Page 101 of Better Than the Movies
My dad directed us to stand in a super-awkward pose, with Michael’s arm around my waist, and I just shut my mouth and smiled to get it over with. Thankfully he was quick, and after about four shots he let us leave.
“Have fun, kids.”
“Sorry about him,” I muttered to Michael as we walked to his car. “He’s just as dorky as he always was.”
“Your dad was always great,” he said, smiling as he opened the passenger door for me.
“Yeah—I s’pose.” I grabbed a handful of long dress and got in, and looked out the window after he shut the door and walked around to the other side. I looked at my dad on the porch, smiling and waving all by himself, and it occurred to me that he could’ve been like that all along if he’d never met Helena.
Alone.
It was wrong that she wasn’t there.
“So you’re good with Sebastian’s?” He pulled out of the driveway, and I noticed his car was immaculate. Clean, vacuumed, not a speck of vent dust—the interior was perfect. From somewhere in the center of my brain, I wondered if the inside of Wes’s car looked like that too. I mean, he’d clearly washed the outside of the Bronco. Was it to impress Alex?
“Liz?”
“What? Hm?” I blinked and came back from the delay. “Yes. Sebastian’s sounds great.”
When we got to the restaurant, the hostess led us to a stunning table with white linens, a vase full of lilies, and white candles, already lit. I sat in one of the chairs and said, “Wow.”
Michael sat across from me and immediately put his napkin on his lap. “I assumed that romantic Little Liz would want flowers before her senior prom.”
“Wait, what? You got those for me?”
He smiled and sighed. “It was the least I could do. I kind of caught you off guard, last minute, with the whole thing.”
I lifted off my seat just enough to lean forward and smell the gorgeous flowers. How could he be that thoughtful? It was such aperfectgesture. “Yeah, not gonna lie, I was shocked when you asked.”
“After what you said in the music room, I decided what the hell.”
What exactly had I said?I racked my brain but I was clueless. I’d been so focused on Wes and Alex that I really hadn’t paid attention to Michael at all.Bad move, Liz.
“What about Laney?”
A shadow passed over his face before quickly disappearing. He said, “She’s going to prom with her friends.”
“Oh. And you’re good with that?”
“Here’s the thing. I have no idea what she wants, and I don’t want to waste senior prom trying to figure it out. I’d rather—”
The waiter showed up, interrupting him with menus, specials, and drink offerings, and I could tell Michael was relieved. It was clear to me that he wanted Laney but was too afraid to put himself out there. He’d rather pretend I was his magical date, safe Little Liz but maybe something more, than risk going for it and getting denied.
That should’ve made me feel like garbage, but I didn’t really feelanythingabout it. In fact, I felt the same about his non-burning-love for me as I would about his opinion on the whole ketchup vs. mustard condiment war.
Utterly unaffected.
Holy crap—I did not care.
I felt more relaxed just by admitting it to myself. Because really—why was I forcing it? Michael wasn’t the one—no big, right? And maybe I wasn’t going to find the one. That was okay too, right? Why was I wasting my life trying to live up to the ridiculous expectations that I was setting for myself?
I changed the subject by pointing out a twenties art deco print on the wall, and by the time the food came, we were in the thick of a conversation aboutThe Great Gatsby.
“I hear what you’re saying, Liz—I do. But Daisy’s sole purpose in the story is to be Gatsby’s unattainable dream. Sheisthe green light. So she can’t be a monstrous antagonist.”
I rolled my eyes and put a piece of steak in my mouth. “Wrong. His memory of her is the green light. Remember—‘His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.’ Once he reconnects with her in the flesh, she’s no longer the green light.”
He nodded and spread butter on his roll. “Thatistrue.”
