Chapter 15

Even though everythingelse in her life felt like a mess, at least Rory knew that things at the yearbook were going well for her. She was a few weeks into her new role as lead designer and had found her groove, spending her afternoons finalizing design concepts, approving spreads, assigning editors to different designs, and drawing the pages for the senior section. At the rate she and Vanessa were going, they would reach their first deadline for Penelope a week before Christmas Eve.

Rory sat at a computer next to Gina that following Thursday, giving her final thoughts on a spread concept for the senior page, when Vanessa and Penelope approached them.

"So, we have a slight problem," Penelope admitted.

Rory frowned. "What?"

"The printers just told us that they won't have enough time to finish the books for the start of senior week, so we may have to push up the final deadline."

"That sounds bigger than a slight problem," Gina quipped.

Rory ran a hand through her hair. "When is our new deadline?"

"April 30th," Vanessa whispered, her words an apology.

Gina's mouth fell open.

"That's…but that's…" Rory stuttered. "That's the day after prom."

"It's the latest I could push them," Penelope explained. "We need prom pictures—obviously—so we'll get those inserted as soon as Sean sends them over."

Gina scowled. "Sean is going to have to work at prom?"

"We may all have to work the night of prom."

The room went dead silent at that.

Rory stood up and roved her eyes over the computer lab. "No, we won't. Don't worry," she said, holding up her hands to reassure everyone. "I will handle the last-minute spreads, and all of you going to prom can enjoy it your time without thinking about this. Okay?"

There were some murmurs and nods, the staff swiftly returning to their screens as they executed Rory's designs.

Rory turned back to Penelope and Vanessa. "I'm happy to leave prom early, or hell, skip the whole damn thing," she said. "But I won't take that away from them, okay?"

Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Commendable leadership, Michaels."

Vanessa's eyes gleamed. "I'll join you. We'll pull an all-nighter."

Rory winked. "It's a date. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to use the little girl's room."

She held her head high until she was completely out of sight, then heaved a large sigh, leaning against a cold locker in the hallway. She closed her eyes, wondering what the night of prom was going to be like. The only reason she wanted to go in the first place was to be with the other Scoopers. But having to watch Tyler dance with Zoe all night, secretly knowing the way his soft lips felt on hers?

"Rory?"

She blinked her eyes open and found Zoe standing in front of her. She was wearing Tyler's letterman jacket, which looked bulky and awkward on her slim build.

"Everything okay?" Zoe asked.

"No," Rory admitted. "Just…prom."

"Worrying about prom already?"

She shrugged, crossing her arms. "You have to worry about everything when you're on the yearbook committee."

"Oh, that's right, Tyler told me you were doing that. That's so cool," Zoe said, her words coming out quickly. She was nervous.

Rory felt a chill rush down her spine. Was Zoe acting nervous around her because she knew about the kiss?

"Hey, um," Zoe started. "This—this is awkward, but—"

Shit. Shit. Shit.She clenched her teeth, held her breath, and braced herself.

"Will you be at the game?"

She froze for a moment. "The…game?"

"Yeah, the state championship?" Zoe continued slowly, giving Rory a funny look now. "I know things with you and Tyler are…weird right now…"

What the hell does that mean?Rory thought.

"…but I know it would mean so much to him if you came. You're, like, his favorite person in the whole world."

She coughed, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "And…you aren't?"

"God no," she said, and to Rory's bewilderment, she smiled. "I mean, sure, he cares about me, but if you're not there, it will crush him."

Her body melted just thinking about the kind of effect she had on Tyler. "Is he nervous?" she asked softly.

"Very," Zoe admitted. "But he's too proud to come talk to you after some fight you had at the movie theater?"

Rory exhaled. She doesn't know about the kiss.

And why would she? That would be incredibly odd for a boyfriend to tell his girlfriend. Hey, Zoe? I kissed Rory, but it meant nothing. I still want to be with you. Carry on.

