There was a knock on the door, and Anna glared at Terri, who was still in her pyjamas, dozing in bed. "I'll get it then!" She snapped, got up from the desk and opened the door.
Terri frowned. Anna had been impossible to live with recently. As a person who was always impossible to live with, it was a shock that after all this time Anna was becoming one too. Her moods swung viciously, sometimes she was in a great mood, and she and Terri would curl up on Terri's bed, watch dumb films, throw popcorn at the screen and hurl abuse at the contrived plots about "ugly" girls (girls in glasses and brown dungarees) getting makeovers (taking off the glasses, using a little mascara and lip gloss and changing into skimpy dresses) and winning the stud of the school, who secretly had a heart of gold underneath his Mr Popular exterior.
And sometimes Anna was unreasonably snappish. Like this morning.
Of course, Anna was probably still sore about the fight they'd had last night when Terri had wandered in wearing Fulton's jacket. Anna had sneered something about Terri turning into a simpering airhead over some stupid jock, and Terri had rallied to Fulton's defence, twisting reality into romance, turning their strange meeting that laid out the rules of their "relationship" into a rather romantic scene, where Fulton had asked her out in the prettiest part of the school. Anna had hit the roof when she found out that Terri had taken Fulton to the Ornamental Garden, but refused to expand on why this was such a bad thing.
Impossible.
"Oh. Well, you get points for not being the boyfriend." Anna said in an almost pleasant tone, then went back to her desk, where she started gathering up books. "However, I'm going to the library. I need peace and quiet to study. See you later."
She ducked past Linda Chavez and disappeared into the hallway. Terri indicated that Linda should come in and shut the door. "Have a seat, Linda." She sat up and pulled her legs up to her chest. Linda took a seat on the end of Terri's bed.
Linda glanced at her watch. "You do realise it's almost midday?"
"Yep." Terri nodded cheerfully. "But I didn't have plans today, so I didn't see the point in getting dressed."
"Fair enough."
"So, have you come over to make more evil plans to boycott the Homecoming dance? Because if you have, then I have a couple of ideas."
"Actually," Linda looked worried. "I came to ask about last night." She paused again. "It was weird, wasn't it?"
Terri thought about how best to answer the question. Tact wasn't her strong point. And neither was lying – romantic charade aside, and that was more like acting or embellishing than lying. "Yeah." She said finally coming up with a response. "It was weird. And I think it was because we were there." She decided not to go with lying. Embellishing was something she was good at, as well as creatively telling the truth. Outright lies were definitely Shona's forte. "I mean, you saw how that Portman guy got everyone to apologise to each other. I think that's where the weirdness came from. Apologising in front of a girl you're trying to impress must be pretty hard, so after that he was probably going double-time at treating you nicely – taking his cues from Fulton. I think Fulton told me you're Charlie's first girlfriend. He was probably nervous as hell."
"You really think that?" Linda looked relieved.
"Sure." Terri replied. One-word outright lies weren't as bad as the lies Shona told, she told herself. She wasn't a bad person, she was just protecting her friend.
"Oh good, I was worried I was some sort of challenge."
"No, I don't think that's the case."
Linda smiled and the frown lines fell away from her face.
"So, Charlie asked you to Homecoming, that's a good sign. You've got your alibi. Now, I've got some ideas about that, like I said. You're known as quite the little activist around here, I didn't place you right away, but you were the one who got me to sign the petition about changing the name of the Warriors, aren't you?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Well, I also remember that the Dean's head spun round when you submitted it. Then you followed up with a couple of editorials in the school newspaper. That's when the Dean started plotting your death." Terri continued. "Am I right?"
Linda nodded again.
"Well, you're going to need a back-up plan in case they find out that you're planning something. And I have had a brilliant flash of insight."
"Which is?"
Terri leant forward. "You're going to love this."
Charlie hadn't been kidding when he said he wanted to go into town with Fulton and choose the corsages for the girls. He turned up at Fulton's door at midday, knowing enough to let Fulton sleep until then. But now he was absolutely set on dragging Fulton into town. Fulton dressed hurriedly, then realised that he was minus a jacket. "We're going to have to swing by Terri's dorm." He said. "I'm not going outside without my jacket."
Charlie looked thoughtful. "Should I say hi to Linda while we're headed in that direction?" He wasn't sure whether he should or not, but he was trying to copy how Fulton acted with Terri. The rules of dating were new and complex to him. He didn't want to hurt Linda's feelings by seeming disinterested, neither did he want to overdo it.
