to the dorm, where Alan and Rihanna indulged in another suck-face session. Drew leaned down to kiss me on the cheek.
"I really enjoyed tonight," he said. Happiness flooded me as I smiled back at him. I felt the same way. There was no pressure, no wondering if we were going to have sex. I liked Drew a lot, and we had some things in common, reading among them. Not to mention basketball, which was rapidly becoming my favorite sport to watch.
"So did I."
In our room, Rihanna explained her odd behavior earlier.
"The BYU game is like high-school prom, or homecoming," she started, and then sighed as I gave her a blank face. "It's like, the time to take your sweetheart out and show her a good time. Some guys get their girls a corsage, even, to wear to the game, and then afterward if it's a win, they'll go out to a really nice restaurant. Drew asking you is a big deal, Janey-pooh."
"Oh." My pleasure in the evening dimmed. I had no wish to hurt Drew's feelings, but I didn't think of him as my sweetheart, not by a long shot. We'd had exactly one date, and it wasn't really a date. He didn't ask me until the group invitation, and I only went because Rihanna was going, too. We were friends, nothing more. Any romantic leanings I had were toward Justin, despite the fact that he wasn't interested.
"Ri, what am I going to do? I didn't realize it meant something."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "You're going to go," she said. "I won't have you ditch my best friend. So it means something; so what? Either you’ll enjoy it and the two of you will start dating, or you won't. And if you don't, he won't either and that will be the end of it."
She was mad, and I knew whose side she'd take. She'd known Drew forever. I grew quiet. Losing Rihanna would devastate me, so I'd have to cowboy up and go on this 'means something' date, and figure out a way to let Drew down easy.
~~~
The campus was abuzz with the upcoming BYU game. The Tuesday night game against Idaho State was all but eclipsed among the true sports fans, and ignored completely by those who didn't care about the sports, but loved the party atmosphere. Anyone not wearing red that week was pelted with slushy snowballs, as I discovered to my chagrin on Monday. I needed more red.
I planned to go to the game with Rihanna as usual, and most of the posse was coming along, even those that didn't like basketball. She didn’t mention Alan. On Wednesday, though, I got a call from Drew asking me to meet him at the Student Union at noon. It was a foolhardy appearance, as he had once again led the team to victory the night before against Idaho, and the fans were fired up.
"I can't stay long, we won't get a minute's peace," he greeted me, smiling.
"That's okay. What's up?" I asked, thinking perhaps he'd found someone else he preferred to take out after the game. He didn't owe me anything, after all, and I would have been fine with it. Instead, he pressed a VIP ticket into my hand.
"Tell Ri I'm sorry, but I couldn't get enough for the whole gang. I wanted you to have a good seat, though, since you're my date."
I could feel my face softening into the lines of affection usually reserved for my daughter.
"That's really sweet, Drew, thank you!"
"Least I could do. Gotta run, I'll pick you up at six-thirty," and he was gone, jogging through the room with me staring after him.
That afternoon, I asked Rihanna why he would want to pick me up at six-thirty, if the game didn't start until eight.
"He's got to be there early," she answered.
Feeling a bit stupid, I decided to carry a large purse that would have room for my iPad, so I'd have something to do while I waited for the game to start. Dating a player could be a bit inconvenient, it seemed. I'd have to snack on something, too, if I were going to wait until the game was over for dinner. Then I stopped thinking about it and started studying.
On Saturday, Rihanna had left to get some lunch for us when a knock at the door revealed a huge vase of roses, apparently floating in mid-air, though a pair of legs below it indicated someone was behind them. "Delivery for Janey Nielsen," said the disembodied voice.
"Oh, good grief," I answered, without thinking. I collected myself and relieved the delivery person of her burden. "Thank you."
"Enjoy them," she responded, taking off at a trot down the hall.
The vase contained two dozen roses, half of them red and the other half white with red tips on each petal. They were breathtakingly beautiful, and of course, they were from Drew. I was getting in deeper and deeper, but how could I reject his thoughtful gift of flowers on our first real date? Besides, they smelled wonderful, too. I was still admiring them when Ri returned with a bag from a nearby sandwich shop in hand.
"Omigod! Whose are they?" she cried.
"Um, mine I guess. Drew sent them," I answered. Rihanna dumped the bag on our coffee table and rushed over to inhale deeply.
"Those are abso-fucking-lutely gorgeous," she said. "Lucky bitch."
"Ri, are you sure you don't want Drew for yourself?"
"I told you, ew. No. But, I want a boyfriend that will send me two dozen roses. Alan's clueless."
"Speaking of Alan," I said, "Is he going to the game?"
