I realize the heels were a poor choice when my feet start to ache only halfway to the house. I wish I didn’t agree to be sober so I could numb the pain just a little bit. When we come up to the house there are already a ton of people outside drinking on the porch. Jake is outside finishing setting up a big blow-up spider in the yard. The boys always go all out with the outdoor decor. There are three other blown-up figures in the yard and a ton of large fake spiderwebs covering the porch. Jake pretends to hump the blow-up spider from the back as we approach, and the boys all laugh.
“Every year he thinks that’s funny and every year it isn’t,” Annica says.
“Boys will be boys,” I say.
Wes, Marissa, and Charlie are all on the porch. Wesley is in afighter pilot costume with aviators on his face. Marissa is dressed as his female counterpart in a much sluttier-looking version of his costume.
Annica says so just we three can hear, “Couples costumes are so cringe.” I laugh, but then Asher comes out of the house dressed in jeans and an Amnesty International T-shirt with a flannel over it.
Well, shit.
I can only hope Annica doesn’t realize that he’s dressed as Cher’s love interest in the movie. But of course, she picks up on it.
“Why are you a part of our group costume?” she asks him when we walk up onto the porch. “Why is he a part of our group costume?” She looks at me now.
I put my hands up in defense. “I didn’t tell him.”
“Oh, I did,” Dani says. “Sorry, I didn’t think it would be a problem. I actually thought it would be cute!”
“Surprise,” Asher says, grinning at me. I can’t say it doesn’t suit him. He looks like he belongs in the nineties, though he looks more like Paul Walker and less like Paul Rudd. And unfortunately, Walker is the Paul I always thought was cuter. “Here, got this for you.” He hands me a seltzer, and I give him a look likewhat about being sober?But then I take a sip and it’s water. He really dumped out a seltzer and filled it with water to keep up the charade. I glare at him.
Wes makes his way around to our group, looking slighted that we didn’t greet him before his cousin. Marissa just stands behind him with her arms crossed, staring at me. I return the look. She’s still on my suspect list, for now. I can see Wesley’s eyes from under the aviator glasses as he looks at Asher before pulling me in for a hug.
“You look... really good, Sloane,” he says a little too low for Marissa to hear, but loud enough for Asher.
“Redismy favorite color,” Asher muses, putting a hand on my back to guide me inside and away from Wes.
“What the hell?” I say to him when we walk into the living room. “Why would you do that? He was flirting with me.”
“You call that flirting?” he says back.
“Also, I don’t want a seltzer with water in it. I can handle an actual drink.”
“Fine, then go get one yourself.” He walks past me to the backyard, where there’s a bonfire going and double the amount of people. I grab an actual alcoholic beverage and go to rejoin my friends in the living room on one of the couches. A dry ice machine goes off in the corner of the room, making it smoky, but we can still see Marissa and Wes by the stairs looking like they’re having an argument.
“Charlie said he thinks they’re going to break up again,” Dani says.
Annica crosses her arms. “I doubt it. He would tell me.” She thinks he tells her everything.
“I don’t know.” Dani takes a drink. “Apparently, he slept with someone else while they were on a break last summer. Charlie said he doesn’t know who it was but Wes hasn’t been the same around Marissa since.” I hold my breath, my heart beating rapidly in my chest, waiting to see Annica’s response.
Annica’s eyebrows shoot up. “What? I can’t believe he didn’t tell me about that—we tell each other everything.”
“Looks like not everything,” I mumble.
“Do you know who it was?” she asks me. “I bet Asher knows. You should ask him.”
“Um, yeah, maybe. But if he didn’t tell you, maybe there’s a reason for it. Maybe we should just leave it alone.”
Annica narrows her eyes. “He must be embarrassed about whoever it was. Maybe she’s not very pretty. Or maybe she’s a major slut.” She looks at us for reassurance.
Dani just nods along and I say, “Yeah, for sure. Probably both.”
I have bigger things to worry about tonight than Annica’s obsession with Wes and who he sleeps with. She claims to love him like a brother but if it is something more, I wish she’d just say it already. Just put it out in the open and spare us the group dynamic excuse.
A hypocritical thought coming from the girl who does in fact like him in that way and hasn’t said anything.
I start to chug my drink and hope they don’t notice my hands shaking as I do it. I go to the kitchen to grab another drink and peer out at the backyard, making sure Asher is occupied, but I don’t see him. Looking back in the living room, I see Annica and Dani join in on some of the drinking games going on and I lean against the wall by the staircase, digging around my purse for the Xanax. I take it out and look at it between my thumb and finger for a while before bringing it to my mouth. A hand catches my wrist and I look over to find Asher standing there.
