[Dedicated to Yas, who is not only a lovely friend and fellow writer but also the princess of poetry and words. I'm always astounded by how wise and calm she is regarding any situations, and she is honestly one of my inspirations to continue writing here.]
"Do you even think we're old enough to be at a tiki bar?" I wondered out loud as I sipped on my Shirley Temple, leaning my chin against my fist. "Seriously. And please don't tell me that you've got us fake IDs. It's unethical."
Cara wagged a finger at me as she slurped her drink (probably alcoholic, but she refused to tell me exactly what it was – how was I supposed to tell what was in a "bahama mama"?). "Don't pull up ethics to stuff in my face, Lottie. I mean, I've suffered through a week at my internship, and you're going to stop me from enjoying myself."
"Don't even worry," said Dacey, who waved a hand dismissively at her. "She's been uptight. And I swear, she's been singing some stupid song from that musical for the last week too, so it's a good thing that you've missed it all."
I gasped dramatically, putting a hand over my heart. "Don't be a butt," I said to Cara, who rolled her eyes at me. To Cara, I added, "And it's not a stupid musical." I was on the verge of standing up and pacing around the two of them, but then, a recollection of what happened the last time I went on a rage about Guys and Dolls came into my head. My face still hurt from the fall, in fact.
"Oh God," Cara groaned to the side, covering her forehead with a hand. "You got her started on the subject."
I couldn't help but smile when I heard her. But then, I continued with a lot more heat, "It's fucking Guys and Dolls. And the song is not stupid. It's 'If I Were a Bell'!" I turned to Cara, even though she'd completely dismissed me, for some support, widening my eyes. "Seriously! Don't you find it catchy?"
"You'd think that she'd get tired of the thing after years of replaying it," Cara drawled to Dacey. That was kind of stupid because I was sitting right in between them. Dacey shrugged. Cara sighed a little too loudly. "For real. I think I can tell you exactly where Nathan Detroit was born if I really, really tried."
I held up a finger. "Actually, we're never told where Nathan is born, but he has, like, this tough accent from the Bronx." I frowned a little, tilting my head to the side. "Actually, I don't know if we're ever told that at all. But I did read something mentioning that when I was learning about Frank Sinatra when he was playing the role."
Dacey rubbed her hands all over her face. I really hoped she wasn't wearing mascara or any makeup so she wouldn't look like a heartbroken girlfriend who'd been crying her heart out ever since her boyfriend left her for a truck or something. Well, maybe except for the fact that she hadn't even gotten into a relationship in the first place. Then, after she pushed her bangs from her face, she muttered something into her hands that I couldn't hear.
I crossed my arms and stared at her expectantly.
I heard a snicker from Cara on my other side.
Why were my friends such assholes? Why was my brother, who'd given me a nice scratch on the side of my cheek from the fall, such a jerk? Why hadn't I seen Dom in the last week? Why did I miss him in an odd sort of way? Why did I care? Why was I having a teenage-year crisis at this moment as I watched Dacey go through her mental breakdown?
Life was so difficult.
"All right, look," Dacey said, nodding her head like a drunk guy who was telling a bartender about all the good things going on in his life, "I'm sorry for insulting you, okay? I don't want to turn into Dom."
I raised my eyebrows at her.
Dacey shook her head quickly, her eyes wide open. "No, I do not want to compare myself to Dom. That's like asking you to see your own brother as attractive."
I sputtered, covering my mouth with my hands. "Ew, ew, ew," I groaned, feeling tears of something like revulsion smart in my eyes. "Please. Don't ever say that again. I mean, I already start to gag whenever I think about Cara here" -- I pointed at the aforementioned person, who sent us both a cheeky grin – "talks about her escapades with her boyfriend."
"It's not my fault that I get more action than the both of you combined." Cara shrugged so off-handedly that she made me feel guilty for preferring to concentrate on areas other than romance during the school year, which was when she'd picked him up.
There was some rustling and the sound of voices behind us, so the three of us, whipping our hair over our shoulders in the process, turned around. And there my favorite Guys and Dolls disbeliever stood with his hands stuffed in his pockets and a crooked little smile on his lips.