Fulton gave him a bland smile. "I think probably not. I think you might have made her a little nervous last night."
"Yeah," Charlie smiled sheepishly. "I think I probably did." He had been so busy trying to keep up with what Fulton was doing, he wasn't really paying attention to what it was he was copying. He had felt so foolish when Linda had pointed out that she had her own jacket. Fulton had a girlfriend now, and they looked good together. Charlie just felt like he should have one too.
Especially since Bombay's visit. Before he left, he had said, "Call me, if you need a friend, if you need anything. Call me." It was like he had noticed that there was something more than hockey and Hans bothering Charlie. It made him nervous. If Bombay could see it, Bombay who was away so often and for so long, then maybe it wouldn't be long before everyone else started noticing too. A girlfriend would fix those problems, he was hoping that Linda could make him forget the Kiss, and if not, at least people would blame his distraction on healthy normal hormones instead of slightly wrong hormones.
They made their way over to the girls' block. As always, Ms Harper, the dorm supervisor was thoroughly engrossed in her book and cheerfully oblivious as they snuck past her and up to Terri's floor. Fulton knocked, and heard an, "It's open," in return. He and Charlie entered the room, and shut the door quickly.
Inside, they found Terri and Linda sat on Terri's bed, eagerly looking over a laptop. Interestingly enough, Terri was still in her pyjamas, complete with fluffy bunny slippers.
"Nice outfit, Terri." Fulton commented. He bent over and kissed her on the top of the head, then retrieved his jacket from the floor next to her bed.
She grinned at him. "We didn't make plans, jammies make good weekend attire. What are you doing here?"
"Jacket." He said sternly. "What did I tell you about not stealing it?"
While Fulton and Terri exchanged a few good-natured insults about the give and take in a relationship, Charlie turned his attention to Linda. "Hey," he said a little shyly.
"Hey, yourself." She smiled back. It felt good to be smiled at, but not good enough to cancel out that little tug on his heart every time Fulton smiled at Terri or said something nice to her.
"Sorry I was little weird last night. I was really zoned from the game, then I tried to over-compensate. I'm not usually that odd."
"I know. I've talked to you before and you weren't crazy then." Linda said.
"So," he shuffled awkwardly. "Fulton and I are going into town to buy corsages, I'd hate to make a wasted trip, so will you still go to Homecoming with me?"
"I said I would." She smiled. "Besides, I need an alibi. Dating a jock will only help. By the way, Terri and I will be drafting you two for part of our plan."
"It's The Great Plan." Terri interjected. Charlie could hear capital letters in her voice.
"The Great Plan, then." Linda agreed. "You guys are drafted. So go, buy us flowers."
"Fulton…." Terri said.
"I know. I haven't forgotten." He dropped another kiss on her forehead, and he and Charlie left the room. Charlie's heart may well have been left behind. He wasn't sure what it was, the kiss or the fact that Terri had only said Fulton's name, but Fulton had understood the full meaning. It wasn't fair. He wanted their friendship to get back to the level where he could say one word and have Fulton understood.
Or maybe he wanted another Kiss.
It could go either way.
Terri and Linda were still scheming when Anna returned from the library. "You!" Terri shouted excitedly. "You're perfect!"
Anna frowned. "Is that my laptop?"
"Have you heard about this stupid Homecoming dance?" Adam asked, from his place in Portman's arms.
"Yeah, I think the troubled quartet mentioned it last night."
"Troubled?" Adam asked. He hadn't paid much attention to anyone last night. His mind had been taken up entirely with trying to understand that Portman was no longer in Chicago and, what was more, he was going to be living in Adam's room for the rest of the school year.
"You didn't notice?"
"Nope." Adam dozily plucked at one of the hairs on Portman's arms eliciting a surprised yelp from his boyfriend.
"Stop that." Portman swatted Adam's hands away. "And yes, troubled. Weren't you paying attention?"
"Nope." Adam repeated. "I have very little interest in Charlie's little hissy fits. I'm usually on the receiving end and nobody but you has bothered to step in and back me up so far, so I'm not getting involved."
"So, when Charlie said he was sorry and…."
"I told him to forget it, because I meant it. He should forget it. I'm going to try to."
"But you didn't forgive him?"
"Nope."
"Would you stop saying that?"
