Kayla barely waits for Deanna’s thumbs-up before she runs up to the bar where some kid is restocking red cups. I look around the room and admire how carefree everyone seems. I spot Kenny and Mel dancing themselves away from a guy who looks like he can barely stand. I nudge Deanna and point them out.
“Are you ready for this?” she asks.
“I mean, ready for what?”
“Possibilities are endless with unsupervised teenagers in this town,” she says, laughing.
I think I already saw that at lunch the other day.
“Where are Myles’s parents?” I ask.
“Probably on vacation. They’re always going somewhere.” She motions to the guy I showed her a few moments before. “That’s his older brother. He’s in charge.” She laughs.
“Wow, got it.”
I look at Myles’s brother and try to figure out how exactly the responsible person is the most drunk in the room. What if something happens?
“Shots first!” Kayla interrupts my thought, handing me a red cup. She passes another one to Deanna and raises hers to the middle. We both follow suit.
“What are we celebrating?” Deanna asks.
Kayla pushes her cup in my direction. “The new girl!”
Deanna smacks her cup into Kayla’s. “Cheers to your first party,” Kayla says.
“Ayeee, cheers to our new girl!” Deanna yells.
I bump my cup into theirs and can’t help but feel a sense of pride. I feel like I am getting the fresh start my mom wanted for me—new friends, new life. Not to mention new girl… I laugh thinking about Deanna saying, “our new girl.” Like, where does the cuteness end?
I warn Kayla that I’m about to embarrass her by plugging my nose since the smell of whatever she poured in my cup is aggravating my stomach already. She laughs and says she might need to follow my lead if she’s going to keep it down. We plug our noses and take our shots.
Kenny and Mel come over and grab Kayla to dance with them. She shoves her empty cup in my direction before theydisappear into the crowd. Deanna points to a small table covered in red cups and hands me hers.
“So, you don’t dance?” She’s moved a little bit farther from the crowd and into a corner where the glow of the lights barely reach. I move closer to her.
“Are you asking me to?” I joke.
She looks at me curiously. “I’m asking about you, that’s all,” she says.
“It depends on how comfortable I am somewhere. My friend Desiree was the dancer,” I say. I want to take that back as soon as it comes out. I don’t want to get into anything about my past right now. “You’re not going out there with them?” I ask, looking at Kayla, Kenny, and Mel having the time of their lives in the middle of the crowd.
“Nope. This isn’t really my scene, there’s always too much going on for me at parties,” she says.
Someone stumbles past us and almost knocks into her.
“Exhibit A.” She laughs and moves back to lean on the wall. I follow and let myself get even closer to her. Our shoulders are touching, but she doesn’t move away.
“Okay, so what is your scene? What do you like to do?” I ask.
“What we were doing at Alice’s house is a good example. I like things that are way more chill and where there are a lot less people,” she says. “The carnival is the only exception. I’ve been going to that since I was little, and I love it.”
“It does sound fun,” I say. “But that’s just like me, actually. I love like, quiet game nights and stuff.”
“Exactly!” Deanna says. “Just games and vibes, no annoying drunk guys or people breaking stuff or acting weird.”
“Oh my god, yes. But wait—you drink. So, you just don’t like getting drunk or when people get drunk?” I ask.
“I don’tdrink. I’ll have a drink here and there, but I don’t really love the taste of alcohol. I also hate the smell of smoke, so I don’t do that at all,” she explains.
