“Hey, how did you know…” He trails off and smirks. “Fuck, Lennox. You were at the Moores’ too, weren’t you?”
I nod and shrug. “Mr. Moore is writing a reference letter for me.”
Evan’s mouth gapes open. “Like…for NASA?”
“That’d be the one.”
“Fuck, if Clark finds…I mean, that’s cool,” he quickly corrects himself. I don’t know Evan very well, but his words tell me several things. One, he definitely knows that Clark hates me. Two, he likely knows that I live by Clark if he guessed right about me being at the Moores’. And three, he knows about the internship which means Clark has also applied.
Well, the fact that Mr. Moore is giving me a reference letter just got a whole lot weirder. I glance over and see Clark is munching on fries and talking to two guys that are in his fraternity. He seems so…relaxed. I sigh. I won’t deny that I envy how he can fly by the seat of his pants through life and not worry about anything. When we were friends, he was always talking me off a ledge. Meanwhile, I was constantly stressing about everything. I’d never admit it out loud, but deep down, I miss his friendship and his support. He always knew just what to say. It was like he knew what I needed before I knew what I needed.
Before I know what’s happening, Evan is calling Clark over to the table. I see him glance at me briefly before walking across the bar to greet us.
“Ladies, Evan,” he says.
“You two should catch up. Stella, you want to dance?” Evan says, giving Clark a smirk as he grabs Stella’s hand and pulls her out to the dance floor. I nervously look to Clark who’s staring back at me like I’m a two-headed dog. It dawns on me for a moment just how sad it is that we’ve been such adversaries for so long that we don’t even know how to communicate any longer.
“You applied for the NASA internship,” I state as I swirl a straw in my cup.
“Yeah, you too, huh?”
I nod.
He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. I look up at him. Those eyes that always drew me in are now sizing me up.
“I asked your dad for a recommendation,” I state because I feel like I should tell him.
“I know.”
My eyes widen. “How?” I frown.
“I saw you today. And I asked him afterward.”
“You’re mad.”
He shrugs. “Why my dad?”
Now it’s me that shifts my weight nervously. “I…he’s known me my whole life and he works there. I know he can’t write one for you because he’s your dad, so I asked.” I’m about to say more when I see a familiar face enter the bar. The only person I’ve avoided more than Clark. Jimmy Allen. But it’s not Jimmy that startles me. It’s his older brother, Anthony, that has me going pale as memories of that night he roughed me up at the party come flooding back to my brain.
“What?” Clark asks, turning to follow my gaze. He glances back at me quickly and grabs my hand dragging me up and toward the dance floor.
“What are you doing?” I ask as I try to pull my hand free from his.
“Saving you from people you don’t need to talk to,” he answers as he places my hands on his hips and wraps his arms around mine, our bodies slowly moving to the love song. It’s an old song from back when we were friends. I look around us. Couples are grinding on one another. The sexual tension in the air is palpable. My gaze wanders back to Clark. His eyes are fixed on mine.
“Thanks,” I mutter as I briefly see Anthony and Jimmy make their way to the bar before they are blocked by several dancing couples.
“Those two are trouble. You don’t need to deal with that,” he says. I wonder what he means but I decide not to ask. I don’t want to talk about Jimmy and Anthony. The fight-or-flight part of me wants to leave.
It’s as though Clark senses this because he tightens his grip on me. “Don’t leave.” Our eyes connect once more. There’s a part of me that wants to forgive him for being an asshole in high school, for every time he made fun of me, and for every time he told others about things I’d done that were embarrassing. Hell, part of me even wants to forgive him for not being my friend when I needed him most. But that ship sailed a long time ago.
“I…should go. I…” I trail off because saying I don’t belong here seems melodramatic.
Again, Clark’s eyes bore into mine. “You belong here just as much as anyone else does.”
I shrug. “I’m not really social. I mean, I haven’t been in a long time.”
“Why is that? You used to love to hang out with people. I mean, shit, you were student government president in the eighth grade. You were involved in like every activity in high school. Then at the end of sophomore year, it was like, you disappeared. I mean I saw you, and I knew you were pissed at me for whatever reason, but you stopped going out with friends. You were never at any of the parties junior and senior year. I only saw you at a few graduation parties for like two minutes.”
“I changed,” I state, squaring my shoulders defensively.
“You can have fun and still be a good student, you know that, right?”
“Oh, right, like you? All you do is have fun,” I quip, raising an eyebrow.
“I study,” he retorts.
Rolling my eyes, I glance over at the bar and see that Anthony’s and Jimmy’s backs are turned from us. I relax slightly. “Whatever. If you spent half as much time studying as you do having fun, then you would probably be valedictorian of the university. Hell, NASA would probably just hire you on the spot.”
“First, we both know that you are going to be valedictorian of our class, again. And second, life is too short to not have fun. I’m glad you have been going out again. You need to let loose. You’re like a ticking time bomb.”
I step back from our embrace. “Thanks, that’s so encouraging.”
“What? It’s true. You never have fun. You spend all your time studying. Are all your boyfriends as into pulling all-nighters as you are?”
The double entendre isn’t missed, and I glare at him. “Listen, my personal life is no longer any of your business. And besides, why should you care? You’re the king of the fucking campus. I bet everyone in this bar knows who you are. Or does everyone just want to be friends with Kent Moore’s little brother?”
I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. They are cruel and over the top. But it’s the look of pain on Clark’s face that stings more, knowing I’ve struck a nerve with him should bring me great pleasure. Yet, it doesn’t.
“That’s low, even for you,” Clark mutters stepping back. “I thought maybe…someday, we could get over whatever happened between us. Whatever made us into rivals and ended our friendship. But maybe I was wrong.”
Clark walks away before I can respond, leaving me on the dance floor. Stella and Evan are still dancing. I decide to leave. I’ve made a fool of myself. I feel awful for what I said to Clark. He didn’t deserve that. Why can’t I just let things go? He was willing to. But no, I had to be an ass and go say something mean.
I make my way back to the table, chastising myself the entire way there. Our sister, Kendra, is there watching purses and talking to a girl from another sorority. I grab my phone from Stella’s purse and text her that I’m heading home and to have fun.