Under the Same Stars(38)
“Ah,” was Katie’s only comment.
“And then,” I told Austin, “I stopped dancing, and he asked what was wrong, so I said I didn’t want to go home with him. He tried to kiss me, and I pushed him away, but he followed me off the dance floor and wouldn’t leave me alone. Shelly and the other girls were nowhere. He offered to walk me back to the dorm, but once he put his hands on me again… I sprayed him when he tried to stop me on the stairs.” I reached up to rub my eyes. “Then I made a run for it.”
My brother’s voice was almost cold. “Call Da and Dad, Mads. Call them while you walk back to Shelly’s dorm.”
“Austin, I—”
“Mads?”
I spun around to see Marco longboarding across the parking lot. He wasn’t in his State Night spirit wear anymore, just wearing a pair of sweats and a PRINCETON SOCCER pullover with cheeks pink from the cold. I gritted my teeth. Half of me wanted to hug him, so relieved he was here, but the other half wanted to punch him. “Marco?”
“Wait, ?lvarez?” Austin asked. “Put Marco on the phone.”
They didn’t speak for long. I could hear Austin yelling, but I couldn’t decipher what he was yelling. Marco did a lot of solemn nodding. “I’m going to walk you back to Forbes,” he said after hanging up and handing my phone back to me. He jerked his head to Wawa. “We can get an Icee first?”
“An Icee sounds good,” I said. “But Forbes doesn’t.”
Marco sighed. “Mads…”
“They left me there, Marco.” My voice jumped an octave. “Everyone left me there, but Shelly also abandoned me. Your whatever-you-call-her is supposed to watch out for me while I’m here, but instead decided to blow off all my calls and texts when I needed help. I’m not going to go have a slumber party with her after that.”
“You won’t need to,” he said. “She’s not…” He trailed off and ran his hand through his hair. Awkwardly.
“Mmm,” I said. “Got it.”
Shelly was not in her room. She was in Marco’s room, probably all snuggled up in his toasty-warm bed waiting for him to return with the late-night goodies he’d clearly come here to collect.
Whatever, I thought, feeling pinpricks at the corners of my eyes. If Marco wants to be with a girl like Shelly, what-fucking-ever.
Marco gently mentioned Forbes again, but I barely heard him, busy texting someone. I’ll call my parents now, Katie wrote back. Austin wants Marco to walk you there.
Not necessary, I said, Katie’s childhood truth or dare game on my mind. Sneaking out of her house at midnight and walking to Wawa when she was only thirteen. I was seventeen; it would be a piece of cake. You were alone when you did it.
But I was still scared, she wrote. Have Marco walk you.
I sighed, then looked at Marco. “You can take me somewhere,” I said miserably. “But it’s not Forbes.”
Summer
Twelve
Join us for a
Bridal Shower
in honor of
Catherine Gallant
Saturday, June 16th at noon
1989 Archer Way
Ardmore, PA 19003
rsvp to [email protected]
registered at theknot.com/allinwithaustin
I stared at the invitation while Nana drove. It was beautiful, the card stock thick and cream-colored with a light blue watercolor bow, white hydrangeas springing from the bow’s ribbon. The gold script underneath looked effortless. “I never knew she spelled Catherine with a C,” I remarked. “I always thought it was with a K.”
“I didn’t either,” Nana replied as she flipped her blinker and merged into the right lane. “It’s very Kate Middleton of her.”
I laughed when she reached over and ruffled my hair. Ever the stylist, Nana had given me a “Kate Middleton” blowout.
In a surprising turn of events, today’s bridal shower was not being held at the ?lvarez family’s Two Fish, but at Katie’s aunt’s house. Austin had given me all the tea. “Yeah, according to Kates, Aunt Celeste really wanted to give Katie a shower,” he’d said during our camping trip. Every summer, we “camped” in our Christmas tree farm for a weekend. Tent, sleeping bags, lanterns, campfire—the whole enchilada. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“Mmm,” had been my diplomatic reaction. It was clear that Mrs. Gallant, as kind and caring as she was, was type A and wanted to be in control. Everything needed to be perfect.
Katie’s aunt Celeste—otherwise known as “Cousin Paige’s mom”—lived in Ardmore, a cute town on Philadelphia’s Main Line. “Didn’t you play in several tournaments around here?” Nana asked once we’d exited the highway and slowed to a stop at a red light.
“Yes,” I answered. “I did a couple camps, too.”
She glanced over and smiled at me. “I’m so happy everything is finally settled. And I’m so, so proud of you, honey.”
I grinned back. Three weeks ago, I’d officially committed to Penn for field hockey. My visit there had been the complete opposite of my Princeton visit. Unlike awful Shelly, the freshman midfielder they’d paired me with barely let me out of her sight. The team organized a throwback murder mystery dinner instead of taking me to a wild party, and Coach Hart let me play in their scrimmage instead of watching from the bleachers. Not only was there serious chemistry on the field, but I felt like I’d fit in off the field, too. Almost every player had hugged me goodbye and given me their phone number. Honestly, it felt like gigantic knot had untangled itself in my chest.