And I swore, right then and there, that if Dacey wasn't into college guys – namely my brother – she would have swooned with me.
As Dacey, Cara, and I stared at him like frozen gargoyles, Dom leaned up on his tiptoes and peeked over my shoulder. "Schoolwork?" he said, a little disappointed when he plopped back on his heels. "Seriously? You're at a tiki bar."
He went and sat down next to Dacey, who smirked at me, tucking her bangs behind her ears. I was just about to roll my eyes at her, but then, Dom leaned over and snatched my notebook from me. And honestly, I'd never seen anyone look so bored as he did as he flipped through it.
I heard a snicker from behind me – Cara was being a smartass, as usual, and the alcohol in her system was certainly not helping the situation.
Dom dropped the notebook with a loud flop, raising his eyebrows at me as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Please," he said, staring intently at me, "you take notes while doing your summer reading assignment?"
I let out a heavy sigh through my nose, running a hand through my hair. It certainly felt good now that I hadn't been going to the pool too often (the chlorine was a horror). "All right," I started, feeling a little like a defensive lawyer as I waved a hand emphatically, "it's David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, okay? First, Dickens is a genius. And second of all, the story is, like, this great—"
"I hope you're not going to turn it into the next Guys and Dolls," grumbled Dom, who slid my notebook across the counter and buried his heads in his hands.
Why in the world was he acting like I was a senile grandfather who kept rambling on and on about the same old war stories?
Well, maybe it was because I was a little annoying like that, although Dom would argue that I was much more than a little annoying.
It didn't even hurt anymore, which was a little sad, actually.
"Fine, I'll just get back on the subject of Guys and Dolls if that's what you want," I groaned, exchanging a glance with Cara behind me. Cara shook her head, finishing her cocktail in one single gulp and rolling her eyes. I could basically measure the disapproval in her eyes. I scoffed at her before turning back to Dom, who looked a little like a startled deer.
After spluttering for a little, he called over the bartender to get himself some water before turning back to me. "Please don't," he said so seriously as his unwavering dark eyes rested on me. "Don't. I've already read the entire book, and I don't think I could stand to hear another word about Miss Adelaide."
I sat in my seat, beaming at him. "You did?"
The bartender placed a cup of water in front of Dom and went away quickly – it probably had something to do with my smile.
Sitting there in between the two of us, a very bewildered Dacey moved her head from side to side to scrutinize our expressions. That was when I remembered that I'd completely forgotten to mention to her about the recent developments between Dom and me. I patted her shoulder as reassuringly as I could.
Maybe I'd explain to her later.
"Please." It seemed like Dom was spitting out that word wherever he could fit it in our conversation. "I don't think I can hear another word."
"What if I sing it?" I offered, sending him an even brighter smile. "I've got 'If I Were a Bell' stuck in my head since forever, and I could demonstrate to you—"
Cara snapped loudly, catching our attention. She leaned in my direction (but really in Dom and Dacey's direction too, so she was basically addressing all of us) and bit out, "I swear, if you don't stop her – you started this entire mess – I will find you in the middle of the night and drown you in the Indian Ocean."
Dacey, who was also watching Cara, nodded vigorously at Dom. She whispered conspiratorially to him, "She can do it. Her family has a yacht."
Much to their chagrin, however, Dom looked unfazed. "Does she know how to sail?" he asked Dacey, blinking innocently.
"Well." Cara cleared her throat, suddenly avoiding eye contact with the rest of us.
I shook my head at Cara before turning back to Dacey and Dom. "You guys basically stopped the Guys and Dolls discussion the moment you started bickering like little children, so be proud." Dom and Dacey exchanged the brightest smile I'd ever seen before turning back to me. "But seriously, Dom," I continued, tilting my head at him, "why are you here?"
Dom shrugged off-handedly, playing with the edge of the table. "I needed a drink," he said, glancing up from his glass of water. "Is that suddenly illegal now?"
