1. Double Date

Prologue: A few days before finals week

"Bowling? You couldn't have Googled 'Fifteen ideas for double dates that aren't bowling'?"

"What's wrong with bowling?" Dave asked, defensively. "Liz liked the idea, and she says that Meadow does, too."

"Because it's boring! As a date idea, at least," I argued. "I've never met this Meadow, and her first impression of me is going to be that I meet her at the most predictable place possible. What's that going to say?"

"Christ, Kev," he growled. "Stop over-analyzing. It'll be fun, and it's up to you to make your own impression. Liz says she really wants to meet you, but do you want for that to be at a fifty-buck-per-person meal when you don't even know if you can stand her?"

"And that's another thing," I continued my rant. "What the hell name is Meadow? Who would call their kid Meadow? She's probably vegan with green hair and glasses five feet wide!"

Dave rolled his eyes. "Nervous, bro? You'd think you'd never been on a date before."

"Not in a long time," I admitted. "College was supposed to be wild parties, drinking and hookups. They're not happening."

"You exceeded your hookup quota early in the semester, if you rem..."

"Oh, not that again," I interrupted. "That lasted less than a week."

"Yeah, fortunately," Dave said. He had a point. Sofia, her name had been. I'd met her at a freshman mixer. She'd been very much into technique, in an area in which I had little experience. She'd been a good teacher, but a little too vocally enthusiastic when everything went well. Dave, my roommate, claimed that the last night she came over we'd kept him awake until four a.m., and he'd fallen asleep during classes the next day.

Sofia had dumped me for a jock in junior year after a few days, and I really hadn't mourned the ending of the relationship. I had to admit, I'd paid for those non-restful nights too. Catching up with sleep had put my studying behind, and I wasn't up to speed with my courses for two or three weeks. It's one reason that the rest of the semester had been such a bust, socially.

In general, Dave and I were pretty compatible as roommates. He was a physics major, while I was an architecture student. He'd been in track and field in high school, where I was a swimmer, and we both were regulars at the rec center. I was just shy of six foot, dark hair and brown eyes, while he was six one, blond with blue eyes. He'd dated a couple of times at the beginning of the semester, while for me there'd been only Sofia, then hitting the books.

Then, a couple of weeks back, Dave had met Liz. She was a serious girl, though she had a good sense of humor. Dave had become very fond of her, and I didn't blame him. I didn't think they were sleeping together. For that matter, I wasn't sure if they were dating, as such, but if they weren't, they would be soon. Liz clearly cared for Dave, too.

"Man, that was months ago!" I groused. "I'd barely started all my classes!" I sighed. "That's the problem. Studying is hard."

"So you're taking a break from your books. You're not backing out on me, man. I promised Liz."

"Yeah, I know. I'll do it, bro. I agreed."

"And Meadow isn't vegan. We're meeting for burgers first, remember?"

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Burgers and bowling. How could I forget?"

"And she doesn't have green hair. But she does have glasses."

"You've seen her? You didn't tell me!"

Dave gave me a superior smirk. "Liz sent me a couple of photos. If I show you them are you gonna stop whining?"

"Why have you been holding out on me?"

"Liz only texted them to me this morning," Dave admitted. "So, deal?"

I sighed. "Deal."

He took out his phone, pulled up a photo and passed it to me. The image was of a girl with a heart-shaped face. Her brown hair curled inwards just above her shoulders. She wore angular glasses that gave her a studious look, but her eyes behind the glasses seemed to hold a hidden amusement. She was slender, but filled out the red tee shirt in interesting ways. She wore tight, shiny blue jeans, her thumbs hooked in the belt loops. I would definitely not object to getting to know her.

"No green hair," I said, noncommittally.

Dave grinned. He could read me well enough. Besides, he'd seen the picture. He took the phone back, swiped the screen, and gave it back to me.

This one was of three girls standing, all in swimsuits, with arms around each other. On the right, and tallest, Liz wore a black, fairly modest one-piece. She was willowy, with straight black hair and a serious expression.

Center, and shortest, was a girl I knew from a couple of math classes we shared. Yvette, her name was. Her hair hadn't done well in the water, it looked reddish and stringy, but I knew it to be a mass of redcedar-colored curls. She had high cheekbones, amber eyes, and a narrow chin. In this photo she wore a red bikini with a low top, showing moderate breasts and narrow cleavage. Even with her hair in wet clumps she was lovely. I knew from class that she still looked great in tee shirt and jeans.

I also knew from college gossip that she was likely much more interested in the girls on either side of her than she could ever be in me, or any other guy.

Left, between the two in height, was the girl from the first photo. In this one she wore no glasses, and her damp hair was hanging straight. She was stunning in a green bikini, the pants barely more than a thong. The top was even more revealing than Yvette's, low strips of fabric with a large shaping knot between moderate-to-large breasts. There was a slight darkening of the skin around the center of the bikini top, which I would attribute to a camera artifact or shadow except that it was mirrored on both breasts.

