“Everything okay?”
“Apparently, my mom showed up at the prom to ‘give me drink tickets’ and was pissed that I left without telling her, so now I have five minutes to make it to my room before I’m grounded for life.”
I scratch the back of my neck, guilt turning it crimson. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
sorrysorrysorryyoucangopleasestay
“You didn’t,” she says, raising an eyebrow. “I knew what I was doing when I left. This was basically an experiment anyway, so there was bound to be a learning curve.”
“Experiment?”
whattheactualfuck
“Yeah, it’s called ‘stepping outside of my comfort zone.’ You should try it.” She pulls a pen out of her purse and scrawls some numbers up my arm. “Text me. Okay? I’m here all day tomorrow. I’ll be working a booth, but maybe I can sneak out for lunch or something.”
“Okay,” I say, and then she leans forward and kisses me quick on the cheek before grabbing her shoes. I sit there stunned, my stomach doing a little flip as she runs off.
holyshitholyshitHOLYSHIT
CHAPTER FIVE
Jubilee
“GET UP,” VERA says, flinging the curtains open wide so the sunlight slaps me in the face. I guess I’m still in trouble for yesterday. She’s probably been hearing it all night since technically she’s the one who went to bat for me. Still, this reversal of my parents’ usual good cop/bad cop roles is slightly unsettling.
“I’m up, I’m up,” I say, dropping my arm over my eyes. Jayla groans from the other bed. A quick glance at my phone tells me it’s only eight a.m. “Why am I up, though?” I moan. The only time I willingly get up early on a Sunday is for string quartet . . . and this is not that.
“Because VIP hours start at eight thirty, and your mother and I decided that you will be helping us with that today, thanks to that stunt you pulled. God, Jubilee, what were you thinking? You know better than that. I trusted you to be where you said you were going to be.”
Trust. Vera is huge on trust, and I definitely feel a little bit bad that she sees this as a violation of that . . . but also, come on. “I didn’t go far, and Jayla knew where I was. I was being safe!” I push up onto my elbows. There are feathers and streaks of makeup on my pillow, and I don’t even want to imagine what I look like right now.
Last night, I collapsed into my bed and fell asleep after spending an hour being lectured about everything, even though Jayla was still up watching American Murderer. We didn’t even have time to dissect my speed date with Bats or the fact that—judging by the crown she came home with—she definitely won prom queen . . . and we probably won’t until the car ride home either. Not if my parents keep this up all day.
“Safe? Safe is not wandering around a casino full of drunks by yourself late at night.”
“I wasn’t alone!”
“Oh, you think leaving with a strange boy makes it better?” Vera asks, turning to face me, and I realize my mistake too late. “Do you know how badly that could have gone for you last night? You just happily followed some rando out to a deserted hotel lounge! You could have been killed!”
“I said I was sorry.” I groan, flipping the blankets back and storming into the bathroom. “What else do you want me to do? It was a bad decision. I get it!”
I slide the door shut and flip the shower on, hoping Vera will take the hint. A solitary feather still clings stubbornly to my eyelid, and it dangles in my line of vision with every blink. I pull it off and set to work wiping off the smeared green eye shadow, which is currently making me look like some kind of disco panda or something.
I step under the spray of the shower, trying to shove out the thoughts of how badly the night ended in favor of how well it began. Bats was so cute and nervous, and I’ve always had a weakness for dimples.
Jayla walks into the bathroom, letting out the steam and bringing a blast of cool air in with her. She flushes the toilet, scorching me under the water.
“Jayla!” I shriek.
“Sorry.” She yawns. “Forgot.”
I flick off the water and reach my hand out for a towel, which she tosses at me, and then she goes back to brushing her teeth. “Was it worth it?” she mumbles around her toothbrush.
I wrap the towel around myself and then grab a second one for my hair. “Was what worth it?”
“You and Office Batman.”
“Maybe,” I say, trying and failing to keep the grin off my face. Her forehead crinkles as I dart past her to get dressed.
“Oh my god.” She spins around. “Another boy?” she teases. “That’s two in a row, Jubi.”
“I’m allowed to like boys,” I remind her, tugging on my leggings.
“Technically, no one should be allowed to like boys,” she says, grabbing her own clothes off a hanger and dropping them onto the bed. “But you do you.”
“Stop it,” I snort.
“Jubi, I love you and always will, but boys are gross. Don’t come crying to me when he’s all sweaty and smelly and just wants to talk about bacon and hot girls and Axe body spray.”
“Okay, but that’s like half of our conversations now.” I laugh.
“We do not talk about Axe body spray,” she says, looking scandalized.
“But the rest—”
“It’s different.” She smirks.
And it is. Sorta. I mean, not the bacon thing. I’m pretty sure straights and queers have the same proclivity toward bacon. Probably. I can’t say for sure, though. Neither of us are straight, technically. Jayla has a strict no-boys-allowed policy, and I’m . . . flexible on the topic. I haven’t really put a label on it. I’ve only had one real boyfriend and I’ve never actually dated a girl, but I’ve had some pretty serious crushes, plus that one brief and glorious make-out session with Kai, Nikki’s ridiculously hot nonbinary cousin. There are just certain things that make me turn my head, regardless of who they’re attached to. Like, I’m endlessly fascinated by dimples and good hugs and people who can surprise me—which Bats did last night, repeatedly.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping to run into him today. But still, something nags at me that I can’t quite put my finger on. I know Jayla was just joking about the two-boys-in-a-row thing, but a part of me is still wondering, Is that okay? I know I like more than just boys, but does it count if I haven’t seriously dated anyone but?
CHAPTER SIX