Jake and I made plans to have our first official date at the end of the week. I kept busy at work getting caught up on appointments I missed on my day off. By the time I got off work Friday, I was so ready for our date but I had no idea what I was going to wear. I tried to get hints from Jake on where we were going, but he wasn't telling. I would normally borrow something from Sammy, but that felt super wrong for my first date with Jake. I was in such a rush to get home and figure out what I was going to wear, I didn't even notice Rocky pulling up outside my townhome. I was startled when I heard her call my name.
I walked towards her car.
"Lily, can we talk?" She asked, turning off her vehicle.
"I can't. I'm busy. I have to get ready to go. Jake is taking me out. I have no idea what to wear." I said, blowing her off.
"I can help you get ready." Rocky offered.
I could use her help, especially since I didn't want Sammy's help. Besides, Rocky could talk all she wanted to, I wasn't ready to talk to her yet. That's why I avoided her all week. Trevor hadn't reached out besides the text he sent when I was in California asking me to give him a call. No apology or follow up. I wasn't surprised nor disappointed. It seemed like I was the only one trying in our relationship recently.
"Fine." I said, turning to head into my apartment.
She followed me in. Sammy was in the kitchen cooking and talking on the phone. I waved at her before heading up the stairs.
"Any idea where Jake is taking me?" I asked Rocky.
"No, but I can find out." Rocky volunteered.
"Cool. I'm gonna hop in the shower."
When I came back, Rocky already had an option on the bed for me. A royal blue chiffon high waisted high low skirt, a nude midi length crop top, with my nude wedges. Bianca picked out the skirt for me, but I normally paired it with a black lace top.
"Is that dressy enough?" I asked. Only a sliver of my stomach would actually show, but I didn't wanna look out of place.
"It's perfect. We can dress it up with some gold jewelry and curl your hair. Come sit." Rocky instructed. While she curled my hair, I worked on my make-up. When we had a rhythm going, I began talking.
"So, where did Brandon say we were going?" I asked.
"He didn't. He really is staying out of this. I called Jake." She corrected me.
"Really?"
"Yeah. He was hanging around the house all weekend, pretending to play video games with Brandon, but he kept asking about you. I told him he better tell me where he was taking you or I'd tell you what a stalker he was being." Rocky grinned.
"You just did." I smiled, thrilled.
"Whoops" She laughed.
After a moment, I started again. "So you heard what happen at my brother's place?"
"I heard from Trevor and Becca. Trevor is really-"
"I don't wanna talk about Trevor. Let's talk about you and how you feel I'm going through some rebellious phase where I do the opposite of what you tell me to do." I cut her off.
"For a while there, especially with how you handled things with Ethan, I just didn't understand your actions. You just... weren't yourself." Rocky started.
"I've changed. I'm not the same person I was in college. I don't want to be. If that's the person you wanna be friends with, then I'm sorry." I explained.
"I understand that. I do. I feel like you're holding your own and you're making choices for yourself. That's what I want for you." Rocky backpedaled. She was making no sense, which wasn't like Rocky at all. Right, wrong, or just rude- she stood by everything that she said, so I asked again, bluntly.
"Why did you say all that stuff to Trevor then?"
"Because that's what he needed to hear." Rocky sighed.
"What does that even mean?" I asked.
"Exactly what I said." Rocky said stubbornly.
"That's not good enough. I want an explanation."
"Well that's all I have right now."
"Well then we don't have anything else to discuss. Thanks for your help." I said, dismissively, pulling away from her to finish my eyelashes. At least my hair was curled. I admired the sleek waves parted asymmetrically around my head.
"You don't wanna press this...at least not tonight. Let's talk again tomorrow." Rocky bargained.
"No, you've been blowing up my phone all week. I'm giving you a chance to speak, so speak. Because right now, all I'm hearing is that my two so- called best friends were talking about me behind my back. So explain why?" I snapped, looking Rocky in the eye.
"You act as if Trevor and you haven't talked about me." She pointed out.
"True but never anything that I haven't talked to you about. I thought you were attempting to change-"
"I have!" Rocky defended herself.
"I thought so too until last week." I responded.
Rocky got up to leave.
"If you leave, we're done." I threatened.
Rocky's eyes widened.
"I'm serious. I'm done having the same conversations with people. I'm cool not having friends that can't tell me the truth." I looked Rocky in the eye. I didn't flinch. I hated it when Jake pulled the same stunt on me, but it worked. I celebrated on the inside when she deflated in front of me.
"He needed a reason-" She started, struggling to choose her words. I was starting to get worried instead of mad.
"A reason for what?" I asked, legitimately concerned. What didn't she want to say?
She inhaled and exhaled deeply before speaking. "He needed a reason why you would date anyone but him."
I had to think about what she said. It didn't even compute until I saw her face. She watched me carefully, like she was waiting for me to freak out.
"Trevor... likes me?" I asked, softly. "Like, wants to date me likes me?"
"Yes. He doesn't know that I know-"
"How do you know?" I interrupted her. If he didn't tell her, maybe this was all speculation. Why the hell would she assume something so crucial?!?!
"Bilal." Rocky said. "Bilal told me after Trevor told him."
"You've been talking to Bilal?" I asked, confused. None of this made any sense. Bilal and Rocky talking, Trevor having feelings for me. This felt like a bad episode of the fucking Twilight Zone.
"Not really." She answered. "He called when y'all went to Austin that weekend. Trevor was going to tell you how he felt but you said something to Bilal about Ethan. Bilal wanted to know if you were still dating Ethan. I told him not at the time, but you still had feelings for him. I'm not sure if he told Trevor." Rocky confessed.
I thought back to that weekend. I remembered us picking out each others clothes and feeding each other bites of food as we ate. That turned into drinks and dancing at the bar. It ended with me laying in bed waiting for Trevor, but he never came back to share the bed. I recalled the weirdness in the morning, our talk on the drive home, all the fucking little things since I moved back. The constant touching, the flirty jokes, the presents, the way he smiled at me...
Oh Fuck. He has feelings for me. I'm so fucking stupid!
"Lily." Rocky said, grabbing my hand. I didn't realize it was shaking until she steadied it. "Stop. Don't beat yourself up over it. Trevor had every chance to talk to you. He chose not to. He chose to date Becca."
I understood what she was saying, but I also understood what it was like having feelings for your best friend. I felt that way about Trevor for years and I never told him, not wanting to ruin our friendship. I buried those feelings away, but it took forever for me to get over them.
I heard knocking at the front door, and I looked at Rocky in a panic.
"I can't go out with him. This... this is too much. I need to call Trevor." My heart was racing and I took deep breaths to try and calm myself.
"No, you can talk to Trevor later. Don't worry about him right now. You need to worry about Jake. The guy who spent all weekend stalking your Facebook, Instagram and best friend trying to find out more about you. Give him a chance. Lord knows Trevor had plenty." Rocky advised me.
I nodded. She was right. I could deal with Trevor later. If I cancelled on Jake on our first date, there was no coming back from that. I couldn't ruin our relationship for Trevor who was dating someone else. I hopped up and finished dressing. Rocky picked out my gold dangling earrings and a gold matching spiky necklace. I sprayed a little body spray on before we hurried down the stairs.
Sammy was telling Jake about her first night as a Honey B and how it was a swingers party. I heard the story, but she was telling it more animatedly for Jake, flipping her hair, using hand gestures and laughing. Jake looked up when he heard us coming down the stairs. His smile (that dimple!) melted my concerns away. I knew I would have no problem focusing on him. His facial hair was neatly trimmed, his hair perfectly tousled. He was wearing a gray button v neck with a black collar and dark denim jeans that couldn't hide the perfection of his muscular body. I knew we said we needed to date, but I was already over the date. I wanted him. Upstairs. Now. But I guess I should prove I could be a lady.
"Wow Lily." He said, when I walked over to him and gave him a hug. "You look beautiful, I was going to take you to the drive thru at McDonald's, but that's definitely a sit down type of outfit."
Sammy laughed and I smiled at Jake. "As good as chicken nuggets sound right now, we both know that's not where you're taking me." I winked at Rocky obviously.
Jake turned to Rocky. "Did you tell her?"
"No. She just knows if you said McDonald's, I would have told her to lose your number." Rocky replied. We laughed before I said goodbye to Sammy.
He bluetoothed his phone to the stereo to play Trumpets by Jason Derulo. I grinned.
"What's funny?" Jake smiled at me.
"Nothing. I just love this song." I said, having proof that he was definitely studying my social media. A few weeks ago, I posted this song on Facebook as my motivation song for working out. I said it kept me motivated because Jason wrote it about me. Trevor teased me that he never met anyone who inspired to be a groupie. My smile faded off my face.
Our date ended up being dinner and dancing at a nice restaurant called Gloria's. It was a Salvadoran and Tex-Mex place that had live music and salsa dancing. As soon as we walked in, the aroma from the kitchen hit us. It smelled so good. We were seated quickly inside versus the patio. The waitress came over immediately to take our order. I looked over the drink menu before ordering a Spicy Mango Margarita.
"It is really spicy." She said, in a warning tone.
I nodded. I figured it would be. It had spicy in the title.
"I'll take the La de el Jefe." Jake ordered.
" Excelente{Excellent}" She smiled, widely at Jake.
"Gracias.{Thank you}" Jake smiled at her.
"De nada. {You're welcome}" She said, before turning away.
