Take Me for Granted

Chapter 24: Aribel

“Where the hell did you go this morning?” Cheyenne asked when I finally made it back to my place.

I still had an hour before my first class, but I knew there was no way I would be going back to sleep.

“Uh…” The words stalled on my tongue. I’d been so secretive about everything with Grant up until this point that it felt strange to be able to just freely divulge what had happened. It was kind of…exciting. “Grant picked me up.”

“At five in the morning?”

“He drove us down the shore, and we watched the sunrise.”

Cheyenne just stood there with her eyes narrowed. Her fiery red curls had been tamed, but she still always had this slightly manic appearance. Maybe it was just because I knew she was crazy.

“Grant McDermott?”

At that moment, Gabi walked in with a yawn. “Why are you guys so loud? Wasn’t the five a.m. wake-up call enough?”

“Aribel is trying to tell me that Grant McDermott picked her up at five o’clock in the morning just to drive her down the shore to see the sunrise.”

“That’s so romantic!” Gabi gushed.

“It sounds like bullshit to me. That doesn’t sound like Grant at all.”

“Well, I’ve never been particularly romantic, so I don’t think I’d make it up,” I told her flatly.

“Cheyenne, the yelling,” Shelby called, stumbling into the living room and collapsing on the couch.

“Did you hear?”

“How could I not?” Shelby grumbled.

I crossed my arms and waited for them to shut up. I knew it had been completely unlike Grant to do anything like that. He had been the first person to admit that, but it had still happened. “Are you through?” I asked, cutting off whatever Cheyenne was about to say to Shelby.

“Wait, you’re serious?”

“Pretty serious.” I held up the dog tags still hanging around my neck. “I’d say he’s my boyfriend.”

All three girls went silent, their eyes fixed on the dog tags. I was pretty sure I’d just shocked the shit out of them. Then again, the entire thing had surprised me. I definitely hadn’t thought that this would happen after almost having sex, admitting I was a virgin, and then arguing about it almost to the point of no return.

Grant McDermott is my boyfriend. I had to mull it over for a bit to get used to that thought.

“You’re dating Grant McDermott?” Gabi said to break the silence.

“Um…yeah. Well, we’ve been dating since September, but I guess it’s official now.” I shrugged.

Cheyenne blinked away her shock. “Girl, I’m excited for you. I’m just…wow. How did this happen?”

“We almost had sex.”

“You haven’t had sex?” Cheyenne gasped.

“Cheyenne,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“To her credit, Aribel,” Shelby said, “it has been months. Grant isn’t known to keep it in his pants for more than a few hours.”

“He hasn’t been with anyone else since we started talking.”

The disbelieving stares I received were enough to make my stomach flop. He wouldn’t lie to me about that, would he?

Cheyenne glanced at the other girls and then back at me. “I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer or anything. If Grant is your boyfriend and you want it, then I’m ecstatic…”

“But?”

“But he does have a reputation, Aribel.”

Shelby jumped in, “We just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Well, this is going great. “I know his reputation, considering I was the only one in this household who didn’t fall head over heels every time he walked into the room. Maybe you remember that the first time I met him, I drugged him to try to get him to stay away from me. You were the ones pushing me toward him. I know you don’t want me to get hurt, but you can’t just get all concerned BFF when it actually works out.”

Cheyenne sighed. “Well, I just have one question.”

“What?”

“Does this mean I get to see more of Vin?”

We all broke down into giggles.

“Yes, I’m sure it means that.”

We spent the rest of the time talking about the upcoming ski trip. I was really ready to just get through finals so that we could get away. I loved school, and I worked hard, but I’d never really had something like this to look forward to. I always just jetted off back to Boston to see my family.

Cheyenne, of course, was making it a much bigger event than just the four of us traveling up to the Poconos with Grant and the band. From the sounds of it, she had invited everyone that she knew whether they liked ContraBand’s music or not. I didn’t really care as long as Grant and the girls were going to be there.

I made it to calculus just in time. Grant’s dog tags jangled as I found the last available seat. We had a pop quiz, and after hearing everyone’s reactions, I seemed to be the only person prepared for it.

Soon, I was rushing to the chemistry building, ready to turn in my lab work before the final. I set my assignment down on the desk at the front of the room, and then I made my way to my regular seat.

Kristin took the seat next to me and then started messing around on her laptop. She had been acting strange toward me ever since I’d freaked out on her about Grant and I not having sex. Kristin and I weren’t close to begin with, but we did have mutual friends, and I didn’t want it to be awkward at the ski lodge.

“Cheyenne was telling me that you’re coming to the ContraBand show in the Poconos!” I was terrible with false enthusiasm, but I was trying.

“Yep.”

“Have you ever been skiing before?”

“Once.”

Seriously? One word replies? I took a deep breath. “That’s great. I’m rooming with the girls. Are you rooming with your friend Kimberly?”

Kristin shot me a disbelieving look. “You’re not staying with Grant?”

I fiddled with his dog tags, and her eyes were instantly drawn to them.

“Oh, no, he’s staying with the guys.”

“Huh. Yeah, I’m staying with Kimberly, Tina, and Jodi. We’re really looking forward to it actually. ContraBand has never played a venue this big before. Did you know that?”

I shook my head. Well, now, she’s talkative.

“Yeah. They played a show in the city that was pretty big, but the music festival is by far the biggest lineup. They’ll get to hang out with other celebrities. They could even get picked up there. It’s a great opportunity. I mean, I’d be sad if they had to tour the country, but it would be worth it. They’re so amazing.”

Tour the country? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. They had been picked up on a whim for the Poconos music festival when someone saw them at the Halloween show, and that show had only happened because another band had dropped out of the lineup.

No need to jump too many steps forward. I’d just gotten Grant. I didn’t want him to leave to tour the country. I knew what the groupies were like here. I couldn’t imagine how much worse they’d be if ContraBand got signed.

Good Lord, Cheyenne’s pity warnings are getting to me. Grant and I had been official for less than three hours, and I was already doubting everything.