Braden laughs. “Not after last weekend. Sorry, bro, but I can’t save you when you’re that stupid.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“Wyatt was making out with some girl with his girlfriend in the other room.”
“You could’ve told me she was there,” Wyatt says.
“Was this at a party?” I ask.
“Yeah. At Kristen’s house.” Braden looks at Wyatt. “Was Kristen even there?”
“I didn’t see her.”
“Me either. Anyway, dumbass here,” he nods toward Wyatt, “tried to tell his girlfriend he was too drunk to know what he was doing but she didn’t buy it.”
“Braden was supposed to back me up, but he didn’t.”
“Because your excuse was stupid.” Braden turns down the road that goes to the school. “It was time to be done with her anyway.”
“I’m running out of people to date.”
“Then stop dating. Do what I do.”
Wyatt shakes his head. “My fucking dad would kill me.”
“Why?” I ask. “What does Braden do?”
“None of your damn business,” Braden says.
“So the party was at Kristen’s house?” I ask, wanting to know more about his earlier comment.
“Not the one here,” Wyatt says. “The one in San Diego.”
“She has two houses?”
Wyatt chuckles. “More like seven or eight. The one in San Diego is the smallest. Her mom only keeps it as an investment. Nobody lives there so Kristen uses it as a party house.”
“And her mom doesn’t care?”
Wyatt shrugs. “She probably does. We tend to destroy shit at parties. This last one, someone broke the chandelier. The thing was huge. Came crashing down all over the entryway.”
Braden laughs. “Wish someone got that on video.”
“You said Kristen wasn’t there?” I ask.
“She might’ve made an appearance, but she didn’t stick around,” Wyatt says.
“Then why’d she have the party?”
“Because everyone expects her to. She’s like the girl version of Braden.” He chuckles as he says it.
“I don’t get it.”
“She’s at the top,” Braden explains. “She makes the rules for the girls like I make the rules for the guys.”
“And people listen to her?”
“They have to. She has the power. If she has a party, everyone goes, even if she’s not there.”
