DESI
Scout sprintedtoward the woman waving frantically at her, leaving me by the door, looking lost and awkward. I sipped my beer and looked around. She said to mingle, but based on the looks I was getting, no one was interested in mingling with me.Blanco.
Suddenly, the door behind me screeched open. “Oh, sorry!” I ducked out of the way. “Randy?” I blinked in confusion as my friend stepped out of the house.
“Desiderio? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be—”
I slammed my hand over his mouth. “Shut the fuck up.”
He batted me away. “Whatever, I get it. The party across town was a dud. Aleida didn’t tell us it was a sex club.”
“Don’t say her name here,” I pleaded. “I don’t want to think about her. What are you doing here?”
“Tommy invited us after we got kicked out of Ale—” He cleared his throat when I glared. “The other party. It’s pretty good. Did you get some pizza?”
I grimaced. “You ate that?”
Randy shrugged. “So why are you here, then? If you came here alone.”
I took a sip of my drink. I could feel the heat rising in my face. “A friend invited me.”
“A friend? Who? We’re your friends.” He pointed to his chest. “And we were already here.”
I tightened my jaw. Already, the few lies I had created were coming back to bite me. I wasn’t sure how to get myself out of this.
“Look,” I started, but was interrupted by a tall redheaded woman coming up to us.
“You’re the guy with the good weed, right?”
I thought she was talking to me, but she was looking at Randy. Randy glanced nervously at me and then nodded.
“You wanna smoke?” He reached into the top pocket of his jacket.
“Yes, please.” She took his hand and pulled him away. “You can come too.” She glanced at me with little interest. My lips twitched, and the strong need for a cigarette burned my throat. I grabbed the pack from my jacket pocket and shook my head.
Would Scout approve of my habit? I had never cared before if a chick hated my smoking. Aleida hated it. If Scout didn’t like it, I’d quit.
Smoking relaxed me. It loosened me up enough to stop standing by the door and walk around a bit. Which helped the other guests relax in turn. I understood, though. I was different than them, and that made them uncomfortable.
It was obvious that we came from different worlds. I heard many people speaking in full Spanish as I walked by. While I wasn’t fluent in the language, I remembered some of my high school Spanish.Blancowasn’t being used as a compliment.
Five minutes came and went. I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to be a sick puppy trailing after her. She told me to mingle. I could do that. I finished my cup and opted for another. I returned to the keg to find Chino and the girls from before still standing around it, along with a few others I didn’t know.
“This is Scout’s friend, Desiderio.” Catrine smirked. I wasn’t entirely sure what side she was on. Every time I caught her glance, she looked… hungry. But then every time she opened her mouth, she was mocking me.
“Friend?” One of the new men raised his eyebrows. “Since when?”
“We met a week ago,” I explained.
“At the diner,” Birdie added.
“You work there too?” He pointed.
“No, I was just eating there.”
“Be nice, Chester,” Catrine scolded, then looked at me. “Any friend of Scout’s is a friend of mine.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Chino smirked.
