Double Date Dare -9- by Melanie E. (Patreon)

9.

“Ouch! Stop poking me!”

“Stop flinching when I try and pin things, and I’ll stop poking you.”

“Stop poking me, and I’ll stop flinching!”

I glared up at Ronnie, not for the first time.

“I’m running on three hours of sleep.”

“I brought you a latte.”

“Decaf.”

“Details. Ouch! Bitch!”

“Hey hey hey, you two cut it out!” Sandy said, her entrance being the only thing to stop me from pinning Ronnie to her dress entirely on purpose. “Here,” she said, offering me a very familiar brown and gold can. “Mocha double shot.”

“Thank god,” I mumbled, taking the pins out of my mouth and sticking them back into the little tomato-shaped cushion I had sitting on the floor. I then plopped down myself, opening the can and taking a huge gulp.

It’s not that I didn’t understand Ronnie’s excitement. She and Emily had, apparently, had a great time the night before, dress shopping while Sandy and I had been on our double-date with the boys. The dress she had picked up was great, a shiny lavender concoction with ruffles everywhere that covered only one shoulder and went past her knees and had been discounted due to the ruffle along the hem hanging loose, probably from someone stepping on it. All it needed was to be brought in a bit at the bust and have the ruffle fixed, and it would be perfect.

Likewise, Emily’s sunny yellow confection was great as well. As the only one of our dresses with any taffeta on it and with its very demure cut, it gave her a sweet, innocent look. This would only be enhanced once I fixed the royally busted zipper and let the bust OUT ever so slightly, a detail I kept quiet from Ronnie.

I’d told them I’d do the repairs and adjustments. I was happy to since they were some of the best friends I could ask for.

I just hadn’t expected them to show up at my doorstep at 7 AM, dragging a half-zonked Sandy behind them, hoping to get started.

I also hadn’t expected the Spanish Inquisition to be involved.

“So?”

I sighed.

“It was a ‘getting to know you’ date, Ronnie,” I said, downing the last of my espresso and picking up a few pins again. “We watched the movie – it was SO cute, you should go see it – and we ate Chinese.” I faked putting a pin in and waited for Ronnie to finish her squirming, then put the real one in. “That was it.”

“Really?”

“Really!” I said, perhaps a bit too forcefully, giving Sandy a significant look over my shoulder.

“Well….” She said, proving the look hadn’t been significant enough.

Ronnie cackled.

I rolled my eyes, also not for the first time that morning. I had ignored Sandy’s texts the night before after Butch had dropped her off and come back and picked Ted up. He’d come in and given me a hug when he’d done so, a hug that my new insight had made seem different from before.

I should have texted Sandy back, but I’d needed time to Think. I’d known I’d have to talk to her about things sooner or later, but I hadn’t considered we’d have so much company when I did so.

“You aren’t getting rid of us without telling us everything,” Ronnie said, smirking down at me from her rather precarious position, standing on the stool I kept in my room for guests. One good shake….

“She’s right,” Sandy said from behind me.

I gave Emily a hopeful look, seeking any kind of ally, only to see her looking at me with an expression of mixed apology and curiosity.

“...UGH. Fine.” I stuck the last pin in Ronnie’s dress and rocked back on my heels. “Get off that stool before I shove you off it.”

She did as I’d told her, her laugh betraying her complete and utter lack of concern over my threat. Once she was off, I sat down on the stool and set to work sorting out my spare pins and notes for alterations, hoping against hope that somewhere in the 20 seconds it would take me to put things away, they’d all lose interest.

“Well?”

Guess not.

I looked at Sandy, sitting cross-legged in my computer chair and certainly looking more awake than I felt. Emily was sitting on my bed, studiously Not Watching Ronnie putting the jeans and tee-shirt she’d arrived in back on after – I hoped – carefully removing her dress so as not to dislodge any of my pins.

