Ambivalently Yours

Partners

For Liz's sake (and, partially, your own sanity), you try to keep it civil when the two of you go to Kelce and Rafe's apartment. You have two drinks and keep your side of the conversation to a minimum. However, civility all but flies out the door once you get to the restaurant.

When the hostess takes you to your table, Liz and Kelce immediately slide into the same side of the booth, leaving you and Rafe to sit together. You shoot Liz a look as you scoot across the bench.

"It's giving double date," you say pointedly, looking at Liz and Kelce in turn.

Kelce says something to Liz under his breath before addressing everyone. "We're four friends having dinner. Nothing more, nothing less," he says, making a show of opening his menu. "What do you guys think about getting an appetizer? Crab rangoons?" he asks, changing the subject.

You could smash a few crab rangoons, so you nod in agreement. The server appears at the table just a few moments later, taking your drink order and promising to put in your appetizer order.

"You're encroaching on my space," you tell Rafe when his arm brushes against you as he shifts to get comfy.

"It's our space, darling," he says, elbowing you for emphasis.

"Stop touching me," you say, and he pokes you just to rile you up. "Stop!" You poke him back in retaliation.

"No, this is fun," he says, pinching the back of your arm. You let out an angry squeal.

"So, debate buddies, how did things go today?" Liz asks loudly, trying to distract you both. Rafe puts his hands on the table.

"We tied," you answer glumly, and Rafe laughs.

"I could see the deep seeded disappointment in your eyes when McCuskey declared no winner," he jokes.

"That means you were equally convincing. That's good, right?" she asks.

"Not when I wanted to win," you reply.

"Honestly, I thought I should've been declared the winner, but ya know," Rafe says with a shrug.

"Of course you thought you won," you say. "God forbid you admit someone has bested you."

"But did you? That wasn't the consensus," he says. The server comes back with your drinks, and he gives him a silent nod of thanks.

"The consensus didn't say that you won either," you remind him, practically stabbing your straw into your glass.

"What did that soda ever do to you?" Kelce asks.

You glare at him. "You're not in this."

He raises his eyebrows at you. "Okay. Shutting up."

Liz rolls her lips into her teeth to keep from laughing. It took next to nothing to get you and Rafe to argue, and it amused her to no end. Because she's a little shit, she wants to keep the momentum going. "So when is the next formal debate? Do you think your professor will pair you up again?" she asks.

"God, I hope not," Rafe says. "But we don't have another debate for a while. We have midterms coming up, which I think is a paper."

"It is," you confirm. "Five to ten pages, topic of our choice. Not too awful, considering we get partners."

Liz nods. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"The writing part isn't. It's the presentation that sucks."

"Well, the class is called speech and debate. Makes sense that you have to speak sometimes," Rafe says.