"Nah, he couldn't take the competition after the game. We're done. I need someone who'll accept my friends, even the weird ones like you and the future NBA star."
Ignoring her characterization of me, I said, "I'm sorry."
"No biggie. My peeps will be with me." She turned to the bag and got out our sandwiches and chips, apparently done with that subject.
With Rihanna’s help, I put together a chic outfit, with red tunic-style sweater of course, for my date. As Drew's guest sitting near the team and only a couple of rows back, I felt I should look good, so that he'd be proud of me. We had chosen a red with more blue in it than the actual school color, and the cherry-red seemed to set off my blonde, wavy tresses a little better than most strong colors. A black midi-skirt, flared at the bottom, my knee-h
igh boots, and a capacious purse in a paisley pattern with lots of red in it finished me off.
It was unseasonably warm tonight, in the high fifties, so my gray wool shawl would be plenty for an outdoor wrap, nor would I need a hat that would only mess up my hair. Ri pronounced me 'fuck-worthy', something I intended to avoid at all costs, but of course, she was just being herself.
Promptly at six-thirty, Drew knocked on our door, and a still pajama-clad Rihanna threw it open and jumped into his arms. He gave her a hug and a pat on the behind and looked up into the room, to find me smiling at Ri's silliness.
"Wow, Sugar, you look gorgeous," he said.
"Not as gorgeous as these beautiful roses," I said. "Thank you."
"No problem. Oh, here," he added. A box I hadn't noticed before was in his hand. In it lay a corsage consisting of the same white roses with red tips that were in the vase.
"These are so pretty! I've never seen anything like them," I remarked, while Rihanna labored to pin the corsage on my shoulder without sticking me.
"The florist said they're called Fire and Ice. I thought they were pretty, too," Drew answered. Then, addressing Rihanna, "C'mon, Ri, we need to go. Don't you have it on yet?"
Just then, distracted by his demanding tone, she jabbed me with the corsage pin and I yelped. "Never mind, Ri, I'll get it," I said, taking everything from her hands.
"Sorry," she muttered. I felt bad for her. Ri was the life of the party, so why didn't she have a hot, sexy date to bring her flowers? Because, her best friend was impatiently waiting for me, instead, I thought. Maybe if he hadn't met me, he'd have taken Rihanna.
On the way to Drew's car, I decided to make sure I wasn't getting between them, once and for all. "Drew," I said, "Why aren't you and Ri together?"
The look of horror he threw me was almost enough to make me laugh aloud. But, I kept my composure and waited for his answer. "Ew! That would be like being with my sister," he said, a shudder wracking his entire body. Now I felt as if I had permission to like this boy. They felt the same way about each other, and it wasn't romantic in the least. I still felt bad about Rihanna not having a date for her first Utah-BYU basketball game, though.
I only learned from Drew once we were on our way that the team and the school officials were on edge because of violence that had occurred after the Utah-BYU football game earlier in the year. It shocked me to know that students from Brigham Young University misbehaved just as often as students from other places did. They had thrown trash at officials after the game because they thought they had lost due to a call that the officials missed. Drew told me that he was having his bench players look out for me while he was on court, since my seats were only two rows back. It wasn't unheard of for players to fall into the stands as they attempted to save a ball from going out of bounds.
Drew settled me into my seat with more than an hour to kill before the game started. True to my plan, I had brought my iPad, and was working on some homework assignments as the stands began to fill around me. When the teams began filing onto court I stowed it away and prepared to pay close attention to the game. However, there was never any question about who would win this game. Once again, under Drew's expert direction, his team moved steadily to victory, with pandemonium in the stands from fans of both teams.
This was one of the greatest rivalries in the country Ri had told me, since the schools were located less than an hour by car from each other. BYU was a church-run school, and of course, University of Utah was run under state auspices. Many times, the two could be considered indistinguishable, but in the case of the schools, the rivalry was often called the Holy Wars. Brigham Young University considered themselves the chosen of God, and Utah was always out to disprove it.
As soon as the final horn sounded, a couple of the players who were sitting on the bench at that point hustled me out of my seat and into the protection of the players exit passage. There I found Rihanna and the gang waiting to congratulate Drew, who was still on the floor being interviewed by local media. Once again, he had taken the Most Valuable Player award.
As soon as he could get away, Drew came trotting into the passageway and fans immediately surrounded him. Though he was shorter than most of his teammates, he still towered over Rihanna and most of her posse. I was hanging back so as not to be trampled. His eyes found me and lit up, giving me a strange flutter in my chest. Not for the first time, I thought that he was very good-looking, though completely different from Justin. In contrast to Justin's dark brown hair and green eyes, Drew's hair was caramel-colored, and his eyes were blue. I gave him a broad smile and waved. His answering smile was for me only, and as one Riana’s gang turned to stare at me.
