It was a little after 11:00 p.m. when Lou and Emma finally arrived at the theater camp across the lake from Camp Kikiwaka. They would have been there sooner, but Emma insisted that they needed to perfect their look for the first big party of the summer. The drama counselors at Camp Bright Star were having a retro Hollywood-glam party at the camp's huge mountain house and they had invited a bunch of people from different camps to sneak over after curfew. Xander, Ravi, and some of their other friends from Kikiwaka had gone ahead of the girls, mostly because Lou had refused to get ready until the Woodchucks finished their assigned kitchen duty. But now they were standing under the patio lights on the wooden back deck of the house, scanning the well-dressed crowd for their friends.
"There he is!" Emma exclaimed when her eyes landed on Xander. She smiled at him and waved her pink-gloved hand as he looked up from his guitar.
"Of course he's got his guitar," Lou chuckled.
As Lou followed Emma down the steps that led to the firepit area, she couldn't help but notice how all eyes were on her best friend. Although it had taken Emma forever to get ready, she looked stunning in her form-fitting pink dress with the giant pink bow. Not to mention the diamond necklace placed perfectly on the Ross' neck, which could probably buy the town where Lou was born and raised.
"Cool! You guys finally made it," Xander exclaimed when his girlfriend and his best friend found him near the firepit behind the house. He had his hair slicked back like an old school movie star, and he wore a black and white tuxedo.
"Yeah, it takes a lot of elbow grease to scrub the sloppy joe gunk from those old pots," Lou said, scrunching her nose. Emma shuddered.
"Well, you're here now!" Xander wrapped one arm around Emma's waist and kissed her softly on the cheek. He smiled at Lou. "You two look awesome."
"I know," Emma said without hesitation as she adjusted her bulky diamond necklace. "This thing is just so heavy. I knew I should've worn the fake one instead."
"The fake one?" Xander murmured as he stared in awe of the expensive necklace.
"Thanks, bestie," Lou replied brightly to Xander as she glanced around at the seats surrounding the firepit. There were a lot of theater kids dressed in retro costumes, so plenty of faux fur and elbow-length silk gloves. She also noticed a trio of girls grouped together on a patio bench, who were all gawking at a very handsome Xander. Lou giggled to herself, knowing that any chance those girls thought they had had was now crushed on Emma's glamorous arrival.
"Where are Ravi and Natasha?" Lou asked after another look around the backyard and not spotting Ravi and his date from Bobcat cabin.
Xander's eyes softened as he lifted his guitar by the neck to point to the second story of the house. "Natasha broke up with him about twenty minutes ago. He's been alone upstairs ever since. I tried to get him to come back out. I even offered to play one of those songs he made the choreographed dance moves to, but it was a no go."
"He came on too strong didn't he?" Emma sighed as she leaned into her boyfriend's arms. "Natasha is so sweet. But she's not looking for a boyfriend. And I told Ravi that. He's such an old man. He thinks a camp girlfriend is serious."
Xander loudly cleared his throat and raised both eyebrows at Emma.
"Which in our case it totally is serious, sweetie," Emma added with a forced laugh, which turned into a real laugh when he tickled her ribcage. Her blonde hair bounced as it looked effortlessly perfect even though she had spent so much time on it. Xander gently nudged his nose against her neck and chuckled.
"You two are cuter than those tiny pickles they sell at the farmers market," Lou smiled.
Lou looked up at the second story of the house. Yellow light shone from the large windows, some through blinds and some through opened windows where the sound of music and chatter drifted out into the night. The thought of one of her best friends upstairs sulking instead of having fun with everyone else made her heart sad.
"You two have fun," Lou said. She took two steps towards the house. "I'm gonna find Ravi."
"Aw, you don't have to do that, Lou," Emma said as she leaned away from Xander. "We just got here! You have fun!" She rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "I'll go talk to my dumb brother. I've got experience dealing with his self-inflicted heartache during the school year."
Lou chuckled and shook her head. "It's alright, Emma. You know I love all my Rosses. I'm gonna make sure he's alright."
"But I dressed you up and I want to show you off," Emma pouted. "Let me drag him down here. He's not ruining our night because Natasha wants to keep her options open for mimes."
"Mimes?" Lou and Xander both asked at the same time with raised eyebrows.
Emma lifted her gloved-hand and daintily pointed over to the heated pool. Lou looked over in that direction and gasped. Sitting at the edge of the pool was Natasha, holding hands with a guy who was wearing a black striped shirt and red suspenders.
"Guess she moves quick," Lou mumbled and shrugged. She turned back to Emma and gave her a soft smile. "But Ravi can't help it if he's old fashioned, poor thing. He's just lookin' for love. Like you two. Y'all go together like peanut butter and pickles."