Adam briefly wondered whether a final nope would get a laugh or cause an argument. He suspected the latter. "Why should I, Portman?" He asked. "Honestly, why? Because he feels bad? If that's the reason, then no way, Charlie doesn't feel bad about it. Charlie's preoccupied with something else at the moment, he hasn't even realised…." Adam tailed off, surprised to find himself close to tears.
"He hasn't even noticed how much he hurt you?" Portman said gently.
"They were my friends, and they turned their backs on me because I had the misfortune to be good at something." Adam said. "I had two groups of people against me and no-one for me. I don't think I can just hear two un-felt words and let go of that. Maybe you can, but you're a better person than me. I'm not that nice."
"What's the point of holding on to such a bad feeling?"
Adam sighed. "You know I don't have an answer to that. It's not like I want to feel this way, but I can't just let go of it either."
"It's ok, it doesn't make you a bad person." Portman linked his fingers with Adam's.
"Yeah, it does. I know it does."
"No it doesn't. I'm just a lot less involved than most in what went on here. So tell me about this stupid dance."
"Mandatory attendance. I want to boycott." Adam said.
"So boycott, we'll stay here, being rebellious."
"We can't, they do random dorm checks to make sure nobody has stayed behind and is having their own parties. However, I am not going with a girl. That much I am boycotting."
"Are you asking, in your usual meandering way, if I want to be a dateless loser with you at this stupid dance?"
"Yes." Adam replied.
"Ok, you're on, loser."
Terri looked up from her sketchbook at Anna's third huff of annoyance in as many minutes. "Are you ok?" She asked.
Anna pushed her hair out of her face and sighed when it fell back the minute she moved her hands. Terri put down her sketchbook and picked up a scrunchie from her bedside table and moved over to Anna.
"Seriously, what's up?" Terri said.
"Nothing, I'm just busy."
Anna's tone was curt, and made Terri wince. She didn't know what had brought this on. She had assumed that Anna was a little cross about her use of the laptop (there had been strict instructions that Terri could only use it while Anna was in the room), and Linda's invasion of their room (Anna didn't like people in her space, she preferred Terri to go out and invade other spaces with her friends), but Anna had made little comment about either.
"You say that, but you don't tell me what you're doing." Terri moved to stroke Anna's hair into a pony tail, but as soon as she touched Anna's hair, Anna jumped several feet in the air.
"I'll do it, Terri." Anna snapped, grabbing the scrunchie from Terri's wrist.
"Fine." Terri was deflated, she moved back to her bed and picked up the sketchbook again. On reflection, her depiction of Buffy was all wrong, her nose was too wide, her eyes a little skewed, her hair was fundamentally wrong in some way that she couldn't place. She shut the book with a snap and flung it on the floor in frustration.
Anna glanced at the shiny cover of the sketchbook and sighed.
"What?" Terri demanded. "What was that long-suffering sigh about?"
"Either I'll pick it up or you won't, and if I don't and you won't, you'll probably fall over it and damage yourself. Then you'll be out of classes, resting your hip, and I'll have to take notes for you and contact all your stupid friends in the classes that I don't take for their notes, and it just takes up so much time when I'm busy!"
"Well, don't go out of your way for me, Angela." Terri snapped back, not really sure why she was using Anna's full name. "And what are you so busy on anyway? Your French project? You could do that standing on your head. And it's not your new horse, because otherwise you'd be out sharing your bad mood with the poor equestrian bods, instead of me."
"Well, forgive me, it's just a little hard to be sunshine and roses when your roommate is a complete mess and brings her silly friends and boyfriends into our room. I live here too, you know, and I'm sick of the influx of people. I can't concentrate."
"Concentrate on what?"
"Oh, you wouldn't be interested." Anna replied quietly.
"I get it, don't tell Terri, she's too stupid. She won't understand." Terri snapped.
"No, don't tell Terri because she doesn't listen. She's too preoccupied with her new boyfriend who's become her new best friend." Anna's face caved when she realised what she had said, then smoothed to an impenetrable mask.
"Anna, it's not like that." Terri said, wounded. How on earth could she respond to that without explaining to Anna that the whole reason she was hanging around with a new crowd was to prove that she wasn't in love with Anna. "It's just that Fulton's best friend is Charlie, and Charlie's taking Linda to the dance, and with Fulton taking me… well, it's a good thing that I get on with Linda. It would be awkward if we double-dated and Linda and I had to make polite small talk the whole time."
Anna took a deep breath. "Forget it, Terri. It doesn't matter. I just don't want your stupid friends coming into my room."
