Does He like Me?

Chapter Six

          Day 4•

     I woke up with a pounding in my head. Tanton was right. Adriana had found out something. Something about me. God, how could I have let it slip between my fingers so easily?

     There was a knock at the door which made my head pound even harder. I heard someone get it.

     "Hey! Ready to go?" It sounded like Driggs.

     "No! Get out of here! It's like, eight in the morning!"

     "Exactly! We can't waste the day! You guys missed the sun rise!" We were all taking pictures and it was so cool!"

     I heard a door slam and a groan. Then loud clapping along with, "C'mon ladies! Everyone is already up and ready to go!" I heard a shut up Lindsay  from across the room. I got up and got dressed. By the time I was brushing my teeth, everybody else in our room was doing their makeup. I put on a little mascara and lip gloss. I didn't need to impress anybody. 

     We all walked out of the hotel and headed towards subway so we can eat 'breakfast' in Central Park. We all take pictures for a few hours and head to Radio City Music Hall. We don't have tickets to get in or have enough money to pay for some, but just the thought of actually being in New York was amazing. We hang out for a while to see if we see anyone famous-which was Rivington's idea. But after an hour, we decide to head out somewhere else. 

     Adriana keeps her distance and every once in a while, I catch her glaring at me out of the corner of my eye. But when I turn to look at her head on, she smiles and laughs like nothing is wrong. Rivington had his arm draped over her shoulder; totally unaware of how his girlfriend has a problem with me.  And who knows? Maybe she knows things about everybody in our little group.

      Ashley and I are back to our normal, crazy best friend lives. My head  must have been faced in Adriana's direction with a nasty glare on my face because Ashley comes over to me and we lock arms. "Don't let her get to you. This is our last summer together before we all go off to different colleges. Really. Not one of us is within a 1000 mile radius of each other." She waves her hand around; gesturing to everyone. She was right. Ashley was going to University of Florida. Tanton was going to Arizona State. Bowery was going to Indiana University. Chelsea to Boston College; Driggs to University of Texas at Austin. Bayla at Illinois; Rivington to Yale and Adriana was going to London to some private school. Lola was going to Harvard; being the smarty pants; and Lindsay to Pennsylvania. I was going to Michigan State. 

     "Yeah, but."

     "No buts. She isn't going to screw up your perfectly planned out future."

     "Okay." I said, but I wasn't so sure. Why would someone not  want to share my secret to the world? I mean-I'm happy she hasn't, but I have my doubts.

••••

     Bowery heard about some wedding in downtown New York. Everyone agreed to crash it. 

     "It'd be so fun!" Bowery had said. And with those four words, he had everyone convinced  it'd make our summer a real summer. So we all went out to buy some 'nice' clothes that weren't too expensive.

     So there we were. Walking the streets of downtown New York like we owned the streets. And trust me-you do not want to be in downtown New York in fancy clothes, unarmed at 4:00. It was a sketchy ass place to be. All these street boys looking at us with a face that read 'lets go mug them bitches'.

     While everyone was confident, I looked like a chicken with it's head cut off. Constantly looking behind my back, trying not to make eye contact; but could still see from the corner of my eyes. I noticed Tanton catch a glance at me. I was tempted to flip him off-but not here- not while his scary side is still stuck in the grooves of my thoughts.

     We finally saw the hotel where the wedding was at. The guard asked us who we were. Bowery instantly piped up and said he was the groom's nephew. The guard motioned to the rest of us with his head. "Friends of mine. My uncle said I could bring a few so I wouldn't be bored out of my mind." The guard didn't look completely convinced, but he let us go through. Chelsea squealed and tightened her grip on Bowery's left arm.

     "So what are we gonna do first?" Driggs asked. "Dance while they dance to there solo? Trash the food table?"

     "Let's just hang out for a while." Tanton said. "And this is a reception party."

     "Whatever. Let's go eat, I'm starving."

     Lola was already next to a young guy, maybe in his mid-twenties. I stood at the snack bar-not hungry but just to look at other people. The band wasn't that good and the drinks were watery.  I saw Tanton heading my way so I instantly spun around. Looking for something to do. I  start to head off in a random direction when I bump into somebody. "Hey! I know you! We have a," he cleared his throat. "A special connection." I didn't even need to look up to know it was Brad.   

      "Oh yeah. Brad, right?" I didn't want to talk to Brad, but it beat talking to Tanton.

      He smiled a toothy grin. "Yeah. So you do remember me." He said it like a statement, not a question.

      "Of course, how could I forget the guy that ran me into a wall?" I smiled. I felt an arm wrap around my waist and said, "What the hell? Get off of me!" I was sure it was Brad, but as I looked up, it was Tanton.

      Brad's face fell. "Oh, is this your boyfriend?"

      Before I could say anything, Tanton quickly said yes. I rolled my eyes. "What are you doing?" I ask.

      "What are you talking about, sweetie?" Brad backs away slowly, and heads towards a group of guys. "What are you doing?" I repeat.

      "Seriously? I was trying to save you from that street kid."

      " I don't need saving. I can take care of myself." I crossed my arms.

      "So you don't want me anymore? Is that what you're saying?"

      How did he know I liked him? Was it that obvious? "That's exactly what I'm saying." I spun around on my heel and yelled over my shoulder, "I can't believe I ever thought I loved you."

      I felt hot tears streaming down my face as well as the invited guests staring at me. I didn't know why I was crying; it wasn't that hard to finally destroy the romantic fantasy that only existed in my mind.