"Damn," I breathed. "And she wants to meet me?"

"So Liz says," he answered, looking amused.

"You know, I think you should send me those photos," I said. "For identification purposes. In case you and Liz are run over by a high-speed snowplow or something. And she is my date."

He laughed. "I'm sure she'd be okay with that, since Liz sent them for you to see."

 

Saturday

 

"They're here," Dave said, nodding at the window, on the other side of which a tall dark-haired girl was stepping out of a car. I recognized Liz instantly.

 

I did not immediately recognize the shorter girl who emerged from the other side of the car. I was expecting to see Meadow's curled-in brown hair, but this girl had short red hair. She seemed familiar, though...

"Oh, Jesus," I said to Dave. "That isn't Meadow."

He looked left. He'd been focusing on his date. "It isn't, is it? Who's she?"

"You've seen her," I said, "in the beach photo. That's Yvette. She's in a couple of my math classes. She's way, way out of my league. She's the daughter of the French ambassador or something." I took a deep breath. "And she's gay."

"Wait," Dave said. "Liz didn't say anything about..."

"Well, duh, of course she didn't," I hissed. "I'm sure Meadow is straight, but. That. Ain't. Meadow."

They were approaching the table. Liz smiled at my companion. "Hey, Dave! We're here! This is..."

"Yvette," I interrupted. Liz's face showed surprise. The other girl turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "I know you from class."

"Of course," she said, with her soft French accent, completely unperturbed by my rudeness. "You are Kévin, no?"

She pronounced my name like the Spanish que, then veen, with the accent on the second syllable. I didn't correct her. It sounded better than the usual pronunciation. I nodded. "So are you here as my date, or Liz's?"

"Christ, Kev," Dave interjected. "Cool it. And at least let them sit before you drive them away."

Yvette shook her head, still perfectly cool. "It is well." Then she looked at me. "For you, of course, silly. I know this pretty lady ver' well, and my charms, they are wasted on 'er. Unless you 'ave a change of 'eart, ma chérie?" She raised an eyebrow at Liz, watching her with a grin.

Liz turned pink and shook her head. Yvette turned back to me, and I regretted my hostility. "I'm sorry, Yvette, Liz. It's good to see both of you."

"Kev's a bit on edge," Dave explained for me. "Finals."

"Probably true for all of us," I added, as Yvette nodded seriously, "so that's no excuse." I smiled at her. "I almost didn't recognize you with short hair."

She turned her head so that I could see the comb holding a redcedar knot, shorter hair falling forward over her ears. A small diamond stud glinted from the left side of her nose.

"I see," I said, and turned to Kev. "She has these amazing curls, down below her shoulders."

Something cracked in Yvette's calm expression, and she colored slightly. "I wanted it not to be in the way," she offered.

I grinned. "It looks good up, too. Can I get everyone's food? To make up for being snappy?" I glanced over to Dave. "Even yours?"

They all turned slightly to see the menu on the wall behind me. I used the opportunity to study my date. She wore a charcoal jacket over a very low black top, with a black gauzy panel that just covered her cleavage and did little to diminish a very intriguing view. Her skirt was short and charcoal, matching the jacket, with dark hose and black medium-heeled pumps.

But she wasn't Meadow. I guessed my intended date really wasn't as interested as Liz had claimed.

So I took their orders and went to the counter. Dave picked up the second tray when it arrived, and we sat to eat.

"What happened to your friend?" he asked Liz.

"Something came up." She turned to me. "She wanted me to apologize to you. She was looking forward to meeting you, and asked if you'd take a rain check."

Okay, maybe I'd jumped to conclusions, and been unfair to Liz. She'd always seemed honest, likely she wouldn't have misled Dave about Meadow's interest. And if her friend wanted to try again, she'd probably be fine with a solo date rather than setting up another double. So I could see her without Dave and Liz playing chaperone. That sounded like a good deal.

"Sure," I said. "I'd like that."

"And Yvette's a mutual friend, and she knows you..."

"And didn't run away screaming," I said, turning a grin towards the French girl, who returned it. "So that's something."

"True," agreed Liz.

"Do you bowl?" I asked Yvette.

She shook her head. "Non, it was not common before I was in America."

"What about you, Liz?"

"I'm not very good," she replied.

"That's good, neither is Dave, so if Yvette and I partner up, we should be evenly matched."

"Listen to him," Dave said, with a laugh. "He's no better than me."

"It's true," I admitted, "but I'll have to be better today for Yvette's sake." She flashed me an amused smile.

We walked over to the bowling alley. Dave paid our fees and we went through the ritual of finding shoes that fit.

"Those really don't go with your look," I said to Yvette.

