57. The Rest of Us

Oh man.

Or maybe I should say Oh Dan.

The guy driving the car used to be Dan the guy from high school. But a cologne-drenched, gel-spiked, brand-name-wearing Casanova has taken possession of Dan. This guy is a breath away from ridiculous.

“Hey, man, I got a great album to get the ladies in the mood.”

The hip-hop song begins playing, and I realize Dan has already entered the land of the loony. I think this is 50 Cent’s most popular song, but it makes me want to cringe and duck below the dashboard. Not because of the song itself, but because two skinny white guys in North Carolina are riding with this tune cranking about makin’ love and drinking Bacardi and a whole lot of other stuff I can’t even understand.

There are clichés, and then there’s … this.

“Want some?” Dan hands me a black flask. “My father gave it to me.” He curses before I can ask if he’s serious. “I put some of his gin in there. Try it.”

“I’m good.”

“Come on. Drink up while you can. I know the girls sure won’t be drinking. Especially Kelsey.”

I shake my head, and he takes the flask and sips it again.

I’m wondering how in the world I got to be sitting here in this bad episode of the Real World: Solitary next to Dan the Man. If this is any indication of how the night is going to go …

Needless to say, this won’t be one of those beautiful and blessed doors Iris was talking about.

When the door of Georgia’s house opens—well, I might have to take back my thoughts.

Beautiful and blessed are two words that come to mind.

Also bewilderment.

Where did Kelsey go, and who is this girl standing next to Georgia?

It’s not like she did some dramatic Disney movie moment where the Ugly Duckling suddenly becomes Jennifer Lopez. No, Kelsey’s already cute. A young-looking, sweet, innocent cute, the very definition of cute. But standing there, Kelsey’s graduated to something beyond that word.

Georgia says hi and acts more excited to see me than to see the dude I’m with. Kelsey still has her glasses on and still stifles a view of her braces with a tight-lipped grin, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t look—

Older.

I’m wondering if Georgia gave her a makeover. She’s wearing stylish jeans and a nice long-sleeved T-shirt. I’m not sure what else she’s done. Makeup, maybe, or the way her hair is a little more stylized and wilder or something.

We make small talk and meet Georgia’s parents, who also seem a lot more interested in me than in Dan. I’m wondering if I’m some special boy who’s been granted a nice evening out because he’s so … special.

We get outside, and Georgia says she’s going to drive.

“I’m not going to leave my car here,” Dan says. His black Altima looks close to new.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about leaving it here,” Georgia says. “You can follow us.”

“Isn’t this a double date?”

Georgia smiles. “It’s whatever you want to call it.”

Then they get into her Toyota and don’t seem to worry about waiting for us. Dan and I climb back into his car and race to follow them to wherever they’re going.

Chili’s has never taken on such importance, such surreality. I’m not sure if surreality is even a word, but if not I’m making it up. Because I don’t quite feel like I’m here eating chips and salsa and wondering how in the world I got to be sitting at this table.

I mean, not long ago I was at a table with Jocelyn and Rachel and Poe.

Remember them?

Jocelyn is gone. Really gone.

Rachel moved away. For reasons I don’t know.

And Poe might as well have moved away.

Now I’m sitting at a table full of strangers and glancing at Kelsey as Dan and Georgia exchange dialogue that seems a little more on the hurtful side than playful.

“I never did ‘go out’ with Brady,” Georgia says.

I still can’t decide if Georgia is full of herself or not.

“You so went out with Brady, at least for a couple of weeks. He sure talked it up anyway.”

Dan, on the other hand, is totally full of himself. Full of that and a lot of other … stuff.

“What’s your definition of ‘going out’?”

Dan makes a face like he’s going to say something crude when I decide to change the subject.

“How long have you guys known each other?” I ask Kelsey and Georgia.

They both laugh, and I’m wondering how that can possibly be a funny question.

“Sorry,” Kelsey says. “Georgia and I used to not hang around with each other. It was really only at the end of sophomore year we became friends.”

“She thought I was a bit of a snot, and I can be, to be honest.” Georgia looks at Dan. “I have to be. At our school, the guys sometimes don’t get the point.”

“Are you going to be this way all night?”

“If I have to, yes.”

“We started hanging around after a party,” Kelsey continued. “Turns out we have more in common than we thought.”

“Just like Dan and me,” I say.

The girls laugh, and Dan looks at all of us, wondering what I said.

He’s already acting a bit more animated and out of it. I’m thinking that flask isn’t helping.

Maybe I can get a ride home with the ladies.

“So why’d you move down here?” Georgia asks.

I go into the story about my parents’ divorce, but I make it short and sweet. I don’t get into details about my dad finding God and my mom finding wine.

“But why Solitary?”

I can see Georgia’s point.

“We wanted to escape from civilization. It was this or somewhere in Alaska.”

They laugh again, and the more the girls laugh, the more comfortable I feel.

“I’d totally live in Alaska,” Dan says. “Hunt wild animals and live off the land.”

Georgia and Kelsey seem to be laughing with me and laughing at Dan.

“What?” Dan says. “I totally would.”

“Have you ever gone hunting in your life?”

“I’ve shot guns.”

“Yeah, I can totally see you gutting a deer,” Georgia says.

