Carly took her last bite of mashed potatoes. “Deal. I’m going to go call Gabe and give him the news.”
Howard scooped up a spoonful of peas as she jumped up from the table. “Okay then.”
Carly headed into her father’s den, grabbed her telephone off his desk, and jogged upstairs to plug it in. She punched in Gabe’s number, plopping down on her bed as it rang.
“Carly?” Gabe answered.
“Yep, it’s Carly,” she confirmed.
“But you can’t talk on the phone.”
“Correction, I couldn’t talk on the phone. Tonight, I have one hour. Do you have a minute to talk?”
“I have several minutes to talk,” he said. “Sixty, if you’d like to get specific.”
She turned onto her side as a cat jumped up on her bed. “Good, because Gargamel misses you.”
“Your cat misses me, huh?”
“He sure does.”
“Well, tell him I miss him, too,” Gabe said.
“So, about the dance,” Carly started. “My dad said I can go. Do you still have room for me in your car?”
“Yeah, my dad’s lending me his SUV. I’ll pick you up, and then Crystal. Oh, and Abel’s going to ride with us, too.”
“Abel’s riding with us?” Carly snickered. “I thought he’d want to drive himself for some reason.”
“Truth be told, I think he’d rather ride in whatever car you’re in,” Gabe said. “Do you have something to wear? I mean, I know that’s a big deal for girls. Crystal said you could borrow something from her if you want.”
“Did she? What, have you been planning out my night for me?”
“More like hoping you’d be able to go at the last minute,” Gabe confessed. “I guess it worked.”
“I guess it did. And I do have something to wear, but thanks for thinking of me. I’m wearing the dress I wore to Prom last year.”
“You had Prom as a sophomore?”
“No, I went with Ross—my ex. He was a junior.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
“Well, now you do,” Carly said.
“But he’s still not coming, right?” Gabe asked. “This Ross guy?”
“Why? Do you think Abel would be jealous if he did?”
“I know he’d be jealous. And I’m just curious.”
“No, he’s not coming,” Carly assured him. “And I might have to cut you off five minutes early so I can give him a call. I’m sure he’s totally pissed.”
“I sure as hell would be if you cancelled a date with me,” Gabe said.
“It wasn’t a date, Gabe. Ross and I… We were just going as friends.”
“Because apparently you’re too good for your friends here?”
“No, because… I didn’t want it to be weird,” Carly explained.
“Do you really think it’s going to be weird?” Gabe asked. “You’re my best friend, Carly. We hang out all the time anyway, why not at a stupid school dance?”
“You make a very good point.” Carly watched the clock, and chatted with Gabe for a good forty-five minutes more before she hung up the phone. She picked up the receiver once again, this time dialing Ross’s number.
“Hello?” Ross answered.
“Hey, it’s Carly,” she said.
There was a long pause, followed by a heavy sigh. “Are you really grounded, or do you just not want me to come up there?”
“Ross, seriously, I’m really grounded. Like so grounded, I only have nine minutes to talk to you.”
“Nine minutes, huh? Okay, then let’s talk.”
“I’m sorry about canceling on you,” Carly apologized. “It would have been really nice to see you again, and I’m super disappointed I won’t get to.”
“Are you?” he snapped. “Well, that’s good to know.”
“Ross, really, I’m sorry. Things are so different here, and… And you’ll understand once you finally come visit.”
“Do you really think I want to come visit? Carly, we dated for six months, and then you just stopped talking to me. Do you have any idea how much that sucked? I mean, do you?”
“Yes, I… I’m sorry,” Carly spoke again. “I didn’t handle anything well after my mom died—you know how hard that was for me, Ross. You remember how my dad totally fell apart at the funeral. I don’t think he would have come back from my mom’s death if it weren’t for me, if I hadn’t been there to put him back together.”
“I do know that, Carly, but it’s not an excuse,” Ross complained. “I was there for you, right by your side through the funeral and everything, and then you just… stopped returning my phone calls, and my texts, and my emails. And now this weekend? I’m so over it. Look, I wanted to tell you this in person, but… Jasmine and I are dating. She’s my girlfriend now.”
Carly closed her eyes as that sunk in. Her ex-boyfriend and her best friend, together. Should she have known this would happen? “G-good. I… I mean, congratulations.”
“Good?” Ross mocked. “Congratulations? That’s all you have to say? She was your best friend, Carly, and now she’s my girlfriend, and you totally don’t even care?”
“No, I… I guess I don’t,” Carly realized, and meant it. She’d left Ross behind for a reason, and knew he wasn’t part of her life anymore. At some point, when she was ready, she’d move on. It only seemed fair he move on, too.
“You know, I’m starting to think you never cared about me at all,” Ross breathed into the phone.
