I softened. Why was I so critical of her? Sure, she had her flaws and sometimes she said things that made me want to tear my skin off, but she was completely inclusive. She was making an effort to be my friend and I was treating her like crap.
“We should go soon,” Hershey said, scooting off her bed. “We don’t want to be late for our fitting.”
We took the street route downtown. Hershey was walking fast, so I pulled out my handheld to double-check our appointment time. We were both scheduled for ten o’clock, and it was only 9:45. At this rate, we’d be ten minutes early.
The shop was on the south end of Main Street, which was good because it meant we wouldn’t have to pass by Paradiso on the way. I still hadn’t decided how to feel about North’s don’t-tell-Hershey-about-us comment, but I certainly wasn’t about to go strolling by with her the very next day. He’d think I was doing it on purpose to make some sort of point.
“Your destination is on your left,” Lux announced as we arrived in front of a shop with a frosted glass door. Through the display window, I saw racks and racks of brightly colored gowns, each covered in clear plastic, and a girl from my section on the tailor block. There was another one waiting in a chair nearby. “Your appointment is in eleven minutes.”
“Perf,” Hershey declared. “We have time for a coffee.” She set off down the sidewalk toward Paradiso.
“Why don’t we try River City Beans?” I suggested, hurrying to catch up with her. The only thing worse than walking by with Hershey was walking in with her.
“Because Paradiso is right here,” I heard Hershey say. She stepped up to the café’s bay window and smiled. “And so is he.”
Hershey pulled the door open and sauntered inside. North looked up when the bell jingled, his eyes locking with mine. He held my gaze for a second then flicked his eyes to Hershey. No smile, no greeting, not an iota of recognition in his eyes. I fought disappointment. “Hey, Rory,” came a female voice. It was the girl with the shaved head I’d met the day I went to the cemetery with North. We hadn’t exchanged names, so North must’ve told her mine.
I angled my body toward her so North was out of my sightline. If he was going to ignore me, I was happy to reciprocate. “Can I get a medium vanilla cap?” I asked her. “Triple shot.”
“And for you?” she asked Hershey.
“Just black coffee,” Hershey replied. “A large.” I expected Hershey to turn her attention back to North—from her comment at the door, I assumed that’s why we came—but she didn’t. “How do you know her?” Hershey asked me as the girl went to work on our drinks.
“I came in on my way to the library last night,” I said vaguely. Then, as casually and disinterestedly as I could muster, “Isn’t that the guy you thought was so hot?”
“Not hot,” Hershey corrected. “Mildly sexy. And that was only because I was jet-lagged and tired and not thinking straight.” She glanced over her shoulder at North. I could see him out of the far corner of my eye, washing the milk canisters at the sink. “So,” her voice was louder now, as if she were broadcasting whatever she was about to say, “Did I tell you I’m seeing someone?”
So that explained the late night sneak-outs. I tried to look surprised. “You are?”
Hershey nodded dramatically. “It’s kind of scandalous,” she said. “So we’re keeping it a secret. But the chemistry is intense.” She glanced back at North again. Clearly to see if he was listening. He wasn’t looking at us, but I knew he’d heard her. Everyone in the café had. She was a hot girl using her outside voice to talk about hooking up. People paid attention to that.
“Does he go to Theden?” I asked.
Hershey gave me a mysterious smile.
“Your appointment starts in two minutes,” I heard Lux say as the girl with the shaved head put our drinks on the bar.
I took a sip of mine and smiled. “Yum. So much better than the matcha drink I had last time.” It was childish, and not even much of a jab, but I couldn’t help it. I saw Hershey glance at North again as she reached for her coffee.
“Are you really seeing someone?” I asked Hershey when we were back on the sidewalk.
“I use the term seeing loosely,” she said, looping her arm through mine. “Hooking up with in varied and unconventional places is more accurate.” I was intrigued and mildly grossed out. How unconventional were we talking here? Against my will, my mind leaped to the dream I’d spent the morning trying to forget. North and I, on the floor of the mausoleum, in the rain. All at once I was fuming, and the more I thought about the way he’d just treated me, the angrier I got. He’s sweet as can be to me when we’re alone and acts like he doesn’t know me when Hershey’s around? God, it was so transparent. And offensive. He obviously didn’t want me to tell Hershey that we’d hung out because he was trying to keep his options open. I was most irritated at myself for agreeing to keep it a secret. I should’ve said, Here’s a better idea, asshole: Let’s not hang out at all.
“So which will it be?” I heard the shop owner ask, interrupting the who-do-you-think-you-are speech I was giving North in my head. I’d tried on six dresses, five that Lux had chosen for me and one that Hershey had picked, gowns that belonged on celebrities, not sixteen-year-old nobodies with knobby knees and crappy posture, but I still couldn’t decide. Hershey had gone with the first dress she’d put on, a floor-length red sheath with a plunging neckline and a thigh-high slit up the side. I thought the shop owner was going to have a coronary when Hershey came out of the dressing room in it.
“Um,” I said for about the nine hundredth time. The dress I had on was pretty. Black and strapless and simple. I started to tell her I’d just take this one when Hershey piped up.
“She’ll take the Dior,” she said, pointing at the green taffeta ball gown on the rack beside me. It was the one she’d picked out for me, a dress I never would’ve chosen for myself—bright and big with jewels on the bodice and layers and layers of crinoline underneath. But it fit, and the color made me look decidedly less pasty than normal, so I nodded my assent.
As I was pulling on my jeans, my Gemini buzzed.
New Forum message!
@KatePribulsky: sorry for before. will explain l8r. can u come over tonight?
I didn’t recognize the name so I zoomed in on the profile pic. Shaved head, pierced nose. It was the girl who worked with North. Since she clearly didn’t have anything to apologize for, the message had to be from him.
To my great annoyance, my heart fluttered at the thought. So pathetic.
I punched out can’t tonight then blocked @KatePribulsky from my account.
11
THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY, after a particularly brutal beating in practicum, I slipped into my seat in Cog Psych and audibly exhaled. Not only was the Masquerade Ball tomorrow, but I had a two-day break from the Beast. Aka, Dr. Tarsus.
Her class continued to be fifty-five minutes of unadulterated hell every morning. It wasn’t the subject matter I hated, or the format. Just her. Anytime I tried to participate in class, I got hammered for it. My comments were “shortsighted” or “misguided” or “woefully off the mark.” When I stayed quiet, she blasted me for not participating. I couldn’t win.
I docked my Gemini and pulled out my tablet to sync up. We’d been moving through the physical architecture of the brain, and today we were supposed to cover the frontal lobe. But the screen at the front of the room was dark. Rudd was coming around with his handheld, stopping at each desk. Witty and approachable, Kyle Rudman was the anti-Tarsus, and by far my favorite teacher.