"It's my room too!" Terri yelled. "And Linda's not stupid – none of my friends are. Just because we weren't all brought up surrounded by the amount of poncey bloody antiques and first edition leather-bound books that you and Shona were, doesn't mean that we were dragged up by apes!"
"I didn't say that!"
"Yes, you did. You keep saying that my friends are stupid, and I hate it. In case you hadn't noticed, you're my friend too. So, does this mean you think of yourself as stupid, or do you just not think of yourself as my friend?"
Anna made no answer. After a few long and painful seconds, she gathered her books together. "I'm going to the library, some of us actually care about studying, not just fooling around with the boys here."
The door slammed behind her.
"Guess you don't think you're stupid then." Terri said softly.
After forty minutes and three sets of very bad directions, Fulton and Charlie managed to find a florist that actually still stocked corsages and boutonnieres two weeks before the dance. It was pointless for Fulton, since he wasn't going to be buying a wrist corsage for Terri. He'd already seen what he was going to get her. While Charlie had been talking to Linda, Terri had given him some money and begged him to buy a boutonniere for himself. She was thoroughly involved in the planning stage of the boycott, and if she was caught she would probably be grounded and unable to get into town to order it for him. If nothing else, he and Terri were a pragmatic couple.
"What do you think Linda will like?" Charlie asked, looking thoroughly baffled by the vast array of flowers surrounding him.
"I have no idea." Fulton replied flatly. While not as bad as double-dating, helping Charlie pick out a corsage for his date with Linda was not his idea of heaven.
"Well, what are you buying Terri?"
"I'm not."
Charlie's eyes bugged and the woman behind the counter couldn't conceal her gasp of surprise. She hurriedly grabbed a book from beneath the counter, "Now I know it's a little late and your selection may be somewhat limited, but I'm sure you'll find something perfect for your date." She shoved the book under his nose, and her eyes begged him to make a purchase.
Fulton slid the book over to Charlie. "I think maybe white might be an idea, that way it will go with everything. And Terri doesn't like cut flowers. She likes potted plants."
The woman mumbled something about how it wasn't appropriate to give a girl a potted plant for an upcoming dance, and how a girl's outfit wouldn't be complete without a corsage. Fulton shrugged it off, he knew Terri, and she couldn't care less whether she might be incomplete without a dying flower attached to her wrist.
Leaning against the counter, while Charlie poured over the book, taking the woman's words as gospel, something caught Fulton's eye. "Maybe I will buy something. How much are those?" He pointed and the woman followed his gaze.
She gave him a doubtful look. "The silk roses? Those are mainly for decoration, we sell them mostly to the art and drama students."
"Terri is an art student, can I buy one?" Fulton was not budging on this. He was not buying some dumb corsage that would be dead by the next morning. However, Terri would like the silk rose. Everyone should be happy with that.
Finally he and Charlie left the shop, any further protests about the appropriateness of buying a girl a silk rose for a dance were cut off when Charlie's hay fever began to act up, something that Fulton would be eternally grateful. This was not his idea of fun. Fun would be slicing off his own fingers if the comparison was watching Charlie pour over a book and having to listen to comments such as, "She's got beautiful brown hair and pale skin, what do you think would suit her best?" which would be followed by, "Then again, anything will pale against her. She's so pretty." It made Fulton want to hurl.
But it wasn't as bad as it could be. If Linda were here, then things would really be bad. He would have to watch as Charlie fawned all over Linda, safe in the knowledge that he was a perfectly normal boy with his perfectly normal girlfriend, and cheerfully unaware that his perfectly abnormal best friend was faking a relationship with an equally abnormal girl in the vague hope of trying to get past all of these abnormal feelings.
If Terri wasn't on his side he didn't know what he would have done. Which is why he dragged Charlie over to the other side of the mall to the jewellers. He had seen the necklace in the window when he and Charlie had been playing hooky, he didn't know why it had caught his eye, but it had. It was a simple silver necklace, with a small flower shape made out of stones, lilac in the centre, clear on the outside. The stones were fake, but sparkly. He knew Terri wouldn't care whether they were real or not. Besides, their relationship was a fake, but that still seemed to fool the casual observer.
He pointed it out to Charlie, part of him smugly thinking, take that, Conway! My relationship is better than yours, and it's not even real. If Charlie had decided to live a happy normal life, that was something Fulton was going to have to get used to, but it didn't mean he was going to pull his punches. Charlie seemed out of his depth with dating, and this was another way to unnerve him. Maybe if Fulton kept this up, Charlie would be so thrown that he'd blow it with Linda. Which may lead him to reconsidering whether or not that Kiss meant nothing.
