Leo laughed as he was suddenly trapped in a headlock by the speaker, a tall guy with a moustache. I watched, feeling strangely distant like I was watching through a screen.
“Winnie?” a voice asked. It belonged to the woman standing beside me, who had a chunky fringe and arms covered in tattoos of flowers and birds.
“That’s not actually my name,” I explained. “It’s Edwin. Most people call me Eddie.”
“But Leo insists on annoying you by ignoring the pre-established nickname?”
I nodded.
“I get it. My name’s Abigail, and most people call me Abbey, but Leo, for some reason, insists on calling me Gailey.” She leaned in conspiratorially, but since she was much shorter than me, it meant she whispered into my armpit rather than my ear. “I think he has some secret need to feel unique.”
My throat felt tight and sore like I’d eaten a bowl of Weet-bix dry. “Here I was, thinking I was special.” It was supposed to be a joke, but Abbey must’ve heard something else in my voice because she frowned at me.
Shit.
“I’m gonna head to the bathroom,” I told Leo. The moustache guy, who still had his arm around Leo’s neck, pointed down a hallway.
“First door on the right,” he told me.
“Thanks.”
When I found the bathroom, the door was locked. While I waited, I glanced at Leo and his friends. They were laughing while Abbey punched Leo’s arm.
Finally, the bathroom door opened, and a woman emerged. Before I could step into the room, though, the door suddenly shut and locked again. A minute later, a man with shoulder-length hair came out, adjusting his pants and looking extremely pleased with himself.
My irritation surged, and I stormed into the bathroom, locking the door behind me and leaning against it. After a minute, I made my way to the sink and stared at myself in the mirror.
Get a hold of yourself.
I was being sensitive. Leo hadn’t done anything wrong. Technically, we’d never discussed and agreed on labelling whatever we were. I was being silly.
I left the bathroom, determined not to ruin the mood, but Leo and his friends had disappeared. I started looking for them, interrupted by someone passing me an unopened beer bottle. I gratefully accepted it.
Slowly, I searched through each room of the house. It was a slow process because I’d find myself pulled into conversations, and I unexpectedly ran into a classmate on the staircase. By the time I’d searched the entire house, an hour had passed. Either I’d missed them, or they were in the backyard. I took one step through the French doors that led into the backyard, which was dark, with the only source of light coming from the house, but the shock of cold made me retreat.
I was tired. I’d just sit somewhere, and Leo could find me. Maybe he was already looking for me, and I was making things more difficult by not remaining in one place.
I found a spare seat in the front room. It smelled faintly of weed, but thankfully, no one was actively smoking there. Well, apart from the guy sitting on the other end of the couch, who was vaping, the blooms of white clouds smelled like artificial strawberries.
“Are you meant to be vaping inside?” I asked.
He shrugged. “There’s ventilation.” He gestured to the open door.
Right. I stared at nothing before suddenly realising the most obvious thing I could do — use my phone. I pulled it out, and while Leo hadn’t messaged or called, I could call him. I tried. It went to voicemail.
I sent him a message.Hey, I lost you, sitting in the front room rn.
After I tucked my phone away, the vaping guy leaned over, a beer bottle hanging from between two of his fingers.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Beer.”
“I can see that.”
He smiled. “You looked kinda sad, so I thought I’d try to cheer you up.”
My shoulders relaxed. “Thanks,” I said, taking it. Drinking it would give me something to do.
