Carla's party to remember.

Michael's car was waiting at the curb. Lyndsay was in the passenger seat, and Michael leaned across to push the rear passenger door open as I approached. “Get in.”

I climbed into the back seat and pulled the door shut.

“Hey,” Lyndsay said, turning around to look at me.

“Hey.”

Michael pulled away from the curb. “So,” he said. “Ready to face Kat?”

I groaned. “Do we have to talk about that already?”

“You're the one who asked for a ride to Carla's.”

“I know.”

Lyndsay turned around again. “She's going to kill you.”

“Thanks.”

“She was seriously pissed last night.”

“I know.”

Michael glanced at me in the rear-view mirror. “You actually going to apologise?”

“Yeah.”

“Like properly?”

“Yes.”

“Not just say sorry and hope she gets over it?”

I shook my head. “No. I'm going to actually apologise. A real apology.”

“Good.”

Lyndsay smiled.

“Because she was really looking forward to going with you.”

“I know.”

There was a brief silence. Then Michael said, “So what happened anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“You disappeared.”

“I got the ticket for The Weeknd.”

“Oh, awesome!”

“So, I went.”

“Yeah, but why didn't you tell anyone?”

“I didn't have my phone.”

Michael laughed. “You really went to a concert without your phone?”

“I forgot it.”

“Who does that?”

“Apparently me.”

Lyndsay looked at me. “Was it worth it?”

I didn't even have to think.

“Yeah. Completely.” The answer came out immediately.

I looked out the window as the houses passed by. For some reason, I found myself thinking about Trish again. I wondered what party she and Heather were going to. I wondered who else would be there. And I wondered if she'd thought about me today.

“So,” Michael said, breaking into my thoughts. “You going to tell us anything interesting about the concert?”

I smiled. “Maybe.”

Lyndsay laughed. “Oh, this sounds promising.”

“It was just a good concert.”

Michael glanced at me again. “Just a concert?”

A few minutes later, Michael turned onto the road leading toward Carla's house. The music playing quietly through the speakers got louder as we approached, and I could already see cars lining both sides of the street.

Michael slowed down. “Here we go.”

I took a breath. Kat was going to be there. Rebecca would be there too. And yet somewhere in the back of my mind, I was still thinking about Trish. I pushed that thought aside. Tonight, I had one thing to do. Apologise to Kat. Michael pulled up outside Carla's house. The three of us climbed out of the car and headed toward the house, with music and voices already spilling out into the street.

The music was loud enough that I could feel the bass through the pavement before we even reached the front door. Carla's house was already packed. People were standing around the front yard, sitting on the porch steps and spilling through the open doorway. I recognised a lot of people from school, but amongst them were older kids I'd seen around without really knowing.

Michael clapped me on the shoulder. “Good luck.”

“With what?”

“Kat.”

“Thanks.”

Lyndsay gave me a sympathetic smile. “You're going to need it.”

They headed inside, leaving me standing on the porch for a moment. I took a breath and followed them. It didn't take long to find Kat. She was in the living room with a couple of girls I knew from school. She spotted me almost immediately. Her expression changed. Not good. She said something to the girls and walked straight toward me, ready to give me a piece of her mind.

“You.”

“Hi, Kat.”

“Don't ‘hi, Kat’ me.”

“Okay.”

She folded her arms. “You stood me up.”

“I know.”

“You said you'd meet us at Rebecca's.”

“I know.”

“I waited for you.”

“I know.”

She looked furious. “Do you have anything else to say?”

I nodded. “I'm sorry.”

She stared at me. “That’s it?”

“No. I'm sorry for standing you up. I'm sorry I didn't call. I'm sorry I didn't even realise until this morning how badly I screwed things up.”

She continued staring at me. “I was looking forward to last night,” she said.

“I know.”

“No, you don't.”

She looked away. “I actually thought we were going to have a good time together.”

“I should have been there.”

“Yes, you should have.”

I didn't know what else to say. Then something occurred to me. “If you still want to spend time with me, let me make it up to you. Please.”

She looked suspicious. “How?”

“I'll take you out.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere you want.”

She blinked.

“A real date.” I hadn't really thought about the words before I said them.

Kat's expression changed slightly. “A real date?”

