Page 5 of Served
“No,” I grunted, “but Jason, just ugh.”
Amy had that look, like a shark circling her prey.
“WhataboutJason? How many drinks did you have, Luce?”
I playfully threw a cereal bar at her and shook my head. “Not even! He bumped into me, shattered glass everywhere, then insisted on walking me home and was such an asshole.”
The grin on Amy’s face was just wicked, “Oh, such an asshole. Them’s some strong words. Even for him, coming from you. Does someone have a little crush?” she asked as she stared over her coffee tumbler at me.
“What?! No, oh my God! Puh-lease!” I was still fiddling with things in my purse and looking through my wallet to be sure I had my debit card.
Why couldn’t I look up at her?
“Oh my God, you totally do! What happened? Tell me everything or we are not going shopping!” Amy grabbed my hand and led me to our small breakfast nook table.
“Nothing, he walked me home. And yes, for a second I thought he was hitting on me, and I was kinda hammered so I figured why not.” I paused to recall the assholiness. “Then he was a complete jerk and left.”
“That’s it?” She asked as she rolled her eyes. “You know he’s had the hots for you forever, right?” Amy asked as she leaned back, unimpressed with my story.
I shook my head, “Um, no, you’re full of shit, Amy. He’s always so grumpy, at least around me.” Why did I feel flushed at her question?
“Seriously, that was it? He bumped into you then walked you safely home. Yeah, what an asshole,” she said sarcastically with an intense eye roll.
I shrugged my shoulders and put my hands up to indicate I had nothing more to offer the gossip Gods.
Amy sighed, “Whatever, grab your stuff. We need to get to the mall so we can dress you for your big night!”
The ride to the mall was quiet and fast. As we parked and walked inside, I probed.
“So, what did you mean earlier. About Jason?” I tried to be nonchalant, but Amy wasn’t buying it.
“You don’t remember this? Wow!” She grabbed my arm and pulled me close as we walked in. “Remember when I threw you that birthday party a while ago?”
I thought back and remembered a party at our apartment complex on the roof. It was around my 24th birthday but she did buy a cake, so I suppose it was a birthday party.
“Vaguely, that was over two years ago. But, what about it?” We pushed into a store that had a good variety of very punk-chic styles and started browsing, still standing close.
“He kept trying to talk to you, but you were hanging on that loser, what was his name? The pretty boy.”
Oh, the beautiful one. “Sam? We were dating then. Of course, I was hanging all over him. Plus, even you could appreciate his aesthetic. He was so pretty, but so dense.” We both laughed so loud the store clerk looked over and rolled her eyes. This place wasn’t much for service, but the prices were decent, and they had what I needed, even in my size.
“Still, I don’t remember him talking to me besides saying hey. And he’s never been anything but sour to me,” I said.
“Well, hewasnice to you when we first started going to the club, but you’ve brought in skeevy boys ever since. Guess he never wanted to take his shot. But do you seriously never catch him checking you out? Oh, try this one!” Amy passed some cute pants to me and started pushing me to the dressing room. “Go on in, I’ll find a cute top and throw it over.”
I did as she instructed and went to the dressing room and shimmied into the pants. I checked the mirror from different angles. Very good fit. Then a shirt hit me in the face.
“You could have at least taken the hanger off before you tossed it,” I yelled over the door.
I swapped my shirt for the airborne one and stood checking it out.
“So wait, you’ve seen him checking me out? Jason, I mean.”
I could practically hear the eye roll from Amy through the dressing room door, “oh my God, yeeesssss. So what? We need to focus on your clothes!”
She was right, and the shirt was all wrong. I put my original one back on and walked out of the dressing room in search for another.
“Do you have a crush on him, Luce? Because we can totally make that happen. Also, next time you need to let me see the outfit before you veto it.”
