“Thank you. Do you want to play?” she says, pointing to a table tucked away in a room that looks like it should hold a formal dining table.
“Oh no, I’m good.”
A drunk guy leans against the table and studies me. “Do you go to college here?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, never seen you before,” he says like he doesn’t believe me.
“I don’t go out to many parties,” I reply, looking around the room and down the hallway in search of anyone I recognize. Doubtful, very doubtful since you don’t know anyone apart from your three best friends, and I know they are not here. No dates except for play dates you organize for Sam. Let’s face it, the trashcans go out more than I do.
“Well, if you don’t find your friends, you’re more than welcome to come back and join us. I’ll show you the ways,” hesays in a Yoda voice. “It’s easy; just aim straight, keep your eye on the hole, and without too much force, pop it in,” he says that as he releases the ball. I watch it fall into a cup at the other end of the table. He grins in jest. “Just the way I do it with Kelvin’s mom,” he says to the guy at the other end of the table.
The guy flips him off, plucks the ball from the cup, and downs the drink in one go.
“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass for now. Umm… you wouldn’t happen to know where Randy Harrison is, would you?”
At the end of the table, the redhead sinks a shot, the ball landing clean in the cup in front of the guy. “What? A lady looking for Randy?” he says, mock-shocked. “Pretty sure there’s a line somewhere back there,” he adds, gesturing toward the rear of the house.
“Okay, thanks,” I say, already turning to leave.
“Good luck,” the girl raises her brow at me. She looks at me like I’m fresh meat for the slaughter…and maybe I am.
I walk down the hallway toward the back of the house. Great, what if that guy is right and there is a line? My step falters as I think about what I’m doing. What if he was just being nice and never actually expected me to turn up? What if the way he acts around me is totally different than in public? My face is starting to heat with every reluctant step I take toward the back of the house.
The back room is huge. It has a large open kitchen that looks out over a dining room table that’s holding an intense game of beer pong at one end and a poker game at the other. There’s a sitting area on the far right that overlooks the backyard, and behind the sitting area is a large game room. I can’t see the whole room, but I can see one pool table and at least two pinball machines and a foosball table. Leaning against the doorway to the game room is the unmistakable Randy Harrison talking to a barely dressed, drop-dead gorgeous lady.
“Great,” I mutter as I shuffle from foot to foot trying not to stare. My brain goes into overdrive figuring out what to do. Do I interrupt, stand here like a statue, or turn and leave?
“Rachel,” I hear my name called from the sitting area. I look over to see Shelby waving to me from the couch and breathe a sigh of relief.
She stands as I approach, wrapping me in a gentle hug. “It’s so good to see you again. Here, come and take a seat with us,” she gestures. “This is my friend Letti.”
“Nice to meet you,” the attractive girl says, offering me a salute with the pink liquid in her glass.
“You too,” I say.
I take a seat across from them as Shelby drops back down beside Letti, and I bask in the feeling of no longer being alone.
“Randy mentioned you’d be coming,” Shelby says between sips of her drink.
“Yeah.” I fidget with my hair and let out a heavy sigh. “He insisted I come, but if I’m being honest, it’s really not my scene and I don’t know anyone.” I scan the crowd—yup, still don’t recognize anyone.
Shelby gestures to Letti. “Rachel stayed over a few nights ago, we talked for hours playing cards. She’s got a gorgeous little man at home. His name’s Sam. He’s four, and honestly, he’s super cute.”
“Oh wow, really? Do you have a photo?” Letti asks, seeming genuinely interested.
I smile and pull out my phone, showing off my wallpaper of a smiling Sam.
“Oh my God, he is gorgeous,” she says, looking at me. “Lucky boy has his mother’s complexion.” She smiles and hands me back my phone.
“Thank you.”
“Oh,” she says, her hands flying dramatically in the air. “And don’t worry about not knowing anyone, you know us, and that’s all that matters,” she says in assurance, then takes a sip of the drink in her hand.
I immediately feel at ease around Letti. She screams confidence and sass but not bitchiness, like being around her would be spent in tears of laughter. Her light brunette hair is up high in a ponytail, her brown eyes are stunning lined with dark makeup, she wears black jeans and a black corset, and I have to pull my eyes away from staring at her beauty.
“Have you seen Randy yet?” Shelby asks.
