(Part 03 / 03)

Sammie and Matt were making out at the table when Jeff and Kate finally got back to it three quarters of an hour later.

“I guess she’s forgiven him for not hand-jiving,” Kate giggled. “You think they’re going to swallow each other’s faces?”

“That’d be pretty ugly,” Jeff grinned. He was fairly drunk now, as was Kate. Normally he didn’t get like this, but there was nothing else to drink besides water from the water fountains, which Jeff was afraid he’d get herpes from if he got too close to those. So spiked punch it was. At least he could have his own cup.

“Where’s Lex?” he asked Kate.

“I don’t know, silly, I’ve been with you the whole time!” Kate exclaimed, falling into his lap on the chair. “I think I’m drunk.”

“Me too,” Jeff grinned. “I wonder where Lex and Fred are.”

“Hopefully, they’re kissing somewhere,” Kate nodded seriously. “It would be a huge relief for all of us.”

“They’re not kissing,” Chris said, coming over and sitting down next to Kate. “Fred was throwing up so Lex took him home for the night.”

“Why was Fred throwing up?” Kate asked. Then she hiccupped.

“I don’t know, Lex said he drank the Sangria, which has wine, which he’s apparently allergic to,” Chris said. “He was looking pretty sick.”

“Oh no!” Kate exclaimed, jumping up from Jeff’s lap. “I’ve got to go help him!”

“Relax, relax,” Chris said, grabbing her arm. “Lex is with him, he’ll be fine. You should be having fun.”

“I am having fun!” Kate said excitedly, “Jeff’s wonderful!”

“See? And you thought I’d be an ass the whole night,” Jeff said, clearly impressed with himself.

“Actually that was Anthony,” Chris said. “Mind if I dance with Kate one dance? Of course, if you want to,” he smiled charmingly at her.

“Of course I want to dance with you! Can I, Jeff, you won’t get jealous, will you?” Kate asked.

“No, I’ll be fine,” he smiled. “Wait though, Chris, where’s Laura?”

“She left with Anna’s date,” Chris made a face. “Classy, huh?”

“Where is Anna?” Jeff asked, hoping she wasn’t crying.

“She’s fine, she’s laughing with DeRienzo about something,” Chris said. “Come on Kate.”

“Daniel and Anna are so cute!” Jeff heard Kate claiming as they walked away. Jeff was waiting for the day Daniel made Anna cry and he would have to be killed. He wondered idly if clobbering Daniel meant he wouldn’t get to be friends with Kate and Fred anymore.

Jeff sat and looked over at Matt and Sammie who hadn’t seemed to take any notice of the three of them when they had been there. Sammie’s dress was hanging off her shoulder and Matt’s tie was undone. “Get a room!” Jeff yelled.

They both looked at him, startled. “Jeez, Delricci, don’t be such a prude!” Sammie scolded. “Come on, Matt, let’s go find a room.”

Matt grinned at Jeff. “Thanks for the suggestion,” he called as Sammie dragged him off somewhere. Now he was alone. Anthony came by telling him he was going to Sarah’s to watch a movie and left. Now he was really alone.

Chris and Kate danced for a couple of songs and Jeff caught himself becoming mildly jealous. He quickly wiped his mind clean of that. Chris wouldn’t do that to him. Not again, anyway. Wait, wait a damn second. Do what? He didn’t feel that way about Kate.

Anna came and sat down with him. “What are you doing here all alone?” she asked him.

“Everyone’s pretty much gone, and Chris is dancing with Kate right now. I heard your date left with Chris’s date,” Jeff dug casually for information.

“Yeah, funny how that worked out,” Anna grinned amusedly. “He was jealous.”

“Of what?”

“I was dancing with Daniel and he got really jealous,” Anna explained. “It was pretty innocent, it wasn’t erotic dancing or anything like that. But he made some comments and we had an argument and he left with Laura.”

“It was Daniel,” Jeff sighed. “He drives everyone crazy.”

“Yeah, but it was just Daniel. It’s not like he’s this big threat,” Anna shrugged.

“You’re setting yourself up, Anna. He’s going to get what he wants from you and then dump you like he does to all the others. It’s not worth it,” Jeff said thoughtfully.

“Come on, Jeff, I know what I’m doing,” Anna smiled at him. “I won’t get hurt, I promise. We’re just friends. And he definitely won’t get what he wants from me.”

“I hope not, ‘cause then I’d have to kill him and that might mess things up with Kate and Fred,” Jeff grinned. “I don’t want that. I actually like them.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know what I’m doing. Besides, why would I pick Daniel when I could have any guy I wanted?” Anna said definitively.

Jeff stared at her. Usually Anna was very modest. “Come again?” he asked.

“Oh come on, Jeff. I could do it if I really wanted. I could have any guy I wanted. I’m gorgeous enough,” she grinned. “I’m model gorgeous and you know it.”

“You are. You’re also too modest and too shy to be a model. So you’re drunk too, I guess?” he smiled.

