taken.
“What?” Cass asked.
“That backdrop. I assume it’s meant to be the surface of Venus, but the idea of us being on Venus is ridiculous.” (For starters, the surface of Venus was roughly 864°F.)
Then I saw something even more egregious. Someone had made cardboard cutouts of the solar system and hung them on the far wall. I pointed it out to Cass and Arden.
“Why are Neptune and Uranus the same size? Why is Pluto there, but not Ceres? Why is Saturn pink?”
“Not everything has to be literal,” Arden said.
“But whoever made those planets wasn’t even trying.”
Cass laughed. “Maybe they had more important things to think about. Like, you know, basically anything.”
We moved through the dance, stopping to talk to people along the way. Rather, Cass stopped to talk to people while Arden and I held back. I did my best to avoid looking at the solar system wall. If I pretended it wasn’t there, maybe it would stop bothering me.
After an hour, I started to relax. Even when Cass was off socializing, Arden stuck by me. The punch, despite the slimy green color, tasted good enough. And Ishmael’s over-the-top antics on the dance floor were entertaining. My brother wore sunglasses and a blazer over his signature Hawaiian shirt. Though he was perfectly capable of dancing well, he chose not to, instead trying—and succeeding—to get laughs from everyone in the vicinity.
To my surprise, my mood steadily improved.
Until I saw Owen.
It wasn’t the fact of his presence that bothered me. I’d actually tried to get ahold of him all week. The problem was, he wasn’t alone. He had none other than Alex Spiros with him.
I reached out and grabbed Cass’s arm.
“Ow, what?” she asked. She followed my gaze and I felt her body stiffen. “Oh. Damn.”
“Who’s with Owen?” Arden asked. “Wait, is that…”
“It’s your blind date, isn’t it?” Cass said.
I nodded because I didn’t trust myself to speak.
Part of me was angry. Part was sad. Another part of me figured it was inevitable. Owen had finally found someone who was his match, someone attractive enough to stand next to him.
Except, I seethed, Alex wasn’t really Owen’s match. Because Owen was a great person and Alex Spiros was a douche. Was that what Owen wanted? The whole time he was with me, was he secretly hoping for some…some TV chef?
“I’m going over there,” I announced.
“That might be the worst idea you’ve ever had,” Cass said.
Arden nodded. “Why don’t we leave? We can see a movie or something.”
“A movie sounds great,” Cass agreed.
I ignored them and made a beeline toward Owen and Alex, who stood at the edge of the dance floor.
“Well, this is unexpected.”
Owen’s face fell when he saw me. Alex gave me a small nod and looked supremely uncomfortable. Good.
“Gideon,” Owen said. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”
“I guess this would be okay then? It wouldn’t count if I didn’t know about it?”
I didn’t bother looking at Alex. He didn’t matter. I focused on Owen and watched a range of emotions play out on his face. Unfortunately, I had no idea what any of those emotions were.
“Look,” he said finally. “I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“You don’t find anything about this situation a bit awkward?”
“Everything with you is awkward.” Owen’s voice rose, and people around us turned to look. “You weren’t going to come to the dance with me, were you?”
“No,” I snapped. “Because you’re not speaking to me!”
“Don’t try to make this my fault. I wasn’t speaking to you because you went on a date with another guy.”
“And look how that turned out.”
“So you don’t want to date me, but no one else can either?” Owen asked, and I wasn’t having trouble reading his emotions anymore. He was furious. “You need to get a grip. The universe doesn’t revolve around you.”
“The universe doesn’t revolve around anything!”
Then I felt someone at my elbow, pulling me away. I glanced over, expecting Cass, but it was Ishmael.
“Owen, Alex,” he said pleasantly. “Nice to see you both. Unfortunately, Gideon and I need to be going.”
My brother dragged me to the darkest corner of the gym, where we were mercifully hidden from the stares. “Dude,” he said. “That was a bit much.”
Before I could respond, Cass and Arden joined us.
“That was so uncharacteristically dramatic,” Cass said. “I’d applaud if I didn’t know how upset you must be.”
“I’m not upset.”
“Sure you’re not,” Cass replied dryly. “You always shout in public when you’re not upset.”
“I’ll take you home,” Ishmael offered.
“I can do it,” Cass said.
“I really don’t mind.”
“Both of you