Playing By The Book, page 14
I quickly texted my parents that I wouldn’t be reachable until nine-thirty New York time, in compliance with our “must answer” policy. I just hoped they assumed I was at dinner rather than seeing an R movie. While I was at it, I sent a quick text to Tracy: “Sup? Seeing Slasher 2nite!”
Just then, someone covered my eyes from behind and said, “Guess who?”
I smiled. “Hmmm. Let’s see. Big hands. Questionable breath. Professor Greenberg?”
Julie chuckled and playfully slapped my back.
“I like him already,” a deep, inviting voice said.
I turned and faced a tan guy with green eyes and brown hair, wearing white jeans and a snug, black shirt. He stood a little taller than Julie and definitely knew his way around the gym.
Julie looked stunning in her khaki jeans and a blue, scoop-necked blouse. “Hey, get your own man, pawtna. Joshua, this is my classmate Jake.”
“Classmate” stung a little—weren’t we kind of dating?
I smiled and shook Joshua’s hand. “Sam’s inside saving seats. Y’all go on in. I’ll get the popcorn.”
My phone vibrated. Tracy’s text read: “Going bowling 2nite. You behave! ;-)”
Inside, I nearly broke the bank, buying four bottles of water and two tubs of popcorn, stacking one on top of the other. I had to stick my umbrella in my back pocket, and by the time I got into the theater, previews had started. It took me a while to find my posse in the dark, crowded theater. Joshua and Sam were chatting away, completely oblivious to the fact that everyone was trying to watch the previews. Clearly, things were off to a good start for them.
I handed Sam a big tub of popcorn and two bottles of water.
“Thanks, brah,” he said, barely looking at me.
Julie motioned over at them and gave me a thumbs up. She took a water and the other tub while I settled in.
There was something nice and peaceful about the moment, even though we were about to see a movie billed as “the bloodiest film of all time.” I’d been in town for less than two weeks but was already making some good friends, going on my first real date, and even hanging out with the son of the Mayor of New York. That’s ridiculous! And it had nothing to do with the fact that my father was a big preacher. A huge surge of enthusiasm pulsed through me with the realization that I was hanging with the cool kids for the first time in my life.
I woofed down a handful of popcorn as the movie began with creepy music and an insane asylum illuminated by a sudden burst of lightning. Certainly the opening wasn’t very original.
Julie seemed totally into the movie without any indication of wanting to make out.
Although the show was bloody and suspenseful, I spent much of it ticking back and forth obsessively between two thoughts like an out-of-control metronome.
The first obsessive thought was over Sam’s request to use my room. If I let him, I’d not only be a sexual enabler, I’d be condoning his lifestyle. But that seemed so judgmental, which was something I’d quit being a long time ago. The fact was that I could stay in my crappy bare-bones dorm room or have Phoebe’s entire apartment to myself. I wondered if I should ask her permission first, but she did say that I should treat it as my “vacation home.” If I stayed at her apartment tonight, I’d just phone her up tomorrow and let her know since it was a last minute thing.
My second obsessive thought was over Julie. She still hadn’t given any indication of wanting to make out, but then no one was making out in the theater as far as I could tell. I began to question whether this was even a date, but she did ask that I be her date tonight, right? If it was a date though, why did she call me her “classmate” earlier? Sushi Samba had been a date for sure—she fed me with chopsticks, I picked up the check, and we even held hands—and we’d had lunch together three times since, as I kept reminding myself. Maybe she wanted Joshua’s stamp of approval before we moved along in our relationship. Come to think of it, she probably put Sam up to dressing me so I’d be more presentable to Joshua.
Julie let out a shout then self-consciously laughed at herself right away. That brought me back to the moment. Honestly, she was more entertaining than the show.
Sam and Joshua were leaning in real close, too close if you asked me, considering it was their first date. Maybe they were a match—I didn’t know the first thing about gay dating.
But I found courage in their boldness—if these two guys could get close in the movies, then I could too. I took a deep breath and placed my arm around Julie.
