“Oh, come on, you have to go! Everyone will be there, and Nat actually throws a pretty good party. I have an idea! Nick will probably be there, maybe the four of us could go together?” Layla looked at her hopefully.
“No. Nick is nice and all, but I’m not interested. You need to get over it.” Bri gave Layla a stern look.
“Okay, if I promise to stop playing matchmaker, will you come to the party?” Layla pleaded.
“You promise you’ll leave me alone? For the rest of the year?”
“I promise. Now say you’ll come!”
“Ugh, alright! Although I make no promises about how long I’ll stay,” Bri conceded.
“Yay! Now let’s pick out something to wear. We’ve only got a couple days to perfect our fabulousness!”
As the girls went through Bri’s wardrobe and Layla’s shopping bags, Bri realized how much she’d missed hanging out with her friend. Between Devon and Cole, the girls hadn’t spent much time together. Bri decided she needed to be better about scheduling some girl time in the future.
The girls ordered in pizza and watched chick flicks until Layla had to get home. There were still a couple of hours before Bri’s family would be home, so she decided to check in with Claire. She got Claire’s voice mail and left a message. Trying not to feel like a pathetic, clingy girlfriend, Bri gave in and called Cole again.
“Wow, two calls in one day,” Cole answered the phone. “Someone must really be missing me!”
“Shut up.” Bri was grateful he couldn’t see her blushing. “Like you haven’t been debating whether or not to call me for the past hour.”
“Two hours, actually, but that doesn’t change the fact that you caved first!”
“I didn’t cave! I actually have something important to ask you, and that’s why I called... again.”
“Oh, really? And what was so pressing it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” Cole taunted.
“I was wondering...” Bri searched her mind for a legitimate question. “Oh, are you going to Natalie’s New Year’s Eve party?” Thank you brain.
“I was thinking about it. Are you?”
Was Bri really the only one who hadn’t heard anything about this party?
“Yes, unfortunately. Layla talked me into going. I wasn’t invited, so I thought it might be fun to crash.”
“Well, if you’re going, I’m definitely going. Although...” Cole trailed off ominously.
“Although what?”
“Well, Serena will be there, so I’m thinking it’d be good to take a date. You know, a good opportunity to fight the Serena front,” he finished hesitantly.
Bri tried to suppress her anger and jealousy. Of course the date would just be a ruse, but it still made her crazy to think of Cole out with another girl. Even fictitiously.
“Um, okay,” was all she could manage to say.
“Ambria,” he sighed, “you know I want to go with you. The thought of going with another girl makes me sick. But I really think that this is an opportunity that shouldn’t be passed up. The sooner Serena moves on, the sooner you and I can be together, really together, for the whole world to see. Please tell me you understand that,” he pleaded.
The raw emotion in Cole’s voice brought Bri back to herself.
“Of course I understand,” she relented. “I just hate this, you know?”
“Yes, I do,” he sighed. “But, this will be the last time. If Serena can’t get the message by now, then it won’t matter what I do in the future. So I promise, this will be the last time I go anywhere with any girl other than you.”
“Really?” Bri’s heart swelled, and she felt her eyes tearing up.
“Yes, really.”
“Okay then,” she shook the tears from her eyes. “So, who are you going to take? And please don’t tell me you’re taking another one of Serena’s slutty cheer minions.”
“And what’s wrong with slutty cheer minions?” he laughed.
“Please, you didn’t have to watch the last one pawing all over you. I swear they have to take a promiscuity pledge to make the team,” she huffed.
“Promiscuity pledge?” Cole laughed. “And that’s something you’re against? Promiscuity?” He was definitely teasing her now.
“As a practice? Yes,” she quipped back.
“So, I take it you’ve never...?” he trailed off, the humor obvious in his voice.
“What?” Bri felt herself blushing again. Were they seriously talking about this now? “No!”
“Just checking. Because I seem to recall a conversation where you said that you wouldn’t be sleeping with me or anyone else, ever. I was just wondering if your opinions on the subject had changed, now that you don’t despise my very existence anymore?” he goaded her. Okay, he was taking way too much enjoyment in her discomfort.