Grant comes up behind me, slinging an arm over my shoulder.
“Sorry to interrupt but I gotta steal our captain for a few.” Andy rolls his eyes, clearly irritated as he walks away. Wemove toward the kegs behind the frat’s makeshift bar. I feel the familiar stickiness of the tap as I go to pour myself a beer.
“What’s up man?” I ask, sipping the foam out of my beer.
I look around. The party is insane. Hundreds of people from freshman to super seniors fill the yard underneath what seems to be several hundred strands of market lights that illuminate the area, more than likely donated by whichever donor alumni wants to show off his money.
“I wanted to just casually point out that your brother seems to be trailing that girl over there that you said wants nothing to do with him?” He points to my brother and his ex-girlfriend who, against my better judgment but out of respect for her, he has kept a secret the past several months. She ultimately, unsurprisingly to me, pulverized his heart.
“Who is she by the way?” Grant asks, clearly ogling her with wide eyes.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say sternly, narrowing my eyes.
I’m not really sure what Will or now seemingly Grant see in my brother’s ex, Lily. I mean she’s definitely attractive but in a sort of typical, nothing I haven’t seen before, way. She’s short, blonde, et cetera, but her personality was always kind of lacking to me. Having a conversation with her is like watching paint dry. At the dinner table with my family she’d use this fake as fuck voice when talking to my parents, like she was a child, which I personally found disturbing, and I swear this girl has never had a solid opinion on anything. I also found it bizarre that she wanted to keep the relationship a secret. Not to toot my own horn but us Cabot/Chapman boys have always been considered a catch, so her not wanting to parade Will around town– kind of a red flag to me.
My brother is so similar to how I was before I came to Astor— completely naive. Dan kept us on a rigorous training schedule for years, making our social lives in high school basically non-existent. Being that Lily really is Will’s first heartbreak, I know he can barely function now that she all but dumped him out of the blue.
Gen is clearly trying to follow my marching orders, which were to be a complete bitch to Lily and her crew. I figured if anyone could pull off trying to keep my brother away from his “one true love,” it would be his best friend. Clearly, I was wrong. She seems more obsessed with trying to keep Will’s attention away from the brunette with her back to me. In fact, Lily seems to be kind of a wallflower for once, which secretly fills me with glee, considering she made the entire summer about her.
I analyze the brunette’s silhouette, trying to make out if I recognize it. I can tell right away this girl is hot— just by the way she stands. She’s tall, her shoulders are back and squared like she’s about to go into combat with Gen, and her hair tumbles down her back in loose waves just barely hitting above her waist. I find myself wanting to twist it around my hands and?—
“Who is that?” I nod toward their group and Grant follows my gaze.
“Oh man— that girl.” He makes a whoo-ee type sound while miming rubbing sweat off his forehead. I stare at him a bit irritated that he hasn’t just told me who she is. He smiles, shaking his head, noticing that he’s pissing me off. “Her name is Olivia. Dude, she was in my orientation cohort and when I tell you every man in that group had his jaw on the ground looking at that girl.” His eyes are basically twinkling at the memory. “She’s fiery though man, she’d eat you alive.” He gives me his signature booming laugh and says to himself, “That’s something I’d pay to see,” while sloppily topping off his own beer before wandering off in search of a napkin. I turn back and notice that she’s gone. I begin scanning the party for her just as I feel fingers grip my arm.
“I’m over this, Ben. Can I be off duty now? He’s clearly not going to give this up. Plus, I like her.”
Gen is clearly frustrated and I have to give it to her— she's really being a good sport considering she’s had a crush on my brother since birth. I never understood why Will didn’t give her a go. She’s a bit cold, but who wouldn’t be with the mom she has. Plus, she has the whole ice princess ballerina thing going for her. I give her puppy dog eyes.
“Please, Gen, for Will’s sake, won’t you help rid him of the girl who broke his heart?” I put my hand over my heart solemnly and she rolls her eyes. “Besides maybe he’ll finally start dating you as some sort of rebound situation,” I say, shrugging and refilling the beer I just finished chugging.
Her eyes instantly fill with emotion and her face looks like I just slapped her.
“Ben, what the fuck? Not cool,” Grant says lightly, suddenly reappearing, putting his hand on Gen’s back in an attempt to comfort her.
“You both are fucking assholes,” she whisper yells and knocks my beer on to my shirt, storming off. Grant stares after her for a second like he’s pondering going after her and mindlessly hands me a wad of paper towel.
“Jesus,” I sigh, sopping wet with my freshly poured beer.
“That was shitty man,” Grant says clearly, still miffed with me, as if a beer poured on me isn’t punishment enough. One thing I love about Grant, other than him being the most genuine guy I’ve ever met, is his willingness to always call me on my shit. He doesn’t care about my money— he's got his own; he doesn’t care about my basketball rank because basketball isn’t end game to him. He honestly has no reason not to call me on my shit, which is what makes him my most genuine friend.
“I know, I know. I’ll apologize to her later— I’m gonna go change my shirt,” I say, tossing my cup into the trash. “Hey—don’t let my brother pour those girls drinks. Lily or my future wife,” I say, smiling as I walk backwards knowing what a cocky asshole I look like.
I pull a new shirt out of my backpack and over my head, when I notice a few girls checking me out. I give them a smirk and a half wave and they giggle in unison. Honestly, it kind of creeps me out. I pull my copy ofRomeo and Julietout of my back pocket and shove it in my backpack knowing I need to finish annotating it before Lit class tomorrow.
“I love that book,” one of them calls. The girl has that freshman air about her.
“Oh yeah?” I ask. “You don’t think it’s kind of sad?” Her eyes go wide as if she thought I’d ignore her. She begins to stammer. “You okay…?” I ask, trying to hold in a laugh at the poor girl's expense.
“She’s just nervous,” her friend pipes up quickly.
“Got it. Well, nice to meet you,” I nod at the group and begin to make my way back outside to the makeshift bar when I see her… Olivia? I think that’s what Grant said. My pulse is racing. It’s dark where they're standing so there's a shadow cast across her face ever so slightly, but I see her. The shape of her face, this pouty mouth that instantly makes my heart stammer. Her low cut shirt with this leather jacket on top. I take a step forward trying to get a better view and I can tell she’s saying her goodbyes to Ian and his boyfriend and some other girl I don’t recognize.
“Hey, can I ask you guys a question?” I ask, nodding back toward the group of giggling girls.
“Yes of course, anything,” the louder friend says in what feels like super speed.
“You guys know her?” I say and point toward Olivia.