She smiled at me and nuzzled in.
Yes!
I got so caught up in how great it was to be sitting there like any guy with his arm around a girl that I hardly paid any attention to the movie.
When the film finally came to its predictable ending and the not-quite-latched door of the insane asylum flung open with a clang—setting the wheels in motion for the inevitable Slasher 2—Julie screamed then laughed herself silly.
As the lights of the theater came up, Julie and Joshua tore off to the bathroom, but I wondered if they weren’t just ducking away to compare notes on the date. I was dying to do exactly that with Sam. Even though I didn’t exactly understand his gay lifestyle, I wanted to be there for him as a friend one hundred percent.
When I asked how it was going with Joshua, Sam looked disappointed. “He only, like, talks about himself. I don’t think he’s into me.”
I could tell that Sam was already preparing himself for rejection. “From where I was sitting,” I said, “you guys looked like you were getting along just dandy.”
“We’ll see.”
My cell phone rang—the caller ID read “Dad-Mobile.” It was nine-thirty on the dot. I started to answer but silenced it instead. Whatever “event” I was at could’ve just run over by a few minutes—I just hoped he wouldn’t leave a message because then I’d have to call him back.
“Hey, maybe we should all go out for dessert,” I said. “Julie and Joshua picked the movie so we could plan what we do next. What do you say?”
“Sounds fun, but I doubt Joshua will be into it.”
“Then it’ll just be the three of us,” I said. Even if Joshua didn’t appreciate Sam, I wanted him to know that Julie and I did. And speaking on behalf of Julie was exhilarating; it made me feel like she and I were an item even though we hadn’t even kissed yet.
Sam smiled. “That’s cool.”
Joshua and Julie were giggling when they joined us near the exit. “Hey, you guys,” Julie said, “Joshua has to take off to meet some friends.”
Sam pouted at me as if to say, “Told ya!”
Then Joshua turned to Sam. “Wanna join me?”
Sam’s face lit right up. “Sure!”
I was glad Sam wasn’t being dumped, but at the same time, I was hurt that Sam had blown off my dessert invitation. It felt like that moment in Bambi when the young deer couldn’t find his mother and you just knew she was dead. In the same way, I had this budding sense of dread that Sam would be hanging out with Joshua so much he wouldn’t have time for me. I’d been abandoned by enough female friends in new relationships to know that Sam and I would spend a lot less time together if he and Joshua hit it off. I realized how selfish that line of thinking was and immediately reprimanded myself for it. Besides, seeing less of Sam might help me put my sexual crossroads in the rearview mirror once and for all. Every time I thought I finally had this thorn whipped, Sam would appear and it was like drawing a “Go to Jail” card in a game of Monopoly except it was a “Go to Hell” card and it was for real.
As Joshua kissed Julie goodbye, I leaned over and whispered to Sam, “Alexandros can sleep over tonight.”
Sam smiled and slapped my back. “Thanks, Jake!”
I gave Joshua my best handshake to let him know that I wasn’t raised in a barn and, as he and Sam ran out into the pouring rain, Julie asked, “What did Sam give you that big thank you for?”
I grinned, suddenly feeling like one of the boys. “Just a guy thing. How about dessert? There’s this great place just around the corner—”
“But it’s raining!”
I held out my umbrella, walked outside and popped it open in one fell swoop. It was truly a Hollywood-worthy performance, and one I could never repeat if my life depended on it. Holding the glass door open, I shouted back at her in my best New York accent, “Oy! So we’ll get a little wet.”
Julie laughed and hopped outside under my umbrella. We both darted down the block in the pouring rain toward the dessert shop.
Aunt Phoebe had suggested Café Lalo as a great after-movie spot and, boy, did she pick a winner. When we arrived, there were a few people waiting for a table ahead of us, but the hostess seemed to take a liking to Julie the moment she asked about something called a Chocolate Indulgence. She marched Julie and me past a fifteen-foot-long glass case filled with about a hundred different pies, cakes, and tarts, and then showed us to a window table.
