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THE REST OF THE WEEK went by in a sort of a blur. Between Elise’s sudden arrival and Jon, Sarah, and I getting arrested at the party, it had been hard to bounce back. I spent most of the weekend on the airfield, soaring over the coastline. It wasn’t as if I was ignoring Elise; I just didn’t want to deal with it. I figured I owed my Uncle a little privacy with his only daughter, and though he hadn’t said it out loud, his affection for her was pretty clear to the rest of the world.
Monday, I jogged to class late as usual and slid into my seat in advanced aerodynamics with minutes to spare. I ran into Jon on my way to technical writing, and he invited me over for beers later. I ended up staying with Jon in his tiny studio apartment for a couple of days. We dragged out the old Super Nintendo and played original smash bros. We never talked about it, but beer was the last thing on our mind. I think it would be a long time before we drank again.
It was a good chance to spend time with just a controller in my hand, and not have to worry about all the crap that men with girlfriends have to deal with: wondering if she was mad, pausing at crucial moments because she had something to say, or having to watch a sappy movie that would have me smothering a groan and rolling my eyes. No, we went to class filled in our shifts at work, and ate a lot of pizza. Sarah texted me constantly, and finally, on Thursday, I took her out for lunch. I suffered through sushi, because she liked it. After I dropped her off to class, I grabbed a burger. After pizza that week, I knew I’d have to get Uncle to hit the gym with me. But oh, that burger hit the spot.
My uncle left me messages frequently; more often than he had during my entire tenure in college and high school. They were getting a bit more desperate by the day:
Hi Mikey got your message about staying at Jon’s. Well, Elise and I went to the beach today. Missed you, there were some great waves. She wants to learn how to surf. Let me know when you’ll be around; we have some plans for this weekend if you’d like to join us.
By Wednesday, it was becoming more urgent, and I could tell because now he was making an awkward attempt at humor. Have you seen my asshole nephew Michael, who won’t answer the phone? Can you tell him his uncle and cousin would like to pleasure of his company, at home? Just whenever...
I tucked my phone away after seeing that message, but not before Jon looked over my shoulder.
“You really should call him,” Jon said on Friday morning, when we walked out the door for class. “Let him know you’re okay and whatnot.” He shrugged, and tossed his can of liquid breakfast in the trash dumpster by his parking spot.
“I know, it’s just ... man, is it too much to ask for him to balance his daughter and me? I feel like he doesn’t even care if I’m there or not.”
I could hear Jon unlocking the driver’s door of his jeep. “Seriously, bud? You’re jealous of her.”
I made a mock face of shock. “Me? No, never!”
“Come on!” Jon replied, leaning against his open door. “You’ve had your Uncle to yourself for all these years, and now you’re just upset he has something else to focus on.”
“Pfft.” I pursed my lips, but the look on his face told me he knew he’d hit a nerve.
“You need to get her away from the Uncle.” He slid into the seat and started the engine. It roared to life, and a chunk of black smoke plumed from behind it. He rolled down the passenger window and shouted over the engine, “I know, you should get her to go out on a date with me.”
I laughed and turned towards my own car. “Yeah, that’s possible.”
“I’m serious. You and Sarah, me and Eliza.”
“Elise.”
“Whatever. Set it up, dude, I swear I won’t be totally awkward.”
“You can do that?”
“Shut it.”
I laughed again and opened my car door. “Fine, I’ll see what I can do.” I slid in and started it, glad this conversation was over.
I pondered the idea on the way to class. It actually didn’t seem that bad. Maybe with Sarah around I could... but then again, maybe Elise would hate Jon. I shrugged, and told my reflection in the review mirror, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
She’ll fall madly in love with him, and you’ll be helpless to watch.
I pushed the thought away. What do I care? Sarah and I were fine, and maybe Elise and Jon would hit it off. Maybe it would be the desperate reason Uncle needed to get her to stay. I punched a few numbers into my speakerphone. I knew my uncle would pick up on the first ring.
“Well, if it isn’t the nephew that time forgot. Did you forget where you lived?” He tried to sound mad, I knew, but I could also hear his faint chuckle.
“Naw, just needed guy time for a bit, get my head on straight.”
“Well, that’s good,” he said. “You headed home after class today?”
“Yeah, probably.” I turned onto campus, grateful it was so close to Jon’s, and nothing like the thirty-minute drive in traffic from home. “Hey, can I talk to Elise real quick?”