“That’s not true. I did care about you, I just… I moved away. Do you really want a long-distance girlfriend?”
“This isn’t about you moving away. You were out of the relationship long before you dumped me. I should have known something was up when you wouldn’t sleep with me.”
“That’s not fair. I wanted to wait until I was ready—you know that.”
“Six months wasn’t long enough for you?” he asked. “Well, I’m glad I have a new girlfriend then, because one month has been long enough for her.”
Ross and Jasmine, having sex—the very idea was too much for Carly, and she slammed down the phone. She was okay with him moving on, but with her once best friend? At least things with her new best friend couldn’t get any more complicated than that.
* * *
Carly chewed at her bottom lip as she opened her front door Friday night. She hadn’t known what kind of reaction Gabe would have to her short, black dress, but she hadn’t expected him to stand there with his mouth hanging open, gaping at her. She shuffled from one foot to the other, trying not to lose her balance in four-inch heels. “I know, I…”
“Wow,” Gabe whispered, reaching up to adjust his matte black tie. “You look—”
“Like a huge dork, I know. That’s why I hate wearing dresses.”
“Carly, that’s pretty much the opposite of what you look like. You are so absolutely—”
“Don’t say it,” she pleaded, daring to lock eyes with him. “Really, Gabe, I feel weird enough, and… Look, I’ll just feel a whole lot better if you don’t say anything about my dress, or how I look, or anything. Please.”
He let out a laugh. “Message received. Are you ready to go?”
“Not so fast,” Howard spoke as he showed up with a camera. Carly rolled her eyes as he snapped a few pictures. “Can I please get a smile out of you, sweetheart?”
“Dad, could you not?” Carly begged.
“But you look so beautiful in that dress.”
“That’s what I would have said if she would’ve let me,” Gabe noted.
Carly elbowed Gabe in the stomach. “We’re going to be late, and Crystal’s waiting for us.”
Howard wrapped her up in a hug before Carly could make it to the door. “You have fun tonight, okay?”
“I’ll try.”
“Have her home by eleven, Gabriel. Not one minute later.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Gabe promised. “We probably should take off.”
“Of course,” Howard said. “An
d Carly?”
“Dad, I know,” she sighed. “No drugs, no alcohol. You say it pretty much every time I leave the house.”
“You do look beautiful—so grown up, just like your mother. She’d be proud of you if she could see you tonight.”
Carly’s gaze fell as she opened the door. “Good night, Dad.” She followed Gabe to the SUV, not sure what to think when he opened the door for her. “You didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”
“No problem.” Gabe headed around to the driver’s door and hopped into the seat beside her. He dug out his phone and handed it to Carly as he turned over the engine. “I figured I’d let you play DJ tonight—if you’re up for it.”
She took the device and flipped through his music library. “I appreciate that. We’re going to pick up Crystal next?”
“Yep, then Abel.”
“I still don’t get why he’s riding with us.”
“You totally get it, you just don’t want to admit you do,” Gabe said. “Besides, Jeremy’s letting Esther, Sharla, and Kyle ride in his car. Abel would have been left out otherwise.”
“He doesn’t have a date?” Carly asked. “Abel? Really?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, he seems to think he’s too good for most of the girls at school.”
“I’ll bet he does. Sorry I have to be home so early. It’s the only way my dad would let me go.”
“It’s totally cool. It’s better than you staying home all night and me having to dance alone.”
“We both know you wouldn’t have to dance alone,” she told him.
“You mentioned you’re quite the dancer?” Gabe said.
“I don’t know about that, but I’m definitely more comfortable on a dance floor than I am in this dress.”
Gabe looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “I like the dress.”
“I said no comments about how I look tonight.”
“Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”
Carly decided on Fountains of Wayne and pressed play on the phone. “Where does Crystal live?”
“Just right up here,” Gabe answered, pointing at the road ahead. “She’s glad you decided to come tonight. She really seems to like you.”
“I like her, too. It’s good I’m making new friends here, since my best friend in the city…”
“Since your best friend in the city what?”
“Nothing,” Carly said, scolding herself for bringing it up. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Well, it still seems like you want to talk about it.”
“I talked to Ross last night,” she confessed. “He’s my ex-boyfriend.”
“I know who he is, Carly,” Gabe reminded her.
“Anyway, I guess he’s dating my best friend, Jasmine, even though she’s never mentioned it. And I guess they’re sleeping together, too.”
“Wow, Carly, I’m sorry?”
“It’s okay, really,” she said. “If they want to be together, more power to them. I was just shocked that they already… Since Ross and I didn’t.”
“Oh, so, you two never…?” Gabe dared.
