2
Aaron: The Stranger
“Ah, goddammit,” the intruder hisses. His voice indicates he’s a guy, but I don’t recognise it. “What the — is someone here?”
“Yeah, sorry.” I raise a hand but realise he can’t see me. The closet door is open, but since the study’s light is off, there’s nothing to see except the intruder’s vague silhouette.
“Why are you apologising?” he asks. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”
“It’s a habit,” I say, my voice husky and unrecognisable.
“Huh?”
“The sorry thing. It’s a habit.”
“Right.” He’s still standing. “Well, I don’t want to disturb your peace, so —”
A tinkle of laughter makes my ears prick up. I know that laugh: Mimi. And as I’ve already said, where Mimi goes, Lily follows.
I let out a very unmanly gasp and quickly shut the closet door, trapping the stranger inside with me. The laughter fades away, and I feel the stranger’s gaze on me in the resulting silence. I mean, I don’t know for sure since it’s pitch black in here, but I feel the prickle of his attention.
“I’m hiding,” I explain.
“I gathered that.”
“I can feel you judging me,” I say.
“I’m not judging you at all,” he says. “I was planning to do the same thing. Hide, that is.”
“Oh. You’re welcome to join me if you want.”
There’s the smallest pause before the stranger sinks down, and I hear him position himself against the wall opposite me. He stretches his legs out, his knee brushing mine for half a second before he adjusts them.
“Thanks,” he says. “This party is…”
“I know.”
“I think I’ve lost half my voice.” His voice is quite raspy. I wonder if, under any other circumstances, I’d recognise it. Maybe the person sitting with me in this closet is someone I know from school.
But maybe not. There are heaps of people I don’t know at this party, either from lower year levels or from a different school. Honestly, I hope this guy doesn’t go to Easton Grammar. I’d die if a classmate knew I hid from people like this.
“Me too,” I say.
He doesn’t say anything, and I hurry to fill the silence. “So, uh… are you enjoying the party?”
“I’m hiding in a closet. What do you think?”
I laugh. “You’re right. That was a silly question.”
“I shouldn’t have come,” he admits.
“Why did you?”
“Because I was invited, and I thought I might as well try to socialise. Why did you come?”
“Kind of the same reason. It would’ve been rude to not show up. But I don’t really like parties.”
“Neither. I felt self-conscious the whole time. I didn’t know what to do, so I just wandered around, trying to look busy, and… I just wanted some quiet. I can’t believe someone else had the same idea as me.”