"Please tell me you'll be there," Zoe pleaded.

"I've never missed a game."

"I know, I just…" Zoe hesitated. "I just know how much he needs this to go well, and you seem to be the only thing that truly calms him. I needed to make sure."

She registered the concern chiseled all over Zoe's beautiful, dewy, pimple-free face.

"Promise me?"

She couldn't help but smirk at Zoe's determination and gall to approach another girl and plead for her to come watch her boyfriend play football. What a weird, weird world she was living in.

"Okay, Zoe, I promise."

"Thank you!"

Zoe threw her arms around Rory's shoulders, then instantly let go. "Sorry, are we officially hugging friends? Blake said you love hugs…"

"Hugs are fine."

"Good," Zoe said. "See you Saturday!"

She watched her walk away, her mind spinning. She leaned against the locker and slid to the floor, resting in a crouched position before pulling out her phone and typing.

SOS. Emergency sleepover.

Melanie typed back instantly.

I'll bring the ice cream.

* * *

Rory paced backand forth in the living room. They'd reached the point of the emergency sleepover where it was time to share secrets—bowls of half eaten strawberry ice cream on the coffee table, comfy sweats and fuzzy socks on, hair tied up in ponytails, credits rolling on the TV after watching One Hundred and One Dalmatians, candles burning on end tables.

And Rory had one big, fat secret to share.

"You're officially making me nervous," Melanie said, eyeing Rory. "Spill. Now."

She wrung her hands. "I had the Thanksgiving from hell."

Melanie hummed. "Me too."

She stopped, blinking at her friend. "Crap, Mel, I—"

"You first," her friend said, holding out a hand in a plea for Rory to continue.

She sat down on the couch, tucking a leg underneath her. "Mel, really, my problems are dumb compared to—"

"Rory, please, for me? Let's talk about you."

Feeling antsy, she bolted back up and paced again. "I did something stupid, Mel. Like, really, really stupid."

Melanie raised her brow. "I doubt it. You are the furthest thing from stupid."

"I do not deserve you," she grumbled. She paused, facing Melanie full on. "Okay…I-I kissed Tyler."

Melanie covered her mouth and let out some kind of exasperated sound that was half laugh, half pure shock.

Rory sat back down, covering her face with her hands. "Stupid, right?"

"Oh my god. Where? How? When?"

"Backyard. Late at night. He was being all broody about Jay again, and we were fighting, and he stormed out, and…I chased after him."

"And the kiss?" she cooed.

"Probably the hottest thing I've ever experienced in my life."

Melanie screamed, laying down on the throw pillows and placing her hands across her heart. "I'm going to combust from cuteness."

"But you're missing the emergency part of this conversation, which is the fact that I'm technically seeing someone else," she rationalized. "And so is he."

Melanie sat back up. "Did you guys talk about it?"

"Briefly? He…told me he couldn't break it off with her." Her voice croaked as she said it.

Melanie tapped a finger to her lips. "Something weird is going on here. There's no way he wouldn't choose you."

"Well, he didn't," Rory growled. "So he's still seeing her and I guess I'm still seeing Jay, and I don't even know what's going on with him…you see? I'm a mess!"

Melanie reached for Rory's face and guided her down to her lap, then stroked her mahogany hair. "You're not a mess, you just have two hot boys very into you."

"Does Calvin know you think they're hot? Because he might lose his mind."

The sound of Melanie's cackle reverberating off the walls made her smile.

She closed her eyes. "Do you think I'm horrible? For cheating on Jay?"

Melanie's hands kept brushing through her hair. "Is it cheating if you're not actually dating him? Sounds like you guys haven't even had that talk yet."

She sat up, facing her. "I just figured we were. Why are boys so confusing?"

"Maybe it's time to ask him." Melanie shrugged. "If that's what you want, of course."

She groaned, laying back on her friend's lap. "I don't know what I want."

They sat in silence, the movie puttering out on the TV.

"Tell me about your Thanksgiving, Mel."

