Page 25 of Going the Distance
Rachel had declined going to the party because she was staying in to study for the SATs she was taking next week. She was praying for early admission to Brown, and we all knew she’d get in, even if it was just through regular admission. Her GPA was good, and she was going to kick ass in the SATs.
I sighed again, picked out a black skater skirt that went to my knees, and stepped into it. That was half an outfit, so I deemed it good progress.
My cell phone rang, and Lee answered it before I could ask him to. “Hey, Levi.” After saying “Mmm-hmm” a few times, Lee hung up. “Levi will be here in fifteen minutes.”
I picked out a pale blue silky cami and a cute yellow wraparound top I’d bought in an end-of-summer sale. “Which one?”
“Uh…the yellow one.”
“Are you sure?”
Lee sat up and gave me a flat look, silencing me. Not that he was very convincing—I was just surprised at how pissed he looked. I knew he wasn’t really happy that Rachel wasn’t going to be there tonight, but he hadn’t told her that—he understood that she wanted to stay home to study. But now he was taking his grouchiness out on me. And I felt grouchy enough on my own without his attitude.
“You know what? I’ll wear this white one.” I picked a plain white cropped T-shirt instead, turning away before I rolled my eyes at him. “I know it sucks Rachel’s not coming with us tonight, but this is going to be fun! Hanging out, us and the guys, like it used to be. And it’ll totally be worth it for her, when she gets into Brown.”
Lee was quiet—so quiet it startled me. When I glanced back, he had his hands knotted together in his lap, scowling at them.
“What? What’s up?”
“I was thinking,” he said slowly, not looking at me, “about applying to Brown. With Rachel.”
“You are? But what about Berkeley? We…we always talked about it.”
“Yeah, and now I’m talking about Brown, with Rachel. I could do it, maybe. My grades are good enough. Like you always said, school council looks good on college applications.”
I stared at him for a long while, not sure what to say.
Lee and I had always done everything together. Whenever we talked about college, it was always together, and it was always UC Berkeley.
“I might not even get in,” he said eventually. “But…you know. It might be nice. Hasn’t Noah talked to you about applying to somewhere in Boston, so you guys can be closer together?”
He hadn’t, and I’d never even thought about it before.
And I wasn’t thinking about it now: I could only think,Lee’s picking her over me. Again.
“Levi’s gonna be here soon,” he said. “I’m gonna go wait downstairs.”
I watched him go, not sure I’d ever felt like Lee was such a stranger to me.
By the time Lee and I were climbing into the back of Levi’s green Toyota, he was still quiet, withdrawn, nothing at all like his usual upbeat self. Cam was riding shotgun, and I was squashed between Dixon and Lee in the backseat.
“Who’s excited?” Dixon yelled as I wrestled with the seat belt.
“Sure,” Lee muttered.
“Wow, look who’s got a stick up their ass tonight. What’s your problem, dude?”
“Nothing, all right?”
I turned to Dixon, pulling a face, and he shrugged in response. Was this all about college? Rachel? Or was it something else entirely?
Lee started to liven up once we were actually at the party, and once he’d gotten a few cups of beer down him. Warily, I watched him refill from the keg for the third time but decided not to nag him about it. He was a responsible drinker. He always got tipsy, but rarely ever got completely wasted. I tended to be the irresponsible one.
When Rachel told us she wasn’t coming tonight, I’d been way more thrilled than I’d ever let on.
But now we were here, I was starting to wish Rachel had turned up after all. I couldn’t help but think Lee’s bad mood had to do with me and that she would have helped.
Lee seemed more interested in hanging out with the guys from the football team than any of us. A few of them walked past, yelling, “Hey, hey, Little Flynn! How’s it going, man?”