“Yeah.”

“Just you and me?”

“Yeah.”

She studied me for several seconds. “Not Rebecca?”

I frowned. “No. You.”

That seemed to catch her off guard. She unfolded her arms. “When?”

“Whenever you want.”

She looked away, and some of the anger seemed to drain out of her. “You're still an asshole.”

“I know.”

“But…”

She looked back at me. “I might accept.”

I smiled. “Okay.”

“Don't look so pleased with yourself.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“Maybe a little.”

For the first time since I'd arrived, Kat smiled. “Fine. I'll think about it.”

“That sounds promising.”

“Don't push it.”

She walked away, but she didn't look nearly as angry as she had a minute earlier. I felt a strange sense of relief. At least I'd managed to make things a little better. I hadn't noticed Rebecca standing across the room. She had. And she'd heard enough. Her eyes followed Kat as she walked away, then settled on me. When our eyes met, she looked away. I wasn't sure why. A few minutes later, she disappeared into the crowd. I didn't think much more about it.

Before I could move off into the party, I felt someone bump me in the shoulder.

“Looks like you survived.”

I turned and found Carla standing beside me. “Barely.”

She laughed. “I heard most of it.”

I groaned. “Great.”

“You handled it pretty well.”

“I nearly got punched.”

“Kat wouldn't punch you.”

“You didn't see the look on her face.”

Carla smiled. “I think you deserved it.”

“Thanks.”

She laughed again. Then she looked me up and down for a second before meeting my eyes again. “Still, offering her a date was pretty smooth.”

“I wasn't trying to be smooth.”

“That's probably why it worked.”

I shrugged. “I just wanted to make things right.”

Carla nodded. “That's actually kind of sweet.”

I wasn't sure what to say to that.

She smiled and took a sip of her drink. “Well, if your date with Kat doesn't work out…”

She let the sentence hang.

I laughed. “She's not even agreed to it yet.”

“I'm aware.”

She gave me another smile before wandering back toward the kitchen. I watched her go for a second, then turned back to look for Michael. I didn't think anything more of it.

The party continued to get louder as the night went on. People came and went through the front door, music changed every few minutes, and someone had turned the lights down so far that the living room was almost dark.

I was talking to Michael when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“Hey nerds.”

I turned. Heather was standing there. And beside her was Trish. My stomach did something strange.

Trish smiled when she saw me. “Hi.”

“Hey.”

Heather looked between us. “You two are being weird.”

“We're not being weird.”

“You're definitely being weird.”

Trish laughed.

Heather shook her head. “I'm going to find something to drink.”

She disappeared into the crowd.

Trish stayed where she was. For a moment neither of us said anything. Then she smiled. “So…”

“So?”

“You never answered me.”

I knew immediately what she meant. “I'm sorry.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I noticed.”

“I didn't know what to say.”

“You could have said thanks.”

“I know.”

“Or that you had a good time.”

“I did.”

She smiled. “I know.”

We both laughed quietly.

People were moving around us constantly, making it difficult to talk. “Can we go somewhere quieter?” she asked.

I nodded.

We slipped through the hallway and found an empty room at the back of the house. The music was still audible, but much quieter. Trish leaned against the wall.

“So why didn't you text me?”

I shrugged. “I don't know.”

“That’s a terrible answer.”

“I know.”

She smiled. “I thought maybe you'd changed your mind.”

“About what?”

“About last night.”

I looked at her. “No.”

She seemed relieved. “Good.”

“I've been thinking about it all day.”

“So have I.”

We stood there for a moment. “I didn't want to make things awkward,” I said.

“Neither did I.” She stepped closer. “Especially because of Heather.”

“Yeah.”

She smiled. “I don't think she suspects anything.”

I laughed. “You're probably right. I hope.”

For a moment, neither of us moved. Then Trish reached out and hugged me. I hugged her back. It felt completely natural. Too natural. When we pulled apart, we were still standing close. She looked at me, and I looked at her. Neither of us said anything. We leaned toward each other at almost exactly the same time.

“Hey!”

We both jumped apart.

Rebecca was standing in the doorway. She looked from me to Trish. Then back to me. Her face had completely changed. “What are you doing?”

“Rebecca.”

“Never mind.” She didn’t wait for my answer and turned and walked away immediately.

“Rebecca!”

She didn't stop.

“Sorry, I…” I tried to think of what to say to Trish to explain what had just happened.

Trish, to her credit, just nodded. “It’s ok. Heather will be looking for me. Just go.”

I hurried after her, but by the time I reached the living room, she'd already found Kat.

“Come on,” Rebecca said.

Kat looked confused. “What?”

“We're leaving.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

Kat looked at me. Then Rebecca. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” I said.

Rebecca grabbed her jacket. “Come on.”

Kat hesitated. “I was having fun.”

“You can come with me.”

Kat looked at me again. “I'll message you about that date.”

“Yeah.”

Rebecca's expression tightened. “Date?”

Kat smiled. “Apparently I'm getting one.”

Rebecca stared at me. “You're taking Kat on a date? So that’s what that was.”

I opened my mouth. “I…”

“Forget it.”

She turned toward the door. Kat followed her, looking increasingly confused. As they left, I stood there wondering what the hell had just happened.

A few minutes later, Heather appeared. She looked at me. Then at the doorway.

“Where's Rebecca?”

“Gone.”

“Why?”

I hesitated. “Long story.”

Heather looked suspicious, but I hoped it was about Rebecca and me and not Trish. She glanced toward her friend. Trish gave her a small smile. “We’re going home anyway. This party is lame anyway. Too many little kids.”

“Okay.” Trish nodded. She picked up her jacket and put it back on.

They hadn’t been at the party more than twenty minutes and already things had gone pear-shaped for me.

Trish followed her toward the door, but before she left, she looked back at me and gave me a sweet look as Heather wasn’t looking right then. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Then she was gone.

Over the next two hours, the party slowly began to thin out. I stayed and had a couple of drinks as I couldn’t think what else to do. Rebecca wouldn’t want to see me right now, and Kat was with her. She was probably getting told everything by Becca, and she’d be right back to be pissed off at me. Our date would be gone.

Michael and Lyndsay left sometime after midnight after Lyndsay got completely drunk and started throwing up in the bushes. Michael had to take Lyndsay back to his parents’ house, and with them went my ride home.

By then all my friends were gone; the party had changed completely. Most of the younger crowd had gone, the music wasn't quite as loud, and people were starting to settle into smaller groups around the house.

I was standing in the kitchen getting another drink when Carla appeared beside me.

“Still here?”

“Apparently.”

She smiled. “You need a ride home?”

“I had one.”

“Had?”

“Michael had to take Lyndsay home.”

Carla laughed. “That sounds like Lyndsay.”

“Yeah.”

She leaned against the counter beside me. “Well, you don't have to worry about getting home yet.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm not kicking you out.”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

She looked at me for a moment. “You know, you're actually pretty good company when you're not worrying about Rebecca.”

I frowned. “What?”

“Nothing.” She smiled and walked away.

I watched her go. I was beginning to wonder if everyone except me knew something I didn't.

Eventually, at almost two in the morning, Carla's house was almost empty. I’d spent the time talking to some of the guys from the year above me that I could remember, about college. I think they went to the same one as Heather and Trish did.

Now I found myself sitting in the living room with just Carla remaining.

She dropped onto the couch beside me. “That was some night.”

“Yeah.”

She looked at me. “You seem distracted.”

“I’ve had a hell of a two days.”

“Sure.” She smiled knowingly.

I looked at her. “What?”

“Nothing.” She shifted a little closer. “You know, I've always thought you were kind of cute.”

I laughed awkwardly. “You're joking.” There was no way this could possibly be happening.

“No.” She held my gaze. “I’m not.”

Carla stood up and reached down, offering her hand to me. I gave it to her and stood. She started walking away, and I followed.

I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing anymore. The last forty-eight hours had somehow turned my life upside down. I'd gone from worrying about a school dance to going to a concert with Trish, from being yelled at by Heather to having Rebecca climb through my bedroom window, and now Kat had agreed to think about going on a date with me.

And somehow, after all of that, I was following Carla to her bedroom. She opened the door and looked back at me. For a second, neither of us said anything. Then she smiled.

I stepped inside and closed the door behind us.