Right on cue, that was exactly when Macie and Ava decided to show up. Macie bounced into the room, obviously excited about the party. But Ava remained where she stood, staring at me.
“Didn’t Becca tell you?” Macie asked.
I looked at her, confused.
“We all decided not to drink tonight,” Macie continued. “To help you.”
My eyes snapped directly to Ava to gauge her reaction to Macie’s words. She continued standing in the same spot, her face neutral as she countered my gaze.
“Why?” I asked. It didn’t completely surprise me that Becca and Ty were doing this for me. But Macie and Ava were almost strangers to me. They owed me nothing. Especially Ava.
“Well, silly, that’s what friends do for each other,” Macie said as she came and sat on a stool next to me. “We didn’t want you to feel alone tonight. So, we will be your support system.”
She had her hand on my leg, a gentle touch, as if the topic made her uncomfortable.
“Thank you,” I said. Then I looked toward Ava to determine if she could handle me thanking her as well. “Thanks.”
She gave a curt nod but said nothing.
“OK, let’s get going. After tonight, you’ll still be our designated driver, right, Logan?” Becca asked. Her laugh as she headed toward the door lightened the mood.
“Yes, Becca, I’ll be your Uber driver, for all of you, so your drunk asses can make it home safely.”
We piled into my truck, and while I waited for everyone to get seated and buckled, I stole a glance at my frog friend ahead of me. He was like my little guardian. Every time I pulled into this spot, he was smiling back as if to tell meYou’ve got this.
“What is it with you and that stupid frog statue?”
Looking in the rearview mirror, I glared at the owner of those words. Even though she was doing a nice thing for me tonight, it appeared she wasn’t going to be nice to me while doing it.
“I think he’s cute, that’s all,” I told her as I started backing out of the spot.
“He is cute,” Macie agreed. “Look at his adorable smile. I never noticed him before, has he always been there?”
“Yeah, he was there last semester,” Becca said. “I remember tripping over him when I was trying to climb onto the balcony when I locked myself out. He helped me get the height I needed to get up there.”
That hurt my heart to hear she’d used him as a steppingstone. But at least he helped in a time of need. I knew he had a purpose.
“Oh my god, do you remember that day? You scared the shit out of me, getting stuck up there,” Macie said. “And then Gage came to help.”
I didn’t need to be here last semester to know the mention of that name in this company was going to make it uncomfortable. Looking to my right, he seemed unscathed by it. Macie stopped talking, realizing she shouldn’t have brought up that name. Gage was the third party of a love triangle between the three of them last semester. A quick check on Becca and she looked nervously at Ty, as well, but was relieved to see he was fine.
“Alrighty, folks, let’s get this night on the right track,” I announced. “Thanks for deciding to not drink with me. If you change your mind, I get it. And I won’t be mad. This is my life, not yours.”
As I drove through downtown, Main Street was busy with students roaming the streets looking for a place to eat or a bar they could get into on a Friday night.
“But I want you to know how much I appreciate the gesture of you choosing to support me, especially my first night out.”
OK, got that out of the way. It needed to be said, even to Tink.
“Like I already said,” Becca said. “It’s going to be amazing having a built in Uber living with us. Your sobriety will be the best thing that happened to our house, dude.”
The girls in the back row laughed together at her comment, but Ty was quiet up front with me. He was thoughtful as he looked out his window. Eventually he turned toward me.
“Ya just gotta say the word, and we’ll leave. OK?” he said.
I nodded.
He seemed nervous. More nervous than me. It wasn’t like I’d never been to a party here at BRU. Last year, Ty and I decided to rush the frat together and were hanging out with the brothers all the time. Before I decided to leave school. The point was, I wasn’t naïve. I knew what I was getting into.
