Alice couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to a party, or, at least, the type of party that splayed out before her as she entered Briar’s house. Her flat could fit five friends before it started to feel claustrophobic – that was, if she had five friends – and there were at least fifty people already crammed into the narrow living room.
A hand tugged on her arm, and she turned to find Rafa, one of Noah’s friends, beaming at her.
‘Alice!’ he cried, wrapping his arms around her and thankfully managing not to slosh his beer all over her in the process. ‘Oh my god, I thought it was you, but then I thought maybe I was tripping. No one told me you’d be here!’
‘Hey, Rafa,’ Alice said, desperately wishing she’d taken a shot for courage before coming in. She felt shaky and unpracticed at small talk.
Maybe noticing her expression, he herded her towards the kitchen, pointing to the fridge. ‘Beer’s in there. Liquor’s on the counter.’
‘Beer’s fine,’ she said, grabbing an IPA and taking several large gulps before turning back to him. He was still wearing a huge smile that made her feel like he was expecting her to launch into a circus routine. She refrained from askingWhat do you want from me?which she decided would be a weird and maybe even hostile question.
‘So, how have you been?’ he asked.
‘Oh, good.’ She leaned against the kitchen counter and winced at the stickiness.
Rafa raised his eyebrows at her expression. ‘These things always have a college feel to them,’ he explained. ‘Orunito you, I guess.’ He chuckled. ‘Keeps us young. I promise Briar can be classy when she tries.’
Alice looked around, noting the touches that she’d missed as she’d been taking in the abundance of bodies and booze. There were plants perched on the windowsills, a collection of colorful cake plates sitting on top of the kitchen cabinets, and several quirky lamps within eyesight.
‘It’s a nice place,’ she admitted.
‘Much nicer than my dump in New York, anyway,’ Rafa said. ‘I have about 500 square feet to share with my roommate, and only one of us has a bedroom window.’
‘Is it you?’ Alice asked politely, taking a few more sips of beer in quick succession.
‘Nah, I make him pay more for the room with the window. I’m usually sleeping when it’s light out, so it works out for me.’ He grinned. ‘And how’s London?’
‘Very little sunlight, even with a window in my bedroom and being awake during the day,’ Alice said. ‘What do you do again?’
Rafa put his hand to his chest in mock offense. ‘And here I thought you were a part of my fan club! I’m wounded.’
‘Sorry,’ Alice mumbled.
‘Just joking,’ he said hastily, and she remembered that this was the sort of banter they’d have had back in high school. There was a whole school year where she and Rafa had had a running joke that they were enemies, but Alice had never been fully confident it was a joke on his end. He’d been Noah’s friend, after all, and she’d taken up Noah’s free time and then broken his heart for good measure.
‘Are you still DJing?’ she ventured, thinking back to his social media posts during college – a series of photos of him on a dark stage with captions pleading for people to come to his shows.
‘See, youdoknow!’ he said, clapping her on the shoulder. ‘I’ve actually been booking stuff recently, which is pretty sweet.’
‘Hey, man!’ Noah’s voice came from behind Alice. She turned to see him with Harper and her fleeting hopes of not being completely awkward evaporated.
‘Hey, Alice,’ Harper said, looping an arm around Noah’s waist. ‘Cute top.’
Her tone was innocent enough, but Alice recognized the comment immediately as one she would have made in high school when Alice was dressed incorrectly for the occasion. She glanced down at her slightly too-small white frilly top, dotted with embroidered cherries. It was the closest thing in her high school wardrobe to red, white, and blue, but it was garish upon second review.
‘They changed the forecast,’ Noah said to Rafa, oblivious to the slight. ‘It’s not supposed to rain anymore, so fireworks are on.’
Harper’s eyes widened. ‘You didn’t.’
‘You’re looking at someone who illegally transported fireworks across state lines, baby,’ Rafa confirmed, pointing two thumbs at his chest and looking far too pleased with himself.
‘Come on,’ Alice blurted out, ‘you guys are really trusting the weather report?’
‘Whether it rains or not, it’s still illegal.’ Harper nodded as though agreeing with Alice.
‘But most importantly, you’re listening to meteorologists,’ Alice said.
‘Oh my god,’ Rafa said, choking on a laugh. ‘I forgot about your beef with meteorologists. This is my favorite Alice-ism.’
