Wherever the Dandelion Falls (23 page)

As we walked out to the street, I brought up the question I always asked my friends, "Who's driving?"

"I... dunno."

Always uncomfortable with people who didn't think to designate a sober driver, I volunteered myself.

"I'll drive," I said. "As long as you're comfortable with me maneuvering that thing," I said, gesturing toward her car.

She nodded and handed me her keys, a mess of rings and lanyards and club cards. "Have at it."

Once we arrived, we found parking right away and approached the door with excitement as we dug our IDs out of your bras to show the bouncer. The cover was ten dollars, and Faye pulled out a twenty and said, "I got you," as she handed it to the girl stamping our hands. As we entered the throng of girls inside, I felt my body race with hope and excitement. Paying for me was a sign this was maybe a date.

Faye made a beeline for the bar, dragging me behind her. She ordered a vodka cranberry and asked me what I wanted, assuring me I could have one drink and be fine to drive, since we would be here a while. I ordered the same as she had, pulling money out to pay for my drink. Faye didn't object, so I paid and tipped the bartender well, pleased to be on this side of the counter for once.

Then we pressed into the dance floor. It was crowded and hot and I could barely hear myself think. That was the point of these things, right? To lose yourself in a crowd of people who were also trying to lose themselves? As long as I didn't lose Faye, I'd be fine.

We pushed halfway toward the stage before Faye turned to face me, holding her drink up to tap against mine. Then she started dancing, almost as though to herself, head down as her limbs loosened and her hips started grinding out the beat. I sipped my drink and mirrored her motions.

It didn't take long for the crowd to shift and other bodies to press towards us. I held my ground, wanting to protect the few square feet Faye had staked out for us.

And then I noticed that Faye's hips were fitted into someone else's, a pair of hands resting on her sides as she rocked and bobbed. Someone's face appeared next to hers. I watched her carefully to see how she'd react. When she smiled and pressed back, playful and dirty as she ground her pelvis against the other girl's, my stomach sank.

And then there were a pair of hands on my hips, ushering me back against someone. Surprised, I looked over my shoulder to find a girl about Faye's height, with long dark hair and olive skin. She was wearing low-slung camouflage shorts with boxers peeking over the edge, a tank top, and barely a stitch of makeup on her smooth, feminine face. She looked up at me with a smile and held my hips steady, waiting to see if I'd respond.

Figuring I should enjoy my night out regardless of who I danced with, I pressed back.

I danced with the other girl until the end of the next song, and then felt it appropriate to peel back and look her square in the face rather than just feeling her curves where they melded into mine from behind. She was strong and fit, but I didn't know anything else about her. I looked at her face under her cute little backwards pageboy hat and smiled.

"Girl, you got some moves," she said as her eyes flickered to my hips.

"Thanks."

"I'm Callie," the girl said, shifting her drink to her left hand and extending her right, motions confident and stiff.

"Riley," I said, accepting her handshake.

"Nice to meet you, Riley," she said as she pulled me back into her, facing each other this time.

And because I liked the way she made me feel, I kept dancing with her, hoping it would make Faye jealous to see Callie's hands running over the back of my skirt.

I danced the next few songs with Callie, trying not to be obvious as I looked over my shoulder to see if Faye was watching. I couldn't quite glimpse her, so I kept grinding down into Callie, letting my moves become dirtier as the music thumped on. Callie would encourage me with little
Yeahhs
or a
Damn girl
, and it made me feel better about Faye.

After a while, Callie put her hands on my waist possessively and smiled, as though she were pleased to have monopolized my evening so far. "You wanna move up there?" she asked tilting her head towards the stage at the back of the room.

The stage wasn't used as an actual stage, but more of a showcase for people who thought their moves were particularly awesome and should be featured. Some people were sorely mistaken as to what constituted awesome moves, of course.

And then, between the two boxes that served as poor girls' go-go cages, my eyes zeroed in on Faye, writhing against a tall, blonde girl who had her hands all over Faye's hips and stomach and thighs while Faye maintained a smug smile, raising her arms above her as she ground her ass back into her.

I started to burn. Why would Faye bring me here just to ditch me for other girls? She'd invited me out to "celebrate" when she just wanted to slut it up with strangers on the dance floor.

Taking any opportunity to let Faye know what she was missing, I nodded and took Callie by the wrist, dragging her through the crowd towards the stage.

We made it up there, teetering on the edge of the crowded stage until we found enough room, perilously close to one of the girls dancing on a box, and resumed our bobbing and rutting. Callie was a good dancer, but most importantly, she made me feel irresistible.

The night wore on. Callie's hands roamed freely over my body, but I didn't mind. I lost track of Faye for a while, and then spotted her across the room by the bar, laughing as she teetered forward on her heels into a different girl, this one with brown hair and sparkly earrings. She picked two glasses up from the counter, still giggling at something, and then forged her way through the crowd, the brunette trailing behind her.

I willed myself not to care. It would be so much easier if I didn't care.

And then, magically, Faye appeared below me on the floor, smiling as she held up a cup. She yelled something, but I couldn't hear.

"Water!" Faye said. "I thought you'd be thirsty!"

I leaned forward and thanked her as I took the cup, draining it before handing it back to her. Then I turned around and placed my hands on Callie's shoulders, not ready to forgive Faye for ditching me.

