Check, Please (Book #2)

Fifteen.

"My birthday's next weekend."

Melanie looked up from my latest quiz and smiled. "That's exciting," she said, lowering her pen while she studied me. She tapped the tip of the ballpoint against the table. "What day?"

"The twenty-fourth."

"Are you doing anything fun to celebrate?"

"Nothing too special," I admitted, resting my forearms on the table. "Probably grabbing drinks with some of the guys."

"Well, that's always a good time, right?"

I nodded. I couldn't pinpoint what it was but ever since the night that I'd run into her and Parker, Melanie had seemed a little off. Distant, maybe a little cold. Whatever it was, our once fast flowing friendship felt like it had stopped in its tracks and I didn't really understand why. What I did know was that I suddenly found myself counting the number of times that she laughed at my jokes and despairing whenever she responded with a blank stare. One of the things I'd learned since starting my sessions with Fersan was that I was a people pleaser and nothing killed me more than the feeling of being rejected.

The shift in our relationship had been subtle at first. Melanie started staying late in the library after our tutoring sessions ended, swearing up and down that she'd driven to campus and didn't need me to walk her back to her apartment. I couldn't really say anything in response to that so I began making the journey home alone. On the one hand, avoiding the detour to her complex definitely cut down on the time it took me to get back to my place but, on the other, it also meant that I rarely talked to her about anything other than schoolwork anymore. 

If I was being honest with myself, the truth was that my reasons for wanting to talk to her were largely selfish. There were some things that just felt more natural to share with a girl rather than the guys back at the house, even if the latter made up my core group of friends. Even though I'd only known her for a few months, Melanie never ribbed me for being whipped or made fun of the insecurities that I divulged; she was like a younger, prettier version of Dr. Fersan, minus the dancing eyebrows and psychology degree.

Granted, if the only thing that changed between us had been Melanie's decision to drive home rather than walk with me, I probably wouldn't have noticed that anything was wrong. But, after nearly a month of texting each other between tutoring sessions, including late at night and over weekends, I couldn't ignore the fact that my messages now went largely unanswered. I told myself that she was busy with her own assignments but deep down I knew that I must've done something to warrant her newfound behavior. I racked my brain to figure out what it was but came up blank. Not even Parker could give me an explanation when I asked him. Instead, he just shrugged and said, "She probably got tired of listening to you whine."

He was joking, I think, but that actually made the most sense. In hindsight, I had dumped a lot on her pretty quickly. When I thought about some of the things I'd told her, I sometimes found myself feeling incredibly embarrassed. Although she'd never been judgmental when she gave me advice, I still felt like I'd torn up my Man Card in front of her and handed her the shredded pieces. I liked to act as if I didn't care whether or not she thought I was lame but I did. I really did. 

I risked a glance at her. Melanie was still smiling at me, so I took a deep breath and said, "You should come out with us, if you want."

When Melanie opened her mouth to respond, I quickly added, "Don't worry, it won't be like a frat party or anything. We'll probably grab dinner at the Japanese steakhouse downtown and then go barhopping."

"Is Sophie going?" Melanie asked, rolling up the sleeves of her dark green sweater.

"I don't think so," I admitted. "My friends originally wanted it to be a guys' night out so Parker didn't ask her."