Hopefully.
"Do guys have to buy girls jewellery for dances?" Charlie asked; he had a strange look in his eyes.
"No," Fulton replied, pulling out his wallet. "I'm just getting it for her."
"Is it an anniversary?"
"No, I just think she'll like it."
Fulton paid and they left the shop together. They walked in silence for awhile, as they approached the bus stop to go back to school, Charlie suddenly grabbed his arm. "Fulton," his voice was tight and his eyes hard. "Do you love her?"
Fulton thought about the question. He suddenly realised that his brilliant plan may have backfired, because he suddenly understood the look in Charlie's eyes when he had been asking why Fulton was buying Terri the necklace. It had been hope. Hope that Fulton was somehow obligated to buy Terri something pretty, that he hadn't wanted to, and that he wanted to maybe have a talk with Charlie that didn't involve their girlfriends. They were nowhere near friends at the moment, it was simply that they had girlfriends now, and felt it safe to interact without the other one misunderstanding – or worse, as Fulton was beginning to realise, understanding – the other's intentions.
But the truth was, he did love Terri. He just wasn't in love with her, and he certainly didn't want to do any of those things that the whole school thought they were already doing (as she had so rightly understood from the start). To say that he didn't would be an insult to her, even if she never heard about it. She was the only person he whole-heartedly trusted at the moment and he did need her in his life.
"Hey man!" Averman suddenly leapt on Charlie's back. "Corsage hunting, too?" Luis appeared at a more sedate pace behind him.
Fulton expected Charlie to drop the subject, but Charlie ignored Averman dangling on his back, and continued to hold on to Fulton's arm with an almost painful intensity. "Do you?"
Anything Fulton might have wanted to say, anything he could have clarified, was not fit for the ears of Luis and Averman. Fulton's feelings were private. Had Luis and Averman not shown up, maybe he might have found the courage to explain that yes, he did love Terri, but not that way. Instead, he simply answered, "Yes, I do."
Charlie let go of his arm abruptly, and shook off Averman, depositing him neatly on his butt on the sidewalk, before walking away quickly.
"What was that about?" Averman asked, as Luis helped him to his feet.
Fulton shook his head. "It's this dance, it's making people crazy."
"Tell me about it." Averman agreed. "I've had to kill three people, just to ensure my date is not allergic to her corsage. Of course, Mr Romance over there has known about this dance for ages and is all set." Averman nodded in Luis' direction.
"Girls like flowers."
"Terri doesn't." Fulton replied automatically. It was so easy to slip into Boyfriend Mode now that he barely even noticed. "So, who's your date?" He asked Averman.
"Chloe from drama. She's also a cheerleader, Luis set me up with her. I'm terrified. She's pretty and she knows it."
"There's nothing wrong with a confident girl." Luis said.
"Yeah, but you know what I mean."
Fulton followed Luis and Averman to the bus stop, listening (but not really) to them bicker over the merits of taking Chloe to Homecoming. He just wanted to get back to the dorms and turn his brain off for awhile.
Adam finally moved from his place in Portman's arms to answer a buzzing from his phone. He was grateful for the distraction, because it seemed that Portman was thinking deeply about what he was going to say next. Something that filled Adam with alarm. Portman could talk cheerfully about nothing for hours, but after periods of protracted silence, there was usually a deep revelation to follow. As they had already covered the whole reason why Portman didn't come to Eden Hall immediately, that wasn't going to be this revelation. Portman seemed very intent on letting Adam know that his delay in coming to school was no reflection on their relationship. Which made Adam believe that the L-word might be looming over them. And right now, he did not want to hear that word.
So he was glad to receive the text. It was a message from an unknown number.
"Phone bill came in. Chicago? 2 hrs? Emergency? Ur dead! Danny."
Fulton returned to the dorms to find a message in his pigeon hole to call his mother, which he did with great trepidation. It turned out that Charlie's mom had told her that Fulton had a girlfriend. She was now demanding to meet the girl in question the following weekend, before Homecoming. Try as he might, he couldn't seem to dissuade her from the idea.
Fulton hung up and sighed. It was one thing lying to an entire school.
It was entirely another to lie to his mother.
Author's Notes: It killed me to put "txt spk" in Danny's text message.