“Hey,” Ruby says to Craig and I wave.
Craig looks like Declan with longer hair. “How’s it going?”
Declan passes us both a bottle with a label explaining it’s a fruit flavoured drink mixed with vodka.
“Wait. Neither of you brought drinks,” he says. “Are you drinking tonight?”
“Yeah,” I say.
“Are we meant to drinks?” Ruby asks.
“Yeah,” Declan says. “It’s alright though, you’ll just have to bum them off other people.”
“It’s alright, Oliver will have heaps,” Ruby tells me.
I nod, though my cheeks are warm. So it’s not like American movies where there’s a never-ending supply of free alcohol.
Over the next hour, more people arrive. Ruby and I drink and hide out in the backyard, on the freshly mowed lawn, the fence decorated with fairy lights. The speakers start playing music loud enough to hurt my ears.
How do people throw parties and not infuriate their neighbours? Do they talk to the neighbours beforehand? Let the council know?
As it gets darker, clusters of people stand around the backyard or sit on the lawn. Ruby and I say hello to people from our year level — before the Jealousy Pact with Noah, I wouldn’t have talked to them, but now we have long conversations about nothing in particular. When Tiana, Alison and Sana pass, their eyeshadow glittery and elaborate, they wave hello, their chins up.
“Look, there’s your brother,” I say, pointing to Oliver sitting with a circle of friends. “Let’s join them.”
Ruby doesn’t protest, and when we arrive, everyone smiles and says hello. Ruby and I sit on either side of him, and Ruby needles him for alcohol. “Fine, fine, fine,” Oliver grumbles, and gestures to John to pass over an apple cider bottle from the esky behind him. “You better pay me back later,” he says to Ruby.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ruby says, unscrewing the lid.
Oliver looks over at me. “Do you want one, Eve?”
“Are you going to make her pay for it?” Ruby asks.
Oliver shakes his head. “No, Eve’s my friend.”
“Yeah,” I answer. “Thanks.”
“She’s not your friend,” Ruby says. “She’s mine.”
John passes me one and I screw off the sealed lid. Unlike the fruity vodka, this drink tastes more like alcohol. I like it less but drink it anyway.
The circle talks about school gossip, and as the conversation switches topic again and again, I’m more and more talkative. I ask newcomers to the circle about themselves and nod enthusiastically at what they say.
Later, Ruby and I wander to the bathroom, and I compliment girls on their clothes. Words come out of my mouth before I can stop them. It’s weird, and I can’t tell whether it’s because of the alcohol. I don’t think I’ve drunk that much … I look at my bottle. It’s another vodka drink that Daisy gave me.
Later, I see Noah standing in a circle with his friends. I don’t know where Ruby went, so I march over to him by myself.
It’s gotten dark by now, and the fairy lights shine bright like stars. “Hello, Noah,” I say, breaking into the circle and wrapping my hands around Noah’s middle. I realise we haven’t hugged, even though I hug Ruby. I’ve hugged Oliver once or twice before I thought he was hot as hell and was too awkward to touch him.
“Hello, Noah’s friends,” I say to Henry, and Kaito, and Declan, and a group of other guys.
“Eve,” Noah says, sounding incredulous. “Are you drunk?”
“No,” I laugh and hold up the bottle I’m carrying around. Okay, maybe a little. But I can still solve times tables. And walk in a straight line. Mostly.
“How many have you had?” There’s a crease between Noah’s brows. I reach up and flatten it.
“I don’t know,” I answer.