Since Julie already knew what she wanted, I just ordered a slice of New York-style cheesecake myself, figuring that had to be on the menu.
I was still thinking about whether Sam would even notice me anymore if he and Joshua started dating. It suddenly seemed like a foregone conclusion that he wouldn’t, and I wasn’t very happy about that. On some level, I enjoyed all the attention he gave me, especially how he looked me up and down from time to time. There was something intoxicating about being appreciated like that, even when the person doing the appreciating was a guy.
I was dying to know what Julie thought about Joshua and Sam, but wondered how I could bring that up without seeming too eager.
I shouldn’t have worried.
“So what did Sam think of Joshua?” Julie asked the moment we got settled.
Not wanting to betray Sam’s confidence, I just shrugged and said, “I guess he thought Joshua was alright. Sam can be so secretive about these things, you know?”
She seemed to buy that. “Well, Joshua thinks Sam is totally hot,” she said, leaning in with a grin. “I so see them together.”
My insides suddenly burned like I was jealous or something. It was totally irrational, and I brushed it away as best I could. “I guess we all agree that Sam is a hot guy. You’re a regular matchmaker, Julie.”
“Not really,” she said. “But I have a good feeling about this.”
Over dessert, Julie went on to tell me that she and Joshua met in kindergarten and had run in the same circles ever since. Still, they weren’t best friends or anything and, in fact, Joshua was a bit of an enigma to her, even after all these years. “I’m not sure he’ll even talk to his father about my final project,” she concluded.
“You’re really proposing a fashion shoot of the Mayor as your final project?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “We’ll see if Josie comes through.”
“You know there’s a big difference between a photo essay and a fashion shoot. You need to tell a story, and there’s no retouching—”
Julie dismissed my concern with a flick of her hand. “If I get this into Harper’s, none of that other crap really matters, does it?”
I chuckled, admiring the way she ignored the rules and blazed her own trail. I wished I could do that sometimes.
“He really liked you, by the way.”
“Who?”
“Joshua.”
That made me feel even guiltier for my jealousy, but I didn’t want to let on. “I hope so—I feel half-naked walking around in these hip-huggers Sam made me wear. They should come with a warning label: low clearance.”
Julie nearly spewed tea all over me. She grabbed a napkin and covered her mouth.
“You put him up to dressing me, didn’t you?” I asked.
Julie gasped like she was shocked I could even think such a thing. “What? You think I’d do that?”
I looked at her cockeyed. “C’mon, ’fess up.”
“Well, maybe I dropped a hint.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you were real subtle.”
She laughed. “What about you—what’s your final project?” she asked.
“I’m thinking about doing an investigative report on the Empire Diner. Something doesn’t smell quite right about that zoning situation.”
“Maybe Joshua would help you locate the city official who gave the landlord those special building permits,” she said.
I liked Joshua more and more by the second. “Wow! Do you think he would?”
“Hard to say, but his dad would certainly know the best person for you to contact,” she said, suppressing a yawn and checking her watch. “I should get home. My parents will be calling from La Jolla around eleven.”
“La Jolla? Where’s that?”
“Outside of San Diego—they go every summer.”
“For the entire summer?”
“Yes.”
I couldn’t imagine my parent’s taking a vacation without me, nor could I imagine them letting me have the run of the house for even one evening, much less an entire summer. “Why don’t you go with them?”
“I used to. It’s a beautiful place but after a week of sunbathing and ‘important parties,’ I just want to kill myself. Plus my stepmom’s a complete tyrant. I got out of going last year by taking that Parson’s photography course, and that’s really why I’m at Columbia now. Everyone’s happier this way. Trust me.”
It almost sounded like Julie’s family viewed her as some kind of burden, or at least her stepmother did. I wondered why she never mentioned her mother. “So, are your parents divorced?”
Julie shook her head. “My mom died when I was eight.”
I instinctively reached for her hand. “Oh Julie, I’m so sorry. What happened?”
