Chapter 61: A Normal Dinner Get-Together

Saturday, December 18, 1982

Jasmine was doing much better when I called her in the morning, so we decided soup at Pho King was a very good idea.

It was. So was the sound-alike activity afterward.

Mid-afternoon, snuggling, she leaned in and kissed me. “Ready for dinner?”

“What’s to be ready for? It’s a normal dinner get-together.”

She giggled. “Three dating couples, with one boy total included. Said boy has been in bed with every girl except one.”

“Um...”

“I meant what I said. Yes, the meaning shifts, but you and Ang spend plenty of time in bed.”

“Fine, true enough,” I said, grumbling jokingly.

“I’m looking forward to it. You guys stay in touch with Candice, but I really don’t. Oh, some, but I’m looking forward to catching up.”

“I’ve been really happy that we’ve stayed close.”

“And that no one’s tried to be too close.”

“That, too. It’d be a terrible idea, we both know that. Fortunately, she’s happy with Sherry, and Sherry’s happy with her.”

She nodded. “I hope they can navigate that year difference.”

“Me, too. If not ... Candice has grown a lot. I think she’ll move on and find someone else, though senior year sucks for that.”

“Yeah. Speaking of which, I thought you and Mikayla...?”

“It’s never lined up right. We’ve talked about it a couple of times. It has nothing to do with you and me, just...”

“She’s busy. She was really trying to knock the fall semester out of the park and get college settled.”

“Yup. I think we’ll find our chances in the spring.”

“Most likely. Along with Darla, and Linda...”

“I have no idea where either of those are going to go.”

She giggled. “They think bed.” She caught the look on my face. “I’m serious. Oh, not like, one-night-stand, off we go, but they certainly see it as a possibility.”

“Good to know, I suppose.”

“You’re not that slow. You knew that, you just weren’t admitting it to yourself.”

“Maybe?”

“Not at all in a ‘Gail’ way, but it’ll be good for you. I will not push, but I’m glad they said something.”

“I am, too.”

“I should give you assignments. Like: pick some girl and ask her out. At Northwestern, I mean, this summer.”

I smiled. “So we’re still definite there.”

“I will not go anywhere that you’re not going. Plus, I want to go there. If you back out, I’ll back out with you. I’m not worried about another ‘Blue’ or anything, I just ... I’m not going to sign up for seven weeks apart right now.”

“I wouldn’t either, honey. Three was enough.”

“We’ll be apart, now and then. That’s normal. But ... yeah. Not like that.”

“Not like that.”

She smooched me, which turned into a deeper, loving kiss.

“I guess we’d better take a shower,” I said.

“Worried that Candice still remembers what it smells like?” Jasmine said, grinning.

“Brat,” I said, pinching her lightly.

“Ooh! I will get you for that!” she said, pinching back.

“Anytime, honey. Anytime.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re right. Shower. This has the potential to make us both late and smelly.”

We hit the shower and avoided having too much good clean fun.

Cleaned up, we headed off to pick up Angie and Paige. Angie gave Jas a hug and kiss, then gave her girlfriend an even better one.

Okay, fine, Jas was right. It wasn’t a normal dinner get-together. I’d slept (literally) with two of the girls and slept (figuratively) with three. Only Sherry was out of the loop on that. Now, Sherry wouldn’t know all of that. Probably. Never assume you know what girls will discuss, because you’ll probably be wrong — especially if you’re a guy.

I let the girls talk on the way to the mall. Most of the conversation was about San Antonio. What restaurants we might visit? Angie put in a good word for the Chart House. What museums might be interesting? Did we have to visit the Alamo? Those and similar questions were dissected and examined.

I’d already gotten us two rooms at the Hilton. No connecting door — it would tempt us to opening it, when we should be two couples. I don’t particularly love the Hilton, but it had a great location and both Angie and I were familiar with it.

When we got to the pizza place, Candice and Sherry were waiting just inside. Not holding hands, but... 1982. Girls do hold hands, but there’s a certain level of ‘pushing it’ that’s not the best idea. An obvious teenage lesbian couple might get harassed here, and neither of them were Lizzie — ready to go on the offensive.

“Hi!” Candice said when we came in, scooting over to hug first Angie, then me. If I hadn’t known her so well I wouldn’t have known that she was holding back a little in that hug. The good part — and there was a good part, thankfully — was that it didn’t embarrass her. It would have, even a year ago.

She went over to hug Jasmine and Paige, while Angie and I got hugs from Sherry. Amusingly, Sherry wasn’t holding back. She hugged Jasmine and Paige as well.

“How are you?” Candice said, and we were off. Everyone needed to catch up with everyone else, and Paige needed to be introduced. And then introduced again, this time as ‘the girlfriend,’ which required explanations, even though Candice already knew and Sherry likely already knew, too.

Nothing was particularly sacred in this group. Paige was asked point-blank if she still wanted to sleep with me: ‘Yes.’ Angie was asked if that was fine: ‘Yes.’ Jasmine was asked if that was okay: once more, ‘yes.’ I’m pretty sure the point of all of that was to embarrass me, but I don’t embarrass easily over something like that.

Paige asked Candice if she would share Sherry, only to find that they were monogamous. That, and I was the one person at the table Sherry wasn’t interested in. If I’d had a sensitive ego ... but I didn’t. Cammie would’ve fixed that if I had.

Going around the table, no one had any firm college plans yet. Sherry was the closest. She was strongly considering staying in Houston, at least for her freshman year, so as to not move away from Candice. I could see it working, but I could also see it failing in any number of ways. We’d see, but I gave her points for sounding sincere.

During that discussion, Angie, Jasmine, and I exchanged looks more than once. It was apparent to everyone, I think, that the three of us would wind up at the same college, or at least we would if nothing changed in the next year or so. We all knew that, but I think Sherry was a bit surprised.

She answered that a bit later. “You know ... I think I’d be going out of my way to not go to college with my sister.”

Angie giggled. “Special circumstances. We’re the same age and only had to put up with each other after fourteen. Totally different from growing up in the same house for years with all of the stupid sibling-rivalry stuff.”

She nodded. “Cool! I get that. I can see that it’d be really different, and it is special that you’re so close. Also ... important!” She gave Candice a big hug on that. And she was right — a world where Angie and I weren’t close probably would’ve been a world without Candice.

We wrapped things up around nine, after a bit too much pizza and salad, plus some video games, and a whole lot of conversation. Candice was still receding just a bit, but only into the ‘good friend’ category. Hopefully, we’d keep our connection with her when we were no longer living so close, but we would have to be diligent about phone calls and such.

The good news was, Angie and I were unlikely to be prone to the tendency of college freshmen to immediately feel like high school was ancient history and anyone still in high school was a lesser being. We knew better, and we were mature enough to behave that way, too.

We parted ways after another wave of hugs, then got in the car, Jasmine and me in the front and Angie and Paige in the back. Predictably, they got in the first words after we were on our way.

“That does not count as a real first date!” Paige said. We could all hear the teasing in her voice.

“Does too!” Angie said.

“Does not!” Paige said.

“Children!” I said. “Don’t make me come back there!”

That got everyone giggling.

“Fine,” Paige said. “It counts.”