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“No!” I’d look like an idiot at best, a stalker at worst. I poured my beer down my throat. “Don’t let her see me. I’m going to get another.”
I had half a mind to just leave altogether, but I wasn’t going to let this ruin my night. I’d do my own thing, and she’d do hers, and if I could avoid her seeing me, all the better.
Maybe things could’ve been different if I hadn’t made such an ass of myself. Since I had, there was no use wondering about it.
More alcohol—that was the only answer.
11
Tara
It felt so good to be out with Trevor, Nia, and Kyle again. I hadn’t seen them in person in months, and video calls just weren’t the same. When they suggested visiting me for Thanksgiving weekend, I didn’t think it would really happen. But here they were, live and in the flesh. It was a family holiday, and my chosen family had chosen to be with me.
The atmosphere here was totally different from Boston. We were used to cheap dives, not fancy wine bars like this. Actually, we didn’t even go out too often anymore. If we were going to drink, it was more convenient and less expensive to do it at home. Still, the fact that we were all together made this the best night ever.
“So, I finally found the guitar of my dreams,” I told them. “It was the craziest thing. I happened to walk in a pawn shop—and like, I’ve never walked in a pawn shop in my life. It felt like something a character would do in some kind of black-and-white movie.”
“And the guitar was sitting in a dusty corner with a halo around it, calling to you?” Trevor asked.
“Pretty much.” I laughed. “Aside from the cobwebs, it was absolutely beautiful. And for the price they were asking, it was a steal. I put it on layaway, and the clerk said that was a good idea, because if I didn’t someone else would come and snatch it away within a day.”
“When do we get to meet this beauty?” Kyle asked. “You’ve been talking about getting a guitar for so many years—I can’t believe it’s finally happening.”
“Well, that’s the thing.” I still hadn’t decided whether this was good or bad. “I called the lady who posted the ad, and she said not to waste my money. If I still want a guitar after a few lessons, I should get one, but since I don’t even know if I’m going to like it or not, I might as well start off with hers.”
Nia leaned her elbow on the table, toying with one of her box braids. “I don’t know. If this one is as good as you say… and they’ll only keep it on layaway for so long…”
“Exactly.” I let out a long exhale. “On the other hand, I don’t exactly have money to burn. I could use that cash to buy more important things. Like furniture.”
“Um, yeah, you could,” Trevor jibed.
They were all staying at my place—Trevor and Kyle in my bed, Nia on the couch I’d rescued from the sidewalk. I’d managed to find enough blankets to make myself a comfortable nest on the floor, but they’d still been giving me a hard time about the milk crates in the kitchen.
The music changed to a sensuous beat that I immediately recognized. “Oh, shit. This is my song.” I jumped up to rock my body to the first few strains of Christina Aguilera’s crooning. “What a girl wants…”
As the others shook their heads at us, Nia got up as well. Linking arms, we put our hands on our hearts and swayed along as we lip-synched. My eyes fluttered shut as I allowed the music to penetrate my body. This was the cheesiest song of the nineties, and I loved it whole-heartedly. This song might be the only thing that didn’t suck about my childhood.
A tap came on my shoulder, snapping me out of my reverie. I opened my eyes, then blinked them again. “Chelsea?”
She looked hot, there was no denying that. Her tiny blue dress showed off every last one of her assets, and her make-up was done to the nines. She clasped a pint glass in her hand, and the glaze in her eyes told me it wasn’t her first.
“Should you even be singing to that?” she asked. “Isn’t it a little girly for you?”
A laugh bubbled out of me. “Do you think I’m not a girl because I dress like this?” Letting go of Nia, I gestured at my outfit. “These are just clothes. Doesn’t change that I’m all female underneath them.”
Her eyes darkened. God, I wished I’d phrased that better. “Are you trolling for your next conquest, then?” she demanded, sounding confrontational now. “Is that her?” She nodded to Nia.
I stepped away from the table, keenly aware that my friends were staring. “I’m having a good time with my friends. I’m not trolling for anything.”
“I thought you didn’t have friends in town. Or did you lie about that, too?”
“Not that it’s your business, Chelsea, but I didn’t lie about anything.” My buzz was wearing off, and this girl was irritating me. “Why are you here, anyway? And why are you talking to me?”
“Maybe I’m trolling for a conquest.”
She spoke as I was asking my second question, so that I almost missed her answer. I paused and shook my head. “Is that all you care about? You think lesbians are all about sex, and you can just come here and pick one out like it’s a buffet?”
She recoiled, looking injured. Wait a minute.If she was looking, didn’t that mean she was still bi-curious? So much for being a hundred percent heterosexual.
