Dinkytown
Dan showed up at the bookstore right before I was supposed to meet Lily. I looked around outside frantically. I was supposed to meet Lily there in a few minutes.
“Lily is coming here. You have to leave. Now! Aren’t you supposed to be at my parents’ party anyway?”
We’d counted on them all being occupied while we drank at Lucky’s tonight.
“This will only take a minute.” He said. He looked like he’d been crying. “Put your arm out?”
I did, wary. He clasped a bracelet on my arm. I recoiled at his touch and was mad at myself for thinking it was beautiful.
“It’s a goodbye present. You’re right. We could never be together. Society would never accept it.”
I stared at him. Society not accepting it had nothing to do with it.
He was gross and old and my fucking best friend’s dad. But I tried to force a smile.
The fact was I didn’t care what he thought as long as he left me the fuck alone. I’d smile and take his bracelet.
“This bracelet is a symbol of my promise to never make you feel uncomfortable around me again.”
I was starting to feel better but he kept talking and made it worse.
“And it’s a symbol of my never-ending love for you.”
He had to go and ruin it. My flesh crawled with revulsion. I wanted to run away. Just then over his shoulder I saw Lily across the street. She was looking both ways for an opening in traffic to cross.
“There’s Lily,” I shouted. “Go! Now. Out the back. Before she sees you.”
It seemed that the back door had only just closed when Lily came in the front door. I searched her face to see if she’d seen her dad but she gave me a bright smile.
“Hi! You ready to party?” But something about her words rang false. I was right. She was angry at me.
“Lily? Is something bothering you?” I asked.
She turned away so I couldn’t see her face as she answered. “Nope.”
“Are you sure?”
She shrugged. “What were you up to today?”
“Nothing.” I held my breath. Had she seen her dad in here or not?
She whirled toward me so suddenly I jumped. “That’s a really beautiful bracelet,” she said. “Where did you get it? Maybe I can get one too for our matching birthday jewelry. We have to do that this week. Before we leave for school.”
She was looking down at it smiling. I was glad for the distraction.
“Oh, it’s my mom’s. I’m just borrowing it. We’ll find something better for our presents I bet.”
“I don’t know. That’s really nice.”
I nodded. It was. It was obviously an antique and looked quite valuable. I was irritated she’d seen the bracelet before I had a chance to take it off and throw it in the trash. Now I was stuck wearing it all night or she’d get suspicious.
“I was looking at these really beautiful jade chandelier earrings,” I said. “I saw them on Kylie Jenner’s Instagram. They would look really great with your eyes.”
“Huh,” she said. She seemed distracted as she turned toward the door. “You ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
I locked up the bookstore and we headed toward the bar.