After a while of this, when we’re eating our meals, Dan seems to be bored with being abused by Georgia. He’s busy playing with his phone and texting or something. Georgia is picking at her salad, while Kelsey doesn’t seem too interested in her meal either.

“Not a fan of tacos?” I ask her.

“No—they’re fine.”

“You’re going to have a lot to bring home.”

She smiles in a way that I love. It’s a shy smile, a kind of unsure smile that’s nice to see when so many people in this world seem so sure of themselves. It’s a smile that I can’t remember seeing on many of the cute girls back home.

“Tweeting about what you’re eating tonight?” Georgia asks Dan.

“Telling everybody how my date with Georgia is going.”

“Dream on.”

“The night is young. Lots can happen.”

“If you noticed, we did drive separately. Chris, you’re certainly welcome to come with us to the party later.”

“Come on, that’s not even fair,” Dan says.

“Then mind your manners.”

“What do you think I’m—”

“That includes shutting that big flabby mouth of yours.”

Kelsey looks at me. Before I can get her to say something, she takes a bite to make sure she’s safe from sharing her thoughts.

Dan is the kind of guy who doesn’t talk with you but talks at you. I’m still not sure if he’s heard any of the things I’ve said to him, so I’ve basically stopped talking. But when we arrive at the party, I’m able to get away from my chauffeur and hopefully not see him anymore tonight.

I could say the same about Georgia, to be honest. I’m not really warming up to her either.

Kelsey, however—well, she’s a whole other matter.

The party is at the house of some senior. Lots of kids jammed into a small space with dim lights and loud music and lots of alcohol. Kelsey looks more lost than I probably do. After a half hour of wading through people and trying to talk to no avail, she suggests going outside.

It’s cold but not frigid. Winter’s gone, and the promise of spring is near. We walk past newcomers and get to the street.

“Do you mind?”

“What?” I ask.

“Just—staying out here? Getting away?”

“No.”

Kelsey walks in the center of the street, confident that nobody’s coming and if they do we can move to the side. For a while I just walk alongside her.

“Thanks for doing this,” she says.

“What?”

“Tonight.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Dan’s a real winner.”

“We’re bonded for life. I think I’ve heard more 50 Cent tonight than I’ve heard my entire life.”

“Sorry.”

“Please. It’s no big deal. It’s kinda humorous.”

“Do you like parties?”

“Do you?” I ask.

“No.”

“So why go?”

“That was Georgia’s idea. All of this—it was really her idea.”

“Yeah, I can tell she’s really crazy about him.”

“They’ve been that way forever. I could see her marrying him. Like after she has all these relationships with all these other guys, I can see her finally settling down for someone who’s crazy for her.”

“Seriously?”

Kelsey nods. “I’ve told her that, but she thinks I’m delirious. I don’t know. I just think it’s nice to know that someone out there likes you.”

There’s a long pause as we walk.

“Do you—do you miss her?”

The question slaps me on the back of the head. For a second I really question if it’s Kelsey who asked it. I don’t need to ask her who she’s talking about.

“Yeah.”

We keep walking. I know I probably should say something else, or just say something about anything, but I can’t.

She has no idea about the truth. She can’t. There’s no way she can know.

We get to a turn in the road, and Kelsey stops. I can’t see her eyes in the darkness.

“Do you think we’re all the same around here?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“That we’re all just a bunch of rednecks who don’t know anything.”

“Who said that?”

“I heard you say something like that to Gus.”

“When? Recently?”

“It was after a fight in the hallway. Just after you came.”

“You noticed me?”

Kelsey laughs. “All the girls noticed you. Who wouldn’t? The fact that you weren’t from around here just made you more interesting. Chicago, too. That was all everybody could talk about. The girls, that is. And then—then suddenly you were with her. Jocelyn. Of course nobody was surprised.”

I knew that people noticed us together, but I’d always assumed it was because Jocelyn was special, because she was chosen for something awful.

I never thought it had anything to do with me.

“The stuff I said to Gus—that was because he’s a moron. I don’t think that about the rest of the school.”

“You sure?”

“Are you even trying to put yourself in his class?” I laugh. “Please.”

“I know. But—but Jocelyn wasn’t like the rest of us.”

“Hey, Kelsey, look—just—she’s not here, okay? So you don’t have to bring her up.”

“She’s kind of here. The same way she’s kind of in our art class. Or anywhere you go.”

I feel the goose bumps on my skin and know that this girl is right. Kelsey might look younger than she is, but she knows. She knows, and she’s right.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s okay, really,” she says. “I understand.”

We keep walking and see the lit-up house and hear the loud music. I know that this is one of those moments, and this time I act.

“Hey, hold on,” I tell her.

She pauses, and this time when I look down I can see her face and her glasses lit up by the moonlight. But mostly I just see those bold eyes looking back at me.

“Look, Kelsey—I just—there’s things that I can’t change. Like my being from Chicago. Good or bad. Or like—well, like anything. It’s just—I don’t know how to say this—but there’s a lot—”

Then a car comes toward us like a possessed horse galloping through the night. We move off the street, and the car screeches to a halt just beyond us.

The driver’s window opens, and I hear a familiar voice.

“Chris? Is that you?”

The voice belongs to Poe.