Unexpected

by Meg Jolie

  “Goodbye, Dad.” I disconnected without waiting for him to respond.

  *~*~*

  “Is everything okay?” Tristan wondered.

  “Yeah, it’s fine.” It wasn’t. But I wanted it to be. I didn’t want my gloomy mood to hang over our date.

  He watched me for a second. This was our first date. Our first real, actual date. And if it had been with anyone else, anyone who didn’t know me as well as Tristan did, I could’ve probably gotten away with the fib. Then again, if it were anyone other than Tristan, I would’ve been trying harder to hide it. But I felt comfortable with him so my sulky mood was shining through.

  We were standing in my entryway, getting ready to go. Mom wasn’t home yet. She had tests to correct. She often stayed late, claiming she got more done in her quiet office at the university. At home she was too distracted. But this was getting late, even for her.

  And I was glad.

  Sadly, I wanted to avoid her tonight. I didn’t want to discuss the phone call.

  “No,” Tristan said carefully. “It’s not fine. I know you and something is wrong. Is it…” I glanced at him. He was almost grimacing. “Do you not want to go out? Is it me? Do you want to cancel? Because if you do, I understand. I mean, like I said, I didn’t expect this to last. I mean...”

  “What?” His monologue shocked me. “No! That’s not it, at all.”

  I closed the small space between us. I already had my boots on so when I looped my arms around his neck, I didn’t have to reach as far as I normally would’ve. “Why would you say that?”

  “Because,” he said with a small laugh as his arms tightened around me, “you’re kind of out of my league.”

  Now I laughed. “If I had to guess, I’d say most of that attitude came from your sister. Because for someone so smart, that’s probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

  “Really?” he asked.

  “Really,” I told him. I gave him a playful shove, pushing him until he was backed up to the wall. “Here’s the thing…I like you. A lot.” I paused. “I just realized how completely lame that sounds.”

  He grinned at me. “Sometimes ‘lame’ is underrated. Now is definitely one of those times. So you mean you like-me, like-me?” he teased. His brown eyes were sparkling and he looked…happy.

  I didn’t bother to waste my time with a verbal response. I kissed him instead. I hadn’t been alone with him since the night before school started. He’d been busy with…well, all of the things that kept him busy.

  “Does that answer your question?” I asked when I finally moved away from him.

  Relief flooded his features but then he looked concerned again. “Part of it. You didn’t tell me what is wrong.”

  I slipped out of his arms. “My dad. Surprising, right?” I sarcastically said. I told him the basics of the call.

  “You could go to dinner with him tonight,” he offered. “We can do this another night.”

  “No we can’t,” I said. “You told me you have something special planned.”

  He laughed at that and shook his head. “That’s not exactly what I said. I think special is kind of stretching it. I said I have something entertaining planned.”

  “Ohhh!” I said as I made a face. I was only half teasing. I reached for the door, anxious to get going. “I can’t wait!”

  “Good,” he said with a small nod. A smile was bouncing around on his lips. “I hope you like it. But we have a few hours before it starts. So where would you like to go eat?”

  We stepped outside and I locked the door behind us. Thoughts of Luca’s, cannolis and Italian in general had been firmly embedded in my brain since my phone call. I thought maybe a compromise would help quench the craving. “Can we go out for pizza? Oh! Somewhere with cannolis?”

  Tristan laughed. “Yeah, of course. When have I ever turned down pizza?”

  “Maybe we could go to Gia’s?” I asked. “I think they might have cannolis.”

  He took my hand and swung it between us as we walked to his car. “Gia’s is fine. And if they don’t have cannolis, we’ll find you someplace that does.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” I asked. Jamie and Tristan shared a car. It was a dark green Subaru. Brand new and picked out because of Tristan’s extensive research on car safety. Jamie had wanted something sportier. And something that was not dark green. She had not been pleased when their parents had gone with Tristan’s request. In fact, even though she was older and the rule was she got first dibs, she rarely drove it.

