The Party
My family was pretty comfortable money-wise, but Hana’s family was capital-Rrich, as far as I could tell. Her backyard wasfancy. Most of the space was taken up by several decks at different levels, with huge rectangular planters lining the edges. There were lots of people standing around on them, talking and holding drinks. A large pergola strung with bright lights lit up the dark evening. And there was a huge U-shaped couch with a bunch of kids on it. Down a few steps was another deck, this one with a circular gas firepit in the middle and speakers playing loud pop music. Kids were sitting around the fire. I couldn’t really make out who they were, but I could see Devin.
I could always find Devin.
Aimee headed down there right away—I assumed because she’d seen Jayden somewhere among the others.
“Samaya and Cass!” Hana came up to us exuberantly. She grinned widely. She was wearing a long, black floral dress with a cardigan, and her long hair was in a high ponytail. She looked like a goth-boho hybrid. And she was carrying a red Solo cup, the liquid sloshing onto the patio as she reached us.
“Ohhh, and Samaya, you brought your tasty new boy.” She put her hand on Daniel’s forearm. “I’m still dreaming about the cookies my mom bought from your shop. What were they called? They had a weird name ...”
“Um. Oatmeal chocolate chip?” Daniel said.
“Amazing. A boy who can bake. Samaya, you have the best luck with guys. I mean, you can tell we have the same taste.” She giggled and glanced to where Devin was talking with some others.
I suppressed an eye roll. She sounded drunk. “Nice dress, Hana,” I said, hoping that would stop her from talking even more about Daniel. Or Devin.
“Isn’t it amazing? I got it when Mom took me to buy a dress for the fall formal. Did you get a dress yet?”
“My sister ordered me one from a designer she knows. Wholesale.” I knew that would impress her.
“Nice. You’re so lucky. My sister’s in law school—not as cool as fashion school. C’mon, let me get you a drink. Or snacks? My mom ordered a jumbo sushi platter. My parents aren’t home, but my brother’s inside. He’schaperoning, but don’t worry, he’s cool.” Hana leaned in close. “He bought vodka coolers if you want one. Or there’s some of those fruity soda waters, too. Or pop. Whatever!”
Daniel looked at me, brow raised. I didn’t drink. But I’d been to parties with drinking enough times not to be surprised at Hana’s offer. My group weren’t hard-core drinkers. Most of the time. There was the time last year that Aimee and Omar got so drunk they fell into Jayden’s pool together. But really, this was more of a play-board-games-or-video-games-and-watch-movies kind of crowd than a wild underage-drinking party crowd.
But still, I didn’t know if people drinking here would be an issue for Daniel. I also didn’t know if he was the rat-me-out-to-Andre-for-being-at-a-party-with-alcohol kind of guy.
“I’ll have a Coke,” he said.
I told Hana I’d have one of the fruity soda things, and Cass asked for the same. Hana disappeared to get the drinks.
“This party isn’t what I expected,” Daniel said. He swung his arm a bit, and I realized we were still holding hands. Should I take my hand back now?
I cringed. “Sorry ... I should have told you there’d be drinking here. There’s probably weed somewhere, too. I don’t drink or anything else, but I really don’t care if you want to.”
He laughed. “It’s not the drinking that’s a surprise. It’s just ... the party isn’t how I pictured it.”
“What did you picture?” Cass asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t really know. Not this.”
We headed to the empty corner of the couch thing, and the three of us sat, with Daniel next to me and Cass across from us. Daniel and I weren’t holding hands anymore. People were looking curiously at us, probably because of all the ridiculous rumors that had spread about Daniel this week.
Cass started talking to this girl from our physics class who was also on the sofa. Daniel leaned in close so no one would hear him. “You told me this was a geek party. This looks totally normal, except ...” He looked around the yard. “Prettier. More posh.”
I laughed. “Well, it’s only pretty because Hana’s mother’s an interior designer. But what did you expect from a geek party? A bunch of neckbeards playingD&D?”
His face brightened. “I loveDungeons and Dragons!”
I looked at Daniel and blinked. Did he say what I think he said? “Excuse me? Do you ... have you ... how do you even know whatD&Dis?”
Oh my god, my jock-pretend-boyfriend who I was trying to turn into a geek playedD&D, so he was arguably already even geekier than me.
But Daniel shook his head. “Last year Andre tried to teach a bunch of us at the shelter. Do you actually drink those fruit-water things? I’m not a fan. Drinks need some sugar, IMO.”
I frowned. He clearly didn’t want to talk about thisD&Dthing, even though I was fascinated with this new knowledge. This totally would give him credibility here.
But if he didn’t want to talk about it, I would let it go. Becauseparameters.