“Yes, I’m a little drunk, but it’s still true! I could! Just because I show some class and self-control doesn’t mean I couldn’t,” Anna nodded.

“Fair enough,” Jeff agreed. “Don’t be that bitch though. Everyone hates that girl.”

“So do I,” Anna laughed. “Why do you think I’m not that girl?”

“You want to dance?” Jeff asked.

“Hmmm,” she glanced over at her shoulder. Jeff followed her gaze. Of course, Daniel was over there, making out with somebody in the three minutes she’d be gone. Girls were so easy when they were completely wasted. She laughed. “Sounds good, he’s busy now!”

“I get to dance with the prettiest girl here,” Jeff smiled. “Lucky me.”

“Everyone will be so jealous,” Anna grinned. “Besides, I thought Kate was the prettiest girl here?”

“I’m declaring it a tie,” Jeff nodded. “I’m really not qualified to make decisions like this when I’m drunk anyway. All of you are much prettier when I’ve knocked back massive amounts of vodka. Are you drunk?” he asked, forgetting completely that he’d just asked her that.

“A little bit. Daniel’s been trying to get me to drink more than I want. I just sip politely and toss most of what he’s given me in the trash,” Anna nodded. “I’m very smart.”

“Brilliant. If he pulls anything –”

“I don’t think he’s that stupid,” Anna smiled. “But if I need help, I know where to find it.”

“We’re just worried about you, Anna, you’ve spent a lot of time with him lately, and it’s all fun until you end up crying. Then it’s no fun,” Jeff nodded seriously. “That sounded really stupid, didn’t it?”

“Yes,” Anna laughed. “I told you, Jeff, I know what I’m doing. Do you really think I’m so foolish as to fall for Daniel DeRienzo? I’m just messing with him a bit. Besides, he’s a half way decent friend when he tries.”

Jeff chuckled. “Fine, but I refuse to talk about him anymore, so let me sweep you off your feet…or something.”

Anna and Jeff had only gotten to dance to about two songs before Kate came bursting over, shouting “Dance with me now, Jeffster, dance with me now!”

He laughed. “I thought you were dancing with Chris?” he asked.

“I was, but, well, I saw you were up again and I wanted to dance with you!” she bounced. Jeff noticed she had taken her shoes off. He didn’t really mind. He didn’t even mind his stupid nickname so much now.

“It’s okay, Jeff, I’ll go dance with Chris,” Anna smiled. “I’m so popular tonight, who doesn’t want to dance with me?” She hurried off to find him.

“I’m so glad you’re mine again!” Kate wrapped her arms around Jeff’s middle and squeezed really tightly.

“Oh, you were jealous! That’s cute,” Jeff joked.

“Only a little jealous,” Kate nodded, and then added, “I’m pretty sure if I wasn’t so wasted I wouldn’t have told you that.”

“Why are you wasted?”

“Cause we’ve been drinking the punch, silly!” Kate exclaimed. They were dancing again now. It was getting pretty late, and Jeff wanted to get going soon. He wished they’d left before Kate started to sing.

She was singing along with the music and bouncing around, and even though it was kind of cute, Jeff really didn’t want to listen to Kate sing. Even while he was fairly intoxicated, he could tell she was hideously off-key. It was one of those things that she really couldn’t pull off, even though she could pull off a lot.

“Please, please, be quiet,” Jeff begged, “I can’t take it anymore. I’ll do anything, just please be quiet!”

“What do I get if I stop singing?” Kate giggled.

“What do you want?” Jeff asked.

“I want you to sing to me!” Kate bounced excitedly. “It’ll be romantic!”

Jeff gave this some thought. Sure, he could sing. He’d sung with Lex on stage earlier in the year, a classic performance of Weezer’s ‘Buddy Holly’ but sing to Kate? He doubted they knew any of the same songs. Sure, Jeff knew some romantic-ish ones, but he wasn’t sure Kate would know them.

“What do you want to hear?” he asked her.

“Backstreet Boys!” Kate said, jumping up and down.

“I don’t know any Backstreet Boys,” Jeff sighed. “Who else?”

“’Nsync!”

“I don’t know any of them, either, who else?” Jeff said again.

It went on like that for about two minutes while Kate listed every bad boy band she’d ever heard at least once in her life. Jeff slowly rejected the whole list.

“I don’t know!” Kate said in frustration, “You pick something!”

“I wish you’d said that forty terrible boy bands ago,” Jeff chuckled. “Okay, okay, hmmm…”

He was slowly leading her out of the gym, there was no way he was going to sing to her in front of all those people. She had grabbed her shoes and her purse and they were walking out. She was so focused on the idea he was going to sing to her that she didn’t even insist on saying goodbye to every one of her four billion friends.

Jeff chose ‘Your Song’ by Elton John. It was one Anthony usually did on stage and blew people away with. Jeff wasn’t looking to blow Kate away, but he hoped she’d at least like it.

