Chase & Adrienne

6

ADRIENNE

TUESDAY NIGHT

"And then he walked up with roses and asked me to the dance!" I tell Renee over the phone. She presses me for details. 

"I'll have to show you all the clues he made for me. GEN-IUS." I get up and slip the cards into my backpack before I forget. 

"Adrienne, can I be brutally honest with you for a second?" Renee asks. 

"Is that even a question? Hit me."

"Luke Gates? What the hell are you thinking, girl?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, finding myself on the defensive. 

"You know Chase hates him."

"Chase doesn't hate him," I explain, trying to convince Renee just as much as I'm trying to convince myself, "there must be some kind of misunderstanding. Luke is nothing like Chase makes him out to be. I was pleasantly surprised. Besides, the puns. Assholes suck at making puns."

"Suit yourself. I don't think Chase is gonna be cool with this. Have you told him yet?"

"He already knows. He saw it all go down."

"What happened?!" Renee demands. 

"Nothing! He just showed up in the admin building right when Luke was asking me, and then he walked away."

"Hold on. Was it a 'oh, I have somewhere to be, all is right with the world' walk, or was it an 'I'm pissed and storming off angrily' walk?"

I picture the way Chase looked at me with Luke. He stalked off before I even had a chance to call him over. As much as I try to convince myself, deep down, I know Chase must be pissed at me. I've never heard him say anything positive about Luke in my life. 

"Bordering on angry, maybe," I admit, "but let's not blow this out of proportion, okay? I'll talk to Chase about it tomorrow. It's gonna be fine."

"I hope you're right, Adrienne."

"It will. We're all gonna have a great time. I'm sure of it."

Renee lets out a nearly indiscernible sigh. "Honestly, I'm kind of surprised you and Chase aren't going together this year."

"Renee, I've never been asked by anyone before. Chase is, like, the default."

"Chase is more than a 'default,' and you know it, Adrienne."

"I gotta go, Renee," I huff. "See you tomorrow."