𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞

You look perfect,
you look different,
I wonder about
your indifference
-Leith Ross

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

Frankie achieves the impossible.

We're sat at Tipper's diner. The smell of fried food hangs in the air, my shoes stick to the tiled floor. Across the table, Frankie and Khalil are beaming; Dalton is slumped at their side. Tenny's to my left, and to my right, sits Bailey.

His head is on a swivel, looking between Tenny and Dalton, like he can't decide whose team to be on. But there are no teams, and at least Bailey's not still stewing over Frankie.

"What can I get you, everyone?" says the waitress, but then she adds that signature Tipper's charm and clicks her pen, twice. "Make it fast, we don't have all night."

But they do—Tipper's is open twenty-four hours, but no one reminds her of that fact. Actually, no one says anything, except for their order. Because tonight, no one seems particularly chatty.

Finally, Frankie takes a stab at it. She slaps her hands onto the table, and plasters on a big grin. "Well, who knew Violet and Khalil had so much in common?" she says. "They've both bagged a freshman, this year."

She's the only one who laughs. Khalil's shaking his head, and my eyes flick to Dalton. He's staring into a plate of fries like they may soon burst into flames. I feel Tenny's hand on my knee, and I hope no one else sees.

"Ha, good one, Frankie," Bailey says, with a mouth full of cheeseburger. He might be a stress-eater because he ordered an extra side of fries and two milkshakes. "I guess Tenny broke the golden rule, huh? No commitments freshman year." He talks like a robot during that last part, and he washes it with a chocolate shake.

I look at Tenny. He wasn't there while Frankie gave Bailey that talk, but I wonder if Bailey recounted it for him because he's frowning. Like he understood the warning: freshmen flings are only ever that: flings.

But we aren't a fling. We're Tenny and Violet. And Frankie's a mad-man. She spews nonsense, most of the time. What does she know, really.

"That's right, Bails," Frankie says with a laugh. And she leans over the table to bump knuckles. Bailey flushes pink; Frankie doesn't seem to notice, and I think, here we go again. This time, I squeeze my hand onto Tenny's knee.

He takes a page from Dalton's book and tries to set his fries ablaze, too.

"Oh, did you tell them about the party next weekend?" Khalil asks, seeming ready to switch the conversation from his own shortcomings. He turns to me and Tenny. "There's a party next weekend."

"I hadn't heard."

Frankie's nodding, curls spring around her face. "Yeah, that's right," she says. "Kappa Alpha is having a big party on Saturday—the theme is eighties prom." She laughs. "We're all dressing up in costume; it's going to be so funny."

I look at Dalton. "You're going?"

"Yeah, I guess." He shrugs. "I don't see any reason not to."

I shake my head, because there isn't any reason why he shouldn't. He can do whatever he wants—I'm just surprised he wants to go out, because Khalil has acted like he's still heartbroken. But Dalton always has loved a party; he loves people and he loves talking. Except for tonight. He doesn't have much to say, tonight.

"You have to come, too!" Frankie tells me. "Come on, I have an extra dress with ridiculous ruffles and it'll be so much fun. Say you'll come?" She pouts her lip, and I look at Tenny. He's frowning.

"Wait—" Frankie exclaims. "Weren't you two high school sweethearts; did you actually go to prom together? Because I have to see those pictures."

I can't even bring myself to look at Tenny, now. My heart is thudding, just thinking about that night. I want to squeeze his knee again, but I can't move my hands. I can't even feel my hands. I try to clear my throat, choke out some words.

"No," I say. "We didn't go...together."

Frankie frowns. "Oh..." She brightens her tune. "Well, now you can! Here's your chance; A prom re-do! Come on, we'll all be there. I promise you will have fun."

I can't ask Tenny to go, but to my surprise he's the one who nods his head. "Uh, yeah," he says. "Sounds fun, Frankie—we'll go." But he stands up from his chair, the legs squeak against the tile; he brushes his hands on his pant leg. "I'm gonna go for a smoke, yeah?"

He kisses the top of my head, and I'm nodding at him, but I can't form any words. I just watch him leave through the front door, listen as Frankie starts back in on Khalil—about his prom shoes, or switching up his hair—and I try not to think about what has Tenny upset, again.

Bailey talks about a girl from his algebra class. He says she's coming to watch his golf tournament and he sounds really smitten. I'm happy for him, I tell him that, and he grins. Dalton stands, looks at us and says he'll be back in a minute.

I think he's using the restroom, but he leaves through the front door. I watch beyond glass windows as he walks toward Tenny, both of their silhouettes glowing under neon signs. I lean across the table. "Uh, what do you think that's about?"

Frankie shrugs. "Maybe he's decided to take up smoking."

"Yeah, or maybe he's going to kick Tens ass for stealing his girl," Khalil adds, and I'm standing from my chair. Khalil grabs onto my wrist. "Chill, Vio, it's a joke. I'm sure he just wants to clear the air—it's Dalton, we're talking about."

So, I sit back down. Because he's right. Dalton's not the type to swing fists. But I'm not confident I can say the same about Tenny. Not that he's ever wanted to fight, Tenny just had to. And if he feels cornered, he might feel like he has to, again.

I watch them. A flame glowing in Tenny's hand, from a cigarette. Dalton's back towards me.

I can't make out their faces in the dark. I certainly can't hear what they're saying. I just watch for fists to stary flying, but to my appeasement, they never come. They seem to only talk, Tenny nods his head, they shake hands, and then they're walking back inside together. The bell jingles, on the front door.

Tenny sits down, beside me. His hand returns to my knee, he smiles. It's a soft smile, but he's smiling. Dalton seems chattier, him and Bailey talk about baseball and golf and Bailey's new friend.

And I don't know what happened outside, but I think we might be okay.

I think everything might be okay, again.

...
Author's Note:

What do you think
Dalton and Tenny
talked about outside?

Fun fact: I typed up a
bonus chapter from Tenny's POV
about their talk

Should I post it next?