we’re trying to pretend we weren’t up here together.” She paused and tugged at the collar of her dress to make herself appear slightly disheveled.
As soon as Mindy was gone, I got my phone back out.
DreOfTheDead: i can forgive anything except not having an opinion on pie vs cake
DreOfTheDead: we’re talking about desserts! this is important
DreOfTheDead: and the only valid answer is pie
DreOfTheDead: lemon meringue
DreOfTheDead: im gonna bake you one and force feed it to you till you agree
DreOfTheDead: also
DreOfTheDead: i cant believe im dating a hufflepuff
DreOfTheDead: shit
DreOfTheDead: didnt mean to suggest were dating
DreOfTheDead: unless we are
DreOfTheDead: we kinda went on a date and im hoping we get to do it again
DreOfTheDead: that counts as dating right???
Watching Dre have a meltdown was adorable. I loved the way his brain worked. The lack of filter or artifice. When it came to Dre, what he put out there was who he really was. It was rare to meet someone so genuine. Most people were like Mindy. They changed based on who they were around. Even after she had admitted she had a girlfriend and that her parents had brought her to the party hoping she and I would connect, I still didn’t know if the person she was when we were alone was real. It could have been just another false front created for me. But Dre was always Dre no matter who was around.
I gave his question some thought, but I already knew the answer I wanted to give, so I quickly typed it out.
PrezMamasBoy: I suppose we are dating. That is, if you would consent to go on another date with me.
PrezMamasBoy: For the record, this is me formally asking.
PrezMamasBoy: I, Dean Arnault, would like to take you, Dre Rosario, on a date that I hope will involve kissing at some point.
PrezMamasBoy: Do you accept?
Before I could put my phone away, Dre’s response popped up on the screen.
DreOfTheDead: yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
PrezMamasBoy: Then, I guess you are dating a Hufflepuff.
After all the guests had finally left, I was in the kitchen helping my mother with the dishes. It was late, and I would have left them for the morning, but my mother was incapable of leaving a mess sitting out overnight. She was the type of person who, when we moved, couldn’t sleep in the new house until every box had been unpacked.
“The party was a success,” I said.
My mother looked over her shoulder and smiled. She tossed me a dish towel and motioned at the dishes she’d handwashed. I began drying them and putting them away.
“I hope the debate on Monday will be equally successful.”
“You’ve got this, Mom.”
My mom smiled in my direction. “You and Mindy seemed to have quite a lot to talk about.”
“She’s . . . interesting,” I said. “Not at all who I expected her to be.”
“I’m glad you two hit it off,” she said. “I’ve invited her to sit with you and your father at the debate on Monday.”
The statement nearly flew over my head because it was the last thing I expected to hear, and it took me a moment to process it. “Why?”
“I thought you might enjoy spending time with someone your own age.”
“And?” If Dre hadn’t mentioned it and Mindy hadn’t explained her parents’ reasons for wanting her at the party, I might not have questioned my mother’s motives, but now I couldn’t help wonder.
My mother dried her hands on her apron before turning to me. “It’ll be good for reporters to see you with a nice girl.”
“Mindy is nice,” I said. “But I’m not interested in her like that.”
“It’s about optics, Dean,” she said sweetly. “Officially, she will be there as a guest of the family. What conclusions journalists choose to draw is up to them.”
I wanted to press her on the issue. I wanted to ask her why this was so important to her now when it hadn’t been before. She didn’t care that I wasn’t interested in Mindy romantically, only that others believed I was. I wanted to tell her that I had met someone who made me happy—he also made me confused in a good way and exasperated frequently. I wanted to tell the entire world about Dre so that they could share my happiness. But the world wouldn’t have been happy for me. My mother wouldn’t have celebrated with cake or pie or