  Tristan grinned at me. “Nah, Evan’s picking Jamie up tonight.”

  Once we were inside I turned to Tristan. “You’re lucky she dislikes this car so much. You never have to fight her for it.”

  Some unidentifiable expression flashed across his face. “Yeah. Lucky,” he said. But something about his voice sounded off.

  As we were backing away, I playfully smacked him across the chest. My eyes were wide but amused. “Did you pick this out because you knew she wouldn’t drive it?”

  His gaze flicked to me and back to the road. His lips were twitching. “It’s a really safe car. And with icy road conditions much of the year, you can’t go wrong.”

  He said this in a well-practiced voice.

  “You did!” How did it take me this long to figure it out? And not just me, I was pretty sure Jamie wasn’t aware either.

  “I admitted no such thing,” Tristan scoffed.

  “But that’s exactly why you insisted on this car,” I pressed.

  He glanced at me and shrugged. “Weren’t you just saying the other day that you can’t keep secrets from my sister?” I nodded. “So obviously my secrets are not safe with you.”

  I tried not to laugh at that. I was thinking I couldn’t imagine what kind of secrets Tristan had. Other than the fact he’d outsmarted his sister. And it probably wasn’t the first time.

  He continued on. “But, if I don’t admit anything, there’s nothing to tell. Right?”

  I nodded. “Right. Okay. Got it. Nothing to tell.” I thought about that for a minute. “Because if Jamie knew that’s why you got this car, she’d drive it all the time.”

  “Out of spite,” Tristan finished with a nod.

  “Alright,” I said with a teasing sigh. “I know nothing.”

  We ended up eating at Gia’s for dinner. They did have cannolis. Tristan asked before he allowed them to seat us. We got Hawaiian pizza, just because we could. Jamie hated pineapple so when she was around, we always had to get something else.

  My favorite thing about being with Tristan was that he was so easy to be around. I wasn’t self-conscious because I figured by now, he knew the real me. Better than most people. And he apparently liked the me that he knew. It was relaxed while it was still exciting and fun. The butterflies that had taken up residence in my body were the soft, fluttery kind. Not the sharp, nervous kind. The kind I normally felt on a first date. What more could a girl ask for?

  “So,” I finally said as we got back in the car. “Where are we going again?”

  He gave me a knowing look. “I didn’t tell you yet.”

  “Oh, yeah. That’s right. Why not?” I demanded.

  “You’ll see when we get there.”

  “Oh, so mysterious!” I teased.

  When I realized we were heading out of town, I started peppering him with questions. He just gave me a cocky grin. But he still refused to tell me where we were going. As it turned out, where we were going was a club called Pulse.

  “We’re going clubbing?” I asked. I will admit I was a bit shocked. “I haven’t even heard of this place.”

  Tristan grinned at me. He looked oddly excited.

  “It just opened a few months ago. Mostly it’s a dance club but they’re trying something new. Every Friday night they have two bands come in. I’ve heard if it catches on, they’ll keep it up.” He glanced toward the door. There was a line to get in. “We should get going. It fills up pretty fast.”
/>   “You’ve been here before?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he said. “A few times. Just the nights they have the bands. It’s not like I come here to dance.”

  We got out and he led me inside. The place was crowded but some people I didn’t recognize waved to Tristan. He led me to their table.

  “Do you have room for us?” he asked.

  The only girl in their group slid over, patting the spot on the booth next to her. Tristan slid in and then made room for me.

  “Guys, this is Britta,” he said. I gave them a wave and then he went around the table, introducing them. “This is Jayde,” he said of the girl sitting next to him. She was a petite, honey-blond with chunky pink streaks through her hair. She had an eyebrow and lip piercing. She looked cute and funky…and like she wasn’t particularly happy that we were crashing their table.

  “Hi, Jayde,” I said. I was trying to go for friendly without being annoying. If these people were friends of Tristan’s, I wanted them to like me.

  The, “Hey,” she gave me made me think that just might not happen.

