Chapter 9 #2
“Do you think — do you think I’m going to be in the lineup for the opener?”
I look at him. “Wex. It’s Friday night. You are at a party in your captain’s house, drinking a beer.”
“Yeah.” He looks down.
“Don’t think about line assignments tonight. That’s an order. Have fun tonight. We’ll talk hockey later.”
“Yes, cap.”
He goes. I watch him go to the kitchen, get a beer, and then start a conversation with Tony Beaumont by the wall by the staircase.
A familiar face approaches me like she’s been waiting for her turn in line. Blue ditching me really put me out on the street. I remember her from last spring. It was one night after a game. She had come on to me, and I didn’t say no. She’s smiling at me, and in fairness to her, it’s a nice smile.
“Number 9.” Her eyes gleam when I look at her. “It’s good to see you, Benson. It’s been a while.”
I sip my beer and nod. “Yeah.”
“How are things?”
“Good,” I answer. “You?”
She shrugs. “Could be better.”
“Generally, everything could be better.” I tip my beer to her. “Or worse.”
She smiles. “True.”
I don’t know what to do with myself, so I take another sip, and then Madison comes into view. My stomach sinks. I didn’t expect her to be here. She looks at the girl and then at me.
“Benson.” Her voice has a deep tone to it, and it always sounds like she’s mad.
I look down. “That’s me.”
“I texted you.”
The girl to my left takes this as a cue to walk away.
“Did you just arrive?” I ask.
She nods. “I heard from Monty that there was a party at the Hawthorne House.” She takes my beer and drinks it. “So, I thought, why not make a stop?”
I don’t know how many times I have to tell a girl that I’m not interested, but I’m under the impression that she’s never going to hear me.
“Do I have to be personally invited to come to these things now?” she asks, drinking my beer.
I look at her. “It’s probably a good idea from now on.”
I walk away before the conversation can turn south. My sister stops me halfway to the kitchen.
“Why did I see you talking to that bimbo?” Gianna rolls her eyes and makes a sound with her throat.
“I walked away.”
She looks at her. “Good. Can you change the music so we can dance?”
I look down at Mara. Lucy isn’t with her, so I look around. I spot Lucy in three seconds. I walk around my sister and Mara. “I’ll do something about the music.”
Lucy is leaning on the kitchen island with her hands wrapped around the Solo cup. She’s staring at nothing. I get the feeling she has no idea that G and Mara walked away. I go to the fridge and grab a new beer, and then I lean against the counter next to her.
“You good?” I ask.
She looks at me with red-rimmed eyes. It does something to me to see her like this. I have two sisters, so I have a lot of practice knowing when a girl has been crying.
“Yeah,” she says softly, looking around the room. She finally realizes that Gianna and Mara walked away. They’re across the room now.
I lift my shirt and use the bottom hem to open my beer with my teeth. She watches me. The cap falls to the ground as I take a swig. I lean down to pick it up and smell her perfume.
It’s a beat of silence that I can’t take, so I ask, “What’s in your cup?”
She looks in it. It’s almost gone. “The punch. Gianna made it for me and claimed that it’s Percy’s famous mix.” She drinks the rest of it. “It’s good.”
“Does it taste good?” I ask.
She nods, drinking the last sip. “It’s fruity.”
“Want a beer?”
“Sure,” she says.
I grab one from the fridge, lift my shirt, and open it with my teeth.
“I don’t think that’s good for your teeth.”
The cap drops to the ground. I put my shirt down and pass her the open beer bottle.
“Thank you.” She grabs it from me and takes a sip.
“You never come to these things. Was that part of the pact with my sister?”
Her cheeks turn pink. “Not exactly. Gianna made me come tonight.”
“That tracks.”
She looks at the beer in her hand. “It’s been a — yeah. It’s been a day.”
“Yeah?”
She nods and doesn’t elaborate.
I don’t ask. I take a sip of my own beer and watch her over the top of the bottle. She looks back at me, and I feel her sorrow just from the contact. I want to ask, but I know I shouldn’t. I barely know this girl, and I’m supposed to keep it professional because she’s my tutor.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” I hear myself say. Shit. That’s crossing a boundary I know Gianna will kick me for later. Why the hell would I ask her that?
She looks up at me, and before she can reply, Mara enters the kitchen.
“Lucy, there you are. Get in here.”
Lucy looks at me for half a second, and then she goes.
I stay in the kitchen and drink the rest of my beer at the sink. I look out the window at the back porch. The fire pit is lit. Two figures are sitting on the steps. I rinse the bottle, put it in the recycling, and push off the counter.
Blue and Percy are on the porch steps. Blue is sipping the beer he has been nursing for an hour. Percy has his elbows on his knees, looking at the fire. I sit down on the step next to Blue.
Lucy was crying tonight. I want to know why, and a large piece of me hopes she’s not crying over some idiot. I take a long sip of my beer and stare at the fire. I’m going to sit on this porch with my best friends and finish my beer and not think about it.