Chapter 2

"Oh my god. We are going to have such an awesome time, Simon." Gina was apparently as glad to see me as I was to see her. "This week is going to kick ASS! There's this great party Saturday night at this girl Chelsea's house. Oh, and you're coming with me on a double date tomorrow night. I have that day off of school, but not next week. It totally su—"

Gina was talking so fast that it took me this long before I could interrupt her. "Did you say date?" I asked accusingly.

"Yes," Gina replied innocently, "But don't worry. I'll be there the whole time…unless the date gets really hot, if you know what I mean."

"No way. No frikkin' way."

"Oh my god, Simon. Just chill. I know you have guy issues, but can you just get over them for one night? That's all I ask."

"I do not have 'guy issues.'" I glared at Gina. "I have a boyfriend."

"Seriously?" Gina stared at me disbelievingly. This was a little insulting, but then, back when I lived in New York, I had never even been asked out, let alone had a boyfriend.

"Yes, seriously. Which is why there is no way in hell that you are getting me to go on a date with you tomorrow night."

"Come on," Gina said enticingly. "What your man doesn't know won't hurt him."

I seriously doubted that I would be able to keep this from Jesse. He had an uncanny knack for finding out things that I didn't want him to know, and the last time I lied to him, he ended up putting someone else in the hospital. But despite all this, Gina still wanted me to accompany her, which is why I ended up standing with her inside of a fancy Italian restaurant, looking for our dates, on my first Friday back in NYC since I moved. In my own defense, I would like to point out that some serious blackmail had been threatened.

"There they are," Gina said, leading me over to a pair of boys who were lolling around uncomfortably. "Guys, this is my friend Susannah Simon. Suze, this is my date, Joey, and his friend…"

"Damien. Pleased to meet you." Damien had glaring orange hair, a wide smile, and a stud towards the top of one of his ears. Jeez. The last guy I knew who had an ear pierced was my seventh grade math teacher.

Damien led me over to our table (it was actually two tables pushed together) and held out my chair for me as I sat down. He was obviously trying to play the romantic, chivalrous type. I sniffed. As if anyone could be more romantic and chivalrous than Jesse. I mean, Jesse was practically born before rudeness was invented, and he was definitely the most romantic guy I had ever met. Who else would brave my mom, dad, stepdad, stepbrothers, the principal of my school, and Max, the family dog, just so that he could be with me? Damien had it easy. Damien had it waay easy. All Damien had to do was find me at the restaurant. The only person in my life who he had to meet was Gina, and most guys would consider meeting her a privilege. Joey sure did.

Damien and Joey had brought us to this fancy little Italian place with dim lighting and a space for dancing to the slow, quiet piano instrumental being played by a man in a tux. I looked around and saw that there were no tables set for more than two; this was clearly a restaurant meant for couples.

"Man, am I starving," Joey complained, as he plopped into his chair unceremoniously.

"Me too," responded my date. "I could eat anything." As if to illustrate this point, Damien plucked the single rose from the narrow vase in the center of our tables, stuffed half of the stem into his mouth, and pretended to eat it. Then suddenly he stopped, looked up at me, and with the rose clenched in his teeth, asked "Care to dance?"

I was fully prepared to refuse this offer when I felt a sharp pain in my shin. I glanced up to see Gina staring at me, giving me obnoxious signals with her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes at her, but she made a threatening little jerk with her head, as if to say "I am so going to kill you if you ruin this date for me, Simon."

I gave up this incredibly confusing argument (I think I was losing), looked at Damien, and said "Okay." At least dancing with him would put Gina out of earshot, so I could warn him that if he tried anything with me, I was fully prepared to feed him the old knuckle sandwich.

Damien led me out onto the dance floor and slipped his hands around my hips, a little hesitantly, as if he wasn't completely comfortable with the situation. His touch felt strange; Jesse always held the narrowest portion of my waist when we danced. I set my arms on Damien's shoulders and opened my mouth to tell him that this relationship was definitely not going to work out. But Damien beat me to it.

"Susannah," he said, only his voice didn't sound angry, the way my mom's does when she uses my full name, or affectionate, the way Jesse's does, or even patronizing, like Father Dom. Damien just sounded as though he didn't really know me well enough to use my nickname comfortably. Come to think of it, he didn't sound very comfortable with Susannah either. I guess it was kind of an awkward situation.

"You seem like a really nice girl," he began. God. Was he breaking up with me, before we'd even gone out? "And I like you. But I don't want to lead you on." He was breaking up with me. "You see, this relationship…" What relationship? "It can't really go anywhere." No shit, Sherlock. We live on opposite sides of the country. Oh, and did I mention that I have a boyfriend?

"Um, what exactly are you getting at here?" Okay, I admit it. I was kind of ticked off. I mean, no girl likes to be dumped, especially when she was just about to dump the guy first. Not that Damien and I were actually a couple or anything. But Jesus, did I make that bad of a first impression?

"Well," Damien said, "It's just that… I'm gay."

I was totally not expecting this. I thought he was going to say something like "I'm still holding out for Halle Berry" or "my last girlfriend turned out to be an axe murderer, and I still haven't gotten over my trust issues."

"Then, what are you doing going out with girls?" I said hotly. I was still feeling a bit defensive. I mean, he could have just made this up so he wouldn't hurt my feelings or something.

"Not girls." Damien insisted. "Not plural. But Joey sprung this on me at the last minute, and he wouldn't let me out of it. I'm sorry." There was this look in his eyes, like he was trying to play "cute and innocent" and was testing to see if I would fall for it. I almost laughed. He looked just like David when Mom catches him tossing dirty laundry onto the floor of his bedroom.

"It's okay," I replied, smiling. "I have a boyfriend anyway."

"Then what are you doing going out with guys?" Damien asked, obviously amused.

"Believe me, I was totally not looking forward to this." I didn't like what he was insinuating. "I mean, I get back to New York for the first time in over a year, and here's Gina telling me that I've gotta go on some crappy-ass date with her even though Jesse is so not going to be happy, and I totally wouldn't have gone only Gina made me and—"

"Whoa. Slow down there, girl. Who is Jesse?"

"Jesse DeSilva. My boyfriend. Back in California." Okay, so maybe it wasn't that great of an idea to mention my significant other when I was on a date with someone else, but the guy did say that he was gay.

Damien nodded, shook his head, then nodded again, looking pained. He appeared to be trying to digest all of the information which I had inadvertently spewed at him. I guess it was too much, since he suddenly said "I have to go to the bathroom," and walked away rather rapidly.

It was as he was walking away that I noticed the man hovering over by the hostess.

I groaned inwardly. Just what I need to make this date even more of a disaster than it already was.

I had started slowly towards the man, who was clearly dead, when I saw Damien hurry by. As he passed the man, Damien grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt and dragged him to the privacy of the restroom.