She shrugged. “One minute we were on the floor playing with my dolls and the next she was collapsed against the wall. She wouldn’t wake up.”
“Gosh, was it a heart attack or something?”
“Aneurism. Thoracic aortic.”
“Julie, that is so completely awful. I—”
She pulled her hand away. “Don’t. It’s okay.”
“I’m—I’m just—”
“I know. Everyone is.”
As a PK, I’ve seen tons of sickness and death, and learned early on that sympathy makes some people uncomfortable. I guess Julie was one of those people.
She took a long, deep breath and tossed her napkin down on the table. “Let’s get out of here.”
I didn’t want the evening to end, but it sounded like she needed to get home.
I grabbed the bill before Julie could. I just needed to say goodbye then swing by the dorm to pick up Phoebe’s key and sign out for the night. Curfew wasn’t until one in the morning on Fridays so I had plenty of time.
“Jake, you got the movie,” she said. “I wanted to get this.”
“I’ve really had a great time,” I said, waving her off like it was nothing, but between the other night at Sushi Samba and picking up the movie tickets and refreshments for everyone tonight, I was going broke fast.
She looked up at me with her big brown eyes. “I was sort of hoping you’d see me home.”
Why hadn’t I, a supposed Southern gentleman, thought of that? Especially after what she’d just shared? Could I be more clueless? “It would be my pleasure, Miss Aaron,” I said, trying to lighten the moment with my thickest Southern drawl.
A bus stop was right outside the café, but Julie insisted on taking a taxi due to the rain—her treat. We hopped into a big yellow Ford.
“550 Park,” she said to the dark, bearded driver.
For the first time since the movie, Julie and I sat in silence. She was probably pondering whether to invite me upstairs, and I was pondering whether I’d accept should she choose to do so. Our church literature specifically advocated never taking a date home if your parents weren’t there, since that could lead to overwhelming temptation. But after our fifth date, shouldn’t we at least kiss? It wasn’t our fault that our parents weren’t in town and wouldn’t be for the entire summer. Were we to just never do anything? Sam would probably want to compare notes on our respective dates and Raj would certainly ask if we’d made out. Of course, I wouldn’t kiss and tell but Julie probably would. With that thought, my pulse began to race, and I willed my hand over to hers.
She took it! Score! We smiled at each other, and I lit up like Times Square.
By the time I had worked up my courage to lean over and kiss her, the cab pulled up to this Versailles-looking apartment building on Park Avenue. I’d never seen anything quite like it—Phoebe’s brick building was nice but this one was all beige-colored stone. Maybe even marble.
Julie insisted on paying. I jumped out with my flimsy umbrella and covered us both as best I could while we scurried through the pouring rain to her entrance.
“It’s really coming down!” she said. “Why don’t you come up until it stops?”
“Sure,” I said, thrilled with the idea.
We were both laughing as we entered her huge lobby with ceilings twenty feet high.
I followed her past the night doorman, who was reading The Post. “Hello, Jimmy,” she said to him. “No need helping me and my cousin out of the rain. You’re obviously so busy here.”
Jimmy turned the page without looking up. “You sure have lots of cousins, Miss Aaron.”
“Very funny, Jimmy,” she said, whisking past him.
Julie and I jumped into an oak-paneled elevator with little brass lamps mounted to the walls—I bet even Phoebe would’ve been impressed. Julie fished through her designer bag and pulled out her keys, inserted one into a lock next to “PH” on the control panel and turned the key.
I took a deep breath. This was big. I’d never gone home with a girl when her parents weren’t there, much less a rich girl who lived in a Park Avenue penthouse. I was in completely uncharted territory, but Julie didn’t seem nervous at all. She threw her glistening wet hair back over her shoulders, causing a single bead of water to shoot down her cleavage. I felt my face go red and was glad she couldn’t read my thoughts.
As the elevator made its smooth climb to the top, I rubbed the back of my neck and ran through Janet Walters’ three-step approach to French kissing in my head.