Silence. “Sure,” he said finally, and I exhaled. Had I been holding my breath?
“Hello?” her breath was like a bit of fresh air, so sweet and innocent sounding.
“Hi, it’s Michael.” Damn, campus was packed, I’d have to circle for a while.
“Oui, Michael?” her accent was a little more than adorable.
“I was wondering if you want to go out with Sarah, Jon, and I.”
She hesitated, and I could tell she was thinking of the episode the other night. “A minute, please.” From the sound of hushed voices, I could tell she was conferring with my uncle. “No drinking?” She said back into the speaker.
I pulled into a parking spot and winced at the tight squeeze between two lifted trucks. “No, I thought maybe we could go to Play Zone.”
“Play Zone?” She repeated.
“Yeah, it’s like this huge indoor jungle gym, it’s mostly for kids, but the last Friday of the month they have college days, so that we can get you in.”
“What’s a jungle gym?”
I didn’t know how to answer that. I switched my engine off and grabbed my backpack from the passenger seat. “It’s like slides and ropes and stuff.”
“That’s strange.”
Maybe this wasn’t going to work out after all. “I know it sounds dumb, but you’ll enjoy it. And you get to have some American pizza,” I laughed but ended up choking on it. Don’t be raciest, Michael. Of course the French had pizza, duh.
She paused again, but I could hear my uncle in the background, “I’ve been taking Mikey there since he was a kid. You’ll enjoy it. Go ahead, Elise.”
“Okay, sure, I guess,” she said, sounding unsure.
“Then it’s a date.” I switched the speakerphone off and slid out of the car. “Er, it’s a...”
“I know your meaning. See you tomorrow, or whenever.” Her voice was flat, and I started to regret being gone for a few days.
But as I thought about the double date, I was pretty excited. I knew I would be able to spend time with Sarah, and Jon could show her a good time. It would solve my problems, well, most of them anyway.
***
SARAH, ON THE OTHER hand, hated it. I took a seat next to her; my tray piled high with chef salad and a double cheeseburger. She looked at me and made a face. “Gross, how you eat all that meat?”
“Easy, salad cancels out the calories.” I popped a crouton in my mouth.
“Whatever.” It was the same tone Elise had used earlier. What was this, National All Women Were on Their Period day?
Jon sat down then, with a tray of French fries and equally large burger. “Men don’t get fat from burgers, Sarah,” he said, “Everyone knows that it’s pizza and beer we have to watch out for.”
“Shut up, asshole.”
I picked up my burger. “Your panties are in a twist today.”
She sneered at me again but kept looking down at her phone. She was texting someone furiously, her fingers blurring over the screen. “Well, they should be! Ugh. Got called out again in speech.”
Jon rolled his eyes, and dug into his French fries.
“It’s not so bad...” I said, around a mouthful.
“Yes, it is!” She looked down at her phone again. “Ugh. I hate Dr. Brown. Always acting like he knows all about structure and notes and stuff.”
“He has multiple doctorates, so yeah, he actually does,” Jon said. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he did the same.
“Enough,” I said, putting down my burger. “Who are you texting?”
“Oh just Ad- Amanda,” she said, and abruptly tucked her phone in her pocket. She picked at the bean sprout salad in front of her, and then pushed it away. “I gotta get to this stupid history class.”
“Hey wait, before you go,” I stood with her, and pecked her on the cheek, “You know my cousin’s in town, right?”
“Yeah, you told me, some snooty French girl. What’s this to do with moi?” she laughed as if her use of French was funny, but I wasn’t amused.
“Thought we’d double date,” Jon said with his mouth full. “You and Mikey-boy, me and the Frenchie.”
Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
“Good,” I said, although her attitude was stronger than normal today, and it was starting to piss me off. “College night at the Play Zone?”
“OMG,” Sarah said every letter, and it sounded like oh-em-gee. “Why do we always have to go there?”
I shrugged. “I figured Elise would like it.”
Her phone buzzed then, and she pulled it out of her pocket. With one hand she texted quickly and slung her backpack over her shoulder. “Pick me up at seven,” she said without even looking up.
I sat down to finish my lunch. Jon was nearly done I noticed, as I stared at my now soggy salad.
“What’s up with her?” he asked.
“What isn’t up with her?” I said, sighing. I finished my burger and stood again. “See ya tonight.”
“Okay.”