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The door opened and I turned to see who it was. Margie’s blonde head appeared in the doorway tentatively, looking around until she saw me. I waved her over.
“You all remember Margie,” I said, like we hadn’t just been talking about her.
“Yeah,” said Miriam. “Hey. Thanks for coming.” She smiled.
Margie smiled back, though I could tell she was still suspicious. “Thanks for having me.”
“Want a drink?” I asked, holding up a beer bottle. When she nodded, I uncapped it and handed it to her.
The group was a little silent now, unsure of what to talk about. I had to do something.
“Hey, Kaitlyn,” I started, “I almost forgot to mention Professor Barley wants us to play at the next Shadetree event.”
Kaitlyn’s eyes lit up. “Wow, really?”
“Yeah!” I grinned. “She’s seen you playing around campus and wants to have you since you’re popular with the students. Now that the weather’s getting nicer, she wants to do events on the terrace.”
“That would be amazing,” said Kaitlyn.
“And it’s paid,” I add
ed with a grin.
“Dope!” interjected Miriam. “Getting paid to be creative is the best.”
We were interrupted when the door opened and a few more people trickled in. Miriam and Siobhan—who also lived in this house—went to greet them, and the others wandered off, leaving me with Margie.
“Doin’ okay so far?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “They do seem to be nicer this time.”
“They’re not bad people, just prickly,” I said, though I still felt a little bit of guilt over how Margie had been treated initially. “Want to get the music set up? Now that the party’s really starting…”
We walked to the living room and sat down next to the speakers, finding Miriam’s laptop already hooked up. I queued some songs that were good, with Margie’s help, and when we looked up again, it seemed like the number of people inside had doubled.
It was officially party o’clock.
Some people had pregamed already and I caught the distinct sour scent of weed floating in the air. Margie looked a little nervous, and I couldn’t blame her due to her past experiences. I usually hated having to babysit people—like when one of my more sheltered high school friends visited me back in freshman year—but I didn’t mind having Margie at my side.
Yep, I was definitely getting a crush on her. Actually, the crush already existed in full force. I was so attentive to her like I never usually was with other people, and I felt irrationally solicitous. And when I looked at her, I couldn’t help but notice how adorable her face was, how soulful her brown eyes were…
Fuck.
I had to get her focused on some guy. Maybe if she found a boyfriend, I could put my feelings behind me. Or at the very least, I could stop worrying about whether I had a tiny chance of getting with her or not.
“Hey,” I said, nudging her shoulder, “you see that guy over there? Green sweatshirt at ten o’clock.”
She turned in his direction. “What about him?”
“I happen to know he got dumped by his ex, who was a really shitty person, and could use a nice girl to help him forget her…” I smiled slyly.
Margie knit her eyebrows together. “You want me to talk to him?”
“Yeah. His name’s Max and he’s really sweet. You should go for it,” I prodded.
“I don’t know…” Margie continued to watch Max as he chatted with his friend. “I just don’t feel like it.”
“You don’t feel like it?” I asked.