"It was pretty horrible," her friend mumbled. "Thanksgiving hasn't felt normal for a while, though."

"Do you miss him?"

"Yes. Every minute of every day."

Melanie didn't say more, so Rory didn't push. She flicked on the next movie on her list, the two of them watching in comfortable silence.

* * *

Rory escapedup to her room and clicked the door shut. She stared at her phone and took a deep breath.

Just do it, she told herself.

She hadn't heard much from Jay again this week. His texts were sparse and short, but she had chosen to take it as a good sign. She hoped this club was working out for him.

But she knew she couldn't avoid this conversation any longer. She tapped his contact name and hit Call, then held it up to her ear and listened as the phone rang. It eventually went to voicemail.

Rory cursed and covered her face with her hands as she thought through the conversation she knew she needed to have.

Before she could think through a solid plan, her phone rang. She grabbed it and answered.

"Hi," she mumbled.

"Hi, sorry, sorry," Jay said on the other line. He sounded out of breath. "I'm late for a meeting. This campus is so damn big."

"A meeting at ten at night?"

"Yeah, it's insane." Jay chuckled. "Everything okay?"

"Um, well, not really."

The sound of whipping wind slowed on the other line. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing. You're busy, I don't want to hold you up."

"Just tell me."

She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath first. "Jay, what are we?"

"What do you mean what are we?" he snapped.

"Like, are we…in a relationship? Are you my boyfriend?"

The silence was damning, but Rory waited for him to respond.

"I…didn't think we had to put a label on it," Jay replied. "We're just having fun."

She concentrated on her nails and tried to keep her voice as calm as possible. "Are you seeing other people?"

"Uh, I—"

"Like, have you hooked up with anyone else?"

"Define hook up."

His answer already said it all, but she continued anyway. "Have you kissed anyone else since our conversation on the beach?"

"Rory…"

"I won't be mad," she answered honestly.

"Why? Have you kissed anyone?"

"Yes." The word came out before she could stop herself. But after it did, she felt relieved. She sighed, settled down on her bed, and listened to him snigger on the other line.

"Damn, I honestly wasn't expecting that," Jay replied. "I was mentally preparing to get an earful."

"Because you thought I would be mad that you're hooking up with other people?"

"Well, yeah. I like fooling around with you, but I don't know, things on campus have started to feel different, and you and I haven't…"

She understood. "So you figured you would find someone else who would bang you."

He exhaled. "I haven't banged anyone, but I've kissed a few people."

Rory curled into the fetal position, resting her phone on her ear. "So we're just…hooking up."

"Does that make you mad?"

"No. I guess after we talked on the beach and you said all of those things, I thought—"

"That I wanted a relationship," he said, cutting her off.

"Maybe," she murmured.

"I told you, though. I told you I wasn't sure what this was, and I gave you an out."

"I know you did."

They remained silent, the sound of howling wind picking back up on the other line, signaling he was on the move again.

"Who'd you kiss?" he asked.

She bristled. "You don't know him."

"Oh come on. The Port is small, there's no way I don't know him. Who is it?"

"I'm not telling you," she replied, her tone terse. "Just like I won't ask about who you've kissed."

Jay snorted. "Fine, that's fair."

She heard a door creak open on his end, and then the howling wind ceased.

"So…" Rory started. She wasn't sure where to go from here.

"Listen, Rory, I don't think I can make it to the game," Jay replied. "This thing came up on campus that I really don't want to miss."

She tucked her knees into her sweatshirt, settling into the warmth of her bed. "Okay."

"But I'll see you next week when I'm home, yeah?"

"Sure, yeah, okay."

"Alright, baby, see you then."

Rory placed her phone on her nightstand as she mentally played through the conversation again. He was fine with her kissing someone else—even though he had no idea who—and she gave him the go-ahead to do whatever he wanted, as well. All of it felt sticky and complicated, and she wasn't sure how much more of it she could take.