Page 113 of Septembers

“I don’t know!” he yelled over the music.

“Why don’t you know?”

“I don’t know why I don’t know!”

She frowned and grabbed his arm, leading him to the back yard. A few people were outside smoking and chatting, but no one they knew. The cool breeze cut through the thin fabric of his shirt, which was refreshing after sweating on the makeshift dance floor. Leaves crunched under their shoes as Jordan marched him across the lawn, then turned on him, arms crossed.

“Are you kidding me?”

“What’d I do?”

She heaved a deep, wounded, existential sigh. “Did you go back on what you said, Theo? Did you convince Dae you’re not madly in love with him?” She held up her hand to halt his answer. “And don’t even try to say it was the near-death experience making you say things you didn’t mean, because that would be the exact time you’d say what you mean the most, and if you try to keep pretending you don’t⁠—”

“I love him, okay!” He waved his hands in front of her face before she could slip into some kind of angry fugue state. “I’m in love with him!”

Her smile was brilliant. “So you’re together?”

“I…think so?” A mosquito buzzed in his ear, and he swat it away, moving them closer to the wall of citronella candles.

She groaned, whiny and high-pitched, letting herself be dragged. “What does that mean?”

“I think he’s avoiding me.”

“Did you avoid him first?”

“No!” Some heads turned at his outburst, so he lowered his voice. “I want to be touching him every second of every day. I want him so much, it’s physically painful.”

She studied him from head to toe like the answer might be on his person. “You must be doing something, Theo. This is what you do.”

Okay, that stung, but it wasn’t untrue. “I’m trying my best not to. I’m going at his pace, following his lead. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

“So ask. Talk to him. Figure it out.” She grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him close. Her breath smelled like alcohol and lemon. “I need love to win today, okay? Give me this.”

“Babe, you okay?”

She shook her head, but didn’t elaborate, instead plunking her forehead against his shoulder. “Can you just dance with me?”

“Any time.” He wrapped his arms around her as the breeze kicked up a swirl of leaves around them. He was a little drunk. Not uncomfortably so, just enough that time slipped by a little faster as they swayed together, and the pop ballad changed to a party anthem, then some boy-band nostalgia.

Just as the singer was hitting a high note that was doing things to Theo’s body, the music stopped. He and Jordan gave each other a grumpy huff then went into the house to investigate.

“Who dares cut off such a beautiful song at such a pivotal part?”

“My bad.” Caleb’s arm was slung around Avery, whose head rested on his shoulder. “We promised the neighbours we’d quiet down at one am.”

Jordan’s lower lip trembled. “You guys are going to fit in so well here.”

Then she was full-on crying, and so was Avery, and they were hugging, and Theo left them there, sobbing into each other’s faces.

Dae stood in the kitchen with Jason and a couple girls who must’ve been Avery’s friends, because Theo didn’t recognize them.

He sidled up to Dae. “I’m fading.”

Dae nodded to the door. “You want to go?”

“If you do.”

“Whatever you want.”