Tristan and Tea aren’t having sex. At least, they weren’t until today. I can’t believe I didn’t know that. I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to Adele. I’m convinced that listening to too much Adele may be dangerous for my mental health, but I can’t help myself. She’s a drug. It took me months to get over her last album, but now she has a new album out.

Tristan and Tea weren’t having sex. But now that he had seen me with Simon, they will be. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing, I decide after a while. I mean, so what? I thought they were having sex and now they’re going to. So why am I so afraid?

I take a deep breath. I have so much work to do. I have a paper due in English and a project due in Anthropology. I’ve started neither. Today was supposed to be my study day, but now it’s all gone to shit. Might as well just eat some junk food and watch TV.

I go out into the living room. When I see Tristan there, I give him a nod and place a packet of popcorn into the microwave. Dylan and Juliet aren’t here, but that’s not going to stop me from hanging out in the living room. Tristan and I are over. We’re dating other people. We’re adults. We’re capable of being friends. Starting with right now.

Tristan’s watching some sports analysis show on ESPN. Football, I think.

“How’s it going?” I ask.

“Worried about USC this weekend,” he says. Tristan grew up being a USC fan. And now that we’re 3,000 miles away from Los Angeles and he’s going to a completely different school, he’s still a USC fan. I like that about him. Loyalty.

I ask him who they’re playing. He goes into a long spiel about the new coach and the quarterback this season. I’m only half listening, but I’m enjoying our time anyway. It has only been a few hours since the Simon incident, but everything seems to be somewhat back to normal. Friends. Okay, I can do this, I say to myself.

“Hey, are you listening?” he asks.

“Yeah, sure,” I lie. That’s enough confirmation for him to start talking again. We watch ESPN together for a couple of hours. I spend most of my time on my phone reading and wasting time on Facebook, but our time together is still nice.

“So I think I’m going to go to bed now,” I say when I realize that it’s almost 11.

“Wish I could do that same thing,” Tristan says with a sigh and flips through the channels.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Oh, you see that sock on our door? That means that Dylan’s in there with a girl. They’ve been there almost the whole night.”

I look at the sock. It’s bright red and so old that it looks like it’s been washed a million times (probably by Dylan’s housekeeper).

“I thought that was just a cliché. You actually do the sock thing?” I laugh.

“How else do we know not to barge in on each other?” he asks. “You know, come to think of it, you and Juliet should develop some sort of system like that too. Otherwise, you know, anyone can just come in.”

We both burst out laughing.

“I’ll think about it,” I finally say, rolling my eyes.

“So who’s he got in there?” I ask.

He shrugs.

“I bet it’s Peyton,” I say.

“No, I don’t think so.” He shakes his head.

“How do you know?”

“When he brought Peyton around before, we always hung out together first. He wasn’t hiding it. But this girl. I don’t know, it’s different. I stepped out for a few minutes and, suddenly, there’s a sock on the door. No, this girl’s different.”

We laugh again. It’s nice to laugh with Tristan. Relaxing and peaceful. We wait for ten more minutes and then decide to take bets.

“I bet you $10 that it’s Peyton,” I say.

“No, no. I don’t want to bet with money.”

“Why?” I recoil in shock.

“Because it’s boring. Let’s do chores or something fun.”

“Like what?”

“Like, if you win then I have to do something for you. Make your bed, do your laundry, take you somewhere?”

I think about that for a second. That does sound more interesting than money!

“Okay, so if it’s Peyton, you have to do my laundry for two weeks,” I say.

“Deal,” he says. He looks me up and down as if he’s sizing me up for something. “And if I win, if it’s not Peyton, but some other girl, then you have to go to Phi Kappa Beta’s Masquerade Ball with me.”

“What?” I ask. That was the last thing I was expecting.

“I’m thinking of rushing next semester. And they’re having this masquerade ball in a few weeks. And if I want to come, I have to bring a date.”

That’s sort of an explanation, but it doesn’t really explain anything.

“But what about Tea?”

He shrugs.

“I don’t know, okay? Tea and I are complicated. We’re in a weird place. And I just want to bring a hot friend. Someone uncomplicated.”

I nod and then laugh. I can’t help myself.

“What? Why are you laughing?” he asks.

I shrug. “You and Tea must be in a really complicated place if you want to bring your ex-girlfriend. I mean, we’re not in that uncomplicated of a place, you know.”

He comes close to me. “The thing is that you’re really special to me, Alice. What you and I have…it’s different. And now that we’re friends, I just know that things will work out.”

I smile. I hope he’s right.

Tristan and I wait for Dylan and his mystery date until midnight. I fall asleep a number of times and, finally, give up a little past midnight.

“I can’t wait any longer. I have to get some sleep,” I say.

“I’ll be out here,” he says as I climb into bed. I decide not to close my door. I want to see who Dylan spent the whole night with. I’m pretty sure I’ll hear them if my door is open, I decide, as I drift off to sleep.