"Janey, baby!" Rihanna squealed. "Was that game dope or what?"
"Oh, Ri, you should have seen it from the floor," I enthused.
"Not on your life. I have no desire to have my drink spilled in my lap along with one of those players," she laughed. "Where are you guys going when Drew gets back out here?"
"I have no idea, he didn't say."
"Well we're not going to horn in on your date," she said. "I'll see you back at the dorm whenever you get there."
"Okay, you guys have fun," I said.
Laughing and waving, the group left, which suddenly made this passageway seem empty, though there were still a few lingerers. A few minutes later, Drew appeared, looking spectacular in a nice suit, white shirt, and Utes tie.
"Oh my," I teased him. "Who are you and what have you done with my date?"
To my surprise, his only response after laughing was to pick me up and twirl me around until I was laughing hysterically.
"What now?" I asked.
"I'm taking you to Tiburon, if that's okay," he said.
"I've heard that place is the bomb," I said, pleased that we would be going somewhere for which we weren't overdressed.
Tiburon was everything I'd heard, from the ambiance to the delicious food. Surprisingly though, what I enjoyed most was talking to Drew about anything and everything. He was a business major, but I confirmed that he loved to read as much as I did. I preferred literary works, probably because of Charity's influence, and he liked action thrillers, but we had read a few books in common. When we had exhausted that subject, he asked me what I liked to do besides read. I was enjoying myself so much, that I forgot to keep quiet about my daughter.
"I think my favorite thing to do, even more than read, is to ride a gentle horse out across the fields with my baby," I said. I knew immediately that I had screwed up. Drew's face took on a frozen expression and he only barely managed not to drop his mouth open.
"You have a baby," he stated. "Don't you think that would have been an important thing for me to know if we were going to date?" I became defensive immediately.
"Well, to be fair, I didn't know until this week that we were going to date, or that there would be any more to it than this one special occasion. I'm sorry, though. It's just that I didn't want everyone on campus to know."
"Why not?" he asked. "I know lots of girls your age who have kids. It doesn't really matter; I just thought it was kind of a big thing not to have mentioned."
"I'd really rather not talk about it," I said. "Can't we just have a good time?"
"Sure," he said. Nevertheless, our easy conversation was at an end. I hated that I had spoiled our good time, especially on his big night.
Later, as he dropped me off at the dorm, Drew said, "I meant what I said. It doesn't matter to me that you have a kid, and I'd like to see you again."
"I'll see you at the game next Friday," I said. "Rihanna and I never miss one, if we can help it."
Holding my shoulders and looking intently into my eyes, Drew nodded once, and then bent to brush a kiss lightly across my lips. "Good night, Sugar," he said, and then turned to walk away leaving me staring after him. What was that little flip of my heart all about?
~~~
I was at home and in bed asleep when Rihanna came in, tipsy and singing off key. She stopped
singing abruptly when she saw me turn over, squinting against the light.
"What the fuck are you doing home so early?" she said.
I looked pointedly at my clock radio where the numerals indicated it was 1:30 AM. "It isn't early, Ri," I said.
"Whatever. I thought you'd still be out with Drew," she slurred. "Where'd you guys go after the game?"
"He took me to Tiburon for dinner. Then he brought me home. End of story," I said.
"That's it? No moonlit drive? No making out in the car? What the fuck kind of date is that?" she spat.
"Ri, I don't understand why you're so mad. Turn out the light, I'm sleeping." I turned back over giving her my back and wrapping my pillow around my head to muffle her continued tirade.
I knew I was in for it in the morning, for refusing to continue a conversation that I had no desire to have in the middle of the night. Naturally, I woke before she did and crept out of the room quietly to avoid the coming confrontation. When I got back, she hit me with it full force.
"You don't understand why I'm so mad?" she repeated, continuing our conversation as if the intervening hours had never happened. "Drew's my best friend," she said. "If I'd known you were going to blow him off like that, I never would've introduced you." Hurt, I searched for words that would mollify her.
"I didn't blow him off, Ri. I like him very much."
"Then what the fuck happened?" she yelled, her anger sparked again. I knew I would have to tell her. If I didn't, Drew would, and then the shit would hit the fan.
"I screwed up, Ri. I accidentally mentioned Gracie."
"You mean, you never said anything to him about her before? What kind of stupid are you?"
"I guess the especially stupid kind," I choked, tears beginning to roll down my cheeks.
"Omigod, don't cry," she commanded, as if I could turn it off like a faucet. "He'll get over it; it's not that big a deal." I couldn't help but feel she was wrong, but at least she stopped yelling at me.
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