She struck a dramatic pose. "Ah, c'est tragique! I am too young to die of bad fashion choices!"

Yvette complained that all of the balls were too heavy, even the lightest, but Liz persuaded her that she'd do well to get used to a ten pounder, especially if she might play again. Then Yvette turned a jealous eye to the bumper lane set up for children. "I need these," she said, pointing at the bumpers, but this time she was clearly not serious,

We found our lane and spent a few minutes teaching Yvette the basics. I found myself enjoying her attention and her company, and the way she called me Kévin. She sat beside me and chatted comfortably when Dave and Liz were bowling. She guttered most of her balls when starting, but improved quickly, even throwing two spares in the second game.

She also flirted lightly with Liz, which made the tall girl turn pink. Dave seemed ambivalent about that, definitely amused at Liz's reactions, but possibly slightly jealous, too. On the other hand, she was clearly with me, even if she didn't flirt with me much, as such. She talked to me, paid attention to me, and asked me questions about my past before college. In turn, I asked her how she came to be here, since she'd mentioned growing up outside the US.

"Your dad is an ambassador or something?" I asked.

She laughed. "My mother! And not an ambassador. She is advisor in defense at the embassy."

"Defense? That sounds pretty heavy."

Yvette shrugged with hands turned out. "I do not know much about what she does. I am sure it is ver' secret. When she was posted 'ere we wanted the opportunity to see the world, so I was at school in DC before coming to university."

"You didn't want to go back to France for college?"

She shook her head. "I still need to work on my English. I may go there for postgrad."

"Your English sounds fine to me," I commented.

She shook her head. "I still miss the idiom. Besides," she gave a lascivious glance over towards Liz, "per'aps I am not ready to say goodbye to American girls."

I grinned at her. At some point I'd realized that since the date wasn't going to be about sex, that relieved me of the pressure of bragging or promoting myself or avoiding driving her away. It liberated me to enjoy her company, and I found I was doing so.

Halfway through the third game, Yvette made a lucky strike. She turned to blow me a kiss. We still ended up a few points behind, though.

In the end, Liz and Dave won every game. Yvette complained that her arm was aching, but she said she'd try again if we were willing, and we all agreed to another visit.

There were pool tables, too. Yvette took my arm and leaned close, whispering in my ear, "If I can beat you at pool, you must walk me 'ome."

I shrugged and agreed, and we headed to the pool room after changing into our shoes.

"Why?" I asked. I managed to sink a ball on the break, and was continuing.

"They need time alone," she said. "Liz, she likes your friend, but..." she pursed her lips for a moment. "She 'as been 'urt before, not so long ago. She 'as wished to know that she is safe with 'im. Now she thinks she is so. Is this true?"

I nodded. I'd only known Dave a few months, but he wasn't going to hurt her. "He's an okay guy," I said. "He likes her a lot. I've been wondering why they seem so slow getting together."

"This is why, I think. If 'e is recognizing that she does not wish to 'ave pressure, then this is also a good sign. And you, Kévin?" she continued. "Are you an okay guy?" She batted her eyelids, then smirked at me. "My friend Meadow, will she be safe on your date? She is my ver' good friend. I 'ave known 'er since DC."

I had a long shot to make, and I sank it, but the cue ball followed. I sighed and took it out to hand to Yvette. "I'd forgotten about her. I will keep my promise, though." I grinned at her. "Depends how safe she wants to be."

She lined up her first shot and casually sank it, then moved around the table. "She is ver' pretty girl. You will like 'er." She knocked the next ball in and I started to realize that maybe this was a game she had played before. "I think per'aps she will not wish to be too safe."

"I've seen a photo," I admitted. "I know she's very attractive. It was a group shot. You and Liz were in it too, and you all looked amazing."

She seemed pleased by the comment. "I know this picture."

"I don't want her to replace you for bowling, though," I said. "We all agreed to return. I'll set something else up with her."

"This is good," she said. Her next shot was easy, but the way she put topspin on the cue to bring it back off two cushions to line up with the next ball certainly wasn't.

I still had four balls on the table when she called the black, putting it neatly in the corner pocket and leaving the cue ball in the center of the table. I looked at the table, shaking my head, then back to Yvette in time to see her wink at me.

We returned to Dave and Liz. "Kévin 'as agreed to walk me 'ome," she said to them. "'E is not so good with pool as 'e is with bowling." Then she put her hand on Liz's shoulder and guided her forward. "We ladies need to powder our noses," she said.

"No seducing her, or Dave will be upset," I called to her, and she turned to give me a dramatic stage wink over her shoulder.

"What was that about?" asked Dave, looking after the pair.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. She wants to give you two some alone time, and I think it was Liz's idea. Treat her well, okay? I told Yvette that you were a good guy."

He nodded. "Of course. You know me."

For many guys, that could have been a sarcastic line, but I knew that I could take Dave at his word.