"Eww," Emma whispered under her breath.
Xander drummed his fingers on his stomach and said, "It makes an okay sandwich, but then again the food isn't that great at camp."
Lou pointed her finger at them both and said in a serious tone, "It's delicious." She dropped her hands to her sides. "Which means, you two have fun. Don't worry about Ravi. Let me go check on him. See if I can make him feel better."
"You are like the sweetest person ever," Emma said with a resigned sigh. She stepped up to her bestie and fixed Lou's curls. "But if you change your mind, just send him down here to me. I know Ravi can be a lot."
"And remind him that there are plenty of girls here," Xander added. He lifted his shoulders. "Maybe there's another mime around?"
Lou nodded and watched as her best friends interlocked their fingers and walked over to a group of familiar faces by the lounge chairs. She shifted her gaze to look over her shoulder to the second story of the mountain house and mentally prepared herself for a saddened Ravi.
The first room upstairs that Lou had checked was filled with angry musical theater geeks passionately arguing their views on what was Andrew Lloyd Webber's best work. The second room she had checked, she quickly retreated from when the strong scent of spiked fruit punch hit her nose and the sound of loud dance music pounded in her ears. She had considered going back outside to recruit Emma for help, but then she caught a glimpse of Ravi from the tiny space left from the unclosed door near the house's upstairs study. She cheered internally, but approached the door gently. She knocked lightly on the door as she opened it just enough to peek inside the room.
"Hey," she said softly. "We finally finished kitchen duty."
"Excellent," Ravi sniffled in reply.
His back was to her as he sat on the edge of the bed. The fancy black jacket that he wore couldn't hide the slumping of his shoulders as he faced the window opposite of him. The curtain had been opened and the blinds were up so that there was a full view of the partiers on the backyard deck below.
"Xander told me what happened," she continued as she stepped inside.
Ravi sniffled again. Lou glanced around the room. Unlike the first two rooms, which looked more like game rooms or hang out spaces, this room was set up like a normal bedroom. The bedroom light had the room flooded in amber light, so there was a calmer and cozier feel that contrasted with the busy atmosphere of the party outside and on the other side of the walls.
"Smells nice in here," Lou said quietly. "Must have one of those fragrance spritzing things…"
Ravi's watery gaze was focused on his shiny, expensive-looking shoes. He sniffled again and mumbled, "Pumpkin spice, possibly."
The scene chipped at Lou's heart. She hated to see any of her friends sad. Especially when they were well-dressed in a stylish pinstriped suit. She rushed forward to stand beside him and gently rest her hand on his shoulder.
"I know getting dumped is tough, Ravi. But you're a great guy. If Natasha can't see that, then it's her loss," Lou said with an encouraging smile that he didn't look up to see. "And I thought things were goin' great with you two."
"Me too!" Ravi replied in an exasperated tone. His outburst caused him to raise his shoulders slightly, so Lou moved her hand away. Ravi sniffled and shut his eyes as he raised his chin in the air. "But according to Natasha, I am clingy. Me! Can you believe that?"
Lou opened her mouth to respond but quickly shut it and folded her lips. She tilted her head to the side and thought about her next words carefully. Unfortunately, her pause was a second too long.
"Well, that was a condemning silence if there ever was one," Ravi scoffed as he stood up from the edge of the bed. He had opened his eyes, but he had still yet to look at her as he stared at the ceiling. With his arms crossed, he paced in the space between the window and the bed and continued to fuss. "Contrary to Natasha's hurtful sentiment, I would not call myself clingy. Attentive? Maybe. Affectionate? I suppose. And maybe I came on too strong by asking her to be my girlfriend…"
Lou raised her eyebrow. "Haven't you only been on like three dates with her?"
Ravi waved one hand in the air as he continued to pace and focus on the wooden planks of the ceiling. "Do you know how difficult it is to date, Lou? Not to mention the emotional turmoil of a teenage crush! I am trying to graduate early as well as finish writing my space opera. So when I am in a relationship, I play for keeps!"
Lou lifted her hand to her mouth, but was unable to muffle her chuckle. She gave up and dropped both hands to her sides as she laughed freely. "You're so dramatic, Ravi! You know it's the future times now. You ain't gotta settle down at eighteen anymore."
Ravi scoffed again and this time he finally looked at her. The frown on his face quickly fell as did his jaw. His arms fell at his sides.
"Whoa," he said like the wind had been knocked out of him. He stumbled slightly as he halted his pace and his shiny shoe hit the edge of the bed, causing a thud to echo in the room.
A look of concern replaced the smile Lou had worn as she pointed at his foot. She said, "That sounded like it hurt."