Only a few beats later, I felt another set of hands on my hips and Faye's mouth was near my ear.

"You didn't think I'd let you go all night without dancing with me, did you?"

I shivered at the flirtatious tone of her voice as a grin spread through my face and chest. My plan for making her jealous had worked.

I ground back into her once before turning around, placing my hands on her shoulders and leaning into her thigh. She bit her bottom lip in approval as her eyes scanned my torso and she pressed up into me.

For the next hour, I felt nothing but Faye around me, sweaty and sexy and making my body hum. We took several trips to the bar to hydrate and further Faye's buzz. Around two in the morning, Faye toppled onto me, slurring through her drunkenness, "Ready to go home, babe?"

I nodded and helped guide her towards the door. Out on the sidewalk, she teetered on her heels, but then the chill woke her up and she walked a relatively straight line to the car.

As I drove us back to our neighborhood, the energy settled into the quiet and the party vibe that had propped me up withered. My ears were ringing and my sweaty legs were sticking to my skirt and the leather upholstery of the car, squeaking whenever I moved. Faye was calm and happy in the passenger's seat, humming quietly to the radio.

"You get any numbers?" she asked.

Was she wanting to check that I wasn't serious about anyone else? Compare notes? Compete with me?

I shook my head. "No."

Faye pouted, sticking her lower lip out dramatically. "What happened to that one girl you were dancing with? She was cute."

Sinking into the realization that Faye still wasn't interested in me, I shrugged. "Not everyone goes to the club to hook up.”

Faye grunted a sleepy agreement and looked out the window.

Was she just a flirtatious person and I was having a hard time understanding that, or was she interested in me but only to a point? I decided to play into her game just a little. Maybe if she was jealous of Callie, then I'd have a clue.

"She
was
cute, though," I said. "I should have asked."

Faye hummed and reached over to pat my knee. "Next time," she said, her words light and sing-song.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I resigned myself to settling for Faye's friendship. That was apparently all I was going to get.

"Next time," I echoed.

I drove us back to our neighborhood and parked across from her place. We said a quick goodbye and I walked back to my apartment disappointed, sweaty, and exhausted.

After diffusing all the tension that had arisen when Faye had asked me back to her place with a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc at a local wine bar, I was feeling much better. It hadn't even been the wine that had calmed me down. It was just sitting with Faye and realizing how easy she was to be around when I wasn't obsessing over if she wanted to date me or not.

Because, to my surprise, I found that dating Faye was easier than being her friend. I knew she liked me, I knew why she was hanging around me, and I had a general sense of where we were going. It was nice to have everything out in the open.

Over wine, she asked me more about the exhibits at the Exploratorium.

"How do you remember so many little scientific factoids?"

I shrugged. "The human brain is still a big mystery to me."

"You could have explained every single exhibit in that huge museum to me better than anyone who works there."

I blushed. "That's not true. I had to read the signs for some of them."

"Still," Faye said. "I was impressed."

I grew warmer still. "I guess I'm just a nerd."

Faye kept her gaze fixed on me. "Keep being a nerd," she said. "It totally works for you."

I hoped I wasn't turning too red as I desperately searched for something to change the subject to. Remembering the jar of taffy she'd given me, I asked about her recent trip to Santa Cruz and was relieved when she let the conversation flow in that direction.

After sitting in the wine bar for at least an hour, she drove me home. She pulled up in front of my apartment and my nerves spiked again. How was this supposed to go? Who kissed who? Was there some secret lesbian signal that I didn't know to look for?

Faye stayed steady, smiling at me from her place in the driver's seat, hands relaxed at the bottom of the steering wheel.

"Goodnight, Riley," she said, sounding confident and calm.

Her steadiness soothed me a bit, but I was still anxious. Did I just get out of the car? Lean over and hug her? Kiss her on the cheek?

Luckily at the last second I remembered my manners and said, "Thank you for taking me out tonight."

She gave a gracious nod. "Thank you for agreeing to go."

I hovered halfway out of my seat with my hand on the door. Was that it? I didn't want to leave on such an ambiguous note.

"Do you want to, like, go out again sometime?" I asked.

"Absolutely," Faye said, grinning. "How about dinner Wednesday night?"

"Yeah," I said. "Dinner is good."

"Okay."

There was another stiff moment of silence before I had to break it by cracking the door open. I tried not to let my gaze snag on her lipstick-moist lips a I wondered why she wasn't trying to kiss me. Maybe it was some lesbian rule I didn't know.

"I had a good time," I said, wanting to assure her I felt good about our date. "Thank you." I opened the door wider and slid my leg out.

"Me too," Faye said. "I'll talk to you before Wednesday."

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

And that was that. I closed the door, glancing behind me to wave as I fished out my keys and walked up the steps to my gate. She waited as I unlocked it, and her presence behind me feeling like a million important eyes boring into my back as I swung open the gate and unlocked the door before ascending the stairs to my apartment. Halfway up the stairs, I heard her car motor pull away and felt sad that the night had ended so soon. What time was it, anyway? I glanced at my naked wrist and felt dumb for the fiftieth time since taking my watch off. I pulled out my phone and saw it was almost one. Shit. Time had flown by, pulling me along with it.