While our parents were discussing restaurant options, Jen and Olivia ran toward us, calling Wesley’s name. Jen bumped into me as she put her arm around Wesley. She glared at me briefly then whispered “sorry” with an edge of sarcasm. I stepped to the side as Olivia focused her camera on Wesley and Jen. Wesley glanced over at me and rolled his eyes and I felt a pang of jealousy as Jen wound her arm around Wesley’s waist.
Alycia nudged me with her elbow, then crossed her arms and furrowed her brows. “Just who the hell does she think she is?” She tossed me a look from the corner of her eye, and I couldn’t help but smile at her vicarious jealousy. “Hey, Wes! We’re leaving for dinner now!” Alycia called, staring directly at Jen.
Wesley smiled and with a flick of his hand dismissed Jen and Olivia. Jen called out after him, telling him that they should get together soon. Wesley waved over his shoulder without looking back. Alycia pushed me into Wesley, and he laid his hand on my shoulder. Alycia grinned at Jen and, with a sense of satisfaction, we left for dinner.
The restaurant was a fancy Italian place with real cloth napkins, water goblets, and tons of silverware. Two tables were pushed together to accommodate the seven of us, and Wesley sat next to me. He took my hand under the table and I couldn’t pull away without everyone noticing, so I accepted it and rested our hands in my lap. Mom and Alycia sat next to Wesley and me, and Mr. and Mrs. Carroll and Scott sat across the table. Mrs. Carroll ordered an appetizer for all of us and we chatted awkwardly while waiting for our food. Fortunately, Mom and Alycia realized that Wesley’s parents didn’t know about us and so were on their best behavior.
“So, Toren, where are you gonna go to school?” Mrs. Carroll asked, breaking a long silence.
“I’ve been accepted at the university,” I answered quietly. Wesley squeezed my hand proudly under the table.
“Good for you! Have you thought about a major then?” she followed up.
“I… I’m thinking about history. Or education. I’d like to be a history teacher,” I said.
“That sounds interesting. You know, the project the two of you worked on for history class was really good. It was pretty interesting,” she complimented, glancing and smiling at Mom, who nodded appreciatively. “Now that I think about it, Wes’s grades have gotten better since you became friends. If only you’d met as freshmen!” she said, lighting one of her ultraslim cigarettes. Wesley’s hand tightened around mine, and I looked down self-consciously. “I saw that you graduated with honors. That means you had at least a 3.5 GPA, right?”
I nodded, but Mom piped up proudly. “3.6, right?” she asked, looking at me. I nodded again.
“You know, Scott graduated with a 3.8 and now he’s in a big engineering program at a university in Pennsylvania. He tried for lots of scholarships and grants and won a few of them. His education is basically paid for. If you want, I’m sure he’ll help you find scholarships and stuff. Right, Scott? We tried with Wes, but with a 2.5, there’s only so much open.”
“2.8. Not that it matters,” Wesley interrupted quietly, looking down at his lap.
“What?”
“I have a 2.8, not a 2.5,” he said. His grip on my hand slackened and he stared into his lap. I squeezed his hand and he looked up at me.
“Well, anyway, Scott, you should write down some of the scholarships for Toren, and then he can look them up.”
The rest of the dinner passed slowly. The food was good, but I didn’t really taste it. I was concerned about Wesley; he didn’t say much for the rest of the meal. Mrs. Carroll extolled Scott’s achievements proudly and Scott modestly brushed it off as no big deal.
After the bill was paid, we said good night and went our separate ways. Wesley told me that he’d come over after he changed his clothes.
“Boy, that Cindy Carroll is kind of a handful,” Mom commented on the way home.
“Yeah, what was her deal? She kept harping on Wes about everything,” Alycia agreed, turning around in the front seat to look at me in the back.
I felt a little better, hearing Mom and Alycia, because I realized that I wasn’t just being oversensitive about Wesley. I stared out the window, watching the old blue Taurus’s fleeting reflections in storefront windows. I didn’t really like Mr. Carroll, but I thought Mrs. Carroll was nice. Now my opinion was changing, and I didn’t like it. Was this what Wesley always went through at home?
“If I ever compare the two of you like that, tell me right away,” Mom demanded.
WESLEY CAME over at a little past eight. When I ran to the car, I saw Scott sitting in the front seat. I was kind of excited; I wanted to talk to him. Like Wesley, he seemed reserved in front of his parents. But I was also a little disappointed; it meant I wouldn’t be able to kiss Wesley tonight.
“Hey, Toren. Congrats on graduating. I figured that since I’m the only one old enough to buy beer, I should come along. Hope you don’t mind,” Scott said casually. I smiled; he just said more than he had all during dinner.
“No, that’s okay,” I answered. Wesley glanced back at me from the driver’s seat.
We decided to go to Cue again because there wasn’t much else to do. Scott walked in the front door and whistled.
“Man, same shithole I remember from when I was in high school,” he said with a laugh. “You go get a table and I’ll get us a pitcher,” he said, walking toward the bar.
As expected, Kate and Lissa called to us and we went over to say hi. They congratulated us on graduating and complained that they