“This song is usually better with a piano,” Jeff said before he started.

“Just sing it already!” Kate bounced. “I’m so excited! Nobody’s ever sung anything to me before!”

Jeff cleared his head the best he could and sang for her quietly, he didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself. They were back at the entrance to her dorm by the time he finishing, “I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind that I put down in the words, how wonderful life is when you’re in the world.”

“I’ve never heard that before,” Kate said thoughtfully. “It was very pretty though, I liked it.”

Jeff smiled. “I’m glad you liked it. It’d have been better with a piano though.”

“It was perfect just the way it was!” Kate insisted. She looked around. “Well, I guess this is goodnight! I’m pooped, I’m going straight to bed!” Jeff chuckled. “What?” she asked him.

“I can’t believe you just said ‘pooped’,” he smiled. “Well, I had fun. Did you have fun?”

“I had fun,” Kate nodded, though she had stopped bouncing. She looked thoughtful.

“What’s the matter?” Jeff asked. “Anything wrong?”

“No,” she smiled, “I’m fine.”

“Okay. You want me to walk you upstairs or can you make it on your own?”

“I can do it myself,” Kate said with a sanctimonious little nod. “I’m very independent.”

“Of course you are,” Jeff grinned. They looked at each other for a few moments. He wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol, or the fact that he really wanted to, but Jeff had the urge to kiss Kate goodnight. “I better get going then,” he said, thinking better of it and turning to walk away.

He’d walked about five feet before Kate called, “Hey! Jeff!”

He stopped and turned around again. She skipped up to him. “What?” he asked her.

Kate didn’t say anything but she stood on her tip toes and pecked his lips with hers. She looked at him shyly, and he stood there for a second, not sure what to do. Finally he gave in to his earlier impulses, cupping her face in his hand, and kissing her. They stood like that for a while before Jeff decided if they went any further they’d have to get out of public view. “Kate,” he murmured. “Kate, we have to stop.” He pulled his head away from her and grinned, and he knew it was that dopey, stupid looking grin he had whenever he was happy but wasn’t sure what to do or say next. “I’m, uh…” he didn’t know how to finish his sentence.

She giggled shyly.

“I guess this is goodnight,” he got out finally.

“Yes, yes it is. Goodnight,” she smiled. She left him standing there, and he watched her inside and made sure she got in the elevator, then turned and walked back to his dorm.

He was going to go directly to bed, but decided he wanted to talk to someone. He knew Anthony wasn’t in there, and he went down to Chris and Matt’s room.

He knocked. “Come in,” Chris called.

He walked in, and found the lights off and a movie on. Chris was sitting on his bed in regular clothes. On the floor, Anna was still in her little yellow dress, but her shoes were tossed to the side. And sitting next to her was Daniel DeRienzo. Jeff had to resist the urge to throw up instantly on the spot. How Anna had talked Chris into letting Daniel in was beyond Jeff, and he had funny feeling that the reason Chris wasn’t passed out sleeping already was because he was chaperoning. Jeff had to take a mental step back though, and decide that he just didn’t care right now. He was far too tired, and a little confused.

“Can I talk to you real quick?” Jeff asked Chris.

“Sure, what’s up?” Chris asked.

“Hey, hey, take it outside!” Anna ordered, “I’m trying to watch a movie here!”

Chris and Jeff stepped out the door and Chris shut it. “Make it quick,” Chris said. “I really don’t feel good leaving them there by themselves in the dark.”

“Why not?”

Chris stared at Jeff. “Oh right. She knows what she’s doing,” he echoed Anna’s words from earlier.

“Right. I figured if I asked Anna to watch a movie they couldn’t be alone for too long,” Chris explained. “She wanted to go with him somewhere.”

Jeff thought about the look on Chris’s face if he caught Anna and Daniel doing what he was afraid they were going to. He smirked. Chris was still talking, “Do you know where Matt and Sammie went? Nobody’s seen them in hours.”

“I have no idea. They left to go feel each other up and never came back,” Jeff shrugged. “So, anyway…”

“What’s up?” Chris prodded. “Something wrong?”

“It’s nothing, it’s just, when I dropped Kate off –” he stopped. He looked at Chris, who was glancing nervously at the door.

“What happened?” Chris asked.

Jeff replayed the scene in his head quickly. “You know what? It’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow. I’ll talk to you in the morning,” he said. “I’m going to sleep.”

“You can come down and help me baby-sit?” Chris said hopefully.

“No thanks,” Jeff grinned. “I’m going to bed.”

“Tell me about it in the morning,” Chris said, opening the door to his room again.

“Yeah, yeah, goodnight,” Jeff said dismissively, even though he had no intention of doing that anymore.

“Goodnight,” Chris called. Jeff heard the door close. He went back upstairs, brushed his teeth, got out of his suit and fell into bed. He really didn’t want to talk about it. He replayed the scene in his head again. He smiled.

This one he’d just keep to himself.