You'll Be Okay

Chapter 17

The next morning, I woke up to see Reid had texted thank you, sent at almost 3 AM.

"How ambiguous," Kayley commented during class after I told her all about the charity gala. "I can't believe you were in his bedroom and nothing happened."

"Well, his mother basically told me to stay away from him."

"That's so weird," she muttered. "He's treated like a prized pony."

I turned back to the petri dish of bacterial broth that Kayley and I had been examining. She was hopeless at Biology and it certainly wasn't my strong suit either so it was safe to say that we were both struggling miserably.

Behind us, a chair scraped against the floor and I looked up as someone stopped by our table. It was Dennis, who had just transferred into our class today, headphones slung around his neck as he unknowingly became a source of distraction for the female population.

"Hey." He smiled as some girls behind us swooned. "Uh, Lex, I was just wondering if you had any plans - for Homecoming?"

"Homecoming?" I echoed stupidly.

"She doesn't have plans," Kayley interjected with a huge grin. "Like, ever."

I wanted to slap her when Dennis looked between us curiously. At that point, Kayley realised that she was being creepy and pretended to busy herself with the Petri dish. She looked like she was about to take a good gulp of the bacterial broth.

"Great. I was wondering if you'd like to be my date?"

Suddenly, the ability to formulate words left my body.

I opened my mouth and closed it again, the baffled look on my face making Dennis falter. I didn't think it was exactly fair on him that the first thing I thought of was being Reid's date less than twenty-four hours ago. Kayley certainly didn't help either as she was so excited she knocked over my bacteria sample and swore loudly in horror.

"Sure," I blurted, realising that he was still waiting for an answer. "Sounds good."

The relief on his face was imminent and the reality of the situation settled in. While Dennis and I got along, we didn't know much about each other. He was quiet and observant, but comfortable to be around and I truly thought I was the last person in the world he'd ask.

"Okay, cool." Dennis seemed to suppress a smile, nodding awkwardly when the silence dragged on. "Can I get your number? So I can text you the details later tonight?"

"Here you are," said Kayley brightly as she pushed a slip of paper into his hands.

I rolled my eyes upon seeing my digits scrawled messily on it.

"Thanks," Dennis said in surprise. "Right. I'll see you around."

Right on time, the bell shrilled loudly and Dennis went back to his table. Kayley gave me a meaningful look as I grabbed our stuff and we headed out.

Kayley squealed, punching me repeatedly in the arm when we were safely out of earshot. "You guys are going to have the cutest blue-eyed babies! Oh, we have to find a dress. I'm looking at some condos this afternoon, but I'll be free after school for the rest of the week."

I sighed in exasperation and then paused. "Wait - are you moving out?"

She shifted her books over onto her other arm, hesitating. "I don't know yet."

Kayley had debated moving out of her mother's luxury penthouse for years and I knew it wasn't my place to sway her either way. While it would benefit her mental health to get a place of her own, it might also strain her relationship with Elena further which I knew she didn't want.