Carly tried to fight her blush, but it was no use. “No. I didn’t necessarily expect to stay friends with Ross, but Jasmine… I haven’t gotten the nerve to talk to her yet—not since I found out about them.”
Gabe pulled up to a brick two-story house, easing the car to a stop. “You’ll figure it out, Carly. But, I mean, you have friends here—you have me. I know you haven’t known us very long, but we all like you, and we all genuinely care about you.”
Carly stared down at her hands in her lap. He’d meant every word of it—she could tell that much—but that didn’t mean she was ready to depend on anyone. She’d been taking care of herself for a long time now, and there was no reason to let that change.
“I’d, uh, I’d better go get Crystal,” Gabe said, reaching for the door handle. “I’ll be right back.”
Carly waited until he was gone, and slipped into the backseat. After all, she wasn’t Gabe’s date tonight.
“Carly, hey,” Crystal greeted her as she slid into the backseat.
“You can have shotgun,” Carly offered. “I’m okay sitting in back.”
“I’m okay sitting in back, too. I figured it would be fun to have Gabe chauffeur us around.”
“I see how it is,” Gabe spoke as he climbed in the driver’s seat.
“You know it,” Carly replied.
“Driver, we’d like to leave now,” Crystal teased as she kicked the back of Gabe’s seat. “Driver, don’t forget to stop by Mr. Crawford’s residence before we head to the restaurant.”
“Anything else, Miss Spencer?” Gabe asked, pulling into the street.
“That’s Ms. Spencer to you. Can we stop and get coffee after we pick up Abel? Please?”
“Crystal, we’re going out to eat. There will be coffee at the restaurant.”
“And your point is?”
Gabe’s eyes shifted in the rearview mirror from Crystal, to Carly. “Do you want to stop for coffee?”
“Sure?” Carly replied, glancing at Crystal.
“Okay,” Gabe relented. “We’ll pick up Abel, and then stop and get some coffee.”
Crystal rested her hand on his shoulder, and said, “Gabe, you are such a predictable loser.”
“Why am I a loser?”
She folded her arms over her chest as she settled back in her seat, and winked. “Thanks for your vote, Carly. Apparently, you have more sway over Gabe than I do—even though I’ve known him his entire life.”
“I don’t know about that, but I would like some coffee,” Carly said.
“We’ll need it if we’re going to have any fun tonight,” Crystal told her. “What are we doing after the dance? Have we decided?”
“Carly has to be home by eleven,” Gabe answered. “So, we’ll see.”
“Well, that sucks. What if you stay over at my house, Carly?”
“I’d love to, but I can’t,” Carly replied. “I’m still grounded.”
“Oh, that’s right. But you should stay over some other time. Or, you know what would be better? We should all go to Duluth some weekend.”
“And stay overnight?”
“Yeah, it would be totally fun. I’ll be eighteen soon, so I could get us a room. We so have to do it.” Crystal reached for the door as Gabe pulled up to the Crawford house. “I’ll run in and get Abel. Carly, you should sit up front, really.”
“Oh, I’m okay,” Carly assured her.
“Suit yourself. I’ll be right back.”
Gabe twisted around in his seat to catch Carly’s gaze. “Would you want to do that sometime? Go to Duluth?”
“Yeah, I’d love to,” Carly said. “But I doubt my dad will let me any time soon.”
“When he does, we’ll go for the day. We could get some good coffee and pick up a few CDs. I’m sure I could find something you haven’t heard before.”
“I like the sound of that. I definitely miss shopping in the city. You should come back with me some time to visit. They have the best music store there—the Electric Fetus. You’ll fall in love with it the minute you walk through the door.”
“There’s also an Electric Fetus in Duluth, and I do love it there. I guess that means we have to go.”
“All right, let’s get that coffee,” Crystal announced as she glided in the backseat next to Carly. “Pedal to the metal, Gabe.”
Abel jumped into the passenger seat, glancing back at Carly. “Hey, guys. Crystal said we’re stopping for coffee?”
Gabe pulled into the street. “Apparently.”
“Esther left about five minutes ago. They’re going to meet us at the restaurant.”
“Well, we’ll have to be a few minutes late,” Crystal decided. “Carly and I want coffee, and we’re not going to be very agreeable if we don’t get it.”
“It’s out of the way, and a ridiculous request, but I’m going to get you your stupid coffee,” Gabe mumbled.
“Wher
e are we going to get coffee?” Carly asked as Gabe sped north out of Sterling. “The gas station again?”
Abel turned in his seat to meet her gaze. “No, we go to the resort a few miles up the road. It’s kind of out of the way, but worth it. It’s the only place around here to get decent espresso without driving all the way to Duluth. I’m surprised you haven’t been there yet.”
Legacy: Bloodline Book 1 Page 8