For a second, I considered reminding her that I was, in fact, a boy. The fact that they were there for dress alterations and to talk to me about the date I’d had the night before with one of the football players was enough to make me question whether saying that would make any difference at all, though, especially with my own prom dress hanging on the back of my bedroom door in its plastic bag, and the stack of bags still sitting in the corner of my room from my shopping trip with Mom. Those bags spelled a whole heap of trouble of their own that I wasn’t ready to deal with.

Three girls stared at me, their looks telling me in no uncertain terms that I was going to spill the beans one way or another. As if to emphasize that Ronnie already had a pillow in her hands, just in case assault became necessary.

It wouldn’t.

“So?” Sandy prompted me, taking a sip of her own double shot and making me desperately wish I had another one.

“So,” I echoed. “Ted.”

“Yep.”

I sighed.

“This doesn’t leave this room, right?”

“Of course not!”

“Promise!”

“Scout’s honor,” Ronnie agreed, holding up the wrong hand with her fingers clearly crossed. When I glared at her, she lowered it. “You know it won’t.”

“Alright, alright! Ted.”

Pause.

“Out with it, girl!”

“Agh! Alright. So, he promised me he’s straight,” I said, then waited for the girls to look at one another before continuing. “But he has some major hang-ups when it comes to dealing with girls. After Butch dropped him off last night, we talked quite a bit, and I think I can help him with some of it. I hope I can.”

“And did he kiss you?”

I looked up in surprise, catching Emily’s blush as she turned away, seemingly as shocked she’d asked as I was.

“Aaah, no. He’s not, I mean I’m not… he isn’t interested in me like that,” I said, the night’s introspection not having helped me fully come to terms with my feelings on that and his reasons why.

“Oh, does he have someone else in mind? NO.”

I’d tried not to turn and look at Sandy, I really had, but my eyes betrayed me.

“Ohoho! First date and already having to worry about your best friend stealing your guy.”

“I don’t think--”

“Sure, why not?”

“Huh?”

“What?!”

Me and Ronnie both gave Sandy the side-eye.

She shrugged back at us. “I like Butch a lot, but he’s had a huge crush on Donna for a long time.”

“WHAT!?!” Ronnie said again, about fifty decibels and two octaves louder.

“Ouch! I mean, yeah,” Sandy said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I winced. “I mean, I don’t know about that. I know he really likes you, Sandy, and--”

She waved my words away. “Yeah, he does. But the whole trip to my place last night was all about Donna this and Donna that,” she said, not at all concerned about using my femme name in front of Em and Ronnie. She gave me a warm smile. “I told you last week, we have fun together and like each other, but I’m not what he’s looking for. The moment I saw him checking out your ass while you were putting up the video game stuff, I knew that prom would be our last night together.”

I couldn’t help it: I started crying, and my sobs only grew worse when I felt Sandy’s arms around me.

“I didn’t know! Ted was talking to me last night though and….”

Sandy squeezed me tighter.

“I know, sis. You didn’t do anything wrong. Neither has Butch, to be honest: he was a perfect gentleman last night, just like he always has been. I’ve known for a while now he was more into you than me.”

I sniffled again and hugged her back. “I’m such an idiot.”

Sandy actually laughed. “A bit, maybe. Why do you think I encouraged you to go on so many dates with us?”

Good lord, I really was an idiot.

I knew I looked a mess when Sandy finally pulled back from our hug. Thankfully Ronnie had traded her pillow for the box of tissues off my nightstand and handed them to me.

“Thanks.”

She gave me a gentle smile, the kind that only sneaked out on occasion but was part of the reason she was my friend. “It’s alright. But, what does this mean about you and Ted? Or,” she paused, looking at Sandy. “You and Butch?”

Sandy answered before I could. “What it means is that we’re all going to Prom and going to have a great time,” she said with finality, then grinned at me. “And that we need to hear the rest of what happened last night.”

“Nooooooooo.”

“YES,” three voices said back to me in unison.

I wiped my eyes one more time, then continued.

“So what happened was….”