Cara suddenly slung her arm over my shoulders, leaning her head against my arm. That gave me a very obvious heads-up that she'd had a little too much alcohol, so I called for the bartender and handed over her cup. Cara groaned, fumbling for the bartender's departing back, but after her hazy mind perceived that her alcohol was now long gone, she slumped against me.
I heard snickers from both Dacey and Dom from behind me. Turning back to them, I shook my head. Were they already becoming best friends? Good Lord. "I think I'll have to take her home sometime."
Cara mumbled something that sounded a little like "Buenos Aires" into my neck.
Dacey giggled.
Dom looked blissfully ignorant as he sipped from his glass of water. "So," he said, setting down the glass after he swallowed, "what are you two up to besides schoolwork? You can't tell me that the only thing that keeps you occupied is homework."
"I've got my hands full with Cara over here," I said flatly. "But Dacey?"
Dacey turned to look over at me expectantly. "Yeah?"
Why was she making me look like an idiot?
I tilted my head to the side, widening my eyes.
"Oh, right." She turned back to Dom, who was watching the two of us with an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Well, I've been helping Lottie, you know, by listening to her spill all of her problems."
If she was going to "spill" to him about exactly what problems, I was going to kill her exactly how Cara had proposed to kill Dom earlier. God, and if he figured out how I felt about him (even before I'd ever started talking to him), our entire shaky relationship would crumble right then and there.
I cleared my throat loudly. Dacey shot me a look that showed me exactly how amusing she thought the situation was and looked back at Dom.
"Oh, and I've been dying a lot."
Dom hid his smile behind a hand as he observed the two of us. "Really?"
"Yeah." Dacey nodded emphatically. "I've been trying to follow Lottie and Cara when they go on their daily runs" – she leaned in closer to him, like she was going to tell him a secret – "and I swear, I don't know how they can maintain such a fast and steady pace."
"Really," Dom mumbled, moving his eyes to me. They rested on me, smoldering. It was starting to feel uncomfortable now, especially now that he could watch every single move that I made. "You do a sport, Lottie?" He shrugged. "I don't quite remember."
My entire body felt so warm that I had an urge to crawl closer to the air conditioning unit, but then, I realized that I wouldn't get anywhere too fast with Cara draped over me and groaned.
Dom shot me the most confused look that I'd ever seen on a person.
Right, I was supposed to answer his question. (Keeping track of whatever he said to me was a lot easier now that I could look at him without wanting to jump his bones all the time. But again, I used to be so shy around him that I couldn't even look at the back of his head without swooning.)
Clearing my throat, I recovered. "Um, yeah. I do cross country with Cara here." I jostled the aforementioned person over my shoulder. "I told Dacey that she should have joined with me in freshman year, but she was too lazy."
"It's a pretty intense sport," Dom commented, shrugging. He turned to Dacey. "Did she give you a Guys and Dolls book too?"
"Wait." Dacey turned to me. "You gave him a book?" Then a little quieter, she said, "You forced a book on him. That's a little too much, Lottie, and you know it."
I sincerely hoped that Dom didn't hear her because this whole thing would be over now. But I shouldn't be too worried now – Dom and I were good. I thought.
"So I'm assuming that you didn't get a book from Lottie," Dom said, interrupting our little stare session.
"No, no," Dacey said, turning back to Dom. Just then, Cara snored loudly on my shoulder, blowing out air into my neck. I yelped a little and adjusted her head on my body – the way she was breathing kept tickling my skin, and it was starting to get unbearable.
Both Dom and Dacey stifled their snickers.
"Please." I scoffed, finishing off my Shirley Temple and clinking the glass as I set it back down on the table. "Don't make it sound like I'm trying to give y'all poison."
"It was very detailed." Dom finished his water as well. "And the pictures weren't bad."
Did he just admit to kind of liking the book? I smiled a little, ignoring how Cara's head was now rolling around with every movement I made, even if it wasn't in the shoulder.
"But don't flatter yourself too much, Lottie," Dom added quickly and a little defensively. "Some parts kind of bored me to death. I don't really need to learn everything about the musical – even though I'm obliged to listen to whatever you have to say about Guys and Dolls."
It felt nice to hear him say the name of the musical out loud. A little late, I also realized that I really, really liked how he said my name. It made me sound a lot cuter than I truly was. And now, I was starting to blush over it, so I looked away from him to shift my attention on a snoring Cara.
"Well," Dacey said after a pause in the conversation, "I think we might have to get going." She shot a look at Dom. She whispered the rest of what she had to say behind a hand. "I've got to see Carter, Lottie's brother. He's hot."
I swore that Dom choked as he hid his face in his elbow. As I adjusted Cara's face on my shoulder, I shook my head. Dacey just had to go around announcing her feelings for my brother, didn't she?
"All right." Dom chuckled as he stood up, pushing his chair in. "Should I help you get her home?" He pointed at Cara so gingerly that I couldn't help but let out a laugh myself.
"That would be appreciated, yes." I held Cara away from me, and Dacey headed behind me to support her dead weight. "We had to walk here, and I really would prefer not to carry her alone with Dacey, who's about as athletic as a slug."
"Hey!" Dacey protested as she slung one of Cara's arms over her shoulder. "That's so not true." Then immediately, she stumbled under the weight and groaned. "Good God, she's heavy."
"I can take over," Dom offered, taking Dacey's place, much to her relief.
And as we all walked out of the tiki bar after I placed the money to cover everything we'd all ordered (I was still surprised that they'd first let us into the bar and that they'd looked at Cara's fake ID without a single suspicion), Dom looked over to me. "But hey," he said a little quietly. "I never thanked you for the book. It must mean a lot to you."
I smiled. "It's no problem. Really."
Then, because she was an annoying bitch, Dacey, who was trailing behind me and Dom and comatose Cara, decided to contribute to the conversation. "Aw," she cooed. "Look at you two."
Dom and I turned our heads around and sent her an annoyed look at the same time.
"But really," she persisted. "So you're officially, like, friends now, right? I mean, you" – she pointed at me – "gave you" – she moved her finger to Dom – "a gift, so you guys are basically a sealed deal. Welcome to the gang!"
Dacey looked at Dom so intently that he squirmed, quickening his pace. "No, I will not hug Lottie, especially if drunk girl here is drooling all over herself."
And just like Dom said, Cara had a rivulet of drool going down her chin. Dacey snatched a napkin from a nearby table and jogged in front of us, wiping it away. "But anyway," she said, looking at the two of us as she jogged backward, "I'm serious. Welcome to the gang."
As Dom nodded, I felt a surge of happiness rush up in my chest, and the triumphant, carefree joy that Sarah Brown, the singer of 'If I Were a Bell', really made sense to me now.
I exchanged a look with Dom, which was a lot more difficult than it was since Cara was taller than I was, and smiled.
"Welcome to the gang," I mouthed to him.
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Wattpad decided to work for me today, and I'm in such a good mood right now! Thank you, Wattpad engineers, who made this possible. You have gotten rid of my frustration.
But anyway, on a different note, hi guys! Sorry for the late update; as I have announced on my message board, Wattpad was refusing to let me copy and paste, and so, I missed my update deadline. Many apologies for that. But I'm here now, so yay!
I had my birthday on Monday, so consider this a late birthday present from me to you all. x
In this chapter, we see more of Dom interacting with the besties, don't we? He's part of the gang, and that's totally awesome. I can tell you, though, that the chapters will still mostly focus on his relationship with Lottie, which I can assure you is a fantastic thing. What do you think about drunk Cara? She's a fun character to write, as is Dacey XD And Lottie! She seems to be a little less awkward now, don't you think?
Anyway, the song of this chapter is in the title: "If I Were a Bell". It's a very fun song to watch, especially because you get to see the uptight Sarah Brown let loose after accidentally ingesting Bacardi, which is a type of rum (to Sky Masterson's amusement). The video above is excellent, mostly because the actress who plays Sarah is so good.
If I missed any messages from you guys, I'm sorry! Please do send them to me again, and I promise I'll look through them a little more faithfully. And of course, thank you for all of your support, and I'll see you in the next update.
Yours,
Anne xo