Page 98 of Yearning Difficulties

‘Oh, she was around here somewhere. She’s nice, you’ll like her. Anyway. Only go upstairs to use the bathroom and no drinks in the garden. Kay?’

She scampered off, leaving the twins alone. Chris was already being called over to sit with some friends so Killian slipped upstairs. He was hoping there might be a little less thumping bass but alas, the noise seemed to follow him.

‘Killian, right?’

He turned to see a girl in line for the toilet. He vaguely recognized her. ‘Sorry, I’m drawing a blank.’

She looked wounded for a microsecond but quickly recovered. ‘Claire Monk. We’re in History together.’

‘That’s right. Hi.’

‘Having fun?’

‘Not really,’ he grumbled.

She laughed which irked him a little. He’d been serious.

When the line started to move, he slipped away before Claire could make any more attempts at small talk. His head was still pounding and there were too many smells in the air.

He needed some quiet.

It was incredibly dark and so he stumbled towards some kind of linen closet.

When he was inside, he realized how small it was. But the sound became muffled enough for his head to clear.

‘Hey!’

The sound of a girl’s indignant voice caused him to jump. ‘Jesus.’

‘No, Zella. And I’m so sorry, but if you’re trying to escape the terrible music, this is my hiding spot.’

Killian’s lips twitched. Someone in Lake Pristine with a touch of wit. ‘Squatters rights apply, I’m afraid.’

‘Then sit down, you’re making me nervous. It’s so fucking dark and you’re just this big giant shape.’

He obeyed, grinning as her fumbling hands reached up to grab his forearm and yank him down. They sat side by side in the pitch black, with their knees under their chins.

‘I hate myself at parties,’ the girl, Zella, told him. ‘That’s why I’m in here.’

‘You hate parties?’

‘No, I love parties. Especially the idea of them. You get excited, you feel validation for being invited. You plan the outfit, you think about all of the lifechanging things that are going to happen.’

Killian smiled in the dark. ‘And then?’

‘And then you get there. The music sucks. I mean, biblically sucks. It’s so poor but everyone is sort of nodding their heads to it, so you think, nah, it’s just you who doesn’t like it. Everyone else loves jerkily moving their bodies to a track put down on a computer instead of with instruments and absolutely no melodic or lyrical beauty.’

Killian laughed at that, addicted to the way she used her words. ‘So you feel like an alien that’s snuck onto Earth.’

‘Yes, and the Earthlings have terrible taste. Then there are too many people. It’s never like the parties you see in films, where everyone is responsibly distanced from one another. You know, because of blocking. Parties should have stage blocking.’

‘They should. And better music.’

‘And so much strong perfume.’

‘Hope I’m not offending you there, I was a bit liberal with the aftershave.’

To his astonishment, and complete ecstasy, she pressed her nose into his neck. He froze at the contact, never wanting it to end.