"What hurt?" Ravi asked in a daze as his eyes traced over her attire.
"Your foot," Lou responded as she scrunched her eyebrows together, confused by his sudden change in mood.
"What foot?"
"Yours!"
She waited in vain for him to say something about his foot because for the next fifteen seconds he did nothing but stare at her with a dumbstruck look. She looked down at her dress to see if she had spilled fruit punch or something on it when she was in the kitchen earlier. Nope. It was still sparkly white and perfectly swooshy in the places where it wasn't perfectly tight. She held out her arms to make sure nothing was on them either, because the halter-style of the dress left her arms and neck bare. Nothing. She lifted her hands to her curls to make sure they hadn't slipped or anything. No. She glanced to the side and spotted a mirror against the wall. Her reflection confirmed that her appearance was fine as far as she could tell.
"Are you alright there, fella?" She asked as she waved her hand in front of him, confused.
"Whoa," Ravi repeated, a little less breathless this time but still in awe.
His eyes flickered over her outfit and the once saddened look on his face had been completely replaced with a look that reminded Lou of how Xander looks every time Emma wears a crop top to the lake. Lou felt a flutter in her stomach and she blushed because that was not a feeling she normally had when Ravi was looking at her. But then again, she had never seen him look at her this way.
"Earth to Ravi!" She said loudly, clapping her hands in front of his face. "I thought you were ranting and raving about Natasha?"
Ravi blinked several times. "Who?" he asked.
"Natasha," Lou repeated as she put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side slightly.
Ravi made a sound that sounded like a squeak as he continued to stare at her.
"You're acting weird," Lou said. She paused and then added with a smirk, "Well, weirder than usual."
She waited for him to reply with a sassy response to her light-hearted joke, but he just awkwardly crossed and then uncrossed his arms.
He cleared his throat and averted his gaze to look down at his shoes, "I, uh…I thought Emma was going to be Marilyn Monroe."
"Huh?" Lou looked down at her outfit again. "Oh, you're confused!" She facepalmed and chuckled. "I thought you were checking…"
Lou quickly folded her lips. Her face heated up with embarrassment. She almost admitted to thinking her friend was checking her out. Internally, she reprimanded herself for being so foolish. This was Ravi. He never checked her out. They were friends. She bit her lip and tried not to think too hard about why her heart felt a little excited about him finding her attractive and her heart feeling a little sad when she realized her mistake.
"Right! So, Emma ordered a bunch of Marilyn Monroe inspired dresses. And she was gonna go with this one, but she accidentally ordered the wrong size," Lou explained. Her hands were still on her hips as she shrugged casually. "But it fits me."
Ravi lifted his gaze and raised his eyebrow at her. And in perfect clarity he said, "It certainly does…"
With those words that Ravi had obviously meant to keep to himself, which was evident by the way his eyes widened and how he looked as if he was about to run out of the room, it was confirmed. The flutter in Lou's stomach had been correct. Ravi was totally checking her out.
"Oh," she said quietly. She felt all of her skin heat up. She didn't need to glance at the mirror on the opposite side of the room to know that she was blushing uncontrollably. She cleared her throat and loosely crossed her arms. "I thought you were heartbroken."
"I was," Ravi replied absentmindedly. He shook his head and corrected, "I mean I am!" He nodded. "I am very heartbroken over…uh…um…" He snapped his fingers as he tried to think.
Lou forced her expression to be neutral even though her heart was doing cartwheels. She hoped her tone was flat as she said, "Natasha."
"Natasha! Exactly." Ravi chuckled nervously. He fanned his face a bit and looked around the room at anything but her. "I am not quite sure why I am having trouble with, um, thinking." His eyes landed on her again and his mouth curved into a tiny smile, "But I am pretty sure you made me feel better."
Something about that tiny smile made Lou fidget with her hands. She failed to keep her expression neutral and a grin spread on her lips. "Well, that was easier than I thought. I really expected more crying and rambling from you. Especially if you could see that mime from the window."
"I hope they have a very nice three days together because of Natasha's commitment issues," Ravi said casually. The dazed look in his eyes had subsided, but he was still smiling at Lou. He tucked his hands in his pockets. "We should find Emma and Xander. I am sure they are concerned about you missing out on the party because of my own pity party. Let's go find them, shall we?"
"Are you sure you're okay?" Lou asked genuinely. Her skin felt less hot and the flutter in her stomach had calmed. "We can stay and talk if you want."
He smiled. "Thank you, Lou. But honestly, I feel much better." His eyes flickered over her once more. He stammered, "But as we return to the party, perhaps we could discuss your thoughts on dating?"
He quickly exited the room and left Lou staring at the doorway.
She whispered to herself, "Did Ravi just ask me out?"
