Page 27 of This is Me

“Peter!” Leroy’s voice floated across the yard, causing a few people to look at him before scanning around to look at me. To those who found me, I gave them a small nod and turned my attention to Leroy, who was now bounding across the grass toward me. As it wasn’t a vast yard, he was soon standing right in front of Blaire and me, beaming at the both of us.

“Hello, Leroy,” I greeted him with a smile and saw that his face was already flushed red, giving me an indication of how much he had been drinking.

“Guess what, guys?” He slurred, turning his head toward Blaire and then back to me.

“Is he gonna actually make us guess?” Blaire turned to ask me, and I shrugged.

“It’s a possibility. He has done that before—” I didn’t get the chance to finish answering Blaire, as Leroy pushed my shoulder and let out a loud, bark-like laugh.

“I have done that!” he stated after containing his laughter before entirely composing himself and continuing to stare at us as if he was waiting for us to guess.

“I think he is waiting,” Blaire said, trying her best not to laugh.

“Maybe if we just stand still and stay quiet for long enough, he’ll go away,” I suggested, squinting my eyes slightly at Leroy, who replicated me. As he did so, a broad smile grew on his face.

As it did, I felt my stomach drop. My heartbeat sped up, and it felt as though the world was spinning. I could have blamed it on the alcohol, but I had a sinking feeling it wasn’t what I had been drinking that was causing it. As I continued to look into the bright, smiling face of one of my best friends, I started to realise that I was beginning to feel something for him. I couldn’t explain why I had suddenly started to feel the way I did, but I couldn’t seem to push past all of the little things he did. Each day, I seemed to notice more and more.

The way that he would flick his hair when he said anything sarcastic or sassy. How every time one of his friends were talking, he would take in everything they said, even if it was something that may not have interested him. Every time he acknowledged me when I was talking and got talked over. The way he rolled his eyes at his stupid jokes but laughed at everyone else’s. All the little things he did were being brought to the front of my mind as I stood looking into his eyes, and all I could do was pretend like I wasn’t thinking about kissing him right then and there.

“Okay, Leroy, are you gonna tell us?” Blaire interrupted our staring contest and ripped me out of my thoughts, causing me to look at her instead of Leroy, and I couldn’t have been more thankful.

For a few more moments, I still felt Leroy’s gaze on me before it lifted, and only then did I look back at him, hoping that I wasn’t blushing, even though I knew I was as I could feel the heat in my face.

“Andy was making-out with Carly,” Leroy slurred, not taking his eyes off Blaire. My eyes followed his, and I saw that Blaire had her eyebrows raised.

“Didn’t they used to date?” she asked, and I turned to look back at Leroy, who nodded.

“For like a year. But then she broke up with him and started seeing Brad.” Leroy paused for a moment and looked at me, before adding, “Not your brother. A different Bradly.”

“Thank you for the clarification,” I replied sarcastically with a smile, and watched as Leroy flipped his hair, causing my stomach to drop even further and my heart to go wild.

“Sassy, Stone.” Leroy let out a chuckle before becoming serious. “I must go.”

With that, Leroy spun on his heel and made his way back toward the house, high-fiving a few people on the way. Once he was inside, I turned to face Blaire, who was shaking her head.

“The hero we deserve.”

“But the one we don’t need right now,” I added with a laugh and Blaire continued to shake her head.

“Are we gonna join the party, or are we just gonna watch?”

“You know I’m happy with watching.”

“Yeah, but we should have some fun. Let loose a little.” Blaire nudged me slightly and shot me a smile, which I returned.

“Alright, fine.” I sighed. “Lead the way!”

I gestured toward the house and held my hand out toward Blaire who quickly took it and began dragging me back across the yard. Soon, we were back in the house, and with a quick pitstop to grab a few more drinks—downing a few then and there and taking a few with us—we ended up in the living room of my house. Most of the people at my party were there already, dancing to the music pumping out of the sound system. With its appropriate location next to the kitchen, where the alcohol was, everyone seemed to agree this was the best place to be.

As Blaire and I stood in the middle of the room, where a coffee table usually was, we started to sway to the music.

“This music isn’t really swaying music,” Blaire stated, laughing, though I could only just hear her.

“I’m hurrible doncing though,” I said, giggling uncontrollably as I slurred. I wasn’t too sure on how many drinks I had when we stopped in the kitchen, but they seemed to have all hit my head at once.

“Everyone’s drunk, Pete. Who cares! Let loose!”

At her own words, Blaire started to dance wilder, swinging her arms around, while dipping her head and throwing her hair all over the place. Smiling to myself and holding in a laugh, I decided not to care. Or, more like, the alcohol decided that for me.