  Tristan didn’t seem to notice. As soon as that introduction was complete, he moved on. “And that’s Nolan, Cameron and Perry.” He had pointed to each person in turn as he circled the table.

  “Hi!” I said, tossing the word to the whole group. They greeted me back. Luckily, the rest of the group was a bit more enthusiastic than Jayde had been. When introductions were complete Tristan leaned in to talk to Nolan.

  “Who’s playing tonight?” he asked.

  They mentioned two bands I’d never heard of. Not surprising considering that I didn’t even know we had bands around here. I had also been completely unaware that Tristan had an entire group of friends outside of school that I didn’t know about.

  I didn’t want to be rude by pointing that out, so I asked about the bands instead.

  He just laughed. “There are a few around. You just need to know where to go to find them,” he assured me.

  I found myself relieved that Jayde was on the other side of Tristan. With him between us, I couldn’t see her all that well. Therefore, I didn’t feel at all obligated to try to make conversation with her. I instinctively knew that would be awkward. Everyone else was friendly enough. The conversation flowed and Tristan pulled me in when he could. Mostly, I was content to just listen.

  We hadn’t been sitting long before the lights began to dim. I felt Tristan’s arm slide around my waist. I leaned into him, feeling his firm chest behind me. I turned just slightly so I could have a better view. Before I was able to eke out another word, music exploded into the air.

  I glanced back at Tristan who winked at me. I realized conversation was going to be out for a while so I just settled in to enjoy the night.

  12

  “So where, oh where does my brother take a girl on a date?” Jamie wanted to know. “Did you go to Marcus’s last night? Have a videogame marathon? Or did you go to Tucker’s to play a wild game of chess? Or…” she made a teasing face, “did you go out for pizza with the rest of the mathletes and then to the arcade?”

  “He took me to Pulse,” I admitted, ignoring her sarcasm completely.

  She gave me a quizzical look. “Do I even want to know what that is?”

  “It’s a club over in Richmond. They have live music. It was actually a lot of fun.”

  She stared at me for a minute before saying, “Tristan took you to a club? And why don’t I know about this place?”

  “It’s new, I guess.” And it was in a town nearly an hour away. I had asked Tristan how he’d heard about it. He told me that he’d met a few of the guys when they’d shown up at Harrison’s, the music store he worked at. Perry was a freshman in college, here in Laughlin. Everyone else lived closer to Richmond. They’d told him about it and invited him along because they all had a love for music. Well, he didn’t word it that way—“a love for music”—that was my terminology. But it was the gist of his explanation.

  “Was there dancing?” she demanded.

  “Some. They had two bands so mostly we just listened to them play.” The group we were with didn’t seem much like dancers. Well, except maybe Jayde. She’d pulled Perry out to the floor. The evening had not gotten any better with her. I’d tried to make conversation a few times but in the end, decided I was maybe making things worse. I got the distinct impression that I was annoying her without really understanding why. So I just kept my mouth shut. I’d asked Tristan about it after we left. He told me he had no idea what I was talking about. I told him it was typical for a guy to be so oblivious.

  “How did he find out about it?” Jamie sounded incredulous.

  “He heard about it from some friends. Some guys that come into the music store a lot. You know how he likes music,” I said with a laugh. “Why is this such a surprise to you?”

  “Because it actually sounds fun. Tristan doesn’t normally do fun,” she told me.

  “I don’t think you know your brother very well,” I told her.

  She ignored me and held up a dress. It was black. It looked a little too simple for Jamie’s taste. She must’ve decided so too because she put it back almost right away.

  “I think this is the one!” Krista nearly squealed from beside us. It was fuchsia. Very, very fuchsia. The kind that was so bright and vibrant that if you looked at it too long, your eyes would actually ache.

  “It’s pretty,” I told her. I wasn’t lying. I just wasn’t looking at it head on. And the thing about Krista? Her personality was vibrant enough that she could probably pull off a color like that just fine.

  “I know!” She held up a shimmery pink dress. “I told Willow she should get this one. She won’t even try it on.”

  “There’s no point,” Willow said.

  At Jamie’s insistence, she’d come to lunch with us. She’d gotten a cup of soup. I had noticed it was the least expensive thing on the menu. And while she’d agreed to come shopping with us, it was clear she wasn’t enjoying it.

  Krista held the dress up to Willow. With Willow’s white blond hair, the pink shimmery dress looked divine. It complimented her pale blue eyes nicely. If she were to get a dress, that might be the perfect one for her.

  She apparently wasn’t going to get a dress because she swatted Krista’s hand away.

  “Fine!” Krista grumped. She rolled her eyes and handed it to Willow anyway. “Would you mind putting it back then? I’m going to go try this one on.”

  “I found one too,” Jamie said. She had a sheath of cobalt blue draped over her arm.

  I hadn’t found anything yet. I continued to look as Krista and Jamie disappeared into the fitting room. I watched as Willow walked the pink dress back to where Krista had found it. Before replacing it, she glanced at the price tag. Her normally cheery countenance was almost non-existent today. When she glanced at the tag, her mood seemed to become bleaker still.

  She used her fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose. Her shoulders rose and fell with deep, deep breaths.

  I knew I was still missing pieces of the puzzle, but I definitely got the big picture.

  Jamie came out and twirled around in the little cobalt number that only she could pull off.

  “Looks great,” I told her.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I think this is the one. No luck?”

  “No luck,” I agreed.

  “I’ll come back out and help you,” she offered and disappeared again.

  I made my way over to Willow. “I’m not finding anything.”

  She gave me a forced smile. “Their selection isn’t the best this year.”

  “I know,” I agreed with a semi-manufactured sigh. “I know. I keep wishing I could wear the dress from my cousin’s wedding last year. That little red one you liked so much?” My cousin Tori actually had, as one would expect from her, impeccable taste. Her wedding was the usual black and white affair but with red accents. Red ribbons, red roses and sexy—yet tasteful—red bridesmaids dresses.

  “S
o why don’t you wear it?” Willow asked. She watched Krista emerge to show her dress off to Jamie. She looked sad and somewhat miserable.

  I shrugged. “It doesn’t fit anymore,” I said, blushing at the lie. I hoped Willow would think I was blushing at my invented admission. I shook my head. “Too bad because it was an awesome dress. And it’s not like anyone ever saw me in it. I mean no one at school. So it’s not like anyone would know it wasn’t brand new.”

  She nodded, seeming distracted still. “It was an awesome dress,” she agreed.

  “You really think so?” I asked.

  Her eyes flickered back to me and she gave me a brighter smile than the one I’d received before. “Britta, it was a killer dress. Absolutely to die for,” she threw in for good measure.

  “I thought so, too,” I admitted. “It’s a shame to have it stuffed away in a closet.” I looked at her, hesitating, trying to think of the best way to say it. Finally, I just decided to…say it. “You know, it’s too bad you’re not going. That dress would look great on you.”

  Krista had disappeared back inside of the dressing room. Willow’s gaze had returned to the dress Krista had set aside for her. Her eyes were lingering longingly over it. When I spoke, her gaze swung back to me. She stared at me for a few heartbeats too long to be entirely comfortable. She rolled her bottom lip through her teeth before saying, “You wouldn’t mind?”

  “No!” I said, hopefully without too much enthusiasm. “I wouldn’t mind at all. You know, if you change your mind and decide you want to go.”

  “I might want to go,” she said in a small voice. “I guess, when I think about it. Maybe I do want to go.”

  She glanced at Krista again. She was looking at dresses once more. A worried look crossed over her face.

  “Krista never saw the dress,” I told her. “Now that I think about it, I don’t think Jamie did either.” I knew that Jamie would understand. She was worried about Willow. She might actually be relieved to find out it was a money issue. As opposed to the other worries that had taken hold in her mind. “Jamie was gone. That was the week that Dr. Jacobs decided to bring them all to D.C. because he thought the family needed more culture.” Or something like that.