Dating the It Guy

by Krysten Lindsay Hager

  “He thought he smelled something yesterday, but I took care of it before he saw the stain,” she said. “Maybe these are just isolated incidents. We’ll keep an eye on it. I’m not going to say anything unless I absolutely have to.”

  Chapter 19

  In the morning she “absolutely had to” when Grandpa wet the bed. My dad didn’t say anything and took Grandpa upstairs to shower.

  “I’m going to wash his sheets, and then run out to get some adult diapers,” Mom said. “Keep an eye on Grandpa when Dad brings him downstairs, okay?”

  However, after lunch, Grandpa stood up, and we realized the diaper leaked, and he had wet another couch cushion.

  “Mom, I asked him, like, fifty times if he had to go to the bathroom,” I said, getting nervous. “He said he was fine. In fact, he seemed a little irritated I asked.”

  Mom sighed. “I know. He’s from the generation where you don’t discuss bathroom matters—especially with your teenage granddaughter. He probably didn’t even realize he had to go.”

  That scared me. How did he not notice he was sitting in a wet adult diaper? And how long had this been going on? Was this his life now? Asking me where he slept every night and not knowing when he needed to use the bathroom? It broke my heart to see him getting more confused, and I didn’t know what to do to help him.

  “Emme, put these plastic dry-cleaning bags everywhere Grandpa usually sits,” Dad said. “This should help protect the cushions.”

  We told Grandpa to sit on the bags, but he kept forgetting. In fact, he stood up and removed the bag even as I said, “Remember, you need to sit on that right now?”

  “Why? What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned.

  My eyes filled with tears as I saw his confusion despite the fact I had just explained it to him ten minutes ago.

  “Um, I spilled something on it, and I don’t want your pants to get wet,” I said. I didn’t like to lie, but I wanted to preserve his dignity. I saw my dad watching us, and he cleared his throat.

  “Maybe we should move the recliners out of the family room,” Dad said. “I can bring up an old chair from the basement. Might be easier.”

  He brought the chair in, and we moved the coffee table right in front of the loveseat. That way we could crawl over the table and sit on the loveseat, but Grandpa wouldn’t be able to get to it.

  Margaux texted me they were on their way to pick me up to get our hair done for the dance. Her dad drove up and took us all to the salon. Kylie decided to have her hair professionally straightened for the dance, and it was so silky and long. She kept running her fingers through it as she watched herself in the mirror. Margaux said she didn’t want “dance hair” all pulled up and sprayed to death, so her stylist cut it in choppy layers and styled it around her face. Since I always wore my hair in a bun or long and loose, the girls talked me into doing something different for the dance. My stylist curled the ends and pulled it back in a low ponytail with a piece left out on the side.

  Margaux offered to do my makeup. I told her nothing too extreme and let her do my eye makeup. She put on a sheer peach shadow. It was a little light for a dance, so Kylie added smoky eyeliner with lots of mascara.

  “Em, I’ve never seen you with your eyes outlined,” Margaux said. “I like it.”

  Kylie and I exchanged a look. “I think she meant it,” Kylie whispered.

  Zach, Darren, and Seth were waiting in Margaux’s living room while her mom took pictures of us. I felt a little weird when it was my turn with Darren to have our “couples” photo.

  We arrived at the restaurant for dinner. Seth had made reservations at a Japanese seafood restaurant, but Darren was allergic to fish so he couldn’t eat anything there. All he had was a little dish of rice. They didn’t have any chicken, steak, or even a salad on the menu for him. I asked if he wanted us to take the limo through a drive-through, but Margaux said she wanted to get to the dance before the backdrop for the pictures got messed up.

  “Last year at the spring fling, the paper on the floor had shoe prints and crap all over it, and it ruined my pictures,” she said.

  “I’m fine, Emme,” Darren said.

  When we got to the dance, the photographers had messed up the number order, so to make up for it, each person could get two pictures taken. Darren and I had our picture taken, and then Kylie, Margaux, and I posed for one together. Margaux went over to talk to some junior guy named Cris, and Seth was not happy.

  “Darren and I are going to go outside with Seth for a minute,” Zach told Kylie and me. “He’s super mad at Margaux right now.”

  I saw Margaux surrounded by guys going, “Cris, come give me a hug!”

  “I guess you’re my date then,” Kylie said to me. “Let’s dance, but I’m warning you—if a slow song comes on, you better watch your hands.”

  I cracked up. “I’ll try to control myself.”

  I was having a lot of fun…until I saw Lauren walk by. She was wearing the black long-sleeved dress I wanted. She appeared way older and more sophisticated than anyone else at the dance. Plus, she had her hair up in a high ponytail like one those vintage sixties dolls.

  “You looked better in it,” Kylie said, just as a group of girls ran over to Lauren to tell her how “gorgeous” she was. “Are you mad at me for talking you out of it?”

  “Probably wouldn’t have been able to pull it off anyway. I always feel like such a kid next to her,” I said.

  “If it makes you feel any better, I saw Brendon watching you while we were dancing,” she said. “Speaking of guys, where are our dates?”

  We found the guys hanging out with Darren’s brother, Matt, and some other junior guys Seth knew. Seth reeked of alcohol. So much for the assistant principal’s threat of checking everyone’s breath all night. We managed to pry Margaux away from all her admirers, and we all went to sit at one of the tables. It was just my luck Lauren and Brendon were at the next table—and she was almost sitting on his lap.

  “Brendon, give me your jacket. I’m freezing,” she said as she leaned in closer to him.

  Kylie leaned over. “Who’s going to puke first: you from watching Lauren or Seth from whatever he drank in the parking lot?”

  “I’d say me. Although Darren seems like he had some, too,” I whispered back.

  “Zach said Seth’s friends brought it, but he didn’t have any,” she said. She leaned over and grabbed Margaux’s arm. “Hey, I thought you said we were only going to stay for a half-hour.”

  Margaux shrugged. “If you guys want to go, I can get my own ride home,” she said as she got up to dance with Tyrell. “Just let me know what you want to do.” Seth got up—well, he attempted to, but he fell over a chair. Zach glanced over at Kylie and raised his eyebrows.

  “I better get Seth home,” he said.

  “Call me tomorrow,” Kylie said, sighing as they walked away. “Well, at least I got to dance with him twice. Darren, do you want to go?”

  We found our limo, and Kylie called Margaux’s cell to tell her we were leaving. “So do you want us to wait for you or—” She stopped when Darren opened the limo door to throw up. “Gross, Darren just spewed everywhere. Well, he did drink on an empty stomach.”

  I stuck my head out of the limo. “Are you okay?” I asked.

  He nodded. “I think I’m going to find my brother or something—” He moved his head and threw up again. I offered to call his brother’s cell, and we waited around until he found us. Darren stayed outside because he didn’t want to get the limo dirty. Kylie exchanged a look with me.

  “Is this how you expected your homecoming to go?” she asked as I rolled my eyes. “Well, on the plus side, at least you’re not puking.”

  “Because I’d never drink at a dance, although I almost did throw up when I saw Lauren on Brendon’s lap,” I said.

  “Well, at least you have a hot date,” she said. “Me.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, and you didn’t even puke on me.”

  “And I didn’t have to beg
you to dance with me. Crap, I danced with you more than Zach. Poor Zach. Seth ended up being his date.”

  “Zach was still a better date than Margaux,” I said as Kylie’s cell phone rang.

  “Hey Margaux. Yeah, we’re still here. Darren’s brother just came over to get him. We’ll wait for you.”

  Margaux came into the limo holding her shoes. “My strap broke,” she said. “Is there anything decent in the mini-fridge?”

  Kylie passed around sodas, and Margaux told us that at the restaurant she saw Seth text messaging someone in the lobby. She asked him whom he was writing to, and he wouldn’t let her see.

  “It was this junior who likes him, and he’s totally been encouraging her. It doesn’t mean anything when you tell someone you aren’t into them, and then you constantly e-mail, text message, and IM them,” she said. “It’s not like they’re just friends. I mean she’s made it obvious she likes him and…whatever. He’s a jerk.”

  “How long do we have the limo for?” Kylie asked.

  “My mom had paid for the whole night,” Margaux said. “Want to get takeout and drive around?”

  “Perfect,” I said.

  “You pick the place, Em,” she said.

  Even though I didn’t eat meat, I was obsessed with the mushroom gravy at this southern fast-food chicken place. The girls were on board with it, and we all got combo meals.

  “So this is how the night ends—just the three musketeers,” Kylie said.

  “Ooh, I could go for one of those right now. Let’s get the driver to stop at a drugstore,” Margaux said.

  “I want it noted, for the record, my date didn’t puke,” Kylie said.

  I laughed. “Not exactly something to brag about to your grandkids fifty years from now, but you do have us beat. Crap, I just got gravy on my dress.”

  Kylie told me to be grateful it was just gravy after the night we had. We went into a convenience store to get snacks. I had a funny feeling I shouldn’t go in, seeing as my dress was stained, my face was greasy, and my hair was messed up from leaning my head back on the seat, but I ignored my intuition because I was afraid Kylie wouldn’t get the potato chips I wanted. Ignoring my intuition proved to be the wrong thing to do because who did I run into? Brendon, Lauren, Sam, and his date. I couldn’t turn around because they saw me walk in. Plus, Margaux had her hand firmly pushing me into the store. “Say ‘hi’ and act like you’re having fun,” she said in my ear.

  “Hi guys,” I said, smiling so hard I probably cracked my makeup, and I put my purse in front of the stain on my dress. “Getting some snacks?” No, stupid, they were paying for chips and candy bars because they wanted to feed the birds. I’m so dumb.

  “Yeah, we’re going to sneak it into the hotel,” Lauren said. “See ya.”

  As soon as they cleared the doorway, the three of us said, “Hotel?” at the same time.

  “Maybe they rented a room, and they’re just having a little party or something,” Kylie said.

  “Or maybe after they leave their little party, Lauren and Brendon are going to stay in the room, and she’s going to sleep with your man,” Margaux said.

  Kylie told her to shut up, but Margaux was probably right. Brendon wasn’t my boyfriend anymore, so it wasn’t like he was cheating on me, but it still felt like he had ripped my heart out, shoved it back down my throat, and then made me throw it back up.

  “Em, you want to see if the driver will take us for frozen yogurt? Hmm? You want a little raspberry swirl to make you feel better?” Kylie asked.

  Margaux pointed out the yogurt place closed at nine. She said the fast-food drive-through might still be open, and we started to leave when Brendon came back inside.

  “Hey, I forgot to get some ice,” he said.

  Margaux moved in front of me to block the view of my dress.

  Brendon picked up the bag of ice and said, “You guys can meet us at the hotel if you want. A bunch of us rented a room just to hang out. We’re at the Ainsley Inn on Woodward—it’s right across from the Marcus restaurant, and we’re in room one-thirty-one.”

  “Like hotels don’t have ice?” Margaux said as soon as he left. “He came back just to let you know he and Lauren weren’t hooking up.”

  “And I think we should go to the Ainsley to make sure they don’t,” Kylie said.

  “I look too gross to go anywhere.”

  Margaux went over to the guy behind the counter. “I know the sign says customers can’t use the bathroom, but take pity on her,” she said, pointing to me. “Her ex just invited her to a party with his girlfriend and look at her dress. Please let her try to make herself look decent.”

  The guy leaned over the counter and said, “Nasty. Okay, but just for a minute.”

  The three of us tried to scrub the stain, but the gravy was not coming out.

  “I can’t hold my purse in front of my dress all night,” I said. “Let’s just forget it.”

  “This isn’t over. Come on, let’s trade,” Kylie said. “We’re about the same size, and I already have a boyfriend, so I’m not out to impress anyone there.”

  I hugged her, and we switched dresses. The driver took us to the hotel, and I had to do deep breathing exercises before we knocked on the door. I don’t know what I was worried about, seeing as Brendon knew we might show up, but maybe I was afraid Lauren would answer the door wearing just a sheet. Instead, Sam answered the door and let us in. There weren’t a lot of people there yet, but Lauren was clinging to Brendon like a static-y sock. Sam offered to get us something to drink, but then he saw the stain on Kylie’s dress.

  “Or maybe you just want water or something,” he said.

  “She was, um, helping a sick friend,” Margaux said.

  “It’s just gravy,” Kylie said. Sam raised his eyebrows and nodded as he went to get us sodas. The three of us didn’t know what to do, so we sat on one of the couches, huddled together like freaks.

  “Why are we here again?” I asked.

  “Because you’re not over your ex, dummy,” Margaux said, rolling her eyes. “But I’m not going to sit here all night when there’s chocolate in the limo, so go talk to him or something.”

  Like I could walk over to where Lauren was sitting in the same oversized chair with him, almost on his lap. How obvious could you get?

  “Why doesn’t she just pee on him like a dog with a fire hydrant?” Margaux whispered in my ear. Out loud she said, “Hey, Brendon, do you have any other songs other than this album?”

  He had to stand up, which got him away from Lauren, but did he want her so close by in the first place? I had this feeling he still wanted to be with me, but what if it wasn’t intuition but just some pathetic desperate thing?

  “Em, come here and help me pick one,” she said.

  “I don’t have any Sweetie Gals ones on here,” he said, smiling. Margaux went over to the side to give us room to talk.

  “I wanted to ask you to dance tonight, but I didn’t want to upset your boyfriend,” he said.

  My face got warm. “He’s not my boyfriend,” I said.

  “So would it be okay to—”

  “You guys, I want a group shot,” Lauren said, holding up a camera. “Sam finally figured out how to use the timer. Let’s go over by the couch.”

  I stood next to Sam and Kylie for the picture until I felt a hand in my back and found myself falling into Brendon after Margaux elbowed me. “Sorry, new shoes,” I said after I almost knocked him over. I glared at Margaux, while Lauren and Sam set up both of their cameras. However, I couldn’t stay mad at Margaux when Brendon put his arm around my waist for the picture. I moved closer to him and put my arm around his waist so Lauren would have to look at us in the picture for the rest of her life…or until she deleted the shot.

  More people started showing up, and Sam got worried we were going to get kicked out of the hotel.

  “Hey Emme, will you go out on the balcony with me?” Brendon asked.

  We walked out, and there were a few peopl
e sitting there, but Lauren was inside with her friend, Madison. A couple of people slow danced.

  “So did you get to dance with anyone other than Kylie?” he asked.

  “Were you watching me?” I asked.

  He bit his lip and glanced down as his shoes. “Maybe, so…do you want to dance?”

  “Sure,” I said. However, Kylie’s dress was shorter than mine and a little wider, seeing she had a slightly curvier figure than me. It was a touch big on me, and I hoped it wouldn’t slide down too far and take my strapless bra down with it. It was hard for me to completely relax while I was dancing because I could feel my bra moving south. I wanted to pull it up, but there was no subtle way to do it without looking like a weirdo. I hoped he didn’t think I was tense because of him.

  We started swaying with the music, and then he kissed me. Had he been drinking like the other guys? He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would, but then again I didn’t expect Darren to either. What if Brendon had been drinking and didn’t even know what he was doing? Maybe I could be any girl as far as he was concerned. What if he didn’t remember any of this tomorrow? But yet I felt he wanted to be with me. Still, I knew it would look bad if people started talking at school about how he got drunk, and we were making out at a hotel. So I pulled back. If he wanted a relationship with me—something more than just this moment on a balcony— then he was going to have to stop seeing Lauren, or whatever he was doing with her. I wasn’t going to be the girl he ran to when he got confused, and I wasn’t going to put up with her in my life anymore.

  I was about to ask him what was going on with him and Lauren when he surprised me.

  “Do you want to hang out tomorrow afternoon?” he asked. “I could pick you up around two.”

  I nodded, and Margaux, who appeared out of nowhere, suddenly grabbed my arm and said we had to leave.

  “So I’ll be at your house tomorrow then, okay?” Brendon said.

  “Yeah, see ya then,” I said over my shoulder since Margaux was leading me out the door.

  “What’s your problem?” I asked as we walked to the parking lot.