Page 14 of Barefoot Lake

“Hi! I’m Scott. You must be Alice.” He wraps me in a similar embrace to the one he gave Piper. As we separate, I see his eyes keep darting back to Piper. “You look preat. I mean, pretty. And great.” He flushes a dark red and scratches the back of his head.

Piper laughs kindly at his stumble. “You look preat, too, Scott.”

He dramatically bows and extends an arm to direct us both to the bar, looking at Piper like she hung the moon when she walks past. His mouth pops open as he stares, and I fake a cough to hide my giggle. This guy has got it bad for my bestie, and I’m fairly certain she’s oblivious. It’s adorable. Piper deserves a nice boy who’s completely enamored with her. It must have been one hell of a bus ride this morning for him to have fallen so hard, so fast.

Scott pulls himself together once we get to the bar. He’s chatty and all smiles, making rapid-fire introductions of Penny, the bartender, and some of his other friends, immediately making us both feel included. He’s friendly, seemingly well-liked, and strongly rooted in this little town.

Ok. Maybe he’s not a serial killer after all.

Before I know it, I’m laughing so hard I’m snorting as Scott tells us about the time he tripped over his own skates and face-planted into the glass while trying to impress a girl during a junior hockey game. He really is a charming goofball, and I feel completely at ease, even as a newcomer. I’m also thrilled to see Piper having such a good time.

Almost all of Scott’s friends have known one another since they were in diapers, but one woman, Hannah, didn’t move here until adulthood. She’s clever, bubbly, and exceedingly friendly. Her wife, Leslie, is one of the Wilcox Grove lifers. Together, they own the bakery-slash-bookstore in town. (Can we talk about how cool it is that my current town has a bakery-slash-bookstore?)

I like Hannah immediately and spend much of the night chatting with her. We sit with our heads bent together and she sneakily tells me little tidbits about the people around us.

The night flies by, and I haven’t even realized how long we’ve been there until Penny announces that karaoke sign-ups are open for the last hour of the night. Piper is tugging my arm, begging me to duet a Spice Girls song with her, but I’d rather eat my napkin. I give Scott a look of endless gratitude when he offers to take my place, but I think the squeal and hug from a very tipsy Piper are all the thanks he needs. He lights up like a firework, and his cheeks flush dark red as she takes his hand and drags him between tables to the karaoke machine.

They sing their hearts out and are clinging to one another to try to stay upright on their walk back to us, hysterical laughter keeping them doubled over. Piper stumbles and bumps into a chair, causing the girl sitting there to spill beer on herself and yelp. Piper immediately apologizes, but in two seconds flat, the night goes from joyous to tense. A burly guy at the table jumps to his feet and gets right in Piper’s face before Scott sweeps her behind him and out of harm’s way.

“Sit down, Troy. It was an accident and she apologized.” All the humor is gone from Scott’s voice as he stares the other guy down, even though Scott is a full head shorter.

A sneer splits across Troy’s face.

“Scotty come back to town, huh? You want to start something?”

Scott puts his hands up defensively.

“That is literally the opposite of what I want, Troy.”

The exasperated tone in his voice tells me that this isn’t the first time he’s had to deal with Troy’s idiocy.

“We’re sorry, and we’re just going to go,” he continues.

Scott keeps Piper behind him but starts moving back toward us.

“Yeah, little orphan Scotty. Get on out of here. Nobody wants you. Even your parents offed themselves to get away from you!” Troy’s booming voice echoes across a suddenly silent room. Scott seems unfazed, like the taunt isn’t new, but I flinch at the uncalled-for dig.

“You’re trash, Troy. Always have been, always will be.” Then Scott makes the mistake of rolling his eyes and looking away for just a second. Troy’s fist crashes into the side of Scott’s face and sends him to the floor. Piper shrieks and crouches beside Scott, who’s already getting back up, fury clear on his face despite the angry red splotch on his cheek. Scott’s friends and I also all jump to our feet, moving toward him and Piper.

The blonde that Piper bumped into finally pipes up in a shrill voice, “Take your slut of a girlfriend and get lost!”

I see red, but Piper gets to her first, ignoring all the traditional “girl fight” options and opting to deck the girl instead. Before I know what’s happening, it’s all-out mayhem at the Corner Post. Scott’s friends are fighting Troy’s friends, and Scott gets up just to tackle Troy right back down. I shove my way to Piper and convince myself to pull her off the blonde girl, even though I don’t blame Piper for taking a swing… or two.

It feels like only seconds have passed, but suddenly, there’s a shrill siren outside, and people are scattering. By the time two officers come inside, Troy and his posse have all jumped ship. Scott’s crew is too honorable to bail on one another or leave Penny to deal with all of this, so they’re all standing around, looking sheepish. I catch Hannah’s eye, happy to see both she and Leslie look unharmed.

I turn and see the bartender with her arms crossed. She has a sympathetic expression as she looks at Scott.

“I’m sorry, Scotty. I had to call them.”

“It’s ok, Penny. I’m really sorry about all this.” Scott rights a chair that was knocked over.

The police cross the room, and one approaches us, even though we’re not looking to run, while the other goes to talk to Penny. She’s adamant that “It’s that Basel boy’s fault.”

We are all chagrined, even though the officers are kind. My heart is pounding. I’ve never gotten in the slightest bit of trouble, let alone participate in a bar brawl.